It’s just past noon, and Ririi, still excited from earlier, swings the door open and comes in.
“Daddy! Ririh’s a light sorcerer!”
She runs over to the sofa, where I’m sitting and taking it easy, and stands proudly in front of me while waving her crystal dragon staff.
Whatever happened to that legendary sword (the branch) she was holding so dearly? Did she completely forget about it and left it in the corner of the classroom?
“Ririi, what do we say when we get home?”
“I’m home!”
“Welcome back. So what happened?”
“Hum… Ririh’s a light sorcerer!”
She says while puffing out her chest.
It looks like she’s mistaking ‘I have aptitude’ for ‘I’m already a sorcerer’.
Well, all first-years are like this. This is the time when they all get really excited. I feel like back then, when I didn’t know I had darkness element aptitude, I was full of hopes for the future.
…The picture I drew in my head back then doesn’t exactly match what I ended up becoming, but one thing’s for sure, there really was hope waiting for me in my future.
“Light sorcerer? That’s incredible. Light magic is a very precious element that even I can’t use.”
“Ririh’s the only light sorcerer in class!”
She starts muttering something while waving her staff. Is that supposed to be an incantation… Obviously, nothing happens.
She looks really happy about being the only one in her class with the light aptitude.
…How would she react if I told her she has another aptitude? It goes without saying that I’m not telling her just now.
“By the way, have you made any friends?”
Magic is nice, but I’m more concerned about that.
The number one reason why I came back to the capital was so Ririi could learn the basics of magic and to introduce her to Sieglinde, an officer of the ministry of magic, but bringing her to an environment where she could make friends was a close second.
Horo was pretty much her only friend in Zenith. It’s not like there was anything wrong with her, but Ririi needs friends her age. Looking back, I can’t say it would’ve been fun for me without Sieglinde.
“Friends?”
Ririi tilts her head like she doesn’t know what I’m talking about. I guess today her head is completely full of sorcerer stuff.
“Hn… Teacher?”
“Normally, you wouldn’t call your teacher your friend. Are you friendly with any of your classmates?”
I ask, and she raises her voice.
“Hum, Ririh gave the sword! But what was the name…”
“Sword? You had a sword?”
“Ririh picked it up this morning! And like, they said they wanted it, and Ririh didn’t want to give it, but did!”
“You let your classmate have that precious sword? That’s nice of you.”
A wonderful scene like that happened after I left? So she didn’t just forget about it.
I pat her head, and Ririi smiles.
“Ririh did good?”
“Yes, very good.”
“Hehehe… Ririh’s gonna be a kind sorcerer.”
Ririi hugs me with a big smile on her face, and I keep patting her head for a while.
◆
“…Up. Hey, why are you sleeping so peacefully at noon?”
“Ahn…?”
A voice so familiar to me that it’s basically ambient sound just barely whisks me back from dreamland.
When I open my heavy eyes, I see Sieglinde looking down at me with an unhappy expression.
“Sieglinde…?”
My freshly awakened mind can’t keep up with this sudden visit.
…I was taking it easy on the sofa with Ririi, she fell asleep, I took her to bed, and then I took a nap.
I look outside and see the sky is still blue, so I can’t imagine I’ve been sleeping for very long…
How did she even get in? Did Ririi leave the door unlocked?
“I decided to drop by because I had to come to this area for work anyway, just to find you napping during the day like this.,,”
“…Well, when most people nap, it’s during the day.”
“Don’t try to trip me up. You’ve always had this bad habit.”
She brushes my comments aside and sits on the sofa for some reason.
“Aren’t you working?”
“I just finished it. You got a problem with that?”
“Not really…”
I was thinking about this before too, but is she actually doing her job properly?
Nah, she’s the one person I can’t imagine slacking off. But I do feel like she’s here too often.
“…”
But the biggest mystery, is that she doesn’t even seem to have any particular reason. She’s always here for no real reason, and then she leaves.
It’s the same thing today. She came all the way here and she’s just vacantly looking at me. Is there actually a reason why she doesn’t want to be in her own home?
…I’m sure a noted family like the Floyd family has a lot of circumstances going on that I can’t even imagine. There’s a good chance she’s using this place as her refuge.
“…Ah…”
Speaking of Sieglinde, I remember Miss Esmeralda saying something. Something about looking at her more.
I don’t know what she’s thinking with that, but I don’t think it’s bad to do what she says once in a while.
“Sieglinde, you’re done with work, right?”
“That’s sudden… What, are you doubting me?”
“No! I just have a proposal. Do you want to go on a date with me?”
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