Chapter 66: Chapter 66: Mediation

And so a 9-man expedition was organized. With five heroes, us three kids, and Tricia the female doctor. But that didn’t mean we’d be leaving the same day. Maria and them aside, we kids still have class and can’t just take off. Since it was meant to cure my body, I’d have loved to head out immediately but…n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Now, is there anyone who knows what this word means?” “Me!” “Meee!” “Teacher, pick me!”

Cortina clacked on the chalkboard where she’d written a word and asked the students to answer what it was. She had written “Apple” there in this case.

Even if they’re elites, these are still children under the age of 10 after all. They need to be taught the basics of how to read and write. Of course, the ones who’ve had an elite education since their early years will already know how to read, but not everyone does, so these kinds of classes have to be included in the curricula.

And so, my homeroom teacher Cortina was teaching the common continental language, but that was so tedious since I’d already learned it. Despite that…

“Alright then, Nicole.” “Aww, again?” “You’re top of the class, so why don’t you show us how it’s done?”

Cortina kept calling on me for every little thing. Thanks to my grades, I seem to be misunderstood throughout the school as an excellent new student with a frail body. Well, they’re not wrong about the frail body but come on…

I stood up from my seat, hurried to answer and sat back down quickly. Each time this happened my skirt would flutter around and it’d feel incredibly uncomfortable. In the village, I’d gotten used to wearing the fairly long skirts that were common there. Because of that, I was having trouble getting used to the short skirts used with the school uniform, or rather, Finia seems to be trying to put on shorter and shorter skirts to further emphasize the absolute territory1 between it and my knee socks.

Moreover, if I try putting on spats underneath, Cortina gets upset about it. Resistance is futile as she argued with, “Trying to erect another barrier under the absolute territory is absolutely not allowed.” Why are you so happy about seeing little girls’ panties, you ????????????????????????????.

And so, with the expedition being scheduled for the weekend, I experienced three days of fainting in P.E. and managed to survive.

Once the weekend rolled around, we gathered at Maxwell’s house. Maxwell is also able to freely use transfer magic, so he only has his gear, some water, and light provisions that he’s carrying. If we need somewhere to stay, we can just return to the city whenever. He might be close to senile but his magic skill is still cheat-level.

“Well, are we all here?” “Eh, we’re just waiting on Maria and them to get here.”

Cortina’s expression soured while saying that. It’s been decided that Gadius would join for this expedition. It’s not like she personally hates him, they fought off death for countless years before, so there’s no way they hate each other. The only problem is her own emotions, but just that is a significant hurdle.

“Are you ok?” “Hrm? Sort of, it’s not like I hate him.”

I put my hand on her back when I asked and she forced a smile at me with her reply. Just then, a light from the transfer magic appeared and three people’s silhouettes appeared in it. Needless to say, it was Lyell and Maria, and Gadius.

Maria ran to hug me as soon as she saw me. Lyell, who was late to the party, was complaining helplessly behind her.

“Are you doing ok, Nicole?” “Mama, we just saw each other last night.”

After learning Teleport, Maria has been coming back and forth from the village to see me every night. Even though Interference Magic is supposed to be exhausting on your magic reserves, she’s fine even with carrying Lyell around with her, as expected, this much is nothing to her.

In contrast to our happy little family, the air around Gadius and Cortina was tense.

“Ah, umm.. Have you been well?” “Eh, yeah. You look well too.” “Since I’m a dwarf I’ve got a long life and a sturdy body, ain’t easy to drop dea…ah, about that…”

Death reminds everyone of me, sensing that, Gadius starts mumbling uncharacteristically. An obstinate dwarfkin who is as caring as this guy is a rare sight to be seen. Looking at Gadius, Cortina takes in a deep breath.

“It’s fine. You don’t have to apologize for my sake. I was the one being emotional back then, I’m sorry.” “No, it’s fine. It’s also my fault that you were expecting an easy investigation.” “It was just a request to investigate after all, it was our fault for packing light and not being prepared.” “Then let’s agree that we both failed to consider the possibility.”

Gadius stretches out his right hand while making a wry face with deep wrinkles. For a dwarf, he’s a bit out there, but he’s not a petty guy by any means. In fact, he’s quite sensible and is often misunderstood for it, but he’s a reliable guy.

“Oh well. About Reid… It’s not like I can’t forget about him anymore, but I can’t leave behind my feelings.” “Hmph. Seems like the new generation’s already here.”

As he said that, Gadius looked my way. The second generation of heroes. In other words, they want me to be their successor… As the person in question I should take advantage of this.