CH 16

Chapter16 - Reunion

Adelaide looked at both Lou and Fran and said.

“Let’s discuss how to talk to Calvin here and now.”

“Is there a man named Calvin coming to talk to us?”

“Yes, Calvin Ryan is a childhood friend of mine. He was my late husband’s former employee and my best friend. And his wife, Cindy Ryan-sensei, is the principal of this academy.”

Adelaide provided a supplementary explanation.

At two o’clock in the afternoon, Calvin Ryan, Captain of the Royal Knights would be coming to the Dumer residence.

His title was Count, the same as Adelaide’s, and he was responsible for overseeing the knights who protected the royal capital.

He was now the superior of the knights who were dispatched as Fran’s escorts and were killed in the battle.

Fran nodded in agreement with her mother’s explanation.

Adelaide continued, “Since my husband’s death, he has been taking care of me in many ways. So has my daughter, Fran. She is very worried about me because the world calls me a magic idiot.”

Adelaide chuckled and frowned.

However, her trust in Count Ryan seemed unshakable.

“He’s a loyal and trustworthy person, so let’s report this matter honestly.”

Fran and her party were on their way back to the Kingdom of Valentine when they were suddenly attacked by about a hundred deformed beings.

The five knights fought with all their might, but they were unable to stand against the enemy and were annihilated.

In the end, it was Fran’s desperate resistance and the knights’ fight in exchange for their lives that reduced the number to 10…But Lou saved Fran from being cornered and almost killed.

From there, Lou protected Fran, and they returned to the capital.

“…I think he’ll believe it when we tell him, um, the truth.”

Adelaide sighed as she muttered not only to the two of them, but to herself as well.

The issue was…

How much should they reveal about Lou’s tremendous abilities?

Also, the second thing was how were they going to explain his origin?

“Let’s talk to some extent, but I think it’s unnecessary to reveal all of Lou’s abilities.”

Adelaide thought it over…

Even though Count Ryan was trustworthy, she decided not to tell him everything about Lou.

However, they must talk about the magic that Lou used to some extent.

Was he able to easily defeat the difficult enemy that had slaughtered the knights?

Otherwise, she couldn’t explain why she ordered Lou to become Fran’s servant and hired him as a teacher at the Magical Girls Academy.

“The problem is Lou’s origins…What should I say?”

While Adelaide was muttering to herself, wondering how to tell the Count…

Toc-toc-toc! A rhythmic knocking on the door sounded.

Adelaide and Fran were familiar with this knocking method.

“This way of knocking…The vice principal.”

Fran murmured and cowered.

Fran’s reaction was telling enough about how she felt about the vice principal.

“It’s Eltvara, Chairman. I was told you’re asking to see me.”

It was the Arlv vice-principal who knocked. 

She was not in her office earlier, but she must have come to work a little late.

Fran looked at Adelaide with a look that said, “What are you going to do?”

Adelaide smiled bitterly at the bad timing.

“We’re in the middle of something, but it can’t be helped.”

Adelaide muttered and ordered Fran to open the door.

With her mother’s order, Fran had no choice but to open the door.

There…

There was a woman standing alone, about the same height as Fran, but with a much slimmer frame.

She was a typical Arlv woman, as manifested from her human-like features and the pointed ears peculiar to her race.

“Oh? So, the acting principal is with you, too. My apologies for this.”

Fran’s brow wrinkled as she listened to Vice-Principal Eltvara’s words.

Every word she uttered sounded sarcastic.

However, Eltvara didn’t care much about Fran. When she shifted her gaze away from her, she acknowledged Adelaide and smiled at her.

However, she noticed an unfamiliar tall man standing beside Adelaide…

She curiously tried to find out who he was.

Her shiny blonde hair swayed, and her violet eyes turned quizzically to Lou.

“Wai-What?! Is that you, Kelly? Long time no see!”

Before Eltvara could get a word in…

What?

Lou turned to her and greeted her, “Lou style.”

“Huh?! What? You! Lou?”

Eltvara’s response to Lou…

To those who knew  her, it was a far cry from her usual grumpy self.

Eh??!

Do they know each other?

Fran couldn’t hide her surprise.

Lou said he stayed in the village of Arlv, so it was certainly possible that they were acquainted.

However, the total population of the Arlvs was said to be hundreds of thousands, and the number of villages was also said to be several thousands.

Under general considerations, it was also less likely that they knew each other.

What if…

But before Fran could ask her question, a voice beat her to it.

“Tell me, Lou. How did you two know each other?”

Adelaide asked Lou the same question Fran was thinking, and Lou didn’t hesitate to reply with a smile.

“Huh, that’s easy. Kelly was once a Sowell, and she’s a member of the family that raised me, the Schulvestre Eltvara.”

When Adelaide heard Lou’s answer, she shifted her gaze to Eltvara.

“Is that true, Vice-Principal Eltvara? You didn’t say anything about it during your interview.”

Adelaide’s expression turned astringent as she was told a secret.

Nevertheless…

“…Well, you never asked…”

Eltvara replied sulkily and turned her face away to avoid the gazes of the three.

Adelaide hunched her shoulders exaggeratedly and continued to question Eltvara.

“Sigh, never mind. It’s too late for that. More importantly, Vice-principal, what is your relationship with Lou?”

In an instant!

“We’re ‘We trained together once’ not related!”

Lou’s voice overlapped with Eltvara’s reply.

Adelaide smiled as the situation came into view.

“Hmmm, so I guess that makes you senior and junior disciples.”

Adelaide butted in on Lou’s comment…

Immediately, Eltvara denied it outright.

“It’s not the same thing, Chairman! It’s not like we were senior and junior disciples or anything. We just trained together.

Lou looked worriedly at Eltvara, whose willow eyebrows were ruffled up.

“Oh, come on, Kelly. You’ve taken care of me in more ways than one. Besides, you suddenly disappeared from our village five years ago, and everyone was worried about you. What happened to you?”

Fran, on the other hand, couldn’t help but wonder.

Why does Vice-principal Eltvara treat Lou like a stranger?

I don’t see any hostility from Lou towards her, either…

In the end…

No matter how many times Lou questioned Eltvara, she gave no answer why she left the Arlv Village.

From the looks of it…

Fran felt that there must be a special reason for it.

Apparently, Eltvara ran away from Arlv Village five years ago without permission.

Nobody knew why she ran away from Arlv Village.

However, both Fran and her mother knew about her career after that.

Kelturi Eltvara…

Five years ago, she entered Bardland, the second largest city in the Kingdom of Valentine, and quickly became a first-class adventurer and gained citizenship.

Then, the following year, she took the special student exam to the Valentine Magic University and passed with flying colors.

Furthermore, like Adelaide and Fran, she completed her four years of training in two years.

Adelaide, who had heard rumors and was visiting the university for the graduation ceremony, took notice of her and invited her to teach at the academy.

After joining the school as a teacher, Eltvara rapidly rose to prominence.

In just two years, she had risen to the position of Vice-Principal at the Girls Magical Academy, thanks to her exceptional talent.

“Something seems underfoot, but…Ugh! Just what I needed.”

Adelaide’s suspiciously mischievous smile left Eltvara and Fran unsure of her true intentions.

“What do you mean, Chairman?”

Eltvara wrinkled her brow and asked quizzically.

Proud Arlvs tend to be hypersensitive to things their minds couldn’t reach.

“I’m thinking of making Lou Fran’s servant.”

“Eh? Lou a servant?!”

“Yes.”

“But! W-What does t-that have to do with me?”

Eltvara pounced on Adelaide’s roundabout words as she leaned forward.

Fran could see from her side that Eltvara was completely upset when she heard that Lou was going to be her servant, while acting as if it were someone else’s problem.

However, she would probably never admit that Lou was the cause of her upset.

“Come now, don’t be so uptight. You know Lou, don’t you?”

“…………”

“So, I’m going to make it appear like you introduced us to Lou, and I hired him as a servant.”

At last, the crux of the matter was unveiled.

Eltvara was surprised.

“Eh-hhh? W-Why would I do that?!”

“It’s fitting, that’s all. He’s also your little cute training partner…Could it be that the Eltvara I trust is an incapable woman?”

“C-Chairman!”

Contrary to Adelaide’s toughness, Eltvara’s voice turned weaker.

The Chairman appointed Eltvara as the Vice-Principal of the academy due to her outspokenness and her exceptional talent for magic.

When the Chairman called her an incapable woman…she couldn’t return a word.

Adelaide’s statement also made sense.

From what Eltvara has said and done so far, it was obvious that she didn’t really dislike Lou.

“Fufufu, so can I take that as a yes?”

Eltvara collapsed, completely cornered by Adelaide…

She hunched down, deflated.