CH 497.1

… Who?

“G, good morning.”

Despite the awkwardness of having attracted attention, we gave our morning greetings before stepping inside the classroom.

I looked around the classroom for an empty seats, and found some near the window in the front where we could all sit side by side. Eh? … Who!?

“Ou, G’morning! Hey, did you bring the Sacred Beast with you today!?”

A boy with short orange hair, carelessly scattered, stared at us with sparkling amber eyes.

As I was puzzled by the suddenness of the situation, Sei stepped forward to protect us with a slightly wary expression on his face.

“Oh. Like any other guards, we don’t bring them to the class.”

“Ehh~? I was so excited when I found out I would be in a special class with you. I was really looking forward to it, you know~”

The boy’s mouth twitched a little as if he was sulking.

“Oh, I’m Adrian Nelson, you can call me Adry. I’m the second son of the Knight Commander. Nice to meet you!”

He introduced himself as if he had just remembered, then smiled and held out his hand.

The Knight Commander Nelson is the most important person in charge of the Royal Knights Order. As I recall, he was a member of the Marquise family.

Otousama said that most of the Marquise Nelson family is a family of muscle-brains who aspire to be knights… but I certainly have the impression that they express themselves openly now.

Sei shook his hand, looking out of sorts.

“… I’m Seinoshin Shikishima. Sei is fine. Best regards.”

“Seinoushi…? Err, Sei, right? Yeah, I memorized it!”

He waved his hand and looked at us. Oops, I should introduce myself too.

“I am Cristea Ellisfeed. I am pleased to get to know you.”

“I, I am M-Mariel Mayer! I will be in your care!”

When Mariel-chan and I introduced ourselves, Adrian, a.k.a. Adry, responded with a smile, “Best regards!”

“You see, I’m really interested in the Sacred Beast! I want to become a knight in the future, but I want to make a contract with a Sacred Beast or a big Magic Beast and fight with it as my cavalry. It would be cooler that way, right?”

“… You think so?”

Sei responded to Adry-sama’s insistence with an indifferent reply.

Sei would have preferred to live a peaceful life in his hometown in Yahatul without having his life threatened, rather than making a contract with the Four Divine Beasts, the Sacred Beasts of Yahtul, who were sent by the Divine Dragon to protect him when he left Yahtul

It’s not like I don’t understand him.

I, too, would have preferred to live a quiet and peaceful life rather than to stand out in a strange way.

Ah, of course, now I can’t imagine life without Mashiro and the others, can I?

No mofumofu, no life! You know?

However, it’s not that I don’t understand what Adry-sama is saying, either.

My nerdy brain from a previous life is nodding its head and saying, “Yeah, yeah, that’s it!”

Mariel-chan must be feeling the same way.