It was three days after I went to join Alexia for clothes shopping and decided to buy a black jacket.
Today is the day when Miu enrolls in the Magician’s Academy. Formal clothes may be desirable at such times, but unfortunately, those clothes are not yet tailored.
They’re adjusting things to fit my size. It will be completed in two weeks, and it seems that it will be in time to meet with the Supheniardvania diplomatic mission.
“Alright, let’s go,” I said.
“Why are you excited, Pops…?” Miu asked.
After having breakfast, as usual, I left home with Miu who was a little dressed up.
From this morning, I was a little excited, but Miu wondered that, but since my kid… is it alright to call her my kid? Ah, well. It is the beginning of a sunny new opportunity for my kid. There was no reason why I shouldn’t be excited.
“Hahaha. Well, this is one of those parental moments,” I said.
“… Hmph.”
By the way, Miu’s appearance is not her usual robes, but she choose something she liked from the clothes that were in the box delivered to us. Since she got a gift, she seems determined to make the most of it.
The black pants style is tight-fitting and worn over a white, patternless cut-and-sew. Her usual attire is a bit revealing, this is just right for public appearances.
From Miu’s perspective, it wasn’t that flashy or cute, so it was a decisive factor that there was no big backlash.
“… These shoes make my feet feel weird,” Miu said.
“You have to get used to those clothes,” I said.
Although there was no resistance against the color and pattern, it seems that there was some resistance to the pants that went from her waist down to her toes.
She complained a bit, but she’ll have to get used to it. I can’t say she’s the kind who usually wears comfortable clothes.
According to Ms. Quinella, there are currently about 600 students attending the Magician’s Academy. There are children of various ages, some younger than Miu, and some are like Alexia and Selena.
The male-female ratio is about 50-50. Considering we don’t know the background factors of a magician like when the magical capability will manifest regardless of age, gender, or origin, the distribution sounds reasonable.
I wonder if it’s selfish of me to want her to become friends with girls of the same age.
I am confident, however, that if she brings home a male friend, I’d be skeptical. I won’t give them my kid. Whether or not Miu will develop such feelings is another matter.
“By the way, it’s only rumored, but I heard the tuition was pretty reasonable,” I said.
“… It’s not cheap either way,” Miu said.
“It’s a small price to pay for you, Miu,” I said.
“… Hmph.”
Yeah, I was worried about the entrance fee, but this was also a fairly reasonable price.
Even if you don’t count my salary as a Special Instructor, I can manage to pay it with my current savings. If Miu was more skilled, this would have been a full scholarship, but well, it’s too much to hope for.
Miu can only handle fire magic right now.
If she was a bonafide genius, it seemed that she could have done various other schools of magic immediately after her magical capacity manifested. Lucy seems to have been the first and it seems her titles and attitudes weren’t for nothing after all.
“Up we go,” I said.
We board a horse-drawn carriage while gazing at the lively morning scenery of Baltrain and the waves of people moving about. It’s still so crowded this early in the morning.
But it’s a nice city, Baltrain.
Since it is the capital of the Kingdom of Rebelis, it is natural to say that it is prosperous, but it is still very different in scale and convenience compared to Bidden Village
Horse-drawn carriages didn’t even exist in such a countryside.
“You’re going to leave as soon as you get there, anyway,” Miu said.
“Ah, well, you’re right. But it’s a milestone, isn’t it?”
“.. Ah, yeah,” Miu said.
Even if I said this was her first day of school, there was no entrance ceremony.
I also heard it from Ms. Quinella, but since the Magician’s Academy always wants budding mages, it seems that it accepts mid-year admissions all the time.
Although it is difficult to accept them every day, it seems that they are accepting new transfers every start of the month, and Miu is taking advantage of that.
Therefore, there is nothing special that parents will accompany them, and for my business, I’m going to see Miu to the Magician’s Academy, that’s all.
Ah, well, it’s probably my paternal instinct that I still want to go with her. It may be overprotective, but Miu is also severely at risk. I’ll be the judge.
I got off the horse-drawn carriage, walked for a while, and approached the big entrance of the Magician’s Academy, which boasts a vast campus.
There I saw Quinella Fine, a teacher at the Magician’s Academy who had explained various things to us before, she was looking at us with a smile.
“Yes, good morning as well,” Ms. Quinella said. “Since you’re enrolling today, I will also be your guide today.”
“I see, that helps,” I said.
For me and Miu, it’s safer to be with someone you know than someone you don’t know. In that respect, Ms. Quinella is the only acquaintance we have in the Magician’s Academy except for Lucy, and she is a big help with these procedures.
“Come on, you have to say hello too, Miu,” I said.
“Mn… good, morning…” Miu grumbled.
“Yes, good morning to you, too,” Ms. Quinella said.
She doesn’t know how to get involved with people other than close friends, such as me and Lucy. If you urge her, Miu will spin out a poor greeting. Ms. Quinella seemed to know that about Miu, and she gave me a cheerful reply.
“Well then, I’ll be taking care of Ms. Miu,” Quinella said.
“Yes, thank you,” I said.
She was complaining about my tagging along a while ago, but when it comes to enrollment, she gets nervous. Hahaha, you gotta love it.
Now then, this is the end of my business
I’m not taking a day off instructing today, so let’s go back to the carriage terminal and head to the Knights’ HQ.
I can ask about this and that of her first day after Miu gets home. Well, I don’t think she will talk about her student life just like that, but I have to communicate with her little by little going forward.
My goal is not just to protect her, but to make her independent.
“What to do now?” I said.
My young ward is gone and I wander around the North District alone.
At this time of the day, the spires of the Rebelis Royal Palace can be seen clearly. I think I can go to the royal palace if I go a little further, but I don’t have any other business here. Besides, the security escort of the Supheniardvania Delegation will probably stop at the royal palace. I hope I can enjoy sightseeing then.
Besides, there is a Suphenian Temple in the north district of Baltrain, which I have few good memories of.
Now that the clean-up is finished, it seems to be back to its original shape, but I don’t think I would go there again.
In the end, I don’t know how many of them survived or died.
I suppose that’s what it meant that none of them were charged with crimes. I wonder if Alexia and Lucy did their best behind the scenes here as well.
That’s why the North District is not a place I want to be in right now. Should I head to the Knights’ HQ immediately?
“Good morning… oh, they’re already at it,” I said.
At the Knights’ HQ, I arrived with an unsettled feeling in my heart, the many knights were training as usual.
“Good morning, Master,” Alexia said as she approached me, shortly after I entered.
“Oh, good morning,” I replied.
It’s not her usual armor, it’s easy to move-in clothes. It’s no wonder she’s instructing here, as she’s also the Captain of the Knights.
But she seems a little too enthusiastic to simply just be… instructing.
“Master, may I make a request of you right now?” Alexia said.
“Hmm? What is it?”
I have to wonder.
That she would ask something of me is rather rare. She hasn’t been the selfish type since she was back in the dojo, and I don’t think she’s asked anything of me since I came to Baltrain. No, it seems that it was her extraordinary selfishness that got me recommended as a Special Instructor.
“Why don’t you spar with me?” Alexia asked.
“Huh… what?”
She was looking at me straight ahead with clear eyes.