Chapter 176: Chapter 175 – Troubled Thoughts

“It’s yours, Caitlyn. You deserve it so much more than I do.”

She repeated those words in her head, not understanding the meaning behind them. Caitlyn’s thoughts went back to Yuki, the image of her face appearing, calm and serene. Those grey eyes that stared deep into her own when she spoke those words.

‘Why would she give me such a reward?’ she thought, frowning.

Before today, Caitlyn had never even spoken to Yuki. She had only watched her and Yuna from afar. Caitlyn was convinced that Yuki didn’t even know of her until that one day when she was talking with Yuna and their eyes met.

‘From her words, she was already planning to do this too, wasn’t she. Before we went out.’

Caitlyn remembered the first time she saw Yuki. It was during her first year, when she was apart of the normal class. She was in the Academy forest with her classmates as they were about to start a test. She was at the edge of the group, distancing herself from the others as she waited for the test to begin. She remembered being bored.

‘We were waiting for everyone to arrive. Including the advanced students.’

That was when a person arrived who caught her immediate attention. It was a girl and looked like no one she had ever seen before. Neck length hair, grey eyes, and a build that looked slender yet had a certain edge to it. It wasn’t until later that Caitlyn learned that the girl wasn’t an elf, but rather a human.

‘I guess that would explain the little glimmer she has around her. Maybe it’s a human thing.’

 The second she saw Yuki was when the test was ending an everyone was regrouping. There was a bit of an uproar due to a giant metal golem that had appeared during the test. Caitlyn had stayed away from the conversation, not wanting to risk being dragged into it. However, when the noise suddenly quieted, she looked around with curiosity, trying to find what caused the change. It was Yuki, standing next to a beautiful elven girl who Caitlyn didn’t know at the time. 

As she listened to the conversations around her, she gathered that the golem had appeared right where Yuki and the elven girl who she now knew was named Yuna. Apparently they ran away from it, but Yuna had seen two people defeat the golem. Caitlyn thought that it was rather odd that the human who were often described as weak seemed completely unfazed or tired from the whole ordeal while the elf was sweating and seemed bothered. 

‘That was where my interest began, I think.’

Since that time, Caitlyn began acutely aware of Yuki’s presence anyway. She could spot her nearly anywhere, though that wasn’t that impressive of a feat considering that she looked different from everyone else and her glimmering sheen prevented her from blending in. From watching her whenever she could for two years, Caitlyn had come to a few conclusions. One was that Yuki seemed to either have extremely good control over her emotions or had an odd lack of them. The second was that she was stronger than she let on which either meant everything taught about the strength of humans was wrong or that she wasn’t one.

‘Wait. I seem a bit like a stalker, don’t I?’

Her first real interaction with Yuki was during the tournament. Caitlyn had joined the tournament because the prize would be priceless for someone like her. It would be her saving grace in life.

‘I wouldn’t have to worry about food. Or living. People would respect me and leave me be.’

The second round was when she realised just how much of her strength Yuki had been hiding. The way she blew past the final stretch of the climb was something that outclassed anything Caitlyn had ever seen from any student. When she had reached the top, she looked the same as always: calm and collected. Seeing such a display, Caitlyn felt the urge to match it, to show that she could do it as well. 

‘I don’t know who I wanted to show. Just that I did.’

Once she had completed the climb, she felt that Yuki had been watching her. While she was walking to a circle away from Yuki and her teammate, their gazes met. Caitlyn knew that she was being appraised. 

‘Oh. I guess that I took that as a challenge,’ she thought. ‘I think that was when I decided.’

Her mind went forward to the final duel between her and Yuki. To the frustration and desperation she felt as she fought against an opponent who seemed completely unfazed from her attacks. To the sadness she felt crashing down onto her when she lost. And the anger she had at herself. She failed.

Then the honoring ceremony. And those words that seemed to have come down from the heavens. 

‘Why did she do that for me?’ Caitlyn wondered again. Her expression softened as she hugged the pillow in her grasp tighter.

“The duel told me everything I need.”

‘I didn’t fail,’ she thought, a faint smile spreading across her lips. She reached out and touched the smooth metal card on her nightstand. The one that signaled the start of her new life. 

‘She saw me. She saw me for this first time.’

---

 

“You know why I called you here, right?” 

Yuki nodded calmly in reply. He was sitting in a soft cushioned seat as he faced the headmaster who was wearing a very tired expression. A pair of glasses were in her hands as she rubbed the bridge of her nose.

“Do you know how much trouble your little statements have given me?” Selene sighed. “The amount of calls I had to answer were amazing to say the least. I don’t believe I’ve ever had as many calls in my entire life than I did in that one hour of craziness.”

“I know.”

“If you knew what was going to happen, then why didn’t you come speak to me before your little announcement?” Selene asked, her expression unamused.

“I didn’t believe that it would attract that much attention,” he replied. “I predicted that you would receive a few calls, however I thought that it was only going to be a few.”

“Did you forget that you’re trying to pass yourself off as a human?”

“No. I underestimated that amount of interest in me though.”

“You don’t say,” Selene said dryly. She put her glasses on and placed her hands on her wooden desk. “You’re lucky, Yuki. I was already expecting such an event happening. There was no way you would spend your entire time in this world looking like a human. So I made a contingency plan and explanation in the event that you wanted to reveal to the world that you were actually an elf this entire time.”

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“I see,” he said.

“However, that plan also included you coming to me and telling about your intentions before the reveal,” she continued. “That was to avoid me being unprepared when the inevitable media storm that would come from it.”

“I see. What was the explanation?” Yuki asked, switching the subjects.

“That this was an experiment of sorts,” she said. “That I disguised someone as a human to see how my students would react.”

“That seems like a stretch,” Yuki observed.

“Well, I have a track record of doing odd social experiments to gauge people’s reactions,” Selene explained. “There was one year where I had one of my friends teach a class. He isn’t exactly the most professional person. So it was fun seeing people who were raised in a more affluent setting being taught by a drunk adventurer.” 

“So you saying that I was an experiment wouldn’t raise questions.”

“It would raise questions, just ones about my behavior and why I would do such a thing. Though some would question whether I’m lying or not, most people would accept what I tell them eventually.”

“I see. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” she replied. “But please do note that next time you do something that would potentially create problems for me, you should tell me before hand. I would advise that you wouldn’t do something that would cause me problems, but I can’t control you so at least notify me.”

“I will.”

“Now, I have a question for you. What are you planning to do now?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve told people that you’re an elf,” Selene explained. “You can’t exactly go back to class looking like a human. So what do you want to do? Go in as an elf and act as if nothing happened, or make have me make an announcement schoolwide?”

“I would prefer the first option,” Yuki replied immediately. 

“I would too,” Selene smiled. “Just curious, but why did you decide to come out as an elf now?”

“Like you said, I couldn’t hide it forever,” he shrugged. “So I thought the tournament was a great way to come out.”

“And attract attention at the same time,” she noted. “What other reasons did you have?”

“I feel like you already know what they are,” Yuki said calmly. “Don’t you?”

Selene simply smiled in reply. 

“You can leave now,” she said, dismissing him. “Have fun with your little break. I seriously hope that when you come back to class later, another storm of calls doesn’t brew.”

“I’m surprised that the calls ended so early,” Yuki commented.

“Oh, they didn’t. I’m just not the one answering them anymore.”

“And automated reply?”

“Ah, no. You see, my assistant headmaster is answering them for me,” she said. She pointed to a room beside her office. “He’s in there right now. Probably answering calls.”

“Gale?” Yuki said, remembering the name of the deputy headmaster. 

“Mhm. So for his and my sake, please don’t cause such a storm again,” Selene said pleasantly. “Understood?”

“Yes,” Yuki nodded. “I’ll be going them.”

“Until next time,” she waved.

He stood and walked out of the headmaster’s office. When he reached the gates of the Academy, there were two people waiting for him. They were conversing with each other, but when they noticed him walk out they quickly made their way to him.

“Done?” Erica smiled.

“Yes,” Yuki replied.

“How was it?” Akira asked.

“I’ll tell you later,” he said. “Let’s go. Erica, you said that were going to introduce me to a metallurgist?”

 

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