In the morning, Nozomu came running to the main room, with Draiky right behind him. The others were almost finished eating, and he asked the moment he sat down, “Why didn’t anyone wake me up? I fell asleep!”
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Robert Keskula answered after taking a sip of his tea. “I tried to call you, but you mumbled something like ‘go die somewhere’ and I stopped bothering. Hinen couldn’t even approach because Draiky wouldn’t let him, so we left and told him to wake you up if he could. Either he let you sleep, or you told him to go die as well.”
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Nozomu answered as he was gulping down a piece of bread. “I don’t remember any of that, but I am sorry. I guess it was because I disrupted my sleep in the middle of the night when I woke up with thirst. What did I miss?”
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“Only the Principal’s speech explaining what was going to happen in the morning. Parents were invited and Princess Mere will come to make a speech to the new students… basically what he said yesterday. Oh, and in the afternoon we will have History class with Teacher Ruh de Mills and Strategy class with Teacher Egar Gage. Taisetsuna said that we could go to the mountain as soon as we all finished eating to get the Drakes’ scales because the Princess would only arrive by the middle of the mourning, so we have time.”
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Nozomu quickly swallowed his tea and got up with a slice of bread in hand. “I am ready. It would be better if we go now because if the Princess arrives, and we are not here, it will be a mess. Imagine if Hinotsume tries to annoy her like he normally does?”
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Robert answered as he was also getting up, “Then she will refuse to fight him like she always does. Let’s go everyone so that we can do our task with no rush!”
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Taisetsuna grabbed a piece of bread and followed the others.
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When she was walking near another table, a certain Lion-kind boy got up and stood in her way, with a worried look.
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She asked, already squeezing the hilt of the dagger she had at her waist. “What do you want now?”
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“I… I mean… My name… I…”
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“Come on, speak up. I don’t have all day, you know? You normally can’t keep your mouth shut, and now you freeze? What happened, a Cat-kind ate your tongue?”
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“No… I… I mean… Hello… I am… Tomiga Yurao… Yeah… that’s my name…”
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“Okay, and what do you want?”
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Tomiga gulped and said, “What… what is your name?”
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“To you, it is Dame Taisetsuna Kawa, but you already know that, so I have no idea why you still asked.”
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“I… heard it… but… I thought it was a lie…. Because... you are far too young to be a Knight... and… I never heard of anyone so young becoming a Knight…”
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“Well, now you know. Anything else? Because I have work to do, and I can’t stay here all morning waiting for you to finish talking.”
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Tomiga Yurao nodded, and he looked down. Taisetsuna wondered why he was so hesitant because he was not acting all mighty like on the previous day.
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She turned around to leave and heard him again. “Can… Can you… tell me how you became a Knight?”
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Taisetsuna rolled her eyes and faced him again with her arms crossed over her chest. “The Princess made us Knights, me and Nozomu, for services to the country. We went to a cave with hundreds of Goblins inside to rescue two little girls who were kidnapped by them. We killed them all, brought back the girls, and the Princess was informed. It seems we prevented our home City from being destroyed by that vast horde of Goblins. Anything else you want to know?”
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The Lion-kind boy raised his head in surprise and admiration all over his face. His mouth opened and closed, with him trying to speak. Taisetsuna waited and waited, but he seemed in shock.
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After what seemed like an eternity, he said in a trembling, hesitant voice, “No way… it was you two… I heard about it… In the Capital, a Minstrel was singing that... Some Adventurers confirmed… because they belonged to the Ourelona Guild… amazing…”
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Taisetsuna frowned and asked, “Can I go now? You are really getting on my nerves!”
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“Oh… sorry... Yes... thanks… for telling me...”
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“As long as you keep yourself out of my way, I will pretend that nothing happened yesterday. I know very well that you threw dirt into my eyes with your tail on purpose. If you pulled that stunt with Nozomu, he would have sliced your head, but then again, you would not even be able to last that long to even try to throw dirt, considering he is a better fighter than me. Don’t come close, don’t look at me, and don’t talk to me, and maybe you will survive till graduation.”
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As she was walking again to the door, he asked, “What… what if… what if I want to ask you something… or… say hi?”
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Taisetsuna looked back, her eyes shining, her entire body glowing with Magic, and she warned him, “I won’t hold back next time. Consider yourself warned.”
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As she was crossing the door, Tomiga Yurao mumbled in a low voice, “She was holding back? Shit! She almost killed me, and she was holding back?”
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He returned to his table, completely pale. When the members of his Party saw how he looked, one of them asked, “What is the matter, Tomiga? Did she scare you or what?”
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“She is a Knight… a real Knight… the Princess gave that title to her and her friend. And she said that yesterday she was holding back when she was fighting with me. I… shit…”
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“Now that is a first! I never saw you like that! You look dead! What happened? “Have you found your arch-enemy?”
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Tomiga Yurao slowly nodded. “Yeah… I think I did… in the form of an amazing Cat-kind girl… shit… I am not even sure why I am still alive after the beating she gave me yesterday, and she was holding back? And she claims that the other Knight who cut my chin is a better fighter than she is! Shit...”
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“As we were growing up, I told you over and over, and so did your parents and mine. Learn to evaluate the people around you and think before you do or say anything. But did you ever listen? No, because the amazing Tomiga Yurao knows it all! Dumbass… I hope she beats the crap out of you again. Maybe then you will learn!”
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“Hey!”
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“Hey what? Shut up and eat, dumbass! Seriously, man, you never learn! Do you want to come at me now, is that it? Come on, and I will stick this fork in that eye she nearly took yesterday! Wait until your parents come, and they find out what you did! I bet your mother will give you a nice beating!”
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Tomiga Yurao wide opened his eyes and said, “You wouldn’t dare tell her!”
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“I won’t need to! I bet the Principal already took care of that! I warned you before we came here! They put everything you do here in a file! At the end of the year the Principal and the Teachers will look at that file and decide if you graduated or failed. What you did and said, always trying to pick a fight with everyone around you, and how you lost yesterday in every fight you entered, all that will go straight into your file! Because of that, you will need to have a perfect score and perfect behaviour for the rest of the year. Do you understand now, moron? Why did you have to mess with two Knights?”
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Tomiga Yurao’s face slowly turned bright red, and he said, in a low voice, “It’s their fault… they ruined everything…”
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He immediately got a downward punch to his head from his childhood friend. “No, it wasn’t! That was all on you! You are doing it again! You make a mess and you blame others! I won’t be dragged down by your stupidity! You will get your shit together, or I swear by God Raluth, I will slice your neck in your sleep! Then I will drag your sorry ass outside and beat the crap out of your dead body! Understood?”
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“As if!”
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That answer made his friend stick a fork against his neck. “I have been your friend since we were little, but I won’t hesitate to kill you if you ruin my future again! I won’t warn you a second time, Tomiga! You did all sorts of stupid things while we were growing up, and I was always the one that suffered because of you! It took me forever to learn how to read and write because I was always in detention because of what you did, and I tried to cover for you! I lost two girlfriends because of you! One of them, I wanted to marry her! You won’t ruin my chances of being an Adventurer and earning a living, understood? I said, understood?”
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Tomiga Yurao gulped and said, as he was staring into the eyes of his angry friend, “I… am sorry. You are right, completely right… You know how I am, it’s… hard for me to admit when I fail, or I do wrong…”
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The angry boy backed away and pierced a piece of bread with the fork. “You are no longer a kid, Tomiga. This was my last warning. I won’t make another. The next time I see you trying to start something, I will walk away, and I won’t ever help you. Ever!”
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The Lion-kind boy slowly nodded and remained silent.
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Outside, Taisetsuna got near the others, who were looking at the once empty waggons full of Drake’s scales with both Dragons near them.
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She touched one scale and asked, “What is all this doing here? We weren’t supposed to go get these scales-”
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Hinotsume interrupted her with his thundering voice. “We got bored! You took far too long to get out! We woke up in the first sun rays. We went to that mountain, killed the remaining Goblins, ate them along with the Drakes, and took out the scales as we were eating. Then we came here to wait. Since you were taking so long, I went to peek through the windows, and I only saw meat sacs sleeping! Mizukonta grabbed two empty waggons, I grabbed two more, and we went to get the scales while we waited. We made three voyages, and we still had to wait for you guys to come out! Bunch of lazy meat sacs I ever saw!”
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Taisetsuna signalled with his hand for him to approach, and when he had his big snout in reach, she hugged him, surprising him. “Thanks a lot, Hinotsume! That was so cool of you! You act all mean and rude, but you are a sweet!”
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Hinotsume cleared his throat and pretended to be annoyed. “I… I… Aham! I decided to give you the opportunity to recognise how fortunate you are to have me nearby! I can’t say the same about any of you, because I never cared much about what meat sacs think or how they feel about me!”
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Mizukonta poked his head with one claw and said, with a smile on her enormous mouth, “Oh, come on, you grumpy old Dragon! It was your idea in the first place, to surprise them so that they could relax and be with us while we waited for the Princess! He acts all tough and mean, but he likes to hear Princess Mere speak. That is why we always come in the morning after a new group of students starts classes here.”
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“Lies! All lies! As if I would waste my time trying to please meat sacs! The scales are there; tell those horned horses to guard them and let’s go to that field. I want to lie down and enjoy the sun!”
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As the ground was trembling with Hinotsume running away, Mizukonta explained to the smiling Taisetsuna, “He will never admit it, but I know he enjoys being around your group. Let’s go. I also want to lie down and relax because I ate too much. I think the Poison made the Drakes’ meat tastier because it sure was amazing!”
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Chujitsuna made a deep bow with a smile and said, “Thank you for that nice compliment! I aim to please! Heheheh!”
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The blue Water Dragon tilted her massive head and said, in a gentle tone, “I am not sure if you are being serious or mocking me. You are a strange Snake-kind, Chuji!”
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That made Chujitsuna Hito cover her mouth and scream between her fingers, “Kiiyya! Did you hear? She called me Chuji! Not Chujitsuna Hito, only Chuji! Say that again! Say that again!”
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“What? Chuji? It is what everyone else calls you, is it not?”
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“Yeah, but hearing a mighty Dragon say it, it’s so cool! Call me like that when my mother arrives, please! She will be so jealous!”
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“Well, considering that you seasoned the Drakes’ meat for us to enjoy, I think that can be arranged.”
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Chujitsuna slithered next to Mizukonta, and the others followed the chatting duo to where Hinotsume was, near the field that had the targets, and they all sat on the floor, leaning their backs on the wall, and talked, enjoying the peaceful morning and the sun.
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