Book 3: Chapter 17: Majo: The Maiden
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…Ehh… Last night perhaps I drank a bit too much… At least I didn’t wake up late…

Now what’s my to-do list? I think there’s… first is to listen to more exposition, second is to sell some stuff for more money, she wants that compensation and I established that I would’ve helped her with that already… third is getting to know the intention behind the two, they’re clearly big players, but how exactly is the question...

Also I haven’t said anything to my classmates and otherworlders since I got back, that was a bit inconsiderate of me, the whole dining with her and drinking a bit much. Well I don’t know if they’re awake at this time I should go give them a visit at least before the class starts.

*Open*

I opened the door and walked into the hallway… now that I think about it isn’t it that there are others here besides us? Would be a bit awkward if there were to be anyone else who-

*Open*

Well this is awkward. The girl who opened the door soon after me is very much not someone I know… She has brownish blonde hair and blue eyes, her hair at neck length and her height about two or three centimeters smaller than me. For some reason she’s reminding me of something, but I’ll put that aside for now.

“Umm” She began trailing off as the first person to raise their mouth.

“Hi there… you’re a student here are you not?” I however am the first to speak coherent words.

“Y-Yes… My name is Clara” She nervously introduced herself, looking rather polite and at least able to open up a bit.

“How about we chat for a bit? Doesn’t look like anyone else is around. How about my room? No one else is around” I suggested to change the scenario, a change would be nice about now.

“Y-Yes, that’ll be nice” She replied with a small nod, closing the room behind her and following me into my room. If I were a man or old or religious this will look even more suspicious than it already is.

*Close*

We close the door and make sure to close the windows and make sure no one was eavesdropping just in case. I’m in my casual clothes at the moment, as in taking off the protective gears… actually let me store this cloak away as well, not that stuffy but better off without it for now. Let me stretch a little as well.

“Hnrg…” I groaned a bit with the morning stretch. She’s staring at me for a bit, blushing slightly… Oh wait oh dammit I just figured out why, my shirt is a bit form fitting, so it probably looked a bit suggestive, it’s partially a body suit. Usually it doesn’t matter since I usually have my cloak and armor on, but I don’t right now, well that’s a bit awkward.

“Okay. I guess the introduction is in order in my end. I’m Reiza, I’m actually a supervisor of a certain group that came here, from foreign lands, have you seen any of them before?” I introduced myself. I don’t think the academy was very active yesterday so maybe not, maybe people are staying safe or people just aren’t around? Either case I have no idea if she has heard of them or not.

“I have heard a few gossip about, but nothing else” She answered, sounding very much honest and lovely. 

“I see. Well don’t worry about them, they’re dealing with things you don’t have to. Anyway, anything you could share about yourself?” I said with a smile so she can be a bit more comfortable. She looked at me still, I moved my body a bit to get in a better position.

“U-Umm…” She’s looking a bit blushy. I guess she’s still a bit nervous. 

“I’m not going to do anything, you’ll be fine” I said to reassure her. I finish moving around and look her straight in the eye.

“Okay… I’m a student here… I’m different from others…” She muttered shyly, though not really elaborating much.

“Different how exactly?” I asked, feeling a bit curious. What could her backstory be exactly? Is she like an otome protagonist or something? 

“I’m just a mere commoner, most of the people here are either children of knights or nobles” That’s so freaking… Let’s not think that way, already treating this too much like a game already, needs to stop. Nope, and it’s not her fault for being a generic otome protagonist in the first place, I need to think differently here.

“I see… Well at least the people I’m with are also quite different from these nobles, I believe we’ll get along fine” I said with a friendly smile to not look threatening, so she can be a bit more open.

“Okay… Miss Reiza, what do you usually do?” She asked, probably trying to continue the conversation without letting it get awkward.

“Oh? Getting right to a point is it? I’m a hunter, an adventurer, go around the world and somehow ended up with many gi- I mean fortune and fame. Of course this is the first time I came here so no notoriety here” I explained myself and almost made a slip up there, she would probably think it’s weird, I better not say it out loud.

“Really?” She said sounding rather curious, doesn’t look like she’s doubting my story at least.

“What about you? What would you become after this whole academy thing is over? What is your dream?” I asked, wondering about her future myself, it’s not exactly something brought up a lot if at all in these kinds of tales.

“I… I’m just trying to live my life, I don’t have any ambitions like other people here, perhaps something a bit modest I could go with after I have graduated… I just want to get out of here safely” She said then muttered the last part sounding very hurt. I don’t know what to think about that, she’s a sad girl that’s for sure.

“What happened?” I asked feeling a bit compassionate, I don’t think I’ll believe her immediately, I’m not that trusting of people, but I would like to hear her out at least, she does sound genuinely hurt.

“I… It’s nothing, you’ll probably think I’m trying to make you feel pity” She replied sounding even sadder, this girl sure is one big mess, really need to pull her out of it.

“I’m not exactly sure what you could even say to make me feel pity, I have a lot worse than most that I can say. Betrayed, burned at the stake, and vio- and almost die a few times, albeit usually by my own volition. I have been through a lot myself, as someone who traveled and lived dangerously. It’s hard for me to be fazed by anything” I said with a confident smile. I have been through a lot and certainly let go of a great deal of it, and suffering is everywhere, so her having some isn’t special, I can rationalize it that way if she wants it so.

“Uh… Okay…” She replied shyly not expecting such an answer, it almost cheered her up a little, perhaps due to the ridiculous wording despite it being the truth.

“C’mon, say it, it’s fine” I said to her, sounding chill about it to not stress her out, moving and changing my position a bit to look more comfortable.

“M-My parents died…” She said, sounding almost downright depressed. Jeez that must’ve sucked, I know a girl without parents already so it’s nothing new, but it doesn’t look like this girl has anyone else.

“That’s unfortunate” I said. That’s it. Not sounding particularly emotional. Her face is that of surprise, and thankfully not tears of sadness or frustration, as that would’ve outed her as a manipulative person that I don’t want to deal with. Just because something is genuine doesn’t mean people can’t use it to manipulate others.

“...Thank you” She replied quietly. She smiled a bit, looking at me.

“Yeah, it’s tough is it not? Well I’ll provide some sympathy, but if you’re not ready to receive them, then I won’t give you anything” I said to her with clear conviction and tone. 

“Yes, I understand” She replied with a small smile.

“Anyway. Let’s put that behind us shall we? No one would want to dwell on such a tragedy isn’t that right?” I said with a smile as well, do so through the pain, a smile as a mask, a smile as a twisted perception.

“Of course!” She replied starting to put herself together again, she sure moved on quickly, but maybe she does, but can only do so temporarily, either way let’s not look back on that.

“Now let’s talk about each other a bit more shall we? What should we talk about?” I said restarting our conversation, to move away.

“Um… Miss Reiza…” She started to say something, but I’d say let’s not use formality here.

“No need for formality here Clara, aren’t we just two people chatting?” I said interrupting her.

“If you say so… Miss Reiza… I mean Reiza… Umm… Is there anything in particular you can say? That is… maybe… amazing?” She asked with the question being a rather broad one. An amazing tale… What could I say that isn’t too ridiculous for words?

“Amazing… I wouldn’t say there’s much to be amazed by, especially without seeing it for yourself. I mean I have fought an actual demon once, that was tough, but I beat him with barrages of coordinated attacks, it’s pretty amazing I guess” I said, not giving all the details but just enough to maybe satisfy her. A few close calls but I defeated that red guy.

“Really? What was it like? How scary is it?” She asked, sounding more curious.

“Heh, back then there’s one thing for certain I was thinking. I won’t die to that thing. I’ll make it out alive. It was stronger than me, but it sure underestimated me, it must be humiliating for that demon, and now it’s dead” I said reassuringly, it was a pretty cool moment. 

“Wow… I couldn’t imagine myself doing that” She commented while looking at me, seeming to believe me. It’s rather strange that she believes me so easily, but no need to point that out.

“Heh, I wouldn’t recommend it, after all risking your life may improve if you survive, but fail and you die, it’s all or nothing. Don’t try it if you can help it, playing safe isn’t a bad thing” I said, giving her advice.

“Noted!” She said with a small smile, sounding more positive, perhaps because someone began hanging out with her? She is obviously friendless here.

“Well Clara, what are you well versed in? Swordsmanship? Magic? Diplomacy? Gardening? History?” I asked her, bringing up a few examples.

“I’m… pretty good with magic, but I don’t think I’ll get to use it much” She answered sounding a bit unsure about herself, once again another otome game trope.

“Well who knows? I think magic can be used for a lot of things, so no need to worry about not finding a place to use it. It can even be used for more up mundane things as you may already know” I said to encourage her a little. 

“Really?” She asked, wanting more reassurance. 

“Of course. Anyway outside of that is there anything you’re particularly confident in? Or maybe just a hobby really” I asked, since we’re getting to know each other might as well ask about hobbies.

“Umm… I’m sorry, I really am not good with most things” She replied with a humble smile.

“Don’t be like that. I’m sure you can come up with something… I mean is there anything you like? You don’t even have to be good at it” I said to rouse her up a little, now asking for something she likes. 

“Well… I like reading novels honestly, maybe some legends, maybe some fantasies” She answered. She’s a reader, I wonder if she was in modern time she’ll like my kind of novels. Something to think about…

“Really? I also like to read fictional stories as well, sometimes you muses as to how real it could’ve been” I replied feeling a bit enthusiastic, I’m always a bit of a reader myself, while Mitsuka flat out admitted he prefers anime and manga because he can’t stand text for too long.

“Yeah! It’s always something fun to ponder over, it’s intriguing isn’t it?” She said, sounding more cheerful and open. It’s nice seeing her face lighten up a little.

“Exactly! It’s really fun reading through such a story. Nice to see that you have something you enjoy” I said commenting on how she actually has some joy in life, there’s still hope left in her if she can find something to enjoy.

“Yeah, I guess something in my life is okay” She replied with some positivity, if only the wording are a bit depressing… Well there’s still some things I have to do, I can’t chat with her forever.

“Say, what time does your lesson start? Shouldn’t you go prepare for it at least?” I asked. It’s certainly a legitimate concern if not my main motivation for saying so. Her eyes widened for a second.

“Y-Yeah! It should start in about two hours, some time left… I mean we could talk for a bit can’t we?” She answered now sounding a bit clingy, I guess finding someone who could be her companion does that.

“...Sure” I said, I could go talk to my classmates an hour before, I think just talking to her for this hour will be fine.

“Yay! So… what kind of story do you read?” She replied like a clingy and energetic high school girl. Cute but slightly problematic, and for her question I wonder what I should say… a lot of in another world stories… I could just say that and not worded it weirdly and that should be fine.

“Well you have heard of summoning from and going to a different world right? Same concept. It’s an interesting premise that I don’t think many have actually experienced” I answered. She nodded her head listening to me.

“Another world… I have heard of that before… You have seen many things I haven’t, is it really true?” She muttered then asked.

“Well if you can believe it… Yeah, it’s true, certainly is” I answered her flat out, her believing it or not is another matter.

“Another world existing… That sounds intriguing… what is it like? Do you know what it’s like?” She asked, what an inquisitive mind she is. Like a little kid hearing bedtime stories.

“Heh, it’s not all that different, it’s usually the time that is different. The thing about another world is that their time and ours doesn’t sync, which means when one crosses over to another, the difference is more due to time than place” I explained, that’s about the best I could explain it without mentioning things like those weird defilement or whatever when crossing or the slight difference in history and strength of humanity and so on.

“Time… So it’s like we’re summoning someone from the future?” She muttered and asked, coming to a conclusion.

“Basically, sure the worlds are all slightly different but usually the fundamentals are there, so when one from the future sees the past… it can be a bit jarring” I confirmed her theory. There’s more to that of course, the world of the past and the future are very different, it can barely be called the same world when one sees it first hand.

“Yeah… That’s true…” She muttered at my answer. 

“Well it does have its benefits, that just means the world that summoned themselves advance faster, more progressive outlook, more efficient tools, new ideas, so on and so on, of course it all depends on how much the otherworlders are willing to share their knowledge, regardless if they’re the expert or not” I added.

“...This is all very fun to listen to” She commented, I don’t think it is but if she said so I’m not going to argue.

“I see. Well let’s talk about something else now. How about you tell me a bit about your magic? I’m a pretty good spell caster myself” I brushed to topic away and asked something about herself.

“I can… do some light and healing magic, I think that’s about all I can do” She said with a slightly self-deprecating smile. More cliches.

“I mean healing is always useful at least, no need for self-pity” I said having to reassure her again, at least it’s not every word I said that has to do so now, she’s improving.

“Thank you Reiza” She smiles while replying to my comment.

“No need for it. You’re always welcomed” I replied with a smile of my own. Her smile is bigger now.

“So… is there anything else you want to say? It’s been a while” I asked, breaking the silence after we stared at each other for a bit. I moved my body a little and got closer to her. Leaning in close to her with her face turn redder.

“Umm… Well…” She’s nervously fidgeting as she has difficulty with words. Maybe if I… 

“W-Wha!” She reacted with her face redder and hotter, all I did was caress her face a little with my bare hand…

...Oh… Wait, is she getting hot from this? Is she… Oh… There’s another oblivious streak from me, how embarrassing. My outfits don't help at all… I retracted my hand and moved away slightly.

“Sorry, was I a bit too close there?” I said keeping my cool, while she very much does not.

“N-N-N-No! It’s alright!” She quickly replied, possibly trying to not hurt my feelings.

“It’s fine” I said with a reassuring look.

“A-A-Ah… Okay” She replied, still clearly nervous. Maybe now it’s a good time to stop the conversation for now?

“You look a bit sick there, perhaps you should rest, your class will start sooner or later isn’t that right?” I suggested, which she seems to clearly take note of.

“O-Okay! I’ll see you later Reiza! Pleased to meet you and let’s meet again!” She said as she stood back up still looking at me.

And there she goes, out the room and probably back at hers.

What an interesting girl, I should talk to her again sometimes.

Reiza here existing as the yuri route for the girl.

Here’s a scribble of their first meeting, not super accurate design

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