“Flora, don’t run around too much!” Mana’s voice reverberated around the stadium as Flora snuggled to me like an adorable house kitten that is greeting her owner.

 

“Did she eat chocolates?” I asked as Mana sat down beside us, nodding before handing me a bar of paper. Without hesitation, I gladly took the bar of chocolate and opened up the paper that wrapped it as a delicious bar of white chocolate revealed itself.

 

Taking a bite on it, the chocolate immediately melted into my mouth as sweetness and bitterness filled my tastebuds. It was a little bit imperfect compared to the ones back in my world but for something of medieval times, this is good.

 

“Mwama!” Flora looked at the chocolate before turning towards Mana who seems to understand what she is asking for as she took out another piece and opened it up before handing it to Flora who soon took it with excitement and started nibbling on it.

 

“It seems like the three of you are getting along super well,” the headmaster, Aurora said as she came back from somewhere holding a plate with what seems to be curry and rice, taking a spoon worth of it and eating the spoon size curry and rice as a delighted look appeared on her face.

 

“Well, Flora is quite obedient… and cute,” Mana said with an embarrassed look on her face as she looked at Flora who was nibbling on the chocolate. A gentle smile could be seen on Mana’s face that was super warm to look at.

 

“How were your lessons, has Estelle’s teaching degraded?” Aurora asked Mana as she shook her head before combing Flora’s hair.

 

“The vice headmaster’s teaching is still better than most teachers, to be honest. She teaches with precision and uses words that are straightforward compared to Teacher Seele’s teaching which is more roundabout,” Mana responded before Aurora nodded with a smile.

 

“Speaking of which, if you do not mind me asking… why do you know of Flora’s true nature and race?” Mana suddenly asked the headmaster who soon stopped moving before looking at Flora as she placed her plate on the floor.

 

“It’s because there used to be another pair that was recognized by a different Great Spirit in the past…” she explained before the mood turned dark as she looked at us and questioned, “Do you want to hear the story about it? Maybe the two of you can learn something…”

 

As if asking for my answer, Mana looked at me for a second before the two of us nodded at the headmaster as she took a deep breath before she started detailing the story.

 

“In the past, there used to exist a male and a female pair that was revered as the most excellent pupils of our generation. The two were none other than Amaryllis and her partner, Elijah; the two of them were super excellent that even if all of us remaining pupils of the generation combined were to battle with them, it’d be our loss…” she said.

 

It seems like those two were super powerful from what she is describing, though to think that there used to exist, someone, that even if an entire school combined were to battle with the two would lose regardless is insane.

 

“To start, the two of them were close but not as a couple. More like friends, the female Amaryllis was a princess of another kingdom that was captured by the kingdom whilst Elijah was a mere commoner who had the smarts and talent.”

 

“As friends, the two of them used to take quests and all other stuff every day from dates to simple shopping. They were so close that it wasn’t weird to think of them as two people who were dating in secret and by secret, I mean by secret since back then status difference mattered a lot in relationships,” she said.

 

This was something I never heard about in Solis VR, to be honest, it was completely new lore. In the original Solis VR timeline, there was never once a time where discrimination or status difference mattered a lot, but it seems like this world doesn’t follow.

 

“During one of their quests on a volcano, they came back with this strange red-haired girl who seems to be harmless. The travel towards the volcano, of course, took about a week which meant that the three of them already got along well with one another during that duration.”

 

“After coming back, the two apparently decided to take responsibility for the girl which created waves of shock in the kingdom as disagreements appeared left and right coming from nobles as the other party was a Princess, after all…” she detailed before looking up at the skies.

 

“But despite the disagreements, the two along with the girl escaped from the kingdom and vanished for a long time before coming home a year later when the chaos dissipated. It was at that time when all of a sudden, a massive assassination was plotted against them,” she said before the mood turned extremely dark that even I could predict what happened next.

 

“The assassination consisted of eight schools combined together with the king’s party since the two were now marked as criminals, naturally, the two resisted as much as they can in front of the girl who seems to have grown up a lot back then… do you know what happened next?” she looked at us and asked before both Mana and I nodded.

 

“The princess died?” I asked before she looked at me and nodded.

 

“During the battle, several men tried attacking the girl to which the Princess reacted as fast as she could, slashing as many projectiles as she could but there was a limit to how much a person can deflect as such several dozens of arrows managed to pass through and struck the Princess, killing her in an instant…” she said.

 

“It was then when everything flipped around, seeing the Princess who she recognized as her mother dies in front of her, the girl turned chaotic. Her entire aura around her flipped like a switch, and the scene that followed was something that even I, a spectator would never forget…” she detailed with a pale face.

 

“Fire burned everywhere, the entire kingdom was smashed into pieces as balls of fires descended down onto the empire and the origin of all of those attacks was a single source… the harmless-looking girl whose eyes were bloody red…” she said, “Blood spilled everywhere, no one was spared until Eiji managed to stop her…”

 

“After managing to stop her, Eiji himself contributed to founding the new kingdom with the throne of the queen left alone for Amaryllis. It was a sad story but shortly after the kingdom was rebuilt, Eiji called us the survivors of the incident and gave us jobs and noble ranks, do you know why?” she looked at Mana who shook her head.

 

“The reason for it was to be the protectors of the kingdom, each one of us who was innocent at that time was granted the Protection of the Flames which lengthened our lifespan to a hundred or more years,” she explained before I rose my hand out of curiosity.

 

“What exactly are you protecting though?” I asked before she smiled.

 

“That’s a story for next time, to end things off, we were taught several dozens of teachings about a Great Spirit and what will happen if something happens. The spirits are more like creatures who had their memories erased due to the waves of time, they maintain the balance of the world but in exchange, they need someone to care for them and love them.”

 

“After the persons who they recognize as their parents die, the spirits themselves die as well and the remaining energy left behind from the parents and the spirits is utilized to give birth to a new spirit that will then start a new cycle,” she explained before clapping her hands as the mood vanished with Flora pulling onto Mana’s dress with her face near her.

 

“Look at you, aren’t you dirty again?” Mana said as she took out a towel from her pocket and wiped off Flora’s face who soon sat on Mana’s lap with a tilt on her head as if confused over what the three of us were talking about.

 

“Mwama, sleepy?” she looked at Mana and asked before Mana shook her head as she grabbed Flora by her arms and stood up as she carried her in her arms with a smile on her face.

 

To think that such a harmless creature like Flora could potentially kill many people is scary to imagine… I guess the only thing we can do is take care of her for as long as we can and follow the tips of the headmaster since it seems like she is knowledgeable about spirits.

 

“How about the two of you bring her to the playground besides our school, she should be able to make a friend or two there,” the headmaster suggested.

 

“Isn’t she a Great Spirit?” Mana asked before the headmaster chuckled as she smacked Mana’s head before Flora’s head turned towards the headmaster who soon paled as she laughed a bit.

 

“Well, the little girl is still a child. Great Spirits are like humans in a way but millions if not billions of times powerful, but their mentality is that of a human, child ones like her have the mentality of a child and etc.” she explained.

 

“According to Eiji’s teachings, it would be best if you treat her not as a monster but as a fellow human as well. They are not that different, they eat like us, have likes and dislikes, play like any other, and most importantly, learn like a child,” she added before another thought appeared inside my head.

 

“Does that mean she can go to school of some sort?” I asked before she nodded.

 

“But in one condition, one of her recognized parents or rather either one of you must be her during then which is why we are thinking of giving Mana who seems to be the better at handling children free time every few days to bring the girl to a school,” she continued as a super loud growl reverberated around the stadium as all of them looked at me.

 

“Well, we talked a bit too much… how about we head to the cafeteria and eat?” she suggested.

 

“Uhh… yeah, let’s go to the cafeteria…” I said embarrassed before Mana chuckled as she handed Flora to me with a smile.

 

“It’s your turn to take care of her, I’ve been carrying her for a while now…” she said with a smile as I took Flora from her before the weight of her body caused my hand to lower a bit, but I quickly managed to bring back my strength.

 

This girl is heavier than she looks…! I wonder if I should prepare a diet plan of some sort for her, but it doesn’t seem like she ate that much… where does all her weight come from?!

 

“Are you two going to stay there?” the headmaster’s voice echoed from afar as both Mana and I looked at one another for a second and nodded as we followed after the headmaster who had a bright smile on her face.