Seeing how Johann and Richard was unable to move just yet, our small group moved over to one of the nearby restaurants to wait for them and to have lunch at the same time. Cecilia walked along with her mother, probably discussing the event that happened in the guild with her, plus about the letter.

I walked along Amelia and Elliana, who were in high spirits and started talking about what they saw with Felicia. Lilia and her twin brother was stuck with Fernando, who carried them as they walked. The attention was focused on us again as usual. There were some whispers about me but there were more people greeting the husband and wife duo. 

[So, did you get your uniform Elliana?]

[Yes! *cough* I mean, yes. We went to the tailor that Cecilia onee-sama went to when she just got into the academy. It was amazing to see so many types of different clothing! I can't wait to wear mine on the first day of school!]

Her eyes has sparkles in them as she went on to talk about how wonderful the uniform was, from how soft it was and so on.

That's...great? Even Amelia was staring at Elliana as if she was crazy or something.

[Elly chan has been like this ever since she tried her uniform. Should I try and exorcise the uniform?] 

I could only laugh at her suggestion. Elliana stare daggers at her older sister and pouted. 

[Hmph!] 

[Geez...It's your fault for acting like that, Elly.]

[Stop calling me Elly!] 

Here we go again. I bopped their heads when their voices became louder and louder with each insult. 

[You two...] 

[[Sorry...]] 

That was surprisingly easy, for the most part. We soon reach the restaurant, which was  a very popular one that I remembered. Because of the cheap price but amazing standards, the restaurant was frequently visited by everyone. We waited for just a moment in the waiting hall and was given a room shortly. We climbed the steps up to the 2nd floor, where they hosted the larger groups at. The first floor was occupied by mostly students and adventurers currently.

Fernando went up alone first, because of the armour he was wearing, then followed by the rest of us. The poor stairs could not take all that weight at once, which was the waiter's explanation. As the rest of us reached the 2nd floor, we could hear Fernando's laughter.

[At ease men!]

There was a group of guards from the church standing up and saluting Fernando. They quickly stopped their salute but remained standing. Fernando laughed again and raised his hands.

[At ease men! Why the solemn faces?!]

[Sensei...]

[Camus! Yesterday, we all had a duty to fulfil. Sit down men and let's talk it out.]

[Of course, sensei. Waiter, please get a extra seat for our table.]]

[Felicia, I'll be joining them for awhile, enjoy your lunch.]

[We shall, do be less rash this time.] 

As we followed the waiter to our private room, the guards all looked at me. 

[That's the...]

[Yes..]

Were they planning something? Judging from their actions, it looked more like doubt in their eyes than anything else.

We were quickly guided to a single room where we could have lunch in privacy. Felicia made some orders and the waiter quickly left to prepare. We took our seats and I sat next to Felicia and Elliana while Cecilia and rest sat on the left side of their mother. I stretched and relaxed myself. It was only been half a day and I was already tired. 

Felicia chuckled and removed her coat. 

[It seems that Alicia had enough of today, hm? We should bring you out more often to shop.]

[Well, I never had the chance to do this with mother when-]

Ah, I immediately kept my mouth shut. Me and my big mouth...

I can see Felicia's mood change. A sad expression in her eyes appeared for a moment. She grasped my hand and held it gently. A warm feeling that felt familiar. It reminded me of the times I was injured in the academy, there will always be this warm feeling that eased me into sleep.

[My apologizes for bringing those sad memories up, Alicia.]

Felicia only smiled and started pouring tea for everyone. I thanked her and took the cup from her. I tried to start sipping into the tea and Lilia already forced her way onto my lap. It was already hard enough to drink something this hot without spilling it onto the little imp. I patted her on the head before she allowed me to enjoy my tea.

Lilia, what were you thinking doing something so dangerous? What if you make your sister spill her tea on herself or not on you? ]

[S-sorry, okaa-sama..]

Lilia shrunk as she held onto me for support. 

[Alicia.]

[Yes okaa-sama?]

[Let's have a talk when we're all free, alright?]

[Of course, okaa-sama.]

To be honest, I did not know enough about Felicia and her husband. The times that I met them during my previous life can be counted with one hand. 

During the first few years in the academy, there were signs of a monster invasion due to a overwhelming presence of dungeons out of nowhere. With the husband and wife duo being busy at the frontlines, Johann was left to take care of the household with Cecilia.

That was also when I first entered the academy . I was already early by a few years by this point. 

---

[Well men, how are your injuries?] 

Fernando sat down with the guards and took the cup that Camus offered him. He let the taste of alcohol settle down before downing the cup in one shot. 

[As you can see Sensei, most of ours were minor, some had a few broken bones but it wasn't something that a cleric could not fix.] 

[Good, good. I would've hated to injure one of my students. My actions yesterday was rash and foolish, I must admit. ] 

[[Sensei!]] 

[Stop, stop. You all serve in the name of the church. There was no wrong in doing your duty.] 

The men remain silent. Fernando then raised his glass and the guards followed. 

[Come, let's review what have happened yesterday. I arrived after Alicia appeared back out the barrier, so I would like the details during when it happened.] 

[Of course, Sensei.]

A few moments later...

[An incomplete summon of a Cerberus, plus that burst of magic power during the spirit summoning. Bernard, what have you started...I thought I was hearing things yesterday.] 

[Sensei?] 

[During my tour around the kingdom, as you all know, I was suppose to check in with the various lords.] 

[Yes, that was one of the reason for your 'holiday'.]

[There was another issue that I was handling and it seems that my time has been wasted on all these false trails.]

[You mean...] 

[Yes, the issue of the church working with demons. There were hints of it across the country but yesterday's incident affirmed my suspicions.] 

Then Camus stood up, his eyes widening as he started to piece the information together. 

[The traces of Cerberus blood. Plus the mark of a demonic circle in the cathedral, which we found out from the mages guild.] 

Fernando nodded. The guards could only look at each other, their uneasiness was all too obvious. 

[Wait a minute, Sensei. How was it possible for the girl to fend against the monster? If her story was true...] 

[It was possible that she alone chased the Cerberus back into the portal.]

[But what if...!] 

[Camus, calm down. The possibility of her being replaced by a demon is zero. I myself can confirm that. It's a long story to tell but that's the truth, I assure you.] 

[To even chase the demon back, it's simply unbelievable. The strength of a B rank, no, a A ranked adventurer... ]

The guards were still unable to believe this fact. But the blood on the ground and the remains of cloth from the girl's dress were undeniable fact that she fought against the Cerberus and chased it back. 

[What will happen to the Bishop, Sensei?] 

[For the time being, the king requested me and Felicia to keep silent about our findings. As for anything that will incriminate him, we found traces of records and dealings in the his room that involved mainly the people who was declared as 'Scorned'. It is safe to say the Bishop will not escape.] 

[By the goddess. How could this be?]

The guards all looked at Fernando, each gripping their fists as hard as they could. The realization forced some of them to draw blood.

[The only thing the mages guild were unable to ascertain was how did the Bishop managed to summon such a demon within the holy grounds of the cathedral.] 

[Could it be..] 

[Yes, your guess is good as mine, Camus. My opinion right now is that there is an unknown third party that is in the capital right now.]

---

Our lunch went by pretty quickly and the two brothers joined in halfway during our meal. It was not long before Fernando also joined in. 

His grim expression quickly changed to the doofus father look he usually have. 

With our meal done, Fernando left first to attend to some matters while Felicia brought us back to the mansion. The boys had to carry most of the shopping bags that their father left them. With their efforts, we reached home and Felicia went to the study with Cecilia, leaving us free to do whatever we wanted.

After helping the brother to separate the bags to each of our rooms, Miriam was very happy to arrange my luggage when she saw all the new clothes I brought back. She was contemplating to wash and iron them but I stopped her. I sighed as Miriam gave up and went to get some refreshments for me. 

And now...

[By the way, you two.] 

[[Yes, Alicia onee-chan?]] 

Amelia and Lilia both looked at me. Amelia was halfway doing up Lilia's hair to a more proper style for indoors. Somehow they ended up coming to back to my room with me and made themselves at home. Not that I mind it, but even Amelia? I sat down opposite of the girls, pouring a glass of water for them.

Lilia started to hum a tune as she waited for her sister to be done. She has this smile plastered all over her face.

[My, Lilia, what made you so happy today?]

[Ehehe, we can go to school together, onee-chan! My brother was sulking the whole day but he was still happy for me.]

It was the same in the previous life, was it not? I do not believe I remember seeing her twin brother that often in school either. I slowly sip on my glass as Amelia held the girl down to stop her from moving.

[Lilia, do try to study more instead of playing more.]

[Muuu. Amelia onee-chan.]

[Since you are going to be in a different class than us, there won't be anyone helping you, you know.]

That was quite true. With Lilia's affinity with the spirits, she needed a more specialized class to make use of her magic talent. My guess is that the academy will invite one of the great mages from the mages guild or their mother even to start guiding Lilia.

[How about you, Alicia onee-chan? I think the academy will be wonderful! There are so many things to learn as a healer..]

Amelia started to talk about her cleric lessons, which Lilia started to listen in attentively. 

What did I thought about it? In my previous life, I hated the academy. No matter what lessons I went to, my body and mind could never keep up with anything. In my third year, with my repeated clashes with death, my body started to gotten used to the physical lessons. It was the only path I could take before I gotten kicked out. This was the only I devoted myself to and the only way I could have distract myself from Miriam's death.

I literally lived in the training room and tortured myself. A girl from a different world trying to survive, I could only rely on my abilities and survive on my on. From time to time, there were invitations from my family to birthday parties and similar events but I always never to reply. 

Not soon after, the letters also stopped coming in. The next time I saw my family was during my graduation, where everyone has changed...

 

[[Onee-chan!]] 

Lilia and Amelia cried out and I saw my glass shattered in my palm. It didn't hurt much. The blood and slight pain brought me back to my senses. This wasn't the same world as before. The effort that I put in was not for naught after all.

What hurts me was how worried the two of them were. Immediately, Amelia immediately took my palm and started to cast her healing spell. Lilia hugged me as if something will happen to me. 

[Cast thy holy light, heal!] 

The glass shards that were still embedded into my palm was slowly pushed out by magic and the wounds started to seal. Amelia's affinity for healing was truly one of the best in the country. Amelia continued to cast her spells even when the wound was healed until she was satisfied. 

I wiped the sweat off her forehead as Amelia tried to catch her breath.

[A-Are you okay onee-chan?] 

[Yes.. I apologize for worrying you two. I just recalled some unpleasant memories. It's nothing really.] 

[But you just shattered the glass, onee-chan! Please...]

The two of them started sobbing. I could only pat their heads as I waited for them to calm down. 

It really frightened them... 

Miriam entered just at the right time when they were in the middle of crying. She saw the shards of glass on the table and the blood spots on the tablecloth, and her reaction was what you expected. She almost ran out the room before I told her to stop and come back.

I asked the three of them to keep quiet about this matter. No use in worrying the others when Amelia has already healed my wound. 

That night however, their personal maids could not hold them back from barging into my room. Their act of defiance, somehow made me happy. They dove into me when I was still changing halfway. We were lucky that no one bothered to come look at the small commotion they made other than their maids. 

I told Miriam to retire to her room with her fellow maids after assuring her over and over that be alright.

After that was settled, I plopped myself onto my comfortable bed, landing in between the two of them. 

[Next time, just ask me. No need to wake the whole mansion up.] 

[[Okay!]] 

It took some time before they were coaxed to sleep. But they went out like a light when the sleep monster got to them. 

I summoned the little spirit out as I prepared to sleep. It was happy to stay by the window and soak up some moonlight. 

Was it getting bigger? It buzzed around me and happily circled around me before settling down at the window. 

---

The next morning, I woke up and was sandwhiched by them from both sides. Lilia making herself at home on my chest, which explains the suffocating feeling... 

Amelia was much more well-behaved, taking my arm and using it as her bloster. 

Since there was a extra few days of relaxation, I decided to sleep in with the girls. We only woke up when Miriam called us for breakfast. 

Still dressed in our pajamas, we just washed up and went down for breakfast. Johann, Cecilia and Richard were dressed in their academy uniform. They were already rushing for time with their luggage nearby. Cecilia chuckled as she tried flatten the bed hair I had but to no avail. 

[Ah, you guys are finally up. I see Alicia is starting to learn all of Lilia's bad habits.]

[Muuuu.] 

Johann got kicked in the shin by Lilia after he said that. It barely even tickle him but he acted out this little scene to placate his little sister, lying on ground as he grabbed his shin. 

After that skit, they quickly left the mansion on the family carriage . Cecilia gave everyone a peck on tbe forehead before she left but left mine on the cheek, leaving me with a mischievous grin. 

...I swear. 

Thus, I spent these few days with the younger ones, even spending a bit of time with Lilia's twin. It was hard to communicate with her brother since he was the silent type. He enjoyed the comapny though. 

Ameila was gone the day before the academy officially opened for the year. She was escorted by her senior healer, who unsurprisingly started to stare. The rumors has started to flow. 

Amelia dragged her senior off, before she started asking all sorts of questions. 

---

[Amelia, stop pulling me!]

[Senpai, it's rude to stare.]

[Do you know who that person is? A Scorned! I thought the rumors were something made up but she's really your sister?!] 

Amelia almost had the urge to slap her senior. 

[Stella senpai, you never saw what happened! I was at the cathedral with my family! Plus Alicia onee-chan was framed.] 

The older girl called Stella flinched at her cute junior's reaction. 

Then they realized they were yelling at each other in the middle of the street. The both of them quickly rushed to the academy without saying another word.