Chapter 77 - - 77: Rewards?

Chapter 77: Chapter - 77: Rewards?

*Things are changing too much*

People were appearing who had never existed in the original story. Events were happening earlier or later than I remembered.

Even characters I had thought I understood were turning out to have secrets that had never been mentioned in the game.

And Clara was perhaps the clearest example.

Until today, Elena and I, just like most of the students who had seen her during the terrorist attack, had naturally assumed that Clara was a natural-born spirit.

That assumption had not been unreasonable.

From everything we had been taught about spirits, they were naturally born entities formed from extraordinarily pure concentrations of elemental energy gathered by the world itself, and the higher their elemental purity and intelligence became, the more closely some of them could resemble humans.

There were spirits that could communicate.

There were spirits that could learn.

There were even spirits capable of developing personalities that were difficult to distinguish from those of humans.

So when Clara appeared in a completely human form, possessed intelligence far beyond what ordinary spirits demonstrated, and displayed power at the level of a Grand Mage, it had been easy to assume that she was simply an exceptionally powerful ice spirit.

The fact that she had spent years living among humans only made her behavior seem more understandable.

But that assumption had been completely wrong.

Clara was not a natural-born spirit. She was once a human and somehow, she had transformed into a spirit.

I still could not understand how that was possible.

My memories contained plenty of information about spirits, but nothing that immediately explained how a human could become one.

Except for dying of course. But in that case they usually lose most of their sanity and humanity. Which is not the case with Clara.

I remembered the scene from Albert’s office again when Clara had looked at Elena and me after revealing her connection to Elena’s family.

She had stared at our completely dumbfounded expressions for several seconds before suddenly raising one eyebrow.

"Wait." Her eyes narrowed.

"Don’t tell me that all this time, you have both been thinking that I am some stupid spirit who got too attached to her master and started calling him husband?"

Elena and I had glanced at each other, then back at Clara.

"Of course not," Elena replied rather quickly.

"Absolutely not," I added.

Our expressions, however, apparently betrayed us.

Clara’s eyes narrowed further "You two are terrible liars."

Neither of us had been able to argue with that.

She had crossed her arms and continued, looking more amused than offended.

"For you to know, Albert and I really are husband and wife."

She had then casually added that they had been legally married and that she still possessed their marriage certificate.

That part had somehow been even more surprising.

Thinking about it now, I could not help wearing a wry smile.

I had completely misjudged both of them.

I had initially thought Albert was simply an unusually capable teacher hiding some strength, and Clara was some eccentric spirit who had developed an attachment to him after spending too many years in human society.

The truth was considerably more complicated.

Albert was a Grand Mage with extraordinary mental strength, Clara was a former human transformed into a spirit, and the two of them had actually been married before Clara became what she was now.

*As for how she became a spirit...*

If Clara really belonged to a branch of the Saffron family, and if she had once been a human noble herself, then there was a fairly simple way to learn more.

I could ask my parents when I returned home during the next vacation.

The Shen family had connections with many noble families, and considering Clara’s stated relationship to Elena’s family, there was a reasonable chance that my parents would at least know the story.

I did not need to investigate everything myself immediately.

There were already enough things occupying my attention.

I sighed.

Because, ironically, despite everything that had happened today, the actual reason I had gone to Albert’s office in the first place remained unresolved.

Memory Backtrack.

That was supposed to have been the purpose of my visit. I had gone there hoping to receive proper instruction from Albert regarding the spell.

But I had barely made any progress with the spell itself.

I will have to return to the teacher Albert’s office another day and ask him to continue teaching me.

Unfortunately, it definitely would not be this week.

Tomorrow, he is not free and the day after tomorrow, I have an important event to attend.

Actually, it was not just me.

Elena and every other student who had fought against the terrorists during the academy incident had been invited as well.

To the royal palace, for the reward bestowment ceremony.

That was the next major event on my schedule.

The kingdom had decided to formally reward the students and staff members who had contributed during the terrorist attack, and since the incident had been serious enough to threaten the academy itself, the royal family intended to personally acknowledge those who had fought.

It was understandable.

Students had been placed in genuine danger.

Several teachers had fought against enemies considerably stronger than ordinary students could handle, while students themselves had been forced into battles that should never have been part of their academy lives.

Ralf had used his spatial magic to evacuate people.

Elena had fought despite being injured.

There were many others.

Even though I do not particularly care about receiving recognition....

But the ceremony is in the Royal Palace!

The rewards must be good enough, especially considering the fact that most students were noble so normal gifts will not appease them as much.

And since I almost saved the second prince’s life, my reward must be better than others.

*I hope it is something good.*

I shake my head to remove all these distracting thoughts.

*First thing first. I need to practice the magic*

Although I couldn’t get the proper instructions from teacher Albert, I can still practice on how much I had understood it by now. That would at least be better than just waiting for the right opportunity.

With that thought, I sat cross legged on my bed because you know that pose seems most appropriate for practicing anything spiritual, though it is not that much emphasis in the world of mages.

.....

The next day passed considerably more peacefully.

The meeting between Aunt Adelia and Principal Alfred also went without any trouble.

I was not present there during the meeting so I can’t say exactly what had been discussed inside the principal’s office, but judging from Elena’s expression when she came out afterward, there had been no argument or particularly serious disagreement.

The main result of the meeting was that Elena would temporarily stop staying in the academy dormitory and instead commute from her family’s villa in the capital for as long as her mother remained there.

Personally, I was not entirely convinced that the decision had much to do with the contamination.

The contamination had already been completely removed, and Principal Alfred had confirmed that it had been extremely minor, so there was not much reason to change her normal routine because of it.

It was probably more about aunt Adelia wanting to spend some time with her daughter after being separated from her for quite a while.

Considering how long it had been since they had properly seen each other, that explanation seemed far more natural to me.

Either way, it meant that Elena and I would still see each other every day during classes, but the time we usually spent together after lessons would become considerably shorter.

It was not exactly a major change.

Still, I noticed myself thinking about it when I walked beside Elena toward the campus gates after classes.

The afternoon sun had already begun to soften, casting long shadows across the stone courtyard, while several carriages belonging to students and visiting families waited near the main gate.

The academy was still fairly busy despite most classes having ended, with students moving between buildings or heading toward the dormitories, training grounds, and other places, although the atmosphere was nowhere near as crowded as it had been earlier in the day.

Elena walked beside me while carrying a small bag.

She was dressed in her uniform, her black hair falling neatly over her shoulders, and although she had seemed somewhat troubled yesterday, she appeared much more relaxed today.

I glanced at her.

"So you are really going to commute from the villa?"

"Apparently" She gave a small sigh.

"Mother said that since she’s staying in the capital anyway, there is not much point in having me staying in the dormitory while she is nearby to look after me."

I nodded "That makes sense."

She looked toward the road ahead "Though I am not sure how long she willll stay."

"Considering what has happened and how she wants you to move back to the villa, I guess at least a week or two." I said my reasoning.

She smiled faintly "Mother does worry about me more than she admits."

We continued walking.

There was not much else to say about the arrangement, since Elena was not actually leaving the academy, and the change would only affect the hours after classes.

Still, I knew that the next few days would probably be somewhat different.

Instead of casually meeting in the campus area after lessons, we will have to make arrangements if we wanted to spend time together, and there would naturally be less opportunity for those unplanned conversations that tended to happen simply because we were staying in the same place.

When we reached the carriage area, I spotted the familiar figure standing beside an elegant carriage.

Even from a distance, it was easy to recognize the resemblance between her and Elena.

A beautiful woman with dark hair and a composed appearance stood beside the carriage, speaking briefly with one of the servants before turning her attention toward us.