Chapter 130: New Objective

~No, restriction.

"You can’t do it? You—the wind—are restricted?"

~No.

"Hmm... I kind of get it. It sounds like a big deal. Maybe my grandpa can understand the details better than I can. Why don’t you talk to him about this?"

~No, secret.

"Huh? Keep it a secret from my grandpa? The one who has the strongest connection with you? Oh, don’t tell me I’ve finally surpassed him!"

~No.

"Ugh! Well, I understand that there are a lot of things I don’t understand, but the point of all this... It has to do with that person, right?"

~Yes, help, future, together.

"Huh! Let me make sure I haven’t misunderstood. You’re strongly recommending that I do everything possible to stay close to that person or keep them by my side, since they’ll be a huge help to me."

~Yes, very close, great, bright, future.

"I see. This is the first time you’ve been so insistent. It seems like you really want me to recruit that person at any cost, right?"

~Yes.

"Oh, if that’s the case, I definitely have to recruit them. I have a lot of things that have reached a standstill. If recruiting that person can help, that would be great. If there’s one thing I love, it’s special students."

At that moment, Camellia began to get excited. After all, the wind had never been wrong.

Throughout her years as a professor, the wind had helped her find many talented individuals, and without fail, they had all turned out to be exceptional talents who assisted her with her research and accomplished great things on their own, contributing to the progress of civilization as a whole.

The wind was her talent radar.

The person the wind had singled out this time was just a massage therapist.

And although it was curious that they had a higher-than-normal potential rank, it was still only rank three—a rank that fell within the category of ordinary civilian professions, which the academy almost never accepted.

But the wind had never been wrong, and this time, its insistence seemed even stronger than usual. Camellia could definitely sense that there was something significant about this person—something she didn’t yet understand.

However, just thinking about the possibilities this could bring filled her with excitement.

Now that her anticipation and excitement had reached their peak, her appearance changed once more.

Her skin grew even fairer, and her hair turned a deeper shade of green.

She even took off her glasses and hood, which were no longer necessary.

Beneath them was a slender figure that, once again, made her look like a completely different person.

It was precisely because of this peculiarity that she had earned the nickname "Miss Trinity"—since, depending on her mood or energy level, her appearance and figure would change.

She was like three people in one.

"All right, now I have to make this recruitment a success."

In any case, Camellia thought that if she wanted to recruit this person, she had to understand them—and what better way was there than to observe them?

So, without a moment’s hesitation, she began to follow them while blending in perfectly with the wind.

She watched as the person continued shopping—nothing out of the ordinary.

But, curiously, at one point, the person stopped and looked around, as if searching for something.

They even looked in her direction. Their eyes met—or so Camellia felt—but then the person simply kept looking, finally shrugging and moving on.

"Ufff... I really felt like they had spotted me, even though it should be impossible to see me. It really seems like there’s something special about this person."

Camellia was growing increasingly interested.

At one point, she noticed that the person changed direction, left the building, and quickly entered another one.

Camellia watched from above. These buildings were designed to expand the available space, making them more spacious on the inside than they appeared from the outside.

There was even enough room to fly inside the building, so she continued following the person until they met up with two others.

There, she finally saw the person take off their hood, revealing a red-haired elf.

Camellia had to admit she was a beautiful girl, but that was put aside, since what she heard next completely caught her attention.

"(⊙ｏ⊙)Oh! Right down to the throat! Young people are getting wilder by the day! Or rather, isn’t that my student? She’d always been so calm and quiet. Who would’ve thought she’d be capable of that? The quiet ones are always the most dangerous."

She mused to herself as she listened to their conversation. It was a curious conversation.

But, on top of that, and even though she had a little trouble understanding it—if she wasn’t mistaken—that man was the girl’s husband, and was her student involved with both of them in some peculiar way? She was interested in this sort of thing and felt the need to get to the bottom of it, but...

~He too, together, help, indispensable, pair.

The wind spoke to her again.

"Huh? Him too? Wait, don’t tell me he’s the real reason I have to recruit that girl? Does he have an interesting profession—something new and unique? Is it something that helps civilization?"

Camellia figured it out shortly afterward. After all, she sometimes misinterpreted the wind, since its intentions were a bit vague.

Maybe she thought that, instead of the massage therapist girl, that guy must be the real heart of the matter, but...

~He, massage therapist, three, help, together, children.

"/_ \, so he’s just a simple massage therapist, too. And what does that last part mean?"

~Decision, optimal.

"Ugh! Seriously, you’re acting really weird today. I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that. The important thing is that he’s also a massage therapist... Are they both massage therapist? That could be a coincidence, but both rank three? There’s something really strange going on here. He’s special too, isn’t he?"

~Yes.

"I see. Hmm, the girl looks young, but that man seems a little older. Considering he’s only rank two... Hmm, maybe as an assis-. Ah! She’s already leaving! Are you really just going to let them go like that?"

Camellia was thinking about what to do with the other new recommendation from the wind when she noticed that the girl—whose name she’d heard was Iris—had moved.

She thought that conversation was going to last much longer and that she’d discover some interesting things, but apparently, she was wrong.

She wondered what to do, since that man was now her target as well, but she decided that, since she’d already started with Iris, she’d follow her.

The two of them were in a relationship, so she could find the boy later.

She would focus on Iris first.

..

.

*****

POV: Iris

*****

"Yes, the original plan was simply to keep an eye on you and follow you for a while, but then, out of nowhere, you started following my student and kidnapped her... The wind told me you didn’t have any ill intentions, so I kept watching—since the situation seemed interesting and I wanted to see what you would do—but..." (Camellia)

"Olivia’s revelation threw you off."

"Oh! Yeah, that caught me off guard, and I came out of the wind. I really wasn’t expecting to hear something like this, you know? They’re both excellent students of mine. It was shocking to hear that something like this was happening... Ah! But, Olivia, I support you, even if it seems like a hopeless situation." (Camellia)

"(ノへ￣,)Miss Zephyr would appreciate it if you’d forget about what just happened." (Olivia)

"Huh? Why would I? I never forget interesting things!" (Camellia)

"Hey, but getting back to the point—in short, that’s an entrance exam for the academy. Do you want me to enroll and become a student or something like that just because the wind told you to, even though it didn’t give you a real explanation?"

"Well, the wind has never been wrong." (Camellia)

"I see. By the way, do you always have an entrance exam on hand?"

"Of course! You never know when I’ll find someone to give it to—like today! You have to be prepared." (Camellia)

"Yeah, I totally get your point. But now that we’re on this topic and there are no misunderstandings, why don’t you take your hand off my neck?"

"Oh, right." (Camellia)

Finally, she let go of me. It was strange, since there was no need to hold me like that throughout her whole story, but oh well, whatever.

I’d let it slide too, even though it was weird to talk while having my back turned to her.

"Phew! I didn’t think I’d get dragged into all this when I went out to buy groceries."

"But, come to think of it, it’s amazing. It’s student Olivia’s fault for being so careless, but even though she’s only a Rank Two, you subdued her. How did you suppress her mana flow?" (Camellia)

"Hmm, well, as a massage therapist, I have my tricks."

"Haha! You really do seem like you’ve got some interesting things going on. Oh, but can you take off that hood? I already saw what you look like when you were talking to that guy earlier. I even heard your name—Iris, right?..." (Camellia)

"Ugh! Yeah, whatever."

It really was my fault for ignoring that feeling that I was being followed, but it was so vague that it could have just been my imagination.

That woman, Camellia, was a problem, but what intrigued me most was the method she’d used.

She mentioned something about blending into the wind in her story, and I couldn’t let something as crucial as that slip by.

"Oh! Yeah, you’re still cute even up close!" (Camellia)

When I took off my hood, Professor Camellia paid me a little compliment—it didn’t seem like anything more than that, but...

"..." (Olivia)

"Huh? Oh, Miss Olivia, right? I see you’re interested in my appearance."

Olivia, who had been standing next to Camellia, seemed surprised and even blushed a little.

I didn’t feel that sense of love at first sight that I’d felt with my older sister Rose, but I did feel a certain interest.

_____________

Emotional: 36%

Carnal: 43%

Rational: 12%

___________

Oh! I can tell—there’s some good material to work with here.

Yeah, looks like I wasn’t wrong.

Her percentages were really good, and considering that our only interaction was just a little while ago—when I kidnapped her, threatened her, and all that—it’s obvious they’d just shot up all of a sudden.

"N-no, it’s just that... it’s nothing." (Olivia)

"Oh, come on, there’s no need to deny anything. Hue~ You know? This big sister also likes cute girls like you. Our interests align—don’t you want to try some fun things?"

"Huh?! You... N-no, I... Lys."(Olivia)

"Oh! Do I want to do fun things?" (Camellia)

"Huh? Do you like women, too?"

________________

Emotional: 13%

Carnal: 15%

Rational: 32%

________________

"No? But what does that have to do with- Wait!, what do you want to do with my student?" (Camellia)

Oh, well, it seems there was a brief misunderstanding. Anyway, since she was curious, I explained it to her.

"Well, if things go well, I’d start with something gentle, like a ’$#%&’, and then a ’%$#&’, which would make her ’#$%&’. And even though she’s a little flat, I enjoy everything, so I’d also ’$#%&’, and with my technique, I’d make her ’%$#@’."

"(≧﹏ ≦). No, I... L-Lys. It’s not right with someone e-else." (Olivia)

"Oh, I see you’re the loyal type—though it’s a little sad, considering how unlikely it is that she’ll return your feelings. You know, even a moment ago, she was persistently following the guy she likes."

"/_ \. I know that—you don’t have to tell me." (Olivia)

"Wait, is student Biancalys following someone too? And Olivia was following her, and you were following Olivia, and I was following you... Has anyone been following me? Ah! Come to think of it, someone is following me!" (Camellia)

"Huh? Who’s following you...?"

That worried me right away.

This woman is really strong. I don’t even want to think about the possibility that someone could be following her to the point where she’s only just now realizing it.

And the worst part is that, no matter how hard I tried, I didn’t sense anything strange at all. That being is definitely way out of my league.