Aid

The next two days proved to be rather challenging.

The kids were attentive - although more out of fear than the strive for knowledge - but the two young men who had never been in charge of teaching a group found it rather difficult.

Alright. Truth be told, Ace was the one in trouble. He was putting a bit too much attention on the group and not on his oven objective—that being hunting monsters and gaining levels before facing the strong monster so that his quest could be completed.

Not to mention finding what monster exactly it could be and its detailed location, not just the general feeling.

"Laz. Be honest with me… Will you be mad if I ask our little genius for help?"

That was why in the evening, as they were setting camp for the day after moving a far shorter distance than they had hoped for, Ace asked his blue-haired friend while the kids were preparing a fire according to his instructions,

"...to help you figure out your target or with your newest subjects…?"

Lazurii asked, leaning back against a tree as his two magic sentinels in shape of birds of light were circling around the campsite area.

"To be honest, both. I looked through the bestiary they had at the adventurer's guild back in Aventurine, but none of it triggered a response, so I'm kind of lost. And as for the kids, I would want them to learn how to read and write. They might not want to stay hunting or adventuring all their lives, and those skills would have really boosted their chances of finding less dangerous jobs…. you must admit that our little genius is many times better teacher than either of us, at least when it comes to those kinds of skills."

Ace explained while keeping an eye on his friend's reaction.

"...it's okay to ask her about it… As long as it will not inconvenience her parents, I will not have anything against it."

Lazurii hesitated for a second before breathing out and nodding his head in agreement.

"Well then… if that's the case…!"

"..."

Ace clasped his hands together and then reached out to the pouch at his side, taking out a scroll under the judgemental gaze of his blue-haired friend.

Then, he proceeded to tear the parchment apart, and a magic gate much smaller than that which Lazurii had made two days prior appeared at the height of his face.

The magic gate connected to what looked to be a dormitory room where a dark-brown-haired girl was leaning against a desk and sipping on something.

"Hmnnnn? Ace…? Ah! ACE! Did you convince Lazurii to let me join in on your trip?!"

The moment she saw the gate, her eyes lit up, and her face flushed. Tarkuazi stepped towards the and asked without giving her classmate a chance to say anything.

"...k-kind of…"

The green-haired young man gulped down his saliva and spoke up nervously, feeling his friend's grim glare on his back.

"Yaay~! I was so booored! I…"

"Why didn't you go back home?"

The girl let out a happy voice and swayed from side to side as she complained, only to cause Lazurii to step in front of the magic gate and ask as Ace shimmied to the side at the side of him.

"Eeehh?! Lazurii! I missed yoouuuuu!"

"..."

Instead of an expected reaction, the girl's expression brightened, and she fidgetted coquettishly, elongating her words in a way she would never do normally, making Lazurii tens up enough for the seams of his clothes to start letting out dangerous sounds, about to get torn up by his muscles.

"Tarkuazi. Why aren't you back home with your parents?"

He asked, clearly doing his best to remain calm.

"Mmmm? Mommy and Papa went on an anniversary honeymoon! I stayed back at the dormitory so the servants back home could get some days off, too! See? I'm a proper young lady who cares about others…!"

The girl tilted her head and answered with a big smile and a slight lisp, seemingly with no care in the world.

"...last question… what are you drinking?"

"Grape juice from Grand Rose! I overheard some girls who also stayed in the dorm for the winter break saying that it is a really good spicy juice, so I bought myself a bottle!"

Lazurii took a deep breath and asked, to which Tarkuazi happily answered, reaching to the side and showing off a glass container that clearly was a wine bottle. Half empty already.

"...weren't you asked about your age when buying it…?"

The blue-haired young man closed his eyes and inquired.

"The clerk was a bit troubled and asked for the owner to talk to me, but since I went to the shop wearing my uniform and showed off the second year's badge, they sold it to me!"

"And you didn't find their hesitation… worth looking into?"

Tarkuazi answered with blissful cluelessness that made Lazurii lower his head and sigh.

"Nnnn... no? Why? They probably thought that I can't handle spicy things."

"..."

"..."

The girl titled her head to the other side and shrugged her shoulders lightly, making both Lazurii and Ace who was standing by go completely silent.

"Tarkuazi, do you want to travel for a bit with me and Ace?"

"YES! That was the plan in the first place!"

In the end, the blue-haired youngster asked in a defeated voice, and the girl on the other side of the small magic gate cheered.

"Are you packed?"

"Yees~!"

Lazurii added, and the girl hummed back, disappearing on one edge of the small gate just to come back and show off a suitcase.

Without saying another word, Lazurii raised his hand and touched the edge of the magic gate, causing it to expand into a proper gate that Tarkuazi could pass through—which she did, holding her suitcase and the half-empty bottle.

"I'll take that, okay?"

"Okaaay~"

Ace immediately stepped in and took both items off her hands, to which she reacted with a cute voice…

"Nnnnmmmm!"

"..."

…before immediately going to hug the frozen Lazurii…

"Nnyooo…! Lazurii…!"

"You know, Ace? I was going to get mad at you for being in on her plan, but now I'm grateful instead. Can you imagine? Spicy juice? Really…?"

The blue-haired young man freed himself from the protesting girl and sighed, looking at the bottle his friend had taken from her.

"...yeah. If you ask me, those girls let her overhear them on purpose to get her in trouble... Although I will give them the benefit of the doubt and say that they thought she would get caught and scolded."

Ace scoffed, taking a whiff of the bottle's contents and shaking his head with a disapproving expression before turning it upside down and emptying it on the grass.