Chapter 32: The Meeting (2)
Inside the hall is where the unrestrained laughers of Regis and Manaria can be heard. And as for the other people with them, Robert and Reena are just ignoring them and continuing their tea time silently.
Marcus, who knew the past of Regis and Manaria with the king, he's just waiting for them at the side. But the remaining three, Arias, Duke Gerard and Johann, they were just staring at them stupefied, wondering about what they are talking about.
"Umm… Academy Director… For quite a while now, I've been wanting to ask you this question… Just what are these two people here for?"
The first one to recover from the two is Johann, who is now asking a question while pointing with his right hand at Regis and Reena.
"I'm not questioning why Princess Arias is here since she's the freshman representative and the princess of this kingdom but what about those two?"
"Eh? Did Reena hear you just right? Also, you're pointing your hand like that on us? Do you want to lose that arm?"
Because of the rude question Johann uttered, the cookie in Reena's hand crumbled to dust without her even putting force in it. Her mood immediately hit the bottom rock and now emitting a cold aura.
Regis ignored the third year representative as he does not want to dampen his upbeat mood while he reminisces about King Edward's antics with Manaria.
From the other side, Duke Gerard suddenly turned pale not because of Reena's threatening to Johann but because he recognized the aura she is emitting.
"H-Hey little girl, aren't you the genius child who only appears once in a thousand years, Reena Acias Falna, in flesh?"
"…"
Thankfully, even though Reena's mood is bad enough that she didn't even want to answer a question from an old man like Duke Gerard, she nodded to him that assented to his question.
"W-WHAT?!!
On the other hand, with a mixed expression of shock and fear, Johann almost tumbled down with his chair which eliminated the cold aura Reena was emitting.
"What's with that reaction? He looks very stupid." Reena scoffed and decided to let the matter go since her elder brother did not even react to what the guy said.
"....."
That made Johann stop on asking a question like that again.
After the short interlude, the meeting resumed.
******
It's almost lunch when they finished the meeting.
Though it may seem so long, the truth is that they were just eating, mostly Reena and Regis, eating snacks and drinking tea, and some small talk which is by the large about the upcoming Magic Festival.
Surprisingly, Johann and Duke Gerard calmed down and regained their sense of dignity as the one who's older during the latter half of the conversation so it went smoothly.
Regis, together with Arias and Reena, immediately left the hall after the talk and head to the school cafeteria.
"Hey Reena, Arias. Do you still want to eat? I think you already eat a lot just now."
"Don't worry big brother, Reena is still just a growing kid so she won't get fat!"
"I have separate storage for sweets and other food so I'm fine~!"
"That's not what I mean to say but… Okay, let's eat!"
This time around during lunch, the students on the academy had increased noticeably.
Earlier during the meeting on the main hall, the second year and third year students came back from the Gate to the Magic World, Magia's Portal.
It is required for all of the second years and third years of every magic school to go to Magic World and experience the life of the real mages there. Of course, the everyday life of the real mages includes doing quests and raiding magical dungeons and magical labyrinths, discover ways to strengthen their own magic and physical abilities.
The students will go there every other month, basically, it has a one-month interval, and have their progress in research and quests reported back to the academy. In some extreme cases, one may never be able to report back to their academy because being caught in a disaster which is most likely dying in battle or catching an unknown disease.
It looks like there's no casualty this time. Everyone is happy eating their meal on the cafeteria, chatting about their adventures for the past month.
From the crowds of students in the cafeteria, a certain group of students (?) stands out from the rests—again, a group of eight people. Regis, Arias, and Reena are included in this group and unlike the meeting just now where he is just one of the listeners, this time, he is the speaker.
The other five students (?) who are seriously listening on every word he speaks are composed of an old man without a single hair in his head, a middle-aged man with a well-built body, a young man in twenties wearing eye-glasses with a scholarly look, a beautiful young woman with a pair of heterochromia eyes of blue and red pupils, and a black-haired beauty with a simple demeanor.
—The [Lightning Emperor] Randolf, the [Swordless Swordsman] Allan, the [Evil Wisdom] Jonathan, the [Ice and Fire Queen] Cecil and lastly, the [Evergreen Priestess] Clarabelle. Surprisingly, all of them are wearing an academy uniform.
After Introducing Arias to the five weird students...
"Lastly… Pfffffft!!!!!!!!!!!!! HAHAHAHA! The heck is this… Damn!.. Old Man! Why do you also wear a uniform? You're too old for that!"
[Origin Shadow Corps]—the proud elite group whose every single member's strength is comparable to either a Magnus or a Sword Saint. They already abandon their normal lives and surname the moment they made an oath to follow Regis as their king.
In front of them, Regis is laughing his heart out at the sight of his subordinates. Even Arias is wearing a weird look on her face as she looks at the old man in front of her.
Of course, he'd be laughing.
The Lightning Emperor Randolf who is known for being too serious and strict, an old man in his 80's is actually wearing a uniform similar to everyone in the magic academy. There were maybe some old students still studying at a magic academy but in Randolf's case, maybe he's just too old for it.
Randolf—A bald head with a long white beard and mustache. His body may decline because of the age but his magic power and knowledge still at its zenith.
Beside Randolf is Allan, 30 years of age. He has blond hair and blue eyes-like gems. His tall stature and well-built body well suited his handsome face. He is a Sword Saint who is not carrying any weapon since he is a master of swordless-style.
Jonathan, 25 years of age, is the genius seated parallel to Regis. He has black hair with brown eyes. He's wearing a pair of glasses which makes him look more very intelligent. His stature and built is almost the same as a normal academy student.
Seated in front of Allan is Cecil, 20 years of age. She has light brown hair that flows down to her back and a pair of heterochromia eyes of blue and red pupils. She has a small stature, definitely smaller than Arias but her bust size is blameless! Even Allan can't contradict with her once she hugged his arm to her chest.
Sitting between Cecil and Reena is Clarabelle, 26 years of age. She has long black hair flowing down to her lower back and a pair of black pupils. Her stature is almost similar to Arias though only her chest is rather modest compared to her but not that small as Elizabeth who is severely lacking it.
Because Regis is laughing at him, Randolf slightly lowered his head from his embarrassment at first but soon straighten his posture.
"Don't laugh at me like that, Lord Sieg. This is necessary for covert operations so I'm wearing this. These clothes are surprisingly high magic and physical damage resistant that it's so comfortable to wear."
Though the uniform they are wearing is very stylish, it is made from an anti-magic and anti-corporeal fabric which greatly increases the defense and survivability of the wearer in a duel and real fights.
"Is that so? I guess they are, I mean when I dueled with Arias. Even though I held back a lot, the damage she received is not that great compared to what I expected because of these uniforms. Manaria really values her students."
"As expected of Lady Manaria, she already had taken it into consideration. She is really our Lord's Master. "
Their respect for Regis can already be seen just from how they call him. All of the five Origin Shadow Corps refer to Regis as "Sieg" which is Regis' other name since they do not dare utter his real full name with their mouth —Magic King, Regis Alzen Falna.