Chapter 4 || Recovery and Returning to Heimdallr

A low groan escaped Tristan's lips as his eyelids slowly opened, his emerald eyes being greeted by a wooden ceiling. He blinked, his sight slightly blurred. Where was he? It didn't look like it was the ceiling of the Archbishop's office.

The magus tried sitting up, only to feel an uncomfortable sluggishness. His body felt like they were weights wrapped around his limbs and torso, or gravity magic was being cast on him. It was making

He took a glance at his right hand the second his blurry vision disappeared, struggling to flex his fingers.

Damn, mana deficiency.

Out of his siblings, he had it worst when it came to feeling the effects of mana deficiency. If they only felt headaches, nausea, or their bodies feeling sluggish, then Tristan experienced all of them at once whenever he suffers from mana deficiency.

"Thank Aidios I'm a magus though..." He groaned out as he rubbed his forehead.

Tristan inhaled deeply, breathing in the mana circulating the air. It was one of the secret techniques magi uses to constantly recover mana.

Mana Circulation.

The grey-haired magus's complexion brightened, coloring gradually returning to his face. The beads of sweat running down his forehead lessened with each second that passed. His body also started to feel lighter, the sluggishness he felt vanishing as if it was never there.

"Huh... I never recovered this fast using Mana Circulation before."

"It is because I have purified and expanded your mana reserves. That's why your recovery was faster than usual."

Tristan snapped his head toward the direction of the door to see the familiar blonde-haired girl with crimson-red eyes.

"Elder Roselia?"

"I am glad to see you've finally awoken from your slumber, Tristan Salieri."

"O-Oh, thanks. Where exactly are we?"

"We are currently inside one of the rooms inside the inn of Saint-Arkh. It's currently past midnight. You have been sleeping the whole evening due to mana deficiency."

"Ah..." Surprise flickered across his face before his lips curved into a frown, looking down at his bedsheets. "I see. Did you come after hearing about my failure..."

"Wrong." The elder of the Hexen Clan instantly corrected him, shocking the boy as confusion crossed his face.

"Wrong...?"

"That's right, boy. You are wrong about your assumption about why I came here." Roselia simply said, taking a seat on the chair beside the bed. Her neutral face crumbled into a frown. "I came to offer my apologies to you.."

The magus looked even more confused. "But why? I was the one who ultimately decided to go after your granddaughter. I knew of the risks and accepted responsibility." He clenched his fists and closed his eyes. "I apologize for failing to accomplish my task— Ow!"

"You don't have to apologize for anything. You and your sister wouldn't have known she would use Ouroboros' teleportation technology to make her escape." Roselia bonked the grey-haired man with the blunt end of her staff, glaring at him in annoyance.

"B-But..."

Her expression quickly softened as she sighed.

"Enough, child. You are placing an unnecessary burden on yourself for something that was beyond your control. Yes, there might have been alternatives available by considering her potential escape, but that was impossible to foresee when you successfully sealed her flow of mana." Roselia stated with a solemn expression before she gave Tristan a look of gratefulness and reassurance. "But I am just glad you and my troublesome granddaughter didn't injure yourselves too much."

Tristan stared at the elder, dumbfounded. He soon turned away from her gaze. Her words did help take away some of the guilt weighing his heart, but the magus still felt conflicted about the whole thing.

After a few minutes of silence, Tristan sighed and leaned against the bedframe, nodding his head.

"Thank you for your understanding..."

"Hmph. Of course, child." She nodded back.

The magus finally finished circulating and regulating his mana flow. His sweating ceased and his once pale face returned to normal.

"I give you again my thanks for also purifying and expanding my mana reserves, Elder."

He received another nod from Roselia. The man gave a weak smile before recalling the last moments of his encounter with Vita. His eyes widened.

"I'm sorry I let her escape."

"I told you it's—"

"But Clotilde told me to tell you something before she teleported away." Tristan cut her off, his voice serious.

Crimson Roselia adopted a serious look as well. "Continue."

The grey-haired magus cupped his chin, closing his eyes as he recalled the memory. "She told me she would come and meet you at her own time. She said she had important business to deal with and how said business is related to the Gnomes."

The blonde-haired witch's eyes shot wide open, jolting out of her seat. "What?! So is that why she's been moving more than usual and separately from Ouroboros?! That girl...!"

"I'm afraid that seems to be the case." Tristan could do nothing but nod. "I don't think I've heard of these Gnomes before though. Are they related to the Hexen Clan?"

The witch briefly scowled, shaking her head. "A story for another time. For now, "

His mouth parted but slowly closed as he held his tongue. Her reaction stirred his curiosity, but he respected Roselia enough not to probe for answers. As the elder of the Hexen Clan hopped off her seat, she pressed a palm on the man's chest.

"You really are a talent. I may have purified and expanded your mana reserves, but your expert mana control truly aided your Mana Circulation in speeding up your recovery."

The magus cracked a bitter grin. "You're too kind."

"Hmph. Rest well, child. I shouldn't have to tell you that you aren't allowed to use any high mana-consuming spells for today until your mana reserves are back to normal."

"Understood, Elder."

Crimson Roselia nodded as she glanced at the door. "Now then, I believe your sister wants to talk to you."

"Erk..."

The door opened to reveal the fiery magus and her familiar as a familiar grey avian flew inside and crashed into the magus' chest, chirping in worry as he flailed his wings around before the flaming kitten tackled him as well.

"Lynx, don't be so rough with Tristan. He's just woken up." Erina softly chided as the kitten mewed, pouting. She chuckled and turned to her brother, her arms wrapping around him and the familiars, feeling her brother tense up. "You did your best, baby brother... And I'm sorry. So don't blame yourself too much for what happened, please...?"

His muscles began to relax as Tristan closed his eyes, accepting her embrace with a conflicted smile.

"...Mhm."

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As dawn came to the Old Capital, Tristan and Erina left the inn. Roselia had parted ways with the two magi after checking Tristan's condition one last time last night. The Hexen Clan elder had informed the two that she wouldn't be needing their assistance for a while but said she'll contact them if she finds anything regarding their own... business.

"You going to head back to Heimdallr?" Erina asked as she cradled Lynx in her arms. The woman received a nod as she pursed her lips. "You're more than welcome to join me on my trip to Edith, you know."

"I appreciate the offer, but I will have to decline. I'm certain you'll make me do your paperwork if I came with you." Tristan said, crossing his arms as he gave his sister a deadpan look.

The woman gasped and clutched her heart dramatically. "I would never!"

The snickering of her familiar completely wasn't helping her one bit.

Tristan rolled his eyes before petting the flaming kitten, his emerald eyes drifting to Erina's only visible eye.

"In all seriousness, I'll be meeting with someone in Heimdallr later, so I can't go with you to Calvard."

Erina grew a smirk as she slung an arm around her brother's shoulders. "Is my little bro going to meet up with his girlfriend~? Is it perhaps... the Golden Rakshasa~?" She giggled and poked his cheek, prompting him to roll his eyes again.

"It is, but I'm only meeting up with Aurelia for business matters." Tristan clarified before glaring at Erina. "And she's hardly my girlfriend. We're simply people who stumbled upon each other while traveling Zemuria."

"Whatever you say, lover boy! I'll talk to you later!"

Tristan parted with a sigh and nodded. Letting out another laugh, Erina took off her brother's fedora and ruffled his hair, earning an irritated groan from him. She was ruffling his locks more aggressively, knowing how much he hated it.

After a good minute or two, Erina stopped her ruffling. Putting his hat back on, the two went inside the train station and went inside the train leaving for the Vermillion Capital.

The train ride went by in a blink of an eye thanks to playing with Lynx. Before they knew it, they arrived at Heimdallr Central Station.

"Have a safe trip to Calvard, Erina." Tristan offered the woman a hug, which she reciprocated with a chuckle.

"Yeah. Don't get yourself into too much trouble, little bro."

"I'm not like you or Reinhardt." He grinned as she clicked her tongue.

"Whatever. Say hi to the Rakshasa for me!"

Erina gave her brother one last hug before leaving the station to head for the airport. He soon followed suit in leaving the station as he took out his orbment, sending the countess a message.

As he waited for his acquaintance's message, he walked through the streets of the central station. His eyes were glued to his screen, waiting for a reply until he felt his shoulder bump into another. He lifted his eyes from his ARCUS, meeting the lilac eyes of a young man with black hair.

"A-Ah! I'm sorry about that."

"No, it's all right, really. I apologize as well. I shouldn't have been looking at my orbment while I was walking." Tristan brushed up the apology with an apologetic smile.

The black-haired man smiled wryly as he rubbed his neck. "Haha... Water under the bridge. Besides, I was a little distracted and wasn't exactly watching where I was going."

"Water under the bridge it is, then."

They shared a chuckle before the black-haired man looked at his watch, his face soon twisting into alarm.

"Sorry, but I'm in a bit of a hurry right now. Sorry again for bumping into you!"

Before Tristan could remind the young man it was his fault as well, he took off with a sprint as the magus held his fedora in place. Pretty fast...

His orbment rang as the male quirked a brow. He looked at the caller ID to see the name of the Rakshasa. Guess she wanted to call instead of sending a message.

Tristan picked up as he heard the voice of the countess.

"Yes? This is Salieri speaking."

<Salieri, where are you right now?> Aurelia queried as the magus heard the sound of music playing from her side.

He quirked a brow before answering, "In front of the station. I had just arrived, actually."

<I see. Come to Etoile, I'll be waiting for you here. Also, I have someone here that will explain in more detail about the military academy you'll be working at.>

"Is this the person who offered you the position of principal?" Tristan asked curiously.

<He's related to him. In any case, we'll be waiting.>

Aurelia hung up the call as Tristan pocketed his orbment. Etoile, huh? It's been some time since he last visited the quaint cafe. The magus hoped the establishment wouldn't be too full today. He missed the black tea they had.

The fedora-wearing magus took a tram set for Alto Street. He paid his fee before leaving the vehicle, his better-than-average hearing picking up the sound of classical music coming from inside Etoile. If he didn't have business with Aurelia, he would most likely hang out and relax in the cafe for a few hours.

He chuckled to himself before heading inside. His emerald eyes scanned the room, surprised to see a lack of patrons. His gaze drifted before catching sight of a glistening silver mane sitting in the corner. The woman's presence ever imposing; even the way she drank a simple cup of tea could intimidate someone.

"I'm here, Aurelia—"

"Tristan! It's so good to see you again! How have you been?"

The fedora-wearing magus came to halt, just noticing a familiar blonde-haired man who sat across from the Rakshasa. The man waved at him with a carefree smile as Tristan stared at him, shocked.

"Olivier...? What are you doing here?"

Aurelia was the one who answered for the prince as she crossed her arms. "I suppose you wouldn't know since you're always wandering around the continent, but His Highness, Prince Olivert, is the founder of the new military academy I've told you about."

"Huh?!" Tristan backed away in surprise. "Truly? Why haven't you ever told me about that?!"

"It's because I was just recently informed as well." She calmly replied as Olivert took over the conversation, giving a hearty laugh.

"Indeed! It is still unknown to the public, but since we finally began construction at Leeves, we'll be announcing the news this week!" He explained with a grin. "And you, my friend, will be one of the very first instructors of Thors Military Academy Branch Campus!"

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Arriving at the throne room of Valflame Palace, Rean Schwarzer bowed and kneeled down to the emperor and empress of the Empire.

"You've requested my presence, Your Highnesses?"

Emperor Eugent chuckled softly and held his hand up. "This is technically an informal meeting, so need. You don't need to be so formal, Rean. Ah, and I must apologize for summoning you on such short notice. I know you must want to rest instead of doing anything else right now." He gave him an apologetic smile with a hint of guilt.

Rean simply shook his head, her lips curving into a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "It's fine, Your Highness, really. But, um, can I please ask why I was summoned? I wasn't informed of the reason."

"Ah, yes, about that..."

"You may enter now, Cedric!" Priscilla called out to her son as Rean turned around.

The door opened to reveal the crown prince of Erebonia, sheepishly entering the room as he flashed Rean a wry smile. The black-haired swordsman couldn't help but smile, chuckling at the boy's growth spurt.

"It's good to see that you are well, Prince Cedric! You've grown quite tall since the last time I saw you."

Cedric let out an awkward chuckle as he approached the Ashen Chevalier before glancing at his parents, who nodded at their son.

"U-Uh, Rean? I'm the reason why Father and Mother summoned you..." He manage to get out as his eyes frantically looked at anything other than Rean's eyes.

"Ah, I see. Then, if it is in my power, I'll do what I can to help you." Rean stated, though he now wore a look of concern, wondering what the Crown Prince wanted from him.

"W-Well, you see... You remember how I couldn't enroll at Thors due to what happened a year ago, right?"

The Eight Leaves practitioner nodded slowly. Due to the Infernal Castle incident, the Crown Prince had to let his enrollment to Thors pass because of his weakened constitution. Rean had always felt bad about Cedric's predicament at the time, especially when he expressed how excited he was to be his schoolmate.

Cedric just chuckled dismissively as if sensing unnecessary regret in the war hero. "I may be healthy now, but I'm still not sure whether I'm ready to go to Thors. I feel like I won't have the strength to keep up with my future classmates or overcome obstacles..."

"Your Highness..."

The Crown Prince took a deep breath as he locked eyes with the heart of Class VII. "I'm not asking you as the Crown Prince of Erebonia but as a person who respects you, and hopefully someone you see as a friend..."

Cedric did something unexpected that caught Rean completely off guard.

He bowed his head at him.

"Please help train me as a swordsman!"