Meeting with Other Children

The graceful lady greeted her kindly and welcomed her with open arms. The four children with her look at her in suspicious gaze, for they have never met that silver-haired child. Before they speak, Rosine stands up and comes near her.

"How are you feeling?" she immediately asked.

"I'm fine, I guess…" Oria replied.

"I see. I'm glad you can talk to me openly now."

"Mm. Thanks to your incredible magic!"

"Teehee. You flatter me. But Oria, please keep in mind that the magical effect does not last forever. It may disappear after twenty-four hours and when that happens, you'll see disturbing things again."

Surprised, Oria says, "Eh? No way! Then, what am I supposed to do?"

"Please be at ease. Before that happens, please come to me. Don't forget to tell Mrs. Poly about this."

"Eh, she doesn't know yet…?"

The priestess holds her forehead, "I'm afraid not. I can't believe I forgot to tell her this important piece of information. That's why, Oria, can I trust you to give this information to her?"

"Roger! Leave it to me!" Oria gladly accepted.

"Teehee. You're one energetic girl, aren't you?"

Soon after, a boy, one of the four children complains to her for not starting her lesson.

"Priestess, are you going to leave us hangin' like this?"

The girl beside him nudges him in the head, "Hush it, Kon! How dare you say such things to my sister!?"

"Ow! Hey, I have things to do after this!"

"It's not just you, doofus! My big sis also has stuff to do, and it's more important than yours, that is!"

A boy taller than the rest speaks up, "Now, now… don't start a fight, you two. You know Priestess Rosine does not like that."

"Hmph! It's him who started first!"

Meanwhile, Oria asks Rosine about their activity as of now. "What are you going to do? Didn't you just finish telling stories?"

The priestess nods, "Indeed, I am. But for these four…" Rosine walks to their side, stopping their quarreling almost instantly by a slight touch of hand. "…are the stars of this village."

"What do you… mean?"

The bratty girl who's about Oria's age commentates, "Hemph! How could you not know? Oh, I see. You're not from around here, are you?"

Oria frowns in response to her, "Well, I AM not from here. Is that a problem to you?"

"Ha! I know it! Outsiders are not welcome here. Shoo, shoo. Go away. Don't bother our training here."

"(What's wrong with this girl…?)"

The priestess looks at the insolent girl in a graceful smile. She then flicks her lips. The mark of her violent flick is almost visible.

"Yeouch! S-Sister… it hurts!"

"Tili. Don't say harsh things to my patient. I do not tolerate your insult towards her. If you cannot respect people, then you don't deserve to learn anything from me. Apologize this instant."

"Eep… o-okay…" the bratty kid almost immediately silenced.

Meanwhile, the two boys whisper to each other.

"Whew, Priestess is scary when she's mad. Add that with Tili's extreme love towards her sister, she will absolutely not disobey her, don't you think?"

"I know, Kon. Let's not bring up the pressure."

Walking to Oria, the foul-mouthed girl apologizes. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. Will you forgive me?" she begged.

Oria's frown change to a kindhearted smile. "Hm. I forgive you."

"R-Really?"

"Yeah. I mean, as long as you don't repeat it again, why not?"

"Thank you. You're a good person, aren't you?" the annoying girl suddenly hugged her.

"H-Hey… what are you… please let go!"

The priestess just simply looks at the girl again. Almost immediately, the girl named Tili shudders at the thought of her erupting anger concealed in that divine smile. She lets Oria go while keeping her eyes on her, not wanting to directly look back to her sister.

"Oh, how unladylike of me. I should've introduced myself to you," the young girl in front of Oria finally introduces herself.

"The name's Tili, Tili Cozbi. I am the cute younger sister of Rosine Cozbi. I want to become as great as her someday! You can call me Tili. Huhu~ nice to meet you."

"(This girl is… seriously troublesome.) Umm… my name is Oria. Oria Argentora. You can call me Oria. A pleasure to meet you."

"I see… Oria is your name, eh? That's a cute name! Hm. Hm. Really befitting to be a friend of mine!"

"Aaahaha… (Wait, did she say she's Rosine's younger sister?)" Oria's eyes give a searching look all over her face. "(…she does look like her physically… but she's annoying. Not like the priestess.)"

"Is there something on my face?" Tili asked curiously.

"Ah, no, it's nothing. I just thought that you DO look like your sister, heehee."

"Oooh! You understand that? Huhu~ you really deserve to be my friend! Unlike those three who kept whining about whatever I'm talking about, hmph!"

"(Look at yourself…)"

Suddenly, Priestess Rosine claps her hands thrice, calling everyone to come near her.

"Okay, okay. That's enough of rambling all of you. Please gather here."

As the four children and Oria gather in front of her, lined themselves properly, the priestess calls Oria to come.

"Oria, please come forward."

"Y-Yes."

As Oria steps forward, the priestess smilingly instructs her to turn around and look at the others. There, she is introduced by Rosine.

"Everyone, this is Oria. She is a patient of mine. Oria, if you please?"

"…huh? (What does she mean? …AH! Right!) Umm… hello. I'm Oria Argentora. Nice to meet you."

"Oria, huh? Hey, hey, Alex, don't you think she's a cutie?"

"Stop it, Kon. She can hear your voice, you know."

"What's wrong with that? I didn't say anything weird. Besides! We never meet a girl with a beautiful silver hair like hers."

"Enough, Kon," the tallest boy in the group walked forward and introduced himself.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Oria Argentora. My name is Alexander Basil. Everyone calls me Alex."

Alexander Basil acts the most mature among the other children. Witnessing such attitude impresses Oria.

"(He is well-mannered…) Then, you may call me Oria, too! It's good to see you, Alex!" the girl smiled.

Seeing her cute smile, the orange-haired boy named Alex suddenly feel flowery. He unintentionally scratches his cheek with his finger and looks away to hide his blush.

"Then, the next one's me, eh?" the next boy strode in. His movements as he comes to Oria is slightly exaggerated if not too much. He is shorter than Oria—probably the smallest in the group.

Pointing his thumb to himself, he discloses his identity, "Hehe, the name's Kon. Kon Foksray. It's a pleasure to meet you, milady."

"(He's kinda narcissistic for some reason.) Umm… pleasure to meet you, too, I guess?"

The tan-haired boy carefreely walks back in line while whistling along with the wind.

Finally, the fourth child walks to Oria. She's a bit startled when the kid shows to her face up close.

"(T-Too close… A girl, too… but I don't hear her talking to her friends…)"

The fourth one, a girl taller than Tili but still shorter than Alex, introduces herself in a noble-like fashion.

"Good day. I am Ayako Alba. It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Oria," she then bowed.

"(M-Miss…?) A-Ah, lift your head, please! It's umm… nice to meet you, too. If I may ask, err… you're uh… different than the rest."

The young girl speaks sternly but always remaining composed. "Ah, I understand what you're trying to say, Miss Oria. My father is from the eastern continent, while my mother is from here, the Burneu continent. Because of that, I share my father's traits of jet-black hair while my face looks like my mother."

"(T-That's not what I meant, though…)"

"Aya, you're so stiff when you're talking," Tili suddenly sneered.

"My apologies. I was trained to speak in this manner, Miss Tili," Ayako responded humbly.

Priestess Rosine steps in and announces to everyone, "Okay. Now that everyone has introduced themselves, shall we start our class for today?"

"Oh, right! Sis, are we going to learn it this time?"

"Yeah. Since all of you worked so hard yesterday, I suppose it is time for you to learn about it."

Hearing her announcement makes the four children happy.

"Finally!"

"Yay!"

"Alright!"

"Our thanks to you, Lady Rosine."

Meanwhile, Oria is dumbfounded at what are they talking about. "Learning… what?"

"Oh, would you like to join, Oria?" Rosine offered. "It might be a while before Mrs. Poly returns. Why not spend the time with us together?"

"Learn, huh…?"

Tili's eyes shine brightly and takes Oria's hands, "YES! Please join us! You and I are friends, right? We both must learn what sister is going to teach us! Come, come!"

Oria is surprised when she's pulled into their fold like that, "Wawawa…"

"Tili, don't force her like that."

"Wha… aww, come on, Sis!"

"Ehehehe… i-it's okay, Priestess. I'm okay."

Being backed up by Oria, Tili feels encouraged. "See, Sis? She's fine!"

Priestess Rosine tilts her head as she closes her eyes. In a worried look, she sighingly says, "Good grief. I hope Mrs. Poly wouldn't be bothered about this."

"Phew, outta nowhere she suddenly enters the class without having the need to pass all through that training? That's what I call as privilege, man!" said Kon casually.

"Don't say that Kon. You're going to hurt her feelings." Alex stated.

"What I said is hard cold facts, bro. Admit it."

"Well, yeah, I agree. But still… it's inappropriate to say it so… bluntly."

"Enough, all of you. Oria will be joining us only to listen, not to practice along. No need to get all snippy about her. Are we clear?"

Everyone except Oria nods, "Understood, Miss Rosine."

"What is it that we're learning exactly?" Oria asked out of curiosity.

"Huh? You don't know?" Tili responded.

Before her sister can cause any ruckus among other children, Rosine immediately tells Oria.

"—Oria, we are going to learn the basics of healing magic."

The protégé of the Silver Dragon is dumbfounded once more upon hearing the priestess.

"Healing… magic?"