Fodder

Upon returning to the surface, Reida led Paul and the girls to a large, cafeteria-style dining room. Those who moved from the Royal Academy to the Citadel were effectively training to join the Kingdom's military, so their facilities were immaculate and spartan in design.

Before Paul and the rest could even get their bearings, Reida inhaled a deep before abruptly shouting, "Listen up! We've got some fresh blood in the Citadel...!"

Pushing Paul forward with a firm pat on the back, Reida bellowed, "This is Paul Greyrat! Get a good look at him because, starting from yesterday, His Majesty has declared him a Special Envoy of the Kingdom! He is also next in line to become the Water God unless you lot can get your act together!"

Finished with her introduction of Paul, Reida practically pushed him aside before pointing back with her thumb toward Jean, Eula, Ghislaine, Xinyan, Lilia, Ei, and the transformed Ganyu.

"These girls are the members of the B-Rank Party, Einherjar. But don't let their Adventurer Rank fool you. With a single exception, every one of them is at least Saint-Ranked in terms of strength and ability. They'll be helping out around the Citadel whenever they're not performing away missions for the King. You should treat them as you would any other instructor, or you can expect to pay the price with your body."

Though the revelation of Paul as Reida's successor left many with mixed feelings, the atmosphere within the cafeteria changed when the students discovered they would be receiving a bevy of beautiful instructors. A few of the more sensible students understood the futility of lusting after girls who were stronger than them, but this wouldn't be the heart of the Asura Kingdom if there weren't a fair number of arrogant, opportunistic perverts among the crowd. In their distorted version of reality, it was only a matter of applying the proper leverage before girls like Ei, Jean, and Eula became theirs.

With introductions out of the way, Reida turned to Paul and Party as she added, "I would encourage you to mingle, but approaching even the female students would probably lead to them being used against you in one way or another. Lucky for you girls, there's a separate area for staff and people above the Saint Rank. The five of you can join me while Paul babysits his pet and personal Maid."

Hearing Reida's suggestion, Ei was about to protest before Paul cut in, saying, "It's alright, Ei. This is the middle of the Citadel of Reida. Even if someone comes looking for trouble, they can't attack me in the middle of the cafeteria. We can eat together for lunch and dinner. For now, go with Reida. If I'm not wrong, she wishes to discuss your responsibilities as an instructor and what we'll be doing during our training."

Nodding her head in affirmation, Reida appended, "Paul's right. We can't just roam around as a massive group all the time. Besides, a lot of what I'll be teaching Paul is supposed to be a secret, so, unless you girls intend to laze about in your rooms all day, you'll need to familiarize yourselves with the Citadel and prepare to assist with lessons."

Though she would rather battle it out with Ei from sunrise to sunset, Reida felt obliged to train Paul and pass on the legacy of the Water God School. He didn't appear to have a genuine interest in inheriting the rank of Water God, but that was a concern for the far future. All that truly mattered was the present, and, right now, Paul still had a long way to go before he could swagger around a place like the Demon Continent without fear...

With Paul assuring them everything would be okay, Jean, Ei, Eula, Xinyan, and Ghislaine accompanied Reida to the faculty dining area while he, Lilia, and Ganyu made their way over to the queue of people waiting to receive their meals. The Citadel's cafeteria was similar to the school cafeterias of his previous life, so you would pick up a flat tray and move through a line of servers supplying ladles of grits, potatoes, bread, and other staple food items.

Unsurprisingly, Paul hadn't even joined the queue before the person at the end of it, a young man with fiery red hair and rust-red eyes, gave him, Lilia, and especially Ganyu an appraising look as he inquired, "Since when has the Citadel of Reidal allowed beasts to enter its hallowed halls?"

Without missing a beat, Paul countered by stating, "I just arrived the other day. How am I supposed to know when you joined the Citadel...?"

Though it took the youth a moment to understand what Paul was trying to say, his expression subsequently darkened as he asked, "Are you-"

Without waiting for the youth's response, Paul inclined his head toward the line, adding, "The queue's moving up. Don't tell me you need someone to explain how a line works..."

"...!"

With a face nearly as red as hir hair, the youth looked like he was about to roar at the top of his voice before a slightly older-looking fellow with pale blonde hair and blue eyes interjected to state, "Sir Redfox, this is no place to cause a scene."

Recognizing both the voice and its owner, the red-haired youth attempted to forcibly calm himself despite arguing, "This contemptible fellow dared to insinuate I was a beast. It's no wonder the King ordered his exile from House Notos..."

Rolling his eyes, Paul asked, "Are you seriously this daft? Listen, kid, you either believe there's something special about being born a Noble, or you don't. Whether or not I still have my title, it doesn't change the fact that I was born 'better' than you. Now, get the fuck out of my way."

"You...!"

As the youth attempted to reach for the weighted wooden sword at his waist, Paul took advantage of their rather considerable height difference to grab the fiery mane atop the kid's head. Then, with mercy limited to not using Touki, he forced the brat's head down before subsequently driving a knee into his face.

Though Paul had held back quite a bit, a visible indentation appeared to have formed in the red-headed cuntnugget's face as he dropped to the ground with the whites of his eyes showing. This brought the attention of everyone in the cafeteria to Paul as he pulled out a handkerchief to wipe his hand, his voice a calm and deep baritone as he said, "I've you've got a problem with me, we'll settle it like men in the dojo. If you come picking a fight when I'm trying to mind my own business, expect no quarter."

Dropping the used handkerchief on the back of the red-haired youth's head, Paul completely ignored the blue-eyed blonde as he stepped over the former and joined the queue. He hadn't earned himself any favor by trashing the first arrogant piece of shit that tried seeking trouble with him, but it wasn't like the people gathered in the cafeteria had any meaningful power or influence. Most were second, third, or even fourth sons aspiring to join the Royal Knights. Less than ten percent of them would reach the Advanced Rank before taking part in the Knight Selection Trials, while the vast majority would spend their entire lives within the Intermediate Rank. In other words, most of the students within the Citadel were the absolute dregs of Noble society; pure, unadulterated cannon fodder...

...

..

.

Witnessing the minor kerfuffle between Paul and the Third Son of House Redfox, an amused smile developed across Reida's face. She was a little worried that Paul would try to talk his way out of a dispute or let himself be dragged into the pace of others. While there was nothing intrinsically wrong with engaging in diplomacy, everyone in the Citadel of Reidal was a Swordsman or woman. Only cowards settled things with words when both had perfectly good swords in hand.

Assured that Paul wouldn't be bullied, at least not by the rabble in the cafeteria, Reida walked over to join Jean, Ei, Eula, Ghislaine, and Xinyan. The faculty dining area was more like a restaurant than a cafeteria, so it was possible to sit and have a chat while a team of decently skilled chefs prepared made-to-order meals in the back.

After taking her seat, Reida initiated the conversation by stating, "Just as a heads-up, none of you should reveal anything that could be considered a secret while I'm around. Even if I weren't bound by a magical contract, I'm still loyal to the Kingdom. Expect that I'll be making regular reports to the King."

Acting as the group's representative, even though Ei was much, much older, Jean offered a curt nod as she replied, "Your frankness is greatly appreciated. Now then, what is it you wished to discuss...?"

"Hmmm..."

Passing her gaze over everyone present, Reida resisted the urge to ask where the big-breasted woman with teal-tipped hair had disappeared to. Instead, she said, "I need to know each of your individual strengths and weaknesses. Not in the malicious sense, but in the, 'I need to know what position you qualify for' kind of sense. I know Paul has intentions related to the Royal Academy, so I was thinking of referring a few of you to staff positions."

Nodding her head, Jean muttered, "I see..." before looking over her group and stating, "In that regard, Eula and myself are the most eligible for such an assignment. I am Saint-Ranked in both the Sword God Style and Wind Magic. Eula has yet to receive an official rank, but her swordsmanship is even more refined than my own."

Raising her brows, Reida gave Eula a scrutinizing gaze as she asked, "You haven't received a rank? Why...?"

Maintaining a calm and perfectly composed demeanor, Eula replied, "It was unnecessary. A person's official rank has no bearing on their ability, and I saw no value in obtaining the recognition of Sword King Augusta."

"Hmmm...fair enough. In that case, feel free to call yourself a Water or Sword Saint from now on. If Paul's words are to be believed, you lot are even stronger than him. I doubt Gal will complain...oh?"

With servers bringing over trays of food, a temporary lull occurred in the conversation. It was only once the waiters had returned that Reida said, "Then I'll go ahead and introduce the both of you to the Headmaster this afternoon or early tomorrow morning. I still need to measure where Paul is in terms of strength and ability, so I'll probably be focused on that the rest of the day..."

Shifting her gaze to Ghislaine and Xinyan, Reida asked, "What about you two? Members of the Beast Race aren't that welcome in the Capital, but we can work something out so long as you're skilled. As for you...I'm not even sure what you are?"

Though people with dark skin weren't all that uncommon, they were generally the descendants of a Demonic or Magic Race. Xinyan was an ordinary human as far as Reida could tell, but the same could be said for members of the Migurd and Hobbit Races. The only way to readily distinguish them from humans was with a blood magic ritual sometimes used to determine whether or not a person had a legitimate claim to an inheritance.

With a wry smile on her face, Xinyan replied, "I'm a 100% bonafide human being. As for my talents, my passion is music, but I'm also pretty capable with Fire Magic and a claymore. I've gotten a bit rusty over the years, but I'm at least an Advanced-Rank Water God Swordsman and Saint-Ranked in Fire Magic. I've recently been delving into King-Ranked Fire Magic, but the chants are really janky, so I've been trying to figure out a way to make them more interesting."

Blinking in surprise, Reida remarked, "Unless things have changed while I was focused on other things, the only requirement to call yourself a King-Ranked Mage is being able to cast King-Ranked Magic. So which is it? Are you a Fire Saint or a Fire King...?"

While it was true she could cast King-Ranked Magic with a bit of effort, Xinyan shook her head in response to Redia's words, stating, "The system we use is different from traditional Mages. For us, you don't qualify for the next Rank until you can cast the majority of spells from the previous Rank without chanting."

Opening her mouth, Reida wanted to call Xinyan out on her bullshit but noticed everyone around the table, sans Ghislaine, nodding their heads in approval. That implied that nearly every woman seated across from her was capable of using Saint-Ranked Magic without chanting. If that was even remotely true, the war potential of Paul and his Party exceeded even her wildest speculations...

...

..

.