Aunty Astrid

"I-I have a few things I want to talk to you about," Headmistress Evergreen said, returning to her professional demeanor.

"Right... well, please come in," Thea said as she led the headmistress to the couches by the fireplace in the living room.

"C-Can you call the other girls down? What I need to say involves them as well," Headmistress Evergreen said, blushing again.

Thea stared at the older elf in front of her for a few seconds before she realized why the headmistress was acting the way she was.

"Well... as you probably heard... that might be a little difficult at the moment. I will inform them about our conversation later," Thea comfortably said with a friendly smile on her face.

"R-Right... Well then, first things first," Headmistress Evergreen said as she handed four identical sheets over to Thea. "These are the subjects you can follow as a first year. When the other girls... are awake, please hand each of them one of these. Tomorrow morning, they will need to submit these sheets. Once your three subject choices are turned in, you won't be able to change your mind until next year, so choose wisely," the headmistress warned.

Thea read the sheet, and just like the headmistress said, there were many different classes to choose from.

"I'm guessing these classes are obligatory?" Thea asked as she pointed at four subjects on the paper that were in gray boxes.

"That's right: magic theory, physical training, mathematics, and ancient language studies are obligatory. Following any of the classes is not obliged, but if you fail your exam at the end of the year, you might put yourself in a difficult position. That's also why I'm here," Headmistress Evergreen said, her expression turning serious.

"What do you mean, Headmistress?" Thea asked, suddenly remembering something she had forgotten to do. "It's a little late, but would you like some tea?" Thea asked.

"...Yes, I would like that," Headmistress Evergreen said with a sigh.

Thea quickly went to the kitchen and made a simple fruity tea with tea bags she had prepared in the past. Thea then made some warm water with [Elemental Magic] and poured it into two teacups together with the tea bags. Along with some sugar cubes, Thea returned to the living room, placing the cups and sugar on the table.

Headmistress Evergreen picked up her cup and curiously looked at the tea bag before taking a sniff of the steaming tea.

"What's this?" Headmistress Evergreen asked as she pointed at the tea bag.

Thea, who was adding her third sugar cube, looked at the tea bag and confusedly asked, "Do you mean the tea bag? It's just a filtering bag with a tea mix in it," she explained.

"How innovative..." the headmistress said before taking a sip of her tea.

Before the headmistress could ask another question, Thea asked, "So what's the problem?"

Headmistress Evergreen looked at Thea, sighed, and took another sip of her tea.

"You are, to be honest. As you saw during the examination, you are far above the standard. Not only are your physical skills exceptional, but your magical and theoretical skills are also far superior to the other students. Even if you are Lily's daughter, you are... atypical," Headmistress Evergreen said, revealing the fact that she knew Lily even when she was disguised as Zyla.

"When I saw your first answers on the theoretical exam, I was pretty angry. But when I saw your last answer on the question written in Rari... I ended up running to Lily, who had informed me she was visiting, only to find out it was her daughter who wrote that very answer!" Headmistress Evergreen complained loudly.

"Ahaha, sorry," Thea apologized with a laugh.

"Haaa You aren't at fault. Who would have expected that my adventuring party leader I haven't seen in more than a century would visit, and with a daughter at that! By the way, that makes me your aunt. Call me Aunty Astrid in private, okay?" Headmistress Evergreen said with an expectant smile.

Although surprised by how talkative the headmistress was and the history she had with her mother, Thea happily accepted her request.

"Alright, Aunty Astrid, is there anything else you want to say or ask?" Thea asked. After a few seconds of silence, Astrid blushed and nodded.

"You should find a way to keep your 'noise' from leaving the room, or the house at least. You might have chosen the perfect place for your 'activities,' but if a student or teacher ever comes to visit... you might end up in an awkward situation," Astrid hinted.

"I don't mind that, but I guess for the girls, I should soundproof the room..." Thea said as she started thinking of ways to keep sound from leaving the room.

"Oh, that reminds me, do you want me to make any improvements on the gate? The enchantments are really sloppy if they are meant to protect and hide the gate and the material it's made out of," Thea casually said, making Astrid's expression turn into shock.

"Sloppy? Do you perchance know how to enchant as well?" Astrid asked in disbelief.

"Yep, do you want to see one of my creations?" Thea asked with an excited smile.

Astrid nervously gulped but nodded as curiosity won her over.

Thea then proudly took out a sharpie and changed its form from gauntlets into a spear, holding it out in front of Astrid.

Astrid was shocked when she saw gauntlets come out of nowhere. She was even more shocked when the gauntlets turned into a long double-edged spear. When she looked closely at the spear Thea was holding out in front of her, her mouth opened in disbelief.

"Y-you m-made t-this?" Astrid stuttered to ask. Even if she couldn't see its information, from experience and age, she could tell it was a weapon of the highest grade.

"That's right, impressed?" Thea cockily asked.

Astrid looked at Thea before she looked at the spear she was holding out again.

"I will need to send His Majesty a request, but it shouldn't be a problem," Astrid said seriously.

"No hurry, it's something trivial. When and where do we need to be tomorrow to hand in this sheet?" Thea asked.

Astrid's eye twitched as she heard Thea talk but gave up trying to reason with her new niece. Instead, she explained when and where Thea had to be tomorrow. She finished her tea and left, leaving Thea and the sleeping girls alone.