After a week at the Asteris Academy, Class 1 began to get used to their new teacher, despite all his eccentricities it was clear the depth of his knowledge of magic, moreover, even though he didn't have a great track record or the best criteria to be the teacher in charge of class 1, due to the direct support of the academy director, no teacher could make a move to remove him from the position without good reason. Still, because of his comments that were at least disrespectful to the nobility, some students had contacted their families and a movement was in progress to articulate Yukiko's removal, with the noble families arguing that the beginning of the school year was a theoretical study while in the next weeks, practical exercises would start to become more common, in this regard, it would be necessary a more competent mage, of at least Gold Rank so that the children would not be harmed in their learning. Because of this movement, the director of the academy was experiencing several difficulties.
“Of course, Mrs. Iris, I understand your concern, but I guarantee Professor Yukiko's capabilities both in theoretical and practical terms.”
In the Asteris Academy's principal's office, principal Maria Rosenfold finds herself in an argument with the mother of one of the students through the magic communicator.
“I understand your concern about young Muher, but no need to worry, we are providing the best education possible. Unfortunately, I have an appointment this morning and I need to end the call, have a good day, Mrs. Iris.”
Maria turns off the communicator and sighs from exhaustion after a call that had lasted almost 1 hour.
“Every day this, and it's getting worse.”
In the middle of the room, you can hear the sound of cups being used and two people talking casually.
“It's true Yuki! Professor Clairus does have a scary face, but the face he made when director Maria got angry was hilarious!”
Nonchalantly, Camila cackles as she drinks the tea prepared and served by Yukiko. Watching this, veins began to appear on the headmistress' forehead and the air in the office began to change slightly. Realizing the situation, Camila fell silent immediately.
“While I spend almost an hour listening to the complaints of the student's parents, I have to watch you two have tea and talk as if there wasn't even a problem in the world...”
“I’m sorry, Director Maria!”
Immediately Camila bows for the headmistress's forgiveness.
“And you are very bold Camila , since when do you call him Yuki?”
“Oh?”
The pressure in the room continues to build to the point where the earthy taste in the air can already be felt.
“Maria, you're going to spoil our tea again...”
Finally, Yukiko begins to participate in the discussion.
“And stop harassing Camila, she's here because I invited her. I like talking to her and I permitted her to call me that.”
“Yuki...”
Camila looks at Yukiko with tears in her eyes, thrilled that she is being defended by her friend, who can protect her even against a Saint mage.
“And who gave you permission to invite someone to have tea in my room?”
“But here you have the best tea leaves.”
“He's right, Director Maria.”
“That doesn't justify invading my room every day! And stop agreeing with him on everything Camila!”
Maria was already screaming at this point.
“Do not care about her Camila, it happens that Maria has her birthday next week and this is always a complicated day of the year, even more this year, since it's going to be her ninet-”
Immediately the communicator in Maria’s hand is thrown towards Yukiko with all the physical strength of a Saint mage, Yukiko narrowly manages to duck and avoid contact, and the device hits one of the walls of the room and creates a crater.
“Hey, that could have killed me...”
“Seriously? But wouldn't that be great? At least then all my troubles with the nobles' parents and you invading my room every day would be over.”
“You have a point, and I wouldn't go through the sadness of reaching and passing 90 years old of age too.”
“...”
“Well, I need to go, my class has already started. You can finish the tea, Camila. Good luck with the calls Maria, even though you broke the communicator... but I know you'll manage, see you later.”
Yukiko then leaves the room and heads toward his classroom. Meanwhile, Camila nervously starts cleaning the rubble from the concrete due to the communicator's impact.
“Oh, Camila, get me a new communicator, buy one of those more modern ones that I don't have to hold to my ear.”
“Understood, Director Maria.”
“And prepare the equipment for broadcasting official announcements.”
“Hmm? Are there any announcements to be delivered to the entire student body today?”
“Yes, Professor Yukiko and Professor Clairus set the date of the dispute.”
“Oh...”
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
In the class 1 room, the students talk about the week's activities, as they are used to the constant delays of the teacher in charge, they talk quietly in the room, some standing and others sitting.
“He's late again.”
In a group of 5 girls, Melina Moscon comments on the teacher's tardiness.
“Yes, every day that, honestly, how irresponsible can he be? My parents are complaining every day to the headmistress, how is he still in office?”
“Yes Louis, every day I talk to my mother too, but the director doesn't do anything, even with so many complaints.”
Melina talks to her longtime friend, Louis Blondy, a nobleman from a large family.
“Miss Mia, could you know why the director defends this man so much?”
Melina addresses a girl sitting a little in front of her and outside her discussion circle, the girl who was quietly reading a book answered her without even looking at the girl.
“I can't say, Miss Melina, I don't talk much to the director Maria, even though she's from the same family she doesn't participate much in internal affairs and doesn't have much contact with us.”
“I understand, but my mother told me that the only one of the 4 big families that is not asking for the expulsion of this man is the Rosenfolds, the director must have made some contact with the main house.”
“I can't say if she did, but I didn't make any complaints about him anyway.”
“You didn't make any complaints about him?”
“That's what I said.”
“What do you mean Miss Mia, haven't you seen him talking about the nobility several times with disdain? Do you consider him a good teacher?”
“I don't care what he says about the nobility, as for being a good teacher, he seems to have a lot of knowledge in the area. I still need more time to judge his capabilities, but if the director Maria defends him, he must be competent enough. Not to mention other factors.”
“Other factors?”
“Yes, he is very attractive, we are the only class with a new and attractive teacher, the others all have some old ones.”
“What?! How could this be important to you?”
“Why would it not? I'm a teenage girl, this is important. Don't you find him attractive?”
“What?! Well, I wouldn't say he's not... but he offended us so I can't forgive him, but if I had to say... he is quite handsome...”
“Oh, thank you Miss Moscon!”
“Hmm?”
When she turns around, Yukiko is in the middle of the room, smiling and waving at her.
“AHHHH!”
Completely embarrassed, Melina runs to her chair and sits down with her hands covering her face. When the students notice the teacher, they all go to their seats.
“Good morning, everyone! I'm aware that several parents of students are talking about me to the principal, I'm glad you are talking a lot about me with your parents, I must have made a good first impression!”
Several students are annoyed with the teacher's joke, after all, many there are nobles of the largest families in the empire, and their families were always able to get everything they wanted, however, they were not able to change a simple teacher, regardless of the effort of their parents.
“This week would be the beginning of your practical classes and as I am the responsible teacher, although you have classes with other teachers in this regard, I should be the first to teach you. But as I've already said, I'm not willing to teach children for the sole purpose of dying in a war 7 years from now.”
Once again Yukiko reaffirms his decision not to teach them without each declaring a worthy goal.
“This is absurd, are you going to harm us that way? Here, the vast majority are children of great noble families who are known for their achievements in wars and most of us are younger children who will not be entitled to inherit our main house, it is obvious that we must achieve results in war!”
The one who stands up and shows his indignation at Yukiko's decision is Muher Iris, in the last week the students have become accustomed to the constant arguments between the two, and Muher’s frustration that his family has not been able to remove this man from his position so far was evident.
“I'm not asking for too much, just a goal that satisfies me, if you want to go to war in 7 years, go ahead, just invent something and convince me.”
A good part of the classroom is extremely frustrated this last week, due to the possibility that they do not have regular practical classes this year, although other teachers will train them, the one who has more time for this is the responsible teacher, they would be wasting valuable time without him.
“However, I understand your frustration and Maria will have a lot of headaches if you don't have any practical classes and your parents come to complain daily, although, with the frequency I go to Maria's room there won't be more communicators available in the kingdom soon... well that's why I got a teacher for you all, until you convince me. You can enter now.”
Everyone is taken by surprise when a woman with long gray hair and red eyes walks through the classroom door. The students are surprised by the powerful aura and impressive beauty of the woman who appears to be a little more than 20 years old, but among the students, the most surprised is Onix, who is unable to hide his indignation, getting up from his chair.
“This is Professor Roxy Clairus, she is an excellent fire mage and has a lot of experience in real battles, serving the army for more than 10 years until she became a teacher at this academy at Maria's request. We are old acquaintances, so I asked her this favor, and even though she was extremely busy with more advanced classes, she was generous enough to accept.”
“Good morning students of class 1, I hope we get along, I will be responsible for your practical classes.”
The entire room is breathless again, but a sense of excitement is easily felt, especially among noble children.
“Hey! It's that Roxy, isn't it? Of the Clairus?”
“Yes! The genius who reached Gold 3 at just 28 years old and received a commendation for her services in war by the emperor himself!”
“Unbelievable, I thought she only taught classes 6 and 7, seriously that she's going to train us personally?!”
“Even that useless professor was good for something!”
Several parallel discussions between the students begin to erupt in the classroom, while others begin to question Onix who is still standing paralyzed.
“Mister Onix, she is your older sister, isn't she? She is really amazing, right? I had no idea we would have classes with her!”
“Oh? Yeah... she's amazing, I can't believe it either, but old acquaintance of the professor?”
Yukiko then interrupts the students' side conversations with a few claps and resumes speaking.
“Let's stop the conversations please, and I can hear you offend me. I know you wanted me to train you and you're probably extremely sad, but Roxy is what we have for now.”
“Who would prefer you?!”
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Again, the whole class screams together.
Is he going to talk like that about my older sister? I know she's always been a quiet person, but if he offends her like that, he can get into trouble.
Onix then gets anxious about Yukiko's comments.
“Well, you heard Yuki, let's go to the external facilities, we will have the first practical class now.”
In an extremely natural way, Roxy starts to leave the room towards the facilities for practical training, the class follows her and continues talking, walking slowly Onix remains with a completely perplexed face.
“Hey, did she call him Yuki?”
“Hmm, we must have heard it wrong...”
“Onix, your sister is so intimate with people?”
When his classmates look at him, Onix is completely pale.
“She never called me by my first name, even with our mother, she addresses her as "ma'am", what's going on?”
When the students look forward, it is possible to see Yukiko and Roxy talking quietly, close, and with smiles being exchanged constantly.
“Am I really awake?”
“Onix, are you okay? You are pale man!”
Due to Onix's appearance, his friends start to worry and try to calm him down.
“Hmm… Yuki?”
Meanwhile, Mia Rosenfold repeats quietly the nickname she had heard.
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
All the students finally arrive at their destination after walking for a while. Due to the number of students in the academy, counting the mage students and common soldiers, the dimensions of the place are astonishing, the destination of the students of class 1 is a large shed, where there are some human size puppets scattered, in addition, the shed has black stones lining the walls, the ceiling and even the floor.
“This is one of the many practical training sites, due to the shed being coated with Black Quartz, it is strong enough to withstand spells up to Silver 3 and so it is used for training first-year students.”
Many of the noble children already knew what Black Quartz was, but even for non-nobles who might have been ignorant of the subject by not receiving the same education, the subject was brought up during the first week of classes with Yukiko. In this world there are some ores with specific properties, Black Quartz can deregulate mana particles and then break spells, in addition, it has high impact resistance and is, therefore, an excellent material to build training centers for mages.
“Okay, to start I ask you to line up and use the most basic spell that each of you knows.”
The students then lined up and one by one used the most basic spells for each element.
“Fire Ball!”
“Wind Arrow!”
“Water Jet!”
“Earth Fist!”
With each spell, rumblings were heard around the room, some students used an incantation to aid in the construction of the spell, while others used it more naturally and spontaneously, in addition, the activation time and intensity were different between each of the students, while the fireball conjured by Elia was capable of conjuring a fist-sized orb of fire, Onix was capable of conjuring an orb the size of an adult human's head, the speeds they both traveled were also clearly different. Still, Elia's spell was excellent for her age and rank compared to other students, even among the nobles. Onix was just exceptional.
While the Fireballs caused a small explosion and set the puppets on fire, the Water Jets didn't have as much power, exerting only some pressure on the puppets, the Wind Arrows were capable of causing only a few scratches, and the Earth Fists a few dents in the puppets. Of all the techniques, the fire element's ability to cause greater destruction was clear.
When all the students had finished their attacks, Professor Roxy continued.
“Okay, now I have a better idea of your capabilities, Mr. Onix, when did you reach Bronze 2?”
“It's been 2 months, Professor Clairus.”
“I see, congratulations on your progress.”
“Thanks.”
“Hey, Onix! Are you Bronze 2? Man, this is amazing, at only 13 years old? It could only be a Clairus...”
The students begin to argue about how amazing it was for their classmate to have reached Bronze 2 so early, it was possible to see the pride among the nobles. However, some students were frustrated that the non-nobles showed excellent skills, after Onix, the most impressive fire spell was Elia's, while the most impressive Wind and Water spells were Frederica’s and Rose’s.
“Okay, everyone stops talking and do it again.”
“Hmm? The same spell, Professor Clairus?”
“Yes, repeat the same spell until you can't anymore, even when your legs weaken, keep using it until you feel like you're going to lose consciousness, don't worry about the technique, just release the spell as best and as fast as you can.”
“Understood!”
After a few minutes, many students began to fall to the ground due to exhaustion, many reaching their limits way more quickly than others. The Earth mages were the first to fall, followed by the water mages, the last two standing were Rose and Mia, with Rose being able to cast the spell 6 times and Mia 7 times. Then, the Fire mages were falling one by one, with Elia and Onix being the last to fall, Elia being able to cast the spell 8 times and Onix 9 times. The last to fall was the Wind mages, Frederica was able to use the spell 15 times before losing her strength.
“Okay, I can understand your mana reserves a little better now. Can anyone tell me why the Earth and Water mages were the first to fall?”
Some students were so out of breath that they couldn't even speak, it was then that Frederica, after taking a deep breath, began her explanation.
“Due to the characteristics of each element, some elements require greater amounts of mana to manifest. For the Earth element for example, to manifest an Earth fist the mage needs to use a large amount of mana and build the Earth particles that are solid and dense, the Wind mage uses a much smaller amount of mana since the amount of Air in the environment is high and the amount of Air used in an arrow is much less than the amount of Earth used in a fist, so the speed with which the spell is invoked is also much shorter if we compare the two elements. There is of course a difference between spell intensities, but it is correct to say that in order the elements that require the most mana to manifest are Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind.”
“Perfect, it's exactly as you say, intensity is important so it would be wrong to say that even though Elia used only one spell less than Onix, both would have a similar mana reserve, Onix's spells were of higher intensity, bigger, so it would be safe to say his reserves are at least twice as high as Elia's. You also have a good reserve, Miss Frederica.”
“Thank you, teacher.”
“But the ones that surprised me were mainly Miss Rose and Miss Mia, both used the spells with a good intensity. I would say that Miss Rose's reserve is as big as Mr. Onix's reserve and Miss Mia's reserve is still a little bigger, both being in Bronze 3, this is impressive.”
At this moment Rose and Mia look at each other, Mia then smiles at Rose and offers her hand to shake, and immediately Rose rejoices and shakes her hand.
“You are amazing Miss Rose, The Rosenfold family is well known for their high mana reserve, for you to have such a large and comparable reserve is impressive.”
“Thank you, Miss Mia.”
“When did you both discover your affinity and start training?”
Roxy interrupts both of them and asks a question.
“I found out when I was 10 years old, after that I used a spell a few times a week for safety reasons and on the recommendation of my family.”
“I found out around that time too, I used it from time to time, but my father always fought with me when I used it more than once.”
“Good thing he stopped you, Miss Rose.”
“Hmm?”
Confused by the teacher's comment, Rose waits for the explanation.
“When an affinity is developed, the mage's core is in an unstable state, so it is not recommended to use spells, as this can cause accidents and disable mages. In some nations, the practice is even prohibited for mages below the recommended age, as mages are in some ways the greatest treasures of a nation and so rare, no nation can afford to lose them.”
“What? But then is it okay for us to use spells until we almost passed out?”
“I'm surprised you didn't have any knowledge about this, Miss Rose. But don't worry, when affinity manifests, the mana core goes through a stabilization period, we know that the core stabilizes completely around the age of 13, so this is the age to join the academy.”
“Oh, I see, now it makes sense.”
“This is also the second-best period to increase mana reserves, by depleting your core through stress and using spells to its limit, the individual manages to expand his mana reserve.”
“The second-best period?”
“Yes.”
At that moment, Yukiko was the one who interrupted the class, leaning against one of the walls he continues to speak.
“The best period for a nucleus to expand is during its instability, during this period the dimensions of the nucleus are not well defined, so it expands easily.”
“But that-”
“It causes problems, some idiotic families make their members go through risks, forcing them to use spells even in such dangerous periods in order to quickly increase their reserves.”
As he says that, Yukiko looks at Mia.
“You are a very kind teacher, but don't stare at me so much, I'm embarrassed.”
Mia puts her hand on her face and starts blushing while joking, Yukiko then smiles and looks down.
“You remember a lot your aunt, you know?”
“Oh! I'm flattered, maybe I'll awaken an old love from you due to my appearance and the resemblance with Headmistress Rosenfold?”
“Don't worry, I'm not interested in children. Besides, why try to replace something with memory when I can just go to Maria's room?”
For this bold statement about a Saint mage, all the students in the room turn red.
“Hmm... so this was your relationship? Interesting.”
The quickest to recover is Mia who comments on Maria's relationship with this man.
“Let's go back to class please.”
Roxy coughs and changes the subject of discussion as she looks at Yukiko with some discomfort.
“We don't care about your relationship with the director and have more respect with a Saint mage, please.”
“Hmm? Are you jealous Roxy? Don't worry, I was just playing with Mia.”
“I am not jealous!”
She's clearly jealous...
As the class thinks about the teacher's jealousy, Onix is again without reaction.
Who is this guy and how can he make my sister behave like this?
“Well, it's like Yuki said, some families commit this irresponsibility, I'm glad nothing bad happened to you Miss Rose, but now you don't have to worry about it, train until you don't have the strength in your legs every day. A Silver Rank 3 mage for example should be able to at least cast a high-intensity Fireball 50 times.”
“Fifty times?!”
“So do your best every day.”
“Understood!”
“As for the other elements, there is a common mistake with users of the earth and water element that can be corrected to seek a better performance.”
“A common mistake?”
Rose questions the teacher curiously.
“Unlike the Fire element, where the amount of fire invoked will mean a greater explosion and intensity, the same cannot be said for the Earth and Water elements. The Earth element for example, being more defense-oriented, there is a sense in erecting a wall to protect yourself by building it to look as thick as possible, but if the objective is to attack, often a very large Earth projectile can hinder the speed of the attack. For this, a greater focus on projectile hardness, less mass, and greater speed can be more interesting, and this consequently ends up costing a lower amount of mana.”
“I think I understand the concept teacher, but it's still a little vague to me...”
“It's the same for me...”
Mia agrees with Rose on the matter.
“It's easier to demonstrate, but unfortunately my element is Fire, so I can't show what I mean. Yukiko, can you demonstrate the difference?”
“Hmm? But I had said that I would not teach them without a goal for each one...”
“At least do that, I'm the one asking, not them, it's part of my explanation.”
“I do not want.”
“Don't make me go get Maria for a demonstration, I'll tell her about you insulting the noble families earlier.”
“...Okay, I will do it.”
For a moment everyone was excited about the possibility of a Saint mage performing a live demonstration, but their dreams were soon dashed.
“He acts like a kid, why not continue being lazy and give us the chance to see the director...”
But among the students, some were curious and wanted to see this man in action, among them Rose, Mia, and Onix.
“Here everyone, pay attention to the first situation. I will make a jet of water in the same proportion as Rose did.”
Yukiko extends his hand towards one of the puppets and a sphere of water emerges from his palm, the same size as Rose's.
“So, his affinity is water?”
“Serious? The least efficient element to attack?”
“Hmm, it suits him, and to think that we lost an instructor like Professor Clairus...”
Some students comment on the affinity that Yukiko has just revealed for the first time.
“I'll throw it in 3, 2, 1.”
The sphere of water turns into a jet with the thickness of a pipe that carries water in a simple trajectory. The jet hits the puppet and it shakes it a little, but it doesn't do any apparent damage, just soaking it in water.
“As you can see, there isn't much function for a jet of this type, maybe at the most to put out a fire. Pay attention now.”
Again, Yukiko extends his hand and creates another sphere, but this time much smaller, the size of a human eye, this time the sphere has an impression of having much more pressure inside it as if it were about to explode.
“3, 2, 1.”
A jet of water much smaller than the previous, shoots from the sphere, with such a high velocity that it hits the doll instantly, however, this time the doll doesn't even flinch.
“It was very fast... but this time it didn't even cause damage...”
“Take a closer look.”
After a comment from one of the students, Roxy asks for more attention to the puppet.
“...!”
In the middle of the puppet’s forehead, there is now a hole and there is even a mark on the wall behind it.
“The jet went through it and still chipped the wall? But this puppet withstood even the explosion of the Onix Fireball without any damage, how is that possible?”
“The amount of mana used was the same, I just adjusted the spell differently, following this logic you might be able to use spells with higher damage and lower mana compared to the ones you were using before. Unlike the Fire element which is specifically aimed at damage, the support and defense elements such as Earth and Water can be adjusted to deal more damage, it is not enough to just inject a huge amount of mana and cast the spell, it will not work the same as the fire element.”
The students listen carefully to Yukiko's explanations until he finally finishes.
“Well, that's it, you can continue, Roxy.”
“Thank you, Yuki. Well now you are all exhausted so let's finish here, we can continue tomorrow, where we will try to apply what Yuki showed us today.”
“Understood!”
When Roxy was about to finish the class, a voice was possible to be heard in the academy.
“ATTENTION ALL STUDENTS AND TEACHERS! ATTENTION ALL STUDENTS AND TEACHERS!”
“Hmm? The academy communicator, is there any announcement that would be made today?”
“Not that I know, usually it is used to organize some event or give very important information.”
Throughout the academy, it was possible to hear the voice of Director Maria, which captured the attention of all children.
“I COME THROUGH THIS DEVICE TO ANNOUNCE THE PERFORMANCE AND DATE OF A MAGIC DUEL.”
“A duel!?”
“Hey seriously? Isn't a duel something super serious? Did some students get in a confusion?”
“If the families are rivals, they may have requested it as a matter of honor!”
“How amazing, I want to watch it!”
“IN 3 WEEKS, ON THE SAME DAY AND TIME, A DUEL WILL BE HELD BETWEEN TEACHER EMANOEL CLAIRUS AND TEACHER YUKIKO. THE TWO WILL DUEL FOR THE RIGHT OF BEING THE TEACHER RESPONSIBLE FOR CLASS 1. THE DUEL WILL BE UNTIL INCAPACITATION, WITHDRAWAL, OR DEATH.”
"What?!"
All students immediately looked at Yukiko.
“Hmm? Had I not told you about this?”
"Of course not!"
Mia was the first one to answer.
“I thought I had commented, well it will be in 3 weeks so I'm sorry, but that day we won't have classes.”
“You think this is the problem?”
“Hmm? What more would be? Now, are you all worried about your favorite responsible teacher?”
"Of course not! And you are our only responsible teacher!”
This time, a lot of the students answered together. However, some of the students do not participate in the last cry, because they were really worried.
“If I'm the only one, then I'm your favorite.”
“Yuki, you're playing too much with them, some are really worried, don't you think you owe them an explanation?”
He then sees that some of them are worried, among them most of the non-noble children.
“Don't worry about me, it's the teacher's job to worry about their students, not the other way around. Focus on how you will convince me to train you all.”
“Professor Yuki, are you sure you'll be fine?”
Mia asks Yukiko with a worried expression.
“Hmm? Of course, don't worry, I know about Professor Clairus' powers, but I have it all planned out!”
“I see, ok then.”
“Hey did you just call him Yuki?”
“Hmm? Yes.”
Everyone stares at Mia after she had simply called the teacher a nickname.
“He said we could call him whatever we wanted on the first day.”
“It's true, but still...”
“Are you jealous, Frederica?”
“Idiot, of course not...”
“You can call me whatever you want as I said before, but let's finish for today, if you have any doubts, we'll discuss tomorrow. The practical training will be in the afternoon and the theoretical classes will be in the morning, I don't want students sleeping in my class because of exhaustion.”
“Thanks for the class, Professor Roxy!”
The students then began to withdraw.
“They never thanked me like that for a class...”
“Well, you didn't want to teach them.”
“Hum… you're right about that one.”
When all the students left the training shed, only Yukiko and Roxy were present.
“What are you going to do about the dispute?”
“Well, I will think about it in the week of the event.”
“Always leaving things to the last minute... but why leave it for 3 weeks from now?”
“I didn't give you details of why, did I? I just told you it would happen.”
“Yes.”
“I want to get to know the students better this month.”
“Yuki, after all, what's your goal here?”
“You know I like to keep some mysteries, don't you? It is one of my many charms.”
Roxy then looks at him apprehensively.
“Don't worry, later I will explain everything to you, now is just not the time.”
Yukiko speaks with a serious voice, one of the rare moments where he doesn't look like joking.
“I understand, if you say so then I'll wait, but if you need something don't leave me out, please. You know that I... that you can count on me, no matter what.”
“Hmm, whatever it is? What if I told you that I plan a war against the nobility of Asteris, and with that the destruction of the Clairus family, your family, and their entire bloodline?”
Yukiko's face was now more serious than ever, with an almost frightening look in his eyes.
“Then I would abandon my last name and destroy them by your side.”
Since one of the doors was open only the sound of the wind could be heard getting inside the shed, absolute silence was maintained for a few seconds while these two mages exchanged absolute looks. Due to Yukiko's stature, Roxy needed to look up to meet his eyes. After a few seconds, Yukiko let out a muffled laugh.
“You are really scary, you know? I don't plan to destroy your family, don't worry.”
“I know. You wouldn't involve children and innocent people in a plan like that, I'm just making it clear that you can count on me. The only people that I still have ties with are you and Maria, everyone else already left this world. You two are the most important to me, never forget that.”
Yukiko then looks at her with kind eyes.
“Hmm… Maria would be really embarrassed if she had heard you. But don't worry about that for now.”
“Understood, but I'm sure that what you plan is not something small...”
“Perhaps...”
With a slight smile on his face, Yukiko feels the wind hit his face as he looks at the roof of the shed.