"Speak of the devil. Hey Rey!"
Just as I was about to leave the station, Prez upon spotting me, shouted out from her seat calling for me.
Sigh...
Knowing that I couldn't simply ignore Prez without any repercussions, I turned around and greeted her back.
"Hey Prez, didn't expect to see you here"
"Hmmph! Liar, I already know you saw me earlier!" Prez poutingly replies.
"Sigh... Sorry, you two seem pretty busy with something, I don't want to intrude"
"so you did notice me earlier huh... and yet you decided to ignore me. Hmmp I hate you"
Ughh... This woman...
Turning my attention to the other person at the table, based on the shape of her body, it seems that she's a woman around Prez's age, but why did she have a such suspicious get-up?
"And this person?..." I inquire.
"Oh uh... Where are my manners? Let me introduce you two to each other, Rey this Illianara, and she's uhh... Err... Right! She's a friend of mine!
—Illianara, meet Rey, my classmate"
"Nice to meet you, I'm Rey, Rey Argent" I bowed greeting her as Prez introduced me.
"Umm uh, same. Illianara Clainad..." The woman shyly greeted back while also extending her hand for a handshake.
Illianara? I could have sworn heard that before...
Anyway not wanting to make the woman wait, I slowly grabbed her hand, but instead of going for a handshake, I gentlemanly bowed and went for a kiss on the back of her hand.
"Illianara Clainad, what a lovely name" was my compliment to her.
As Arthur used to say, first impressions are always important.
"Whoa there smooth operator" Was Prez's comment upon seeing my action forcing Illianara to immediately retract her hand with a hint of an embarrassed face.
With those out of the way, I then sat on one of the chairs.
"So uh... Prez, why did you call me? do you perhaps need me with something?"
"Oh, nothing much, Illianara and I were just talking about something regarding the upcoming events. —wait, we're actually just talking about you just now"
"Wow Prez, can't believe you're spreading weird gossip about me outside of the school as well" I sheepishly joke which makes Prez panicky out of shame and go into her defensive mode.
"I do not!"
"Hahaha, Jeanne is guilty as charged"
"Liana!"
As Illianara continued to laugh at Prez she unknowingly accidentally swiped the hood she was wearing revealing her flawless face adorned with an ash-colored hair, smooth glossy lips, and grayish eyes.
"Ahh!"
!!!
Noticing that Illianara looks exactly like the songstress Ris talked about earlier, I took out the flier from my pocket and compared her to it.
There's no way...
"Miss Illianara... Are you perhaps Illianara Clainad, as in Illianara The Jewel of the North?"
"I... Uh..."
"—heh~ so know about her Rey?" Prez inquired to which I denied.
"No, but Ris, the girl from the library talked about her to me earlier"
"Figures, —but yep she's Illianara in the flesh! The one! The only! The Jewel of the North Star! I suggest you take a good look at her beautiful face while it lasts you lucky bastard! wink wink" Prez proudly declared which further embarrassed Illianara forcing her to put on her hood again.
"Jeanne... Did you forget I'm in incognito right now..."
"Haha sorry sorry. but hey it's Rey we're talking, you have absolutely nothing to worry about"
"Somehow I feel irritated hearing your evaluation of me" I frown at Prez.
After a short silence, I then took a deep breath and decided to get back to the main topic which got sidetracked multiple times.
"—So, what do you need of me?"
Prez noticing the change in the atmosphere also decided to get serious which left Illianara stunted by the heavy surroundings.
"I got a task for you"
"Is it a favor or a club assignment?" I instantly inquire.
"Both. —Our club adviser just announced to me earlier that the club association had just finalized their decision and will hold another tournament for the upcoming school festival"
"Now that you reminded me, next week will be the start of the school festival... Anyway, tournament huh? that's nothing new"
"Not quite, I figure that since this will be our final year, I may as well go all out on this. I decided to collaborate with the Second Imperial Academy along with the dueling clubs of other campuses on organizing this year's event.
The process for filling the request took much longer than I anticipated but luckily for us, they all accepted, that's why Illianara here will be joining us next week"
"Wait Seriously?" I suddenly got stunned by Prez's words to which Illianara nodded in confirmation.
"As the one who suggested the collaboration, all the other campuses gave me free rein on how I will set up the entire event.
They gave me a hefty amount of budget in exchange for a few preset conditions. First is that the entire affair will take place at the 'Central Coliseum', and the second one is that there will be five main events"
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
"—The first event would be an opening performance of our guest here" Prez then rests her right hand on Illianara's left shoulder. "It'll be her last performance before retiring so make sure you won't miss it okay?~"
"The second event is just your typical exhibition fights. Nothing too serious on this one, anyone who's interested can participate and challenge whoever they like"
"The third event would be a team duel between different dueling clubs in a tournament format. Each club will be represented by five members, on our side that'll be me, Ditz, Arthur, Lisha, and of course Aisha"
"Surprisingly I'm not on the list"
"We'll get to that later. —Anyway, the fourth will be a similar team tournament but this time it's only for the freshman to second-year members only. Each campuses are limited to up to ten members.
As for the last. Well, It's a special one, courtesy of the request of the Second Imperial Academy towards our club. They wanted a full-on duel against the strongest of the 32nd campus of the First Imperial Academy. That'll be you, of course"
"Strongest? You're seriously overestimating me, Prez. If anything you should be the one who should fight, you're the president of the club after all"
"Sorry but It was already been decided, or else the Second Imperial Academy will back off from the deal"
With that revelation, I let out a deep breath and lowered my shoulder in defeat.
"Sigh... Fine, and my opponent?"
"—That'll be me" Illianara immediately declared.
Huh?
...
...
"Oh, I forgot to mention, Illianara aside from being a songstress is also a member of the dueling club from the Second Imperial Academy, she's the top duelist over there and also a mage like me. So, Best of luck to you"
"—wait a mage?! Hey, Prez isn't that more reason for you to be the one to fight her?"
"Oh, What are you afraid of? Come on it'll be fun"
"IN WHAT WAY WOULD IT BE FUN?!"
Illianara seeing my sudden comedic outburst decided to intervene.
"Rey if you don't want to, I can ask the committee for a change"
"—Oh don't be like that Liana, Rey here is currently on a long winning streak. I believe it's about time that someone has to put him in his place"
"That's just bullying!"
"—Another thing to add Rey, I'm not saying you should hold back, rather I suggest going all out on this one, but please avoid making harsh moves that'll tarnish a woman's stature okay? It'll be in the best interest of both parties, well, unless you want an angry mob coming for your head"
What do you mean by that?...
"So Rey do you accept with these conditions?"
"No, I don—"
"—I said... do you accept accept with this condition?!" Just as I'm about to decline, Prez immediately cuts me off and gives me a threatening glare that penetrates straight at my soul.
Letting off a deflating sigh, I decided to concede and just accepted the deal.
"I don't see I have any choice. Damn, Tyramts!"
"Did you say something?"
"Uhh nothing, I just said you're the greatest leader in the world and definitely know what's best for me"
"Oh wow, thanks for the compliment~" Prez teasingly replied.
Ughh...
With a complete 180 Prez then breathes a sigh of relief before smilingly turning to Illianara.
"How about that Liana, you're also satisfied with this right?" To which Illianara also nodded in reply.
"Good, now that's all settled let's adjourn, see you both next week"
*********
Walking side-to-side and heading back to our dorm, Prez seems to be in a pretty good mood.
"So what's up, you seem elated" I open up a conversation.
"Nothing I'm just excited for next week" Prez replies while happily skipping like a kid beside me.
"Tch... Excited for what? Me getting beat up by a mage?"
"—Ey it's not like that!"
Sigh...
"By the way Prez, I'm planning on taking a week off after the school festival from all my classes and club activities"
"Huh? Why?" Prez in surprise then began to inquire me for my reason.
"I just have things to settle... —Say, do you know the place called the Garden of Eden?"
"Garden of Eden? You're not referring to one from the storybook right?" Prez confusedly asked.
"I need to find a clue where this place is. It has something that I needed"
"But isn't that just some made-up place?"
"No it's real, this book was the proof" I then took out the old cryptic book from my bag and showed it to Prez. "It is written in an ancient language that predates the founding of our nation, it also contains catalogs about the first high empress"
"Incredible. Where did you find this?" Curious Prez began to open up the book which contains all sorts of illustrations.
"I bought it from a mysterious old man ages ago"
"Do you actually understand this language?"
"Uh... No, but I know a guy, who knows a guy, that knows a guy, who has a decoder" I lied.
"I see, I see... While I don't wanna be the one to tell you that you're just chasing some wild goose, I like to believe that there must be a good reason why you're prioritizing finding this place more than the class and club. Don't worry I'll inform all of your professors. But only for one week okay?! We still got a club outing..."
"Thanks, I knew I could count on you"
"What do you mean 'I knew I could count on you', my services don't come free nor cheap you know~" Prez sensing an opportunity for exploitation decided to pursue for a reward.
"...
Sigh...
What do you want..."
"—Oh Nothing special, how about treating me to some fine dining, It's been a while since I last ate out"
"Fine. I knew a place. —but only after I'm done with this"
"Then It's a Deal!"
After the brief negotiation, Prez suddenly grabbed my hand and started to drag me along.
"Guah! You're gonna tear my uniform!"
"Let's hurry back, it's getting late, I don't wanna get scolded by our dorm mother again"
*********
It was now the next day.
After my class and club activities had ended, I immediately headed home to meet up with Roxan.
Arriving in front of our manor I spotted my older sister by the front yard and preparing her supplies for her upcoming expedition.
Wearing her regimental combat uniform it consisted of several magically-enhanced clothes made from the finest material the empire could offer. Her entire set is composed of a blouse with a dark upper half and a white lower half, a black skirt, a blue leather overcoat with a bright red collar, and lastly a pair of black knee-high combat boots
"Phew, I made it" Panting I greeted Roxan who was strapping additional pouches at the saddle of her horse.
"Glad you made it. I thought you're not gonna send me off" Roxan greeted me back.
"I was hoping you'd change your mind, but I guess there's no stopping you now huh, you could have at least brought other people along with your expedition"
"No, Not against those groups of people. It was already quite a stretch requesting permission from Her Highness for this personal war with the South, I couldn't request for other people to join me with this one, I hope you'll understand my decision"
"I have nothing against your decision, I'm just worried"
"Heh~ little brother is worried huh~" Roxan trying to lighten up the mood starts to grinningly tease me and start pinching my cheeks.
"Stop teasing me, I'm dead serious" I retorted.
"Fine fine"
Exiting from the mansion were Rain and Maya with what seemed to be two bundles of preserved food wrapped in a thick layer of hard fabric.
"Lady Roxan here's a two-week worth of dried bacon and dehydrated soup stock, It may not taste like a regular one, but It'll be a good complement to your regular military ration"
"Thank you, Maya, this will definitely make every stop of this trip worthwhile"
"Here's also mine sis, it's your favorite tea, I ordered a bundle just ahead of time"
"I always hate not having access to Menchieve leaves when I'm on an expedition. This would definitely keep my morale high. Thanks, Rain"
Roxan then turned her attention to me.
"How about you Rey, anything for me?" Roxan asks to which I reply by handing her a golden bank note complete with a luxurious stamp.
"This is?"
"Just in case of an emergency. I ordered someone I trusted from our branch to deposit half of my savings to a renowned bank that had a huge influence on the South two days ago, of course under a false name.
The service fee is quite hefty due to the many hoops needed to circumvent the legality issue, but If you're in a pinch just show this note to any bank you'll come across and you'll be able to withdraw everything inside"
"—wait half?!... Hey aren't you going too far on this, how much is in this thing anyway?!"
"Don't ask, just take it, think of it as if you're getting sponsored for this expedition"
"Hahaha. How typical and reassuring of you Rey, no wonder Mother wants you to take over the business"
"—Just take care of yourself out there"
"Haha fine, I promise I won't get anything more than a scratch"
"You better be!"
After strapping everything she needed to her saddle, Roxan then mounted her stallion and began to strut her way out to the gate.
"Everything's all set, if possible I'll be back in the next month and a half"
"—And we'll be right here at home praying for your safe return" Rain then follows up with a smile trying her best to make this a proper sendoff for my sister.
"As she said, I'll also be waiting, don't forget to send us some mail and souvenirs"
With a nod, Roxan then smiles at me.
"You're in charge now, take care of Mom and Dad while I'm gone"
"Yeah that goes without saying"
With our final farewells, Roxan then waved goodbye to the three of us before kicking her horse starting her long journey to the south.