~One hour and ten minutes later~
Shiro was sleeping on the couch as she faced the ceiling with her hands on her stomach. Ketsueki was sitting beside a chair that had a black blazer draped over it as she ate at the dining table. She was holding onto what remained of a karaage sandwich that had lettuce, tomatoes, and a thin layer of mayo. Ketsueki glanced at her little sister while chewing, she thought. Time to wake her up. She ate the rest of the karaage sandwich and wiped her lips clean using her thumb. Ketsueki picked up the blazer draped over the chair next to her as she made her way to the couch.
She said. "Shiro, if you don't wake up now you'll be late for school." Shiro's eyes slowly opened as she sat up straight on the couch while gently rubbing her eyes. She looked up to her Ketsueki who was holding out her hand with her blazer. Shiro said. "... Morning, Onee-chan…" She slowly stood up from the couch and let out another yawn as she grabbed the blazer and put it on. Ketsueki placed a hand on top of her little sister's head and caressed it, she said. "And once again, morning."
Shiro tried her best to keep her eyes open as she looked like she could fall asleep at any moment, she said. "Onee-chan, why did Onii-chan make karaage for breakfast?" Ketsueko gave her a smile and said. "We just had a lot of leftover chicken in the fridge." She thought. I'll make sure to ask him while pummeling him into the ground when he comes back. Shiro saw the hint of coldness in her older sister's eyes and thought. Onii-chan, make sure you don't forget those chocolates. Ketsueki slightly ruffled her little sister's white hair and said. "Bento?"
Shiro let out another small yawn and covered her mouth with her hand, she said. "Pouch." She fixed her hair that her older sister messed with while Ketsueki placed her right hand on her hip. She said. "I don't get an apology from your little tantrum?" The two sister's stared at each other for a few seconds, Shiro said. "Are you going to apologize to Onii-chan for all the times you did it to him?" Ketsueki paused for a moment and pointed at her and said. "Call it even?" Shiro shrugged her shoulders, she said. "Sure." Ketsueki pinched her little sister's cheek and said. "Let's go, we don't want to be late." Shiro nodded and said. "Yes, Onee-chan."
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Somewhere In A Forest
Reiki was leaping from tree branch to tree branch in zigzags with a streak of shite on his left, he thought. When Cherry flies she isn't fast enough to turn into a streak of white. He landed on another tree branch as it slightly bent from the momentum as he jumped forward even faster. Reiki continued his train of thought. While invisible she leaves a trail of white. He heard Ender's voice in his head. [Keep your eyes in front.] Reiki moved his eyes to the front as he saw a tree getting closer and hit it.
[System: User has received 21 Damage.]
The tree visibly shakes as Cherry appears on one of the branches as she watches Reiki fall on the grass flat on his ass.
[System: User has received 13 Damage.]
He quickly stood up and patted on his clothes to dust off some dirt, he thought. Thanks for the late warning. Cherry turned into a streak of white and appeared on Reiki's shoulder, he glanced at the albino bird and said. "I told you, Cherry. Using the trees would be a lot faster." He heard Ender's voice in his head. [You broke a total of forty-three branches during your 'practice'.] Reiki waved his hand in dismissal, he said. "Ender, stop nitpicking the small things." He made a sharp left and started walking as Cherry let out a caw.
He glanced at her and said. "Cherry, have you been to this part of the forest?" Cherry let out a caw and flapped her wings, Reiki continued. "Oh? So you've already gone around the forest a few times." Cherry let out a couple of caws as Reiki moved a branch to the right. He said. "You've only seen them from the top of the trees while flying by." He moved his hand away from the branch as it rigidly went back to straight while slightly vibrating. Reiki heard Ender's voice in his head. [I'm also getting rid of that crappy language skill.]
He stopped walking mid-step, Reiki said. "Let me guess, you're planning on making me learn all the languages by myself." Cherry stared at him with one of her blood-red eyes and let out a caw. Reiki glanced at her and said. "I'm just going insane Cherry, no need to panic."
He walked past a few trees by going in a slanted direction, Ender said. [No, I have a better spell than that one that almost takes up half your brain.] Reiki slowly came to a halt, he said. "Wait, that one skill takes up that much space?" Ender said. [What did you expect when they just crammed all languages into your head?] Reiki was about to say something as he was interrupted by Ender while Cherry turned into a streak of white and appeared on a tree branch watching him.
Reiki said. "Ender?..." He waited for a few seconds with no reply and turned his head toward Cherry who was staring at him with one of her blood-red eyes. Reiki said. "I'm messing with you, Cherry." He started walking again as he pointed in the direction while Cherry turned into a streak of white and appeared on his right shoulder. Reiki felt something pass through around him as Cherry let out a caw, he glanced at her and said. "How did you know we're here?" The bird let out another caw as Reiki continued. "You felt that before when you felt the circle calling for you."
He moved his gaze in front of him and thought. I was knocked out on my first visit. Reiki took a couple of steps and saw two faint figures standing guard, one of them spoke in common tongue. "Human! State your business!" Reiki stopped walking and thought. That's some good hearing they have, noted. He cleared his throat while the two faint figures moved and pointed something in his direction. Reiki spoke in perfect elvish and said. "No need to point your bows at me." He saw the faint movement of the figure on the right followed by something whistling in the wind. Reiki tilted his head sideways which made Cherry scoot to the right on his shoulder. An arrow flew past his head grazing his cheek.
[System: User has received 33 Damage.]
[System: User has been affected by tier-I light bleeding. The user will bleed 42 damage every five seconds.]
The figure on the left quickly placed the bow and arrow back in the pouch as he grabbed the other one by the shirt. The elf spoke with a hint of anger in his voice and said. "What the hell was that?!" Reiki felt blood quickly trickle down his left cheek as he placed pressure on it using his thumb as Cherry made herself comfortable on his shoulder.
[System: User has bled 42 Damage.]
The other elf spoke in a panicked voice and said. "I-I lost my grip on the bowstring." Reiki made his way to the two elves while keeping his thumb on his cheek while applying pressure as it was already starting to heal. Cherry stared at them with her blood-red eyes which made them slightly uneasy. The two elves moved their gazes at him and gave him odd looks seeing him up close. Reiki said. "What? Never seen a child before?" The two elves immediately stood at attention while one of them hastily placed the longbow into a pouch that was tied to his waist.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
The other elf cleared his throat and said. "... Are you perhaps Reiki?" Reiki moved his thumb away from his cheek as the wound had visibly healed, he said. "Yes." The two elves turned stiff as the one who shot at him gestured to walk inside. He said. "... F-Feel free to come inside, no need to a bodycheck…" The elf's face turned slightly pale as Reiki stared at him and said. "It's fine, I heard it was an accident." The other elf gave him an odd look and said. "You heard it?"
Reiki nodded and said. "Yeah, you don't have to worry about trouble. I'll make sure to tell both her majesty and young majesty that you had no ill intent." The elf that shot him stiffly nodded his head as Reiki continued. "I recommend laying low for a week or so. Young majesty will be searching for you." He walked toward the village when he was out of earshot and the two elves started talking behind his back. One of them said. "Captain, who's Reiki?" Reiki looked around the forest and saw a faint cobblestone pathway on the horizon. The other elf said. "He's the one who altered formations and stayed in the queen's palace."
The elf continued as he spoke in a whisper. "There are even rumors of him being lady Moranor's and young majesty's secret lover." Reiki let out a yawn and thought. That's Nora's doing. I'm guessing Mora heard it and tried to deny the rumors, making them spread even more… He glanced at the blue sky without a single cloud while walking, Reiki continued his train of thought. The shopping district should be filled with elves which means a detour. The other elf said. "Then what about the white bird?" Cherry turned around his shoulder and stared at the two elves.
Reiki glanced at the albino bird and said. "They're just curious about you, Cherry." He heard the sound of slapping from behind him, the angry elf continued. "It's obviously a familiar!" Reiki rubbed Cherry's back with his hand, he thought. I hope Shiro's fine from being woken up so early. He quickly made his way deeper into the village.
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Inside A Classroom
Shiro was sitting on her seat as she stared blankly at the chalkboard. Mio and Yuki were standing by her desk and staring at their friend. Mio poked Shiro's cheek and said. "Shiro… Are you okay?" Yuki waved her hand in front of Shiro's face to get a reaction out of her. Yuki said. "She's dead." Mio rolled her eyes as she glanced at her friend, she said. "This would be a very big problem for the school then, wouldn't it?" Yuki nodded with a serious expression, she said. "Let's tell the principal so the school will be suspended today."
The bridge of Mio's nose wrinkled, she said. "I don't know what you whisper to her when Shiro's like this, but wake her up before the other students walk in." Yuki let out a chuckle and said. "Don't worry, all of them are so busy with the preparation. I bet we'll just write more notes today." Mio stared at her friend while Yuki let out a sigh as she spoke under her breath. Yuki said. "Mud stick." Mio glared at her friend as she ignored it and moved her face closer to the side of Shiro's head.
Yuki whispered. "Shiro, Reiki isn't that handsome now that I've seen him in person." One of the doors slid open as a male student was about to walk into the room. Shiro snapped back to reality as she suddenly stood from her seat as Yuki easily dodged. Shiro said. "LIES!!" She looked around the room in confusion and saw one of her male classmates outside the door, Shiro continued. "When did I get to class?" The male student awkwardly walked into the room and slid the door close and made his way to his seat. Yuki waved her hand in front of Shiro again and said. "Yo."
Shiro turned her head and saw Yuki waving at him beside Mio. Shiro said. "... Yuki? Mio? What are you doing here?" Yuki had a smile on her face, she said. "I get the feeling you're asking yourself." Mio pointed at the chalkboard and said. "You just asked yourself how you arrived at school." Yuki tapped Shiro's shoulder and said. "Shiro, are you okay? You're having an existential crisis now, aren't you?" Shiro and Mio stared at their friend. Mio moved her gaze onto Shiro and said. "Shiro, you're the first one in. What happened?"
Shiro let out a big yawn and covered her mouth using her hand, she said. "Onee-chan woke me up first thing in the morning." Yuki pulled the chair from the desk on the right and sat on it, she said. "I don't see what's wrong with that. I do it all the time." Mio took the chair from the desk in front and sat down, she said. "Not everyone wakes up first thing in the morning." Shiro's eyes were droopy, making her look like she could fall asleep at any moment. Yuki tapped Shiro's head and said. "If you slam your head on the desk, I'm going to laugh."
Shiro managed to keep her eyes open, she said. "Can you two drop by my house after school again?" Yuki gave her a thumbs up while Mio gave Shiro a nod and said. "We can always drop by, Shiro." Yuki softly drummed on Shiro's desk and said. "We still haven't returned the tupperware Reiki lent us." Shiro tried her best to keep herself awake, she said. "Onii-chan dropped by the el-." Mio placed a hand over Shiro's mouth and Yuki glanced at the boy who was sitting on the other side of the room reading a book.
Mio and Yuki let out a sigh of relief as the three of them suddenly huddled. Yuki spoke in a slightly excited tone, she said. "You mean I get my gloves from Reiki? Today after school?" Shiro nodded while Mio's eyes had a twinkle in them. Mio said. "Shiro, if you want to sleep I can help you." Yuki quickly chimed in and said. "I'll even slow down in physical education today." Shiro shook her head sideways and said. "I'm fine, if I sleep I'll ruin my sleep schedule."
The door slid open as a female teacher walked in, picked up a piece of chalk, and wrote something on the chalkboard. Shiro, Yuki, Mio, and the boy on the other side of the room tried to stand up from their seats. They stopped when the female teacher said. "It's fine, you four don't need to stand. I'll leave after writing this on the board." The students sat back down as the teacher continued. "Class representative, make sure to tell the boys no fire magic in class. I don't want a repeat of last time when the fire alarm went off." She wrote 'self-magic practice' on the chalkboard, placed the chalk down, and turned around.
The boy on the other side of the room nodded his head as the teacher turned her gaze onto Shiro sitting beside Mio and Yuki. The teacher continued. "Shiro, if something catches on fire. You're allowed to use water magic." Yuki let out a chuckle while Mio's mouth curved into a smile. Shiro jolted on her seat and stiffly said. "Yes, sensei." The female teacher nodded as she made her out of the classroom. Yuki had a teasing smile on her face, she said. "Shiro, what's wrong? It's not like you'll fill the room with water…"
Mio watched the teacher close the door from the outside while Yuki couldn't resist herself. Shiro let out a sigh as she crossed her arms, she glanced to her left to look out the window and said. "Just say it." Yuki's mouth looked like a cat's as she enjoyed her friend's misery, she said. "Again." Shiro let out an annoyed grunt while Mio let out a laugh. Mio said. "I can't forget about the first day." Shiro let out a hmph while Yuki playfully patted her forearm and said. "I'm not making fun of you, Shiro. I'm grateful, because of you our half school had to call it early."
Mio waved her hand at Yuki and said. "Alright Yuki, you've had your fun." Yuki spread her arms in exaggeration and said. "I'm not, it's thanks to her flooding half the school we were released early." Shiro started pouting as she puffed her cheeks while Mio nodded in agreement. Mio said. "I will always blame the teacher for that." Yuki let out a small snicker and said. "You meant former teacher. He was fired, on the first day no less." Mio rolled her eyes and said. "Does it even matter? He barely did introductions."
Yuki moved her gaze onto Mio and said. "Do you think he managed to land another teaching job?" Mio shook her head sideways, she said. "I doubt it, from how the school spun the news. He wasted years on earning his magic teaching permit." Shiro was staring out the window as she watched the sunrise, she said. "You shouldn't have scared her." Both Mio and Yuki had looks of confusion on their faces as they glanced at 0her. Shiro turned her head to look at her friends and continued. "That's the first thing Onii-chan said to him when he met the former teacher "
Yuki's mouth formed into a grin, she said. "Another heroic story from our older brother." Mio thought for a couple of seconds and said. "I agree with Reiki. A teacher yelling at a student to rush inserting mana into the crystal was not very… Figure-like thing to do." The door slid open as more students started filling up the room. Yuki glanced at the other students picking up chairs and grouping them. Yuki said. "How about after school, we drop by Shiro's to freeload?" Mio let out a soft sigh, she said. "Calling it freeloading is a bit much."
Shiro let out a yawn and used her hand to cover her mouth, she said. "I don't mind." Yuki patted Mio's shoulder a few times while slightly adding a bit too much strength which made her shoulder throb. Mio glared at her friend which Yuki ignored, she said. "If you're going to be like that, let's hang out in Shiro's home." Mio maintained her glare on Yuki and said. "We are going to bring something. I refuse to come empty-handed, especially since Reiki is going out of his way for our souvenirs."
Yuki placed her hands behind her head, she casually said. "Sure, if it means I can guilt trip Reiki into making food." Mio massaged the temples of her head while Shiro's brows furrowed. Shiro said. "You two don't need to bring anything." Yuki smiled at her and said. "Shiro, don't worry about it. We always ate more than our fill so this is the least we could do." Mio pointed at Yuki using her thumb and said. "For once, the exercise maniac said something agreeable." Shiro smiled warmly at her friends while Yuki let out a snicker and said. "Mud stick."
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The Elf Queen's Personal Office
Elora was sitting on a beautifully carved wooden chair with purple cushions behind a work desk. Cherry was on the desk staring at a few pieces of parchments with writing. She was holding onto a detailed drawing of Sachi in an elegant and simple green elven dress. Elora thought. This is a remarkable drawing… I also like the design, I could plagiarise it a bit and alter a few things. She snapped back to her senses when Reiki, who was standing in front of the desk, spoke. He said. "You can copy the design as is, I won't mind."
Elora placed down the drawing on the desk and moved her gaze onto the right of the large chairs, she said. "I'll add alterations, don't worry." Reiki said. "I hope you won't mind me asking for a few things." Elora let out a chuckle, she said. "A pair of fingerless gloves, two books of beginners magic, this green dress with the same design along with the sizes, a quill, and a pair of size four leather shoes we wear." Reiki gave her a grateful nod, he said. "And a lot more elven choco." Elora let out a mesmerizing laugh which made her large chest jiggle, she said. "Consider it done."
Reiki didn't even bother to pretend he wasn't staring at Elora's chest and said. "Can you give me the two books asap? Along with parchment, ink, and a spare quill? I need to translate it." Elora smiled at him, she said. "We'll take care of translating it. I have a few elves who can speak and write fluent Japanese." Reiki lazily scratched the back of his head, he said. "Thank-." Before he could say something he heard two familiar voices outside the room. One of them spoke in anger and said. "I refuse to be one of your guards, Enora!"
Enora said. "Too late, it's already official." The doorknob leading outside turned to reveal Enora and Moranor, the two of them froze when they heard a familiar voice. Reiki said. "It's good to see you both haven't changed."