DAY 7

THREE DAYS UNTIL THE FIRST EVALUATION

Seiji sat across from Cora in the center of their training hall, though it was likely more accurate to call it Cora’s office. Loose pillars and planks were stacked to form a makeshift table, though it only rose to about knee height. Seiji sat at one side, his hands pressed deep into his temples. Across from him sat Cora, her arms folded as she spoke in a raspy, masculine tone.

“The Ardor, huh?” Cora snorted, her face scrunched into an ugly frown. “They teach you idiots how to count down there?” She slammed a palm on the table, the sound echoing through the training hall. “Where’s the rest of my money?”

“I already told you, sir, it’s right in front of you. They teach you idiots how to use your eyes up here?”

Cora turned her nose up at Seiji, shutting her eyes in indignation. “I don’t like your tone. They should’ve taught you manners.” She opened one eye at Seiji. “Idiot.”

“You know what they did teach me in The Ardor?” Seiji snapped. “They taught me how to kill.” Seiji rose to his feet, placing a hand on the hilt of the dagger at his side. “Come, let me show you what I’ve learned!”

“Guards, help.”

Cora shot to her feet, releasing pillars of blue fire at her sides. Dragon Fire, the technique was called, though Seiji hadn’t yet unlocked it.

“Oh, thank the heavens!” Seiji smiled. “Let’s fight!”

“No!” Cora shouted, releasing the technique. “The fire represents the guards at my side! You failed! You can’t threaten a merchant with death!”

“You… the merchant called me an idiot ten times, insulted my mother, and tried to swindle me out of thirty gold kermas!”

To Seiji’s shock, Haven and The Ardor had the same currency system. Sure, they were called different things, kerma and kouka respectively, but they were both the same thing – coins. Regardless, Seiji never spent any money he didn’t earn, so getting scammed felt like a personal attack, even if it was just practice.

“Even still,” Cora continued. “Don’t provoke a fight outside of a sanctioned match, even if they probably deserve it. Besides,” she waved a hand at Seiji dismissively. “Not only would the Royal Guards beat you to Lower Haven and back, but it’d reflect poorly on us both.”

Seiji rolled his eyes, but he understood. He needed to be well-spoken if he wanted to do well in the First Evaluation. She’d been there to watch him stutter in front of the microphone in the Botanist’s Bond Event, and he’d long since told Cora about his conversation with King Vassilis, though he left the more personal details out. She’d been horrified by his lack of ‘decorum’, hence their current training. Cora pretended to be someone for a bit while Seiji tried to handle the situation as best as he could. Each attempt so far ended either in conflict or arrest. Seiji could swear Cora was making it difficult on purpose, but the girl insisted it was all necessary – even when she had to take a break to laugh when she thought he wasn’t looking.

“Talking to merchants and angry children won’t prepare me for the First Evaluation,” Seiji tried. “I should try this with a Royal Guard, or perhaps your parents?”

“I can’t just hail my parents for something like this” Cora shrugged. “This is the way I learned. It’s annoying, but it works. If you can handle the unpredictable, you can breeze through the predictable.” Cora sat back down on the floor with legs crossed and arms folded. “Now, sit back down.”

When Seiji didn’t immediately, sit back down, Cora stood again and met his eyes. Seiji stared back, but didn’t say anything. He hoped she could read the annoyance on his face.

“I can’t do this,” Seiji said flatly. “This isn’t what I–”

“So you’re telling me you can kill a man but you can’t speak to one?”

“It isn’t that simple!”

“It really is!”

They both stared at each other with hot expressions, but Cora was the first to break. Seiji felt his annoyance slowly wash away as Cora paced about the training hall, guilt slowly growing in his heart.

“Cora, I-”

“How about this,” she interrupted. “I need you in good shape for the First Evaluation, and we both need to start advancing you as soon as we can.” Seiji nodded wordlessly. The girl slowly walked toward him, pointing a finger at his face. “You get through my Decorum Training course, and we can get back to real training for the day. What do you say?”

“Deal,” Seiji said immediately. “I want to start developing combos that incorporate Dragon Shot. If I enforce my hands with Dragon Fury, I might be able to negate the pain of using Dragon Shot as a physical attack instead of a ranged one.”

Cora nodded along. “That sounds wonderful.” She walked behind the makeshift desk and took her position on the floor. She pointed downward, and Seiji sat as instructed. Once seated, Cora handed him a bag full of kouka… kerma. He had to remember not to confuse the two. He made a show of counting the coins to show he was taking this seriously, but he knew from previous tests the amount was always one-hundred.

“Okay, I’m a merchant again. All you need to do is buy a loaf of bread from me. Got it?”

“Yup.”

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“Observe…” Cora began.

“Empathize, Soothe.” Seiji finished.

“Good! Let’s go.”

In a breath, Cora gathered her head in her palms, muttering incoherent nonsense to herself. Seiji absently nodded along, carefully considering his next move.

Observe.

“Excuse me. Are you open for business?” Seiji inquired.

“Ello’ stranger!” Cora responded, her voice accented and gravely. “What’re ya buyin’?”

“A loaf of bread, ple–”

Cora threw her hands into the air. “Always a loaf, innit? Give a man a cheap loaf to feed his bleedin’ family, next minute he sells the damn thing for ten kermas!” Though Seiji was taller than Cora from his seated position, she still managed to look down on him. “Stab me now, stranger. Tell me how much yer gonna rip me off for so I can tell my tike how much his dumb ol’ daddy lost im’.”

If he were being honest, Seiji would’ve done the same thing that happened to this merchant – buy a product for a cheap price and sell it for a much higher one. It was a quick and easy way to make decent money on the days his body was recovering after a particularly difficult mission or training session. Rather than shove that thought aside, he decided to use it.

Empathize.

“That must be rough,” Seiji tried in the most soothing voice he could manage. “Everyone has a family to feed, and you shouldn’t have to be the one going without.”

“Tell it to the assholes robbin’ me day an’ night!”

“If I see someone swindle you while I’m out, I’ll be sure to do just that.” Seiji smiled, loosely placing a hand on his dagger. He wasn’t sure whether it was appropriate, but the merchant seemed the type to enjoy darker humor. Thankfully, Seiji was proven correct as the merchant let out a hearty laugh.

“Loaves are ten kermas,” the merchant said, tapping at a sheet of paper on the makeshift table. “I’ll letcha have it for eight.”

Seiji smiled. This was it.

Soothe.

“I’ve been blessed recently,” Seiji mused aloud. “I’ve fallen under good times and have received a windfall of sorts. I’ll tell you what.” Seiji pulled out his sack of coins and counted out twenty. “I’ll buy one loaf, but I’ll pay full price for two.” With a smile, he added, “To make up for the assholes ripping you off.”

“What’s your name, boy?”

“Seiji Otsuki.”

“Yer a good man, Seiji. Thanks for the generosity, stranger.”

“I’m not, but I appreciate the compliment. It means a lot.”

With a smile and a handshake, the merchant handed Seiji a sheet of paper with the word ‘bread’ scribbled in large letters. Seiji felt a strange amount of satisfaction as he looked down at it. He looked up to gauge Cora’s reaction to his victory but was taken aback to find the girl counting his coins and laughing.

“Idiot.” She coughed out through a raspy laugh.

Seiji’s satisfaction vanished.

“You passed!” Cora said, rolling over her previous comment. “A few more to go! You ready?”

Seiji pointed at her furiously. “You… the merchant just called me an idiot! What do you mean I passed?”

Cora smiled, though it looked way too smug for Seiji’s liking. “You passed by not trying to kill him, and the merchant passed by scamming you!”

Seiji looked around the room as though searching for someone before settling back on Cora. “I empathized! I thought–”

“This merchant game gets serious,” Cora said, her face set like stone. “Anything goes.”

Seiji gave her an incredulous glare. Cora smiled at him a bit more genuinely before revealing a new sheet of paper. She returned Seiji’s coins, gave him the next prompt, and began their next round of training.

Cora ran Seiji through a few more scenarios, each a bit more absurd than the other. First, Cora played the part of a talkative drug addict. Seiji made passing conversation with her before sending him off to a rehab facility, or, the corner of the training hall. Next, she was again a lost child. A lost child with a horrible temper. Though Seiji fought the instinct to throw the ‘kid’ out of the training hall, he managed to maintain his composure as he directed Cora to her parents. Of all the scenarios they ran through, Seiji’s personal favorite was the ‘angry drunk’. Seiji couldn’t help but laugh during their practice, but he still managed to help the man sober up enough to head home.

“Alright, I have one more,” Cora said from her position on the floor.

“What’s up?” Seiji asked through a yawn. He’d stood to stretch after an hour of nonstop Decorum Training.

“Drunk girl. You ready?”

Seiji rolled his shoulders before returning to his cross-legged position on the floor.

“Yup let’s go.”

With a nod, Cora stood from her seat and sat beside Seiji. Before he could say anything, she wrapped her arms around Seiji’s arm, leaning uncomfortably close.

“Oh, Otsuki! You don’t know how hard I’ve had it recently!”

Oh brother.

“This girl I was talking to at the bar ignored me because I’m too boring for her! She didn’t think I was interesting!” Cora pulled away from him and inclined her head slightly, looking up into Seiji’s eyes. “Do you think I’m interesting?”

Seiji knew exactly what was happening here, and he wasn’t sure ‘Observe, Empathize, Soothe’ would work here. Whenever he was dealing with Thea, he did the exact same thing – listen to her, trade insults with her, listen to her passing bit of ‘wisdom’, then pass her a loose blanket to cover her wherever she ended up falling asleep. She was annoying and intrusive, but he’d slowly gotten used to her presence. He didn’t value her like he did Cora, but she was like… a little sister.

“I’m sure there are people out there that find you–”

“Failure!” Cora shouted, not meeting his eyes.

“How?” Seiji asked. “I’m trying to empathize!”

Much to his surprise, Cora didn’t say anything. Instead, she backed away from him, took a deep breath, and yelled, “Try again!”

After four more attempts, Seiji finally understood how to pass this final scenario. It felt a bit disingenuous, but as long as he could get back to regular training, he’d do what Cora wanted.

“Otsuki~!” Cora lilted, her arms at her waist. She and Seiji were standing now, both having grown tired of the constant sitting. “I have a great home-cooked meal for you~!” She said, patting uncomfortably low at her stomach.”

Seiji didn’t say a word. He continued to stare at the far wall of the training hall, watching Cora only through his peripheral vision.

Cora stood inches from him, her face far too close to his.

“We can do something interesting you know~!” She squeezed his arm in her hands. “I don’t want to be lonely anymore, Otsuki.”

Seiji said nothing. While part of him wanted to laugh, another part couldn’t help but feel a bit… uncomfortable.

Cora stared at him for a long while, her breaths growing heavier with each passing moment. After a while, she called an end to the day’s Decorum Training.

“You passed.” Cora scoffed.

Seiji turned to her. “Thanks for the lesson.”

Cora looked him up and down. “You clean up. And think about the scenarios while you do.”. Her stony expression reminded him a bit of Eir. It didn’t feel deserved.

“Alright,” Seiji intoned. “It’s the least I can do.”

“Mhmm.”

It took no time to get the training hall ready for actual combat. Dragon Fury carried each of Seiji’s steps, though the wooden planks were deceptively heavy. Seiji imagined they could be used for strength training. He’d wanted to ask Cora, but she still looked annoyed at him.

“All done,” Seiji sighed, wiping his hands in front of Cora.

“G-good.” Cora stammered. She shifted uncomfortably, not meeting his eyes.

“Is everything–”

“Tomorrow,” Cora interrupted, still looking away from him. “We’re going to do a field test. We'll go around Haven together and you can take over the talking.” She narrowed her eyes slightly, cheeks heating. “Wear something presentable. Don’t forget that you represent me.”

Seiji was taken aback. “I’m always presentab–”

The truth of Cora’s words struck him like a hammer. Seiji wanted to look at Cora, but found he also couldn’t meet her eyes. Even more surprising, he was half-smiling. Why? He decided to finish his statement before Cora could suspect anything was up. If she thought he was laughing at a joke, she wouldn't think his mind was somewhere else.

“I’m always presentable. I’m just worried you’ll show up wearing Exam Clothes yet again.”

She turned back to him with red cheeks. “I only wear the Exam outfit in Exam settings! Plus,” she looked away again. “I’ve always wanted to be a Cadet... What are you smiling for? Hey, don't laugh at me!”