"To begin with, Meil, I would like to humbly apologize for the way my son's been treating you." Lee sat on his knees as he forced his son's head down to bow, "As you can see, he takes his duty as the student council president a tad too seriously at times..."
"H-Hey, dad! Quit it!" Lemmy shook his father off, "I don't care that he's your friend or prison buddy or whatever, he and this other guy are the perps I've been telling you about recently over dinner!"
"Ah, the fabled panty thieves." Lee looked at us with a smirk, "Boys will be boys, am I right, you two?"
"Ah, ha-ha..." Kevin chuckled along before snapping out of it, "A-Actually no! We can explain everything clearly!"
"Hm? Oh I know you two probably didn't do this with the standard ulterior motives associated with the art of panty raiding." Lee brushed him off, "Meil is such an innocent, naive guy, I'd genuinely bet my entire life savings on the fact that he's never once looked at a woman that way."
Suddenly sifting through my memory banks to see if that was true, it's a bit sad to say, but I'd say he's right. Most of the girls from Oden were older married women and grannies, I wouldn't even begin to imagine the complications of even daring to think of Anna or Cecily that way, which only leaves...
"Ah, Silvia..." I thought, "Yeah, no. There is not a single woman I have thought of like that."
"Ohhh, right, that bitch." Lee started chuckling before stopping all of a sudden, "Wait, huh?! She was the one who made our life a living hell in prison! Why even consider her a possibility?!"
"W-Well, stuff happened." I scratched my cheek bashfully.
"Who cares!" Lemmy tried to interrupt, only to get scolded by none other than the mademoiselle.
"Hush!" She sat him back down, diverting all the attention over to her, "A-Ah, I just wanna get to know everyone b-better, that's all..."
"Hm, whatever." Lee didn't seem to care all that much, "But come on, you're telling me you haven't me a single woman in between the moments we've last seen each other, kid?"
Of course I did. I did, but she turned out to be a backstabbing scumbag who betrayed us and killed Lune. Her goddamned laugh still echoes throughout my bones whenever I think of her, and the scene of Edward brutally torturing her always makes that rage go away. Really, she got her due diligence, and now she's no more. Holding onto hate over a dead person will only bring me even more sorrow, so I'd like to forget about her. Of course, mentioning her right now would only complicate things further, so I'll refrain.
"Yeah, I am just like Issei in that regard." I thought a joke would lighten the mood, "Not a lady in sight."
"Paha!" Lee burst out laughing, hitting the floor in his hysteria, "Look at you, the stone-cold advisor, handing out jokes left and right! The hell did that general do to you in that army of theirs!?"
"Huh? Army?" Kevin turned to me, "You were in an army, too?"
"Pff, so what?" Lemmy clicked his tongue as he folded his arms, "I was the leader of my bandit camp until dad here got us kicked out."
"Hey now, how many times do I have to tell you, Lemmy?" Lee corrected him, "I was gonna burn the place down anyways, I just saw an Iro Wielder that could do the heavy-lifting for me."
"Iro Wielder?" Mademoiselle tilted her head curiously, "Aw geez, you guys are talking as if you're from a completely different world than us!"
"Right?" Kevin agreed, "Seriously, like a good sixty percent of the words you just said, I've never heard before. I get Kiara and I are bumpkins who haven't seen the world and all, but it can't be that different than here, right?"
"D-Don't call me Kiara!" Mademoiselle piped up, "Only someone I truly trust can do that!"
"Boy, listen closely now, for you couldn't be further from the truth." Lee seriously addressed Kevin, "The world that you have been living in your whole lives, versus the world that is out there, they are fundamentally different in every possible way. Iro Beholders with magical powers, or Iro Wielders as I call them, dangerous beasts that live in even more dangerous dungeons, a prison built as a slave camp meant to use its prisoners as free labor, all of these things exist and more. Just ask the guy sitting next to you."
"It is true." I added, "But it is not all bad. I was the winner of the Mobius Awards that took place just a few years ago, and there we met some genuinely nice people there (thought they did all die). I also met the God of Fighting, who claims there are other Gods that roam the land to help weary travelers of all kinds. The world is Vast, and one definitely should not sit back in their homeland if they wish to learn as much as possible from it."
"H-Hold on, you met a God?" Lee stopped me from continuing, "When?"
"Oh, during our campaign against the king of Carmen. With his help, we managed to achieve flawless victory, and I was the one that slayed king Chant personally to take revenge for my fallen friend."
"Ghk...!" Lemmy bit his lip until it bled, "S-So what... T-That's not anything s-special...!"
"Lemmy, just admit this guy isn't deserving of any punishments you wanted to administer." Mademoiselle patted him on the head, "Look, it's alright. I know the both of them personally, and I've told you the entire story countless times before."
"But, but...!" He got desperate to the point of protesting, "They can't keep getting away with it! I don't care who or what did it, I will absolutely NOT, under ANY circumstances, let anyone take your precious belongings from you!"
Sitting around with our Eyes wide open at the rather ill-timed proclamation, we had silently awaited for his next words to come out. I didn't know this kid for long, but from the little time I've spent getting to know him, I can guarantee that this way of speaking isn't at all like him. Could it be, is he perhaps...?
"You must really cherish the students' privacy here." I gave him a thumbs up, "Lee, you raised your boy well!"
"A-Ah, y-yeah! Of course!" Lemmy looked like his opinion of me raised drastically, "A-As to be expected of the great me, haha!"
"Don't tell me I gotta compete with a kid now..." Kevin whispered to himself just quietly enough for it to only reach me.
"See? What'd I tell you?" Lee nudged Lemmy by the shoulder with a smug grin, "Meil's as naive as a maiden and as dense as a rock. His brain's only got ones n' zeroes running through it!"
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Man, I don't get what they're talking about at all. I even tried asking the mademoiselle, though it seems even she was at a complete loss. Eh, who cares? It doesn't concern me. No, right now, I just gotta focus on waking up early tomorrow morning. Heh, it's finally time. Finally time for Kevin and mine's first ever classes in Dimitri Uni!
***
Ugh, thanks to our late night conversation with Lee and the others, I didn't even get a wink of sleep! My head is hurting really bad, and checking the alarm clock, it seems I still somehow woke up just 9 minutes before it started ringing. Getting up through sheer force of will, I tried nudging the loudly snoring Kevin awake. He didn't open his Eyes at all, and in fact his snoring only got louder and louder the more force I used to nudge him awake. Slowly increasing in speed and force, the nudges became shakes, the shakes became shoves, and before long...
"Ow!" He yelled as I pushed him off the bed completely, "The hell was that for!?"
"Wakey wakey, it is time for school." I smiled.
"Tch, your little motivation here isn't really that convincing, given your own Eyes are just barely forcing themselves into a squint." He replied, "But damn, is it really happening? University was always the end goal for me so that I could reach Kiria, but now that I'm actually about to start it, I'm getting second thoughts..."
"None of that!" I shouted to jolt both of us awake, "No one likes a quitter, especially girls! Just imagine how much the mademoiselle will laugh at you when she sees you quit Uni!"
"Huh, a big tiddied glasses girl like her could definitely pull off the dommy mommy kink..." He thought seriously about it, "Honestly yeah, I wouldn't mind getting made fun of by her for being a pathetic little quitter."
"I do not even know how to respond to that, Kevin." I sighed, "Look, I will make us some breakfast with milk, and in the meantime you shower and get dressed. Come on now, we must not be late on our first class here."
"Aye aye, cap'n!" He drowsily saluted, "Oh right, it's general, not cap'n, right?"
"Yeah, but who cares abou that? Just get to showering already!"
After a while, I had finished setting up breakfast, however he was nowhere to be found. Odd, I thought, but nothing to worry about. Hygiene is important, and one mustn't slack on it, especially when it comes to such an important day, after all. Then, about half an hour later, I was beginning to panic. I made sure we woke up an hour earlier so we could account for anything popping up or slowing us down, but he had wasted almost all of that time just in the shower. Approaching the door and knocking on it a few times, a deathly silence was the only answer I got. Not but a moment more, though, and I heard snoring!
"Wake up!" I banged on the door, "Just how much water did you spend!? We are going to be late, dammit!"
"Ack, eh? Oh, shit!" He tumbled around some more behind the doors before jumping out, wearing nothing but a towel, "Alright, food, quickly!"
Gobbling down on our breakfast at the speed of sound, we were rushing so fast he almost went outside in his towel, though I stopped him just before he did so. We were now just 5 minutes away from the start of class, and we had no time left to spare. Running out of the dormitory at light speed, we had somehow made it just as the bell rang. Too close for comfort, but still on time!
That being said, every other student snickered amongst themselves, mocking our tardiness pretty openly as professor Jethro made his way to the class. Hey, this kind of reminds me of the first time Lune and I entered the Mobius Awards. That's right, just like Lune taught me, when everyone thinks they're better than you and openly flaunting it, you steadfastly prove them wrong with just one power play!
"Hup!" I tossed an apple I had taken with me for an afternoon snack to the professor, "Sorry for the tardiness, teach! It will not happen again!"
"Ah." He looked up only to get hit in the face with said apple, "Deram Meil... was it...?"
Oops, now I've done it. Kevin was already hiding under the table, be it out of embarrassment or just fear that he'd get expelled by association, and the other students were simply staring at the entire situation unfold in complete silence and fear. Everyone knows of the "teacher that must not be named", and do having the two tardy students suddenly chuck an apple at him probably made even them worried. Sorry Cecily, I wasted the chance I got from you and Lune...
"Alright class, today we're gonna be learning about logic." He ignored the apple and just continued giving out his lecture, "As an example, could monsieur Deram please stand up and tell me if chucking an apple at a professor is considered "logical" in any feasible way?"
"N-No, sir..." I bowed my head down as the others snickered.
"Then why do it?" He snapped his chalk.
"B-Because a dear friend of mine taught me to make a strong first impression." I squirmed.
"Uh-huh..." He seemed even more peeved, "And where is that friend now?"
"... Dead, sir." I sighed, "My friend, well, I guess my tutor for the Mobius Awards as well, is dead. He died, backstabbed by someone we all considered a friend during the war in Entropa."
"Quit the bullshit!" One student yelled as everyone burst out laughing.
"Quiet!" The professor shut everyone up, "I see none of you pipsqueaks saw the true horrors of war. Let the man mourn his benefactor, and by the Gods let him regale us with his friend's memory!"
Smiling back at me as he had me take the stage at the center of the amphitheater, he had allowed me to teach today's class fully. The subject? Lune Grimheart. At the beginning, barely anyone took my words as the truth, however by the end of my storytime, everyone was in tears. That's right, now the most educated echelon of Simpleton knows of your story, Lune, be proud of what you've achieved, for I will carry your torch and spread the memories of you for as long as I live!
"Dude, how the hell do you always get out of horrible situations totally unscathed?" Kevin asked as we headed back to our dorm.
"Ah, I did not get out unscathed. I got assigned triple the word count for our next thesis because of what I did, the professor just did not want to soil the mood I had created with Lune's story." I replied, "Sigh, he is a kind professor in his own way, though I can see why he got the nickname that he did..."