What the hell is going on... Why is Meil with some other girl!? A-And the way he just reprimanded me. He's never done that before, even to mom and dad. He was always calm and collected, so why now of all times did he decided to act up? This University changed my Meil...! Not to worry though, I'll get him back to his normal aloof self soon enough, just gotta get her away from him.
"Ala ljepotice!" The waitress suddenly complimented me, and in Cardinic no less, "So you're the famous Nelly Meil's been raving about."
"Another hottie!" I slammed the table worriedly, "Meil, d-don't tell me this waitress girl is...?"
"For your information, Jelena, Nelly can understand Cardinic, so I do hope you do not go overboard with the encrypted messages." Meil sighed, "I will take the usual. Oh, make some for the others as well, they will be here shortly."
"Others?" I audibly gasped, "You have more friends!?"
"Well, she looks cute and cuddly, but her tongue is sharper than a knife." Waitress girl complimented(?) me, "Well, looks like you've got your work cut out for you, scholar boy. How'd she do on the entrance exam?"
"Entrance exam?" I tilted my head over at Meil.
"Ah, I do not yet know how prepared she is yet." Meil explained, "She still has time, so I would rather she takes things slowly and prepares adequately, lest she fails and has to face rejection."
He cares about me not getting hurt that much? Aww, I knew he loved me the most! Hehe, what was I worried about anyways? Meil is charming, but to truly see his prince-like qualities, well... Let's just say it's an acquired taste. Well, I'm certain that these girls aren't like that. They're both cute, which tells me they probably already nabbed boyfriends of their own by now. Right, Meil is the type of person who would only go out with women who specifically ask him out, so I really shouldn't worry.
"Yo!" A loud and obnoxious musclehead hopped into the coffee shop, "Jelena, the usual - two cups of protein shakes!"
"Ugh, I'm dying of second-hand embarrassment from this guy..." I tried ignoring him.
"Sorry, but Meil already ordered drinks for everyone." Waitress girl suddenly said something incredible, "You're getting an Espresso whether you like it or not."
"Eh?" I winced.
"Kevin, have a seat." Green girl sounded ticked as she gestured for him to take a seat next to her.
"Nah, I'm sitting next to my bud Meil here!" He rudely pushed Meil and me as he sat on our side, "Heya, nice to meet ya', girlie!" He flashed me an annoying smile.
"Eh?!" I winced once more.
"Kevin, you are scaring her!" Meil shouted, "It is too cramped, sit next to Kiria!"
"Nah, consider it a punishment for you not ordering me my protein intake." He declined before flexing his biceps, "Haha! These bad boys are my reason to keep on living!"
"Then just die..." I muttered my inner thoughts, not expecting it to come out so loudly.
The three of them suddenly jolted as they couldn't believe what I had said. Even Meil, who was pretty nonchalant this entire time, had given me a an awkwardly chuckle as he glanced between me and muscle guy here. O-Oi, I didn't mean it. It was just a little bit of dark humor, so quit staring at me like that!
"K-Kevin, she is just a bit nervous. Please pay her no mind." Meil apologized profusely in my stead, "She does not yet know you, so she just blurted something bad out of nowhere."
"It's..." Muscle guy looked quite weak as he sighed and reverted back into a semi-solid smile, "It's alright. I'll move across the table, so no need to worry, girlie. Right, I was probably being too forward, I'll be sure to keep a proper distance."
"N-No, it's not your fault! Really, I just said something stupid for no reason!" I found it appropriate to quickly apologize, "I'm so sorry! You can sit wherever you want-!"
"Already made a girl cry, have you?" Waitress girl loomed over the poor fella, "And you haven't even exchanged names yet. Didn't I tell you that you're overdoing it with the bodybuilding? Most women find it repulsing."
"Urk, truth hurts, Jelena..." He grabbed onto his chest tightly in a jokey manner before extending his hand over to me, "Sorry about that, it was probably a foreign joke that I'm too local to understand. My name's Kevin, I'm Meil's underclassman and friend."
"I-I'm Nelly." I shook his hand, my hand trembling from the sheet strength of his grip, "I-I'm sorry, I'm super super sorry...!"
"Aw, geez, who cares about that!?" He suddenly raised his voice, scaring the hell out of me, "Listen, from now on we're friends, and friends can say all kinds of whacky stuff to each other, right?"
"I'm sorry, when did I agree to being your friend?" I tried letting go of his hand, but to no avail.
"Haha! That's exactly what I mean!" He guffawed as he turned to Meil, "You've got a funny girl there, Meil! She reminds me of Lemmy a bit."
"Lemmy?" I chuckled, "What kind of a stupid name is that?"
"If you find that funny, wait 'til you hear his full name." Muscle guy deviously giggled, coming up close to whisper it, "His full name is Lemu-!"
"You shall not speak another word more." A strong voice echoed throughout the room, "Now make way for your ol' pal, Kevin. Kiria, you're free to sit over here. I'm sure his muscles are making things cramped."
"No, it's quite alright." Green girl denied this kid's offer, "Lemmy, we were just talking about you. This is Nelly, the girl Meil's taking care of."
"Hmm..." Short guy took a good hard look at me, "Have we met before?"
***
"What's this? You two know each other?" Muscle guy cheered.
"No, I've never met this guy in my life." I explained, "I think I'd remember someone my age."
"I'm 18, dammit!" Short guy protested, "I just got good genes, so I look super young!"
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Huh? Now that's a surprise. This guy genuinely looks like he's thirteen. I always worry about puberty, but now that I see this poor guy, I can only empathize. He's short though, even shorter than Meil, and that's saying something. He's taller than Green girl, if by a hair's breadth, but he doesn't hold a candle to the guys and Waitress girl. That's roughly where he stands height wise.
"Still, I do believe I've at least seen your face once or twice." He then added, "Did you live in Stringwood before you went to University, by any chance?"
At this, Meil seemed surprised that Short guy got it right, however it still doesn't change the fact that I don't recognize him. Well, I still don't trust him, so I'll dodge the question.
"No, my Family is in Cardina." I explained, eyeing the Waitress girl as she handed us our drinks finally, "Mogu da razumijem kad mi neko priča iza leđa."
"Hm? Ugh, damn the both of you for speaking in tongues..." Short guy reclined in his seat, "Whatever, Meil's taking care of you, not me, so I couldn't care less as long as he continues helping me with my studies."
"You're piggybacking off of Meil's big brain?!" I saw red as I berated him, "How dare you waste his precious time with your stupidity! For shame, Short guy, for shame!"
"Wuh-Short guy!?" He got riled up, but I didn't let him get a single word in more.
"Ugh, and how long has this been happening, Meil?" I turned to an innocent and equally as cute Meil sipping his coffee in peace.
"Hm, we met back when I first enrolled, so..." He answered back after a bit of thinking, "Two years, I think?"
"Gasp! T-Two years of abuse!?" I almost fainted from the shock of hearing it, "So all this time, you've been desperately trying to juggle the mystery surrounding your heritage IN ADDITION to helping this guy pass his exams?!"
"Hey, you're saying it like I'm the only guy that's piggybacking!" Short guy then pointed to everyone, even the Waitress girl, "He wrote Kiria's thesis so she could get to Trezzion finally, he writes cheat sheets for Kevin almost all the time because he's so preoccupied with his weightlifting, and just yesterday he agreed to help Jelena with her entrance exams."
"He-he, could you not out us just like that, little man?" Waitress girl leaned in and poured the entire salt shaker into his coffee.
"O-Oi! You damned waitress, this is grounds for a lawsuit!"
"Oh zip it." She smiled before walking away, "It suits a salty tyke like you."
Swearing at her without any disregard for the people around us staring, Short guy had officially solidified our table as the indecent ones. Of course, I quickly realized that no one cared after I overheard another table from us call this their norm. Looks like these guys have a bit of a reputation around Campus for being noisy...
"Hold on, I think Lemmy's focusing on the wrong part here." Green girl suddenly turned to Meil, "Meil, what's this about a mystery surrounding your heritage?"
The table got quiet as I soon realized they didn't yet know that the only reason he enrolled was to gain access into the Library of a Thousand Passages. The Library is infamous for its extensive array of books which could aid someone greatly in finding something out that they previously did not know, be they historical books or even works of fiction loosely based on real historical events. It is said to be the Library that holds a third of the world's knowledge, so Meil's best bet would be to go here.
"Oh man." Meil then facepalmed, which was soon followed by a long and disappointed sigh, "I got too caught up in making preparations for Nelly's visit that I forgot to actually look into it..."
"Eh?" I actually had to do a double-take, "E-Eh!? You spent all this time dawdling instead of actually getting things done!? How are you gonna prove you're a bona fide Raaman that way then!? Your predecessors must be furious!"
"Eh, Raaman?" Muscle guy tilted his head, "What's that?"
"Ah, you'll learn about them this semester!" Green girl suddenly went full nerd for a minute, "They're the race that predates the Abyssals. In other words, the natives that lived in Abyssus Solis before they were all tragically killed by Carmen settlers in the Raamic Genocide sometime after the Ever-Division. It's also where the Raamic language comes from, though the Abyssals mostly use globally accepted language, Entropic. Isn't that right, Meil?"
"Sí." Meil replied.
"Yeah, but didn't you just say they all died a thousand years ago?" Muscle guy inquired, "Then how could you be a Raaman, Meil?"
"No clue." Meil surprised all of us by shrugging as if he just got asked where the Gods resided, "But I strongly believe that I am."
"So what, is this just an excuse to look for your biological parents or something?" Short guy asked, "I mean, if you're of Raamic Descent, then your parents must be as well, right?"
"As long as I am concerned, Joseph is my real father. The first memory I have of my life is waking up in the middle of the desert, with nothing but a piece of paper that read "Maybe Even Ivrys Lies..." and a voice in my head shouting out for the Raamans. I then traveled aimlessly through the desert until I eventually reached Oden, where Joseph, my father, had found me."
"Whoa, cool..." Muscle guy had stars in his eyes, "And how old were you when that happened? Eight? Nine?"
"Three years old." Meil answered back before turning to me and smiling, "Right, according to my calculations, your younger brother Cene should be three as well, if I am not mistaken."
"He is..." I found it sweet that he remembered all these little details about me and my Family.
"Hold on, don't go straying from the topic." Green girl just had to butt in, "You were three years old when you braved the desert!?"
"Yeah, I just could not stand to live life without proving who I am." He then smiled, "Which is exactly why I should resume the case... Nelly."
"Yeah!" I smiled back, eager to help him out ad much as I can, "I'll be sure to show you my worth!"