~ Chapter 68: Departure from the Waser Magic Academy ~

[Leonidas' point of view]

The Waser Magic Academy was a place that paled in comparison with the famous Gallyater Magic Academy, where my adorable little sister was invited to study. Both the type of students who joined here as well as the amount of knowledge they could gain from here were completely different. There were a lot of children at Waser who came from poor families or had parents as lower nobles. Most of them just had only one Blessing, and those with two were considered a rarity.

The principal told us during her introduction speech that Waser Magic Academy once had the privilege of teaching someone with three Blessings, and he graduated with top grades. Later on, I found out that those three Blessings couldn't even amount to someone with two average ones.

Usually, those with good Blessings were brought together in what everyone called the Special Class. They received the best education Waser Magic Academy could offer and often participated in more classes than the others. Those who passed this Special Class among the top ten were said to be able to even enter Gallyater Magic Academy.

Normally, I believed that someone with an unknown unreadable Blessing like mine would have no way to enter this prestigious class, but it appeared as thought that was exactly what peaked the principal's interest. The moment she heard about it, she found it absolutely fascinating, to the point that sometimes it got creepy.

Well, whether I got into the Special Class because of my unique Blessing or because the principal had some weird fetish mattered not for me. What I was most interested in were my studies. I devoured the books like a hungry wolf would a herd of sheep. Unfortunately, this also turned me into a social recluse who had not made even a single friend from the entire student body from the moment he stepped on the grounds of this academy.

Bah! Who needs friends and social skills when you have books to read and homework to finish! I often told myself only to be struck back with the reply ME! That's who! ME!

I honestly wanted my school days to be fluffy not dusty. Maybe that goddess made a mistake when she fiddled with my life's settings? Well, it didn't matter now, I couldn't even prove she was at fault.

At my graduation ceremony, with the exception of my slaves and the teachers, no one from my family came to congratulate me. My seniors by two years were surrounded by people who shed tears and were overjoyed for their accomplishment, while I was the only child there with dead fish eyes.

I felt rather pathetic, and it was then when I realized how lonely I was in this world. I could count the people I knew on my fingers.

The reason why neither my parents or my little sister showed up at the graduation ceremony was because they found out about it way too late and literally didn't had time to prepare for the journey here.

A week ago, I received the letter that informed me of my graduation, and I sent one to my relatives on the same day, but this world was no modern day Earth. We didn't had airplanes and high-speed trains to take my letter from one place to another in the span of hours. What was I thinking? If this world was at Earth's level of technology, I could have just phoned them or streamed the whole ceremony.

Like this, it would have taken my parents at least a week to prepare for the long journey ahead from Gallyater to Waser. Yes, my parents moved back to the capital after we left for school. Apparently mother was employed at the Royal Palace, and father was doing... erm... fatherly job thingies. Yeah, I had no idea what my old man's job was.

As for my cute adorable little sister, because of how precious those with three Blessings were to the country, she had to go through an entire bureaucratic nightmare before she was allowed to leave the school. That in itself would have taken at least two months.

On the bright side of things, I was going to meet them over the summer vacation. They sent me a letter about a month ago letting me know of when they will arrive at our house in Briston. It would have been rather awkward to go back home and have only with the dust bunnies in the corners welcome me back.

In other words, I got the short end of the stick on this life experience.

“Master, you lost yourself in your own thoughts again.” Timothy told me as he patted my shoulder.

“Nya~! Master has the face of a man who just saw the whole world coming to an end.” Zor Nya Nyan let out an idiotic comment as she poked my cheek.

“Knock it off, you fleabag!” growled Lindus Kar.

We were currently standing right outsides the gates of Waser Magic Academy. It was evening and the other graduates had mostly left, I and a few others were the only ones left, but unlike them, who were saying their farewells to their juniors, I was saying my farewells to my teachers.

It was just... sad.

Before me were Trindania Elmora, the Principal of Waser Magic Academy, who was crying for all of us; Borand Marga, the tall and handsome teacher of Magic Arts; Mindos Mell, the sometimes awkward and shy teacher of History; and for some reason I couldn't wrap my mind around, Constantza Lira, the current top student from my class.

“Leonidas!” the little girl called out at me with puffed cheeks, one hand on her hip and the other pointing at me “How dare you run away from our BATTLE!”

If she didn't look like she slept on a cactus and was about to pop a vein, she would have given the impression of a cute and elegant child with parents who absolutely adored her and lots of people who fawned all over her. Give her six years to mature and gain bumps in all the right places, and she would have become a total bombshell with that cute face, blonde hair, and green eyes of hers. Right now, she looked more like an angry blonde chihuahua.

“What battle?” I furrowed my brow and narrowed my eyes at her.

“Nuguguuu! WHY YOU LITTLE!” she looked like she was about to explode.

What? Why are you acting so mad for? I wondered.

“Lady Constantza, please pardon my master's dense skull that can stop even a giant's war-hammer blow.” Timothy said in an apologetic tone of voice.

“Huh? Who are you calling dense?!” I retorted.

“No one, young Master, just an Alm who for two years was so focused on his own studies that he never noticed the frantic attention seeker little girl who competed with him in absolutely everything and lost most of the times without so much as gaining a gaze from you.” he explained in a very harsh way for my young heart.

“When did that happen?” I asked furrowing my brow.

“Sigh.” Timothy shook his head.

“Leonidas, I'm going to miss you!” Rias Triandar said through her tears.

Why are YOU the emotional one here?! I retorted in my mind.

“Rias Triandar has always acted around you like an over-doting mother with a mild obsession for your unusual Blessing.” Timothy explained.

“Why doesn't that sounds safe?” I asked.

“Indeed, we'll miss you, Alm Leonidas.” said Kozer Mindos.

The teacher of Magic Arts, Borand Marga nodded with a smile on his face. It was a bit weird to have only the teachers and an angry chihuahua miss me, and it was also a bit sad that I didn't understand why it was so.

With a sigh escaping my lips, I rubbed my temples with two fingers and tried to let all of this sink in, while ignoring the sobbing cries of the principal and the yapping dog sounds in the background.

Leaving aside all the drama and stuff, Timothy explained to me a rather troubling truth about my life here at the academy for the past two years. While I was of the mindset that no one takes a child's feelings of love seriously, I forgot that I was a child of her age as well. So all in all, she had all the right to fall in love with me and I of her, but those sort of things just flew past me like an UFO at a Skeptic Rally.

When I felt my thoughts falling into order, I took a deep breath and looked at the four people standing before me, the only ones within this entire Waser Magic Academy who gave two coppers if I was leaving today or not.

“My sudden graduation turned out to be a moment of joy and accomplishment but also of parting.” I looked at the principal “And while I apologize for having focused so much on my studies that I sort of ignored all of you.” I then looked at the teacher of Magic Arts and the teacher of History “I do promise that I will use the knowledge you gifted me during your classes to become a better human being, and a noble you can be proud to have had as a pupil.” then I looked at Lady Constantza.

She was looking away with her chin held high and arms crossed at her chest.

With a wry smile I then told her “I'm sorry I didn't take our rivalry seriously, but I promise that if you will get into the Gallyater Magic Academy, I won't make the same mistake twice. Furthermore, if I manage to win our first battle there, I promise to take you out on a date!” I showed her a smile.

In my mind, I was apologizing to the little girl for setting her up with this condition, but not only would she need to stand out in such a way that she will get accepted by Gallyater, but she would also have to become one of the top students there.

Yeah, it will be impossible for you~ Sooo, let us meet again after you are older! Like 18+, right now, I can hear the loli-police sounding alarms in my ears if I so much as hold your hand. I thought, after all, deep inside my heart it really didn't feel right to date a 12 years-old even if I was one myself.

With flushed cheeks, she pointed at me and declared “Just you watch! I-I'll take the n-number one spot there and y-you'll be the one begging me to t-take you out on a d-d-date! A-A-And it's not l-like I w-would have wanted that or made me happy! Not at all! Idiot!” she poked her tongue out and then turned around, showing me her back.

What a tsundere. I thought to myself, and at the same time, I was happy she wasn't a yandere.

“Good bye, everyone! May we cross paths again in the future!” I said and with this we gave our final farewells.

With the parting over, I left the Waser Magic Academy together with my slaves. Rather than feeling sad, I was confused.

What was I going to do for two more years until I could join my adorable cute little sister in Gallyater? I already had Principal Triandar Elmora's recommendation letter along side that of the teacher of Magic Arts and the teacher of History. Doing a bunch of quests for the Adventurers Guild was no problem, and if needed be, I could always have the oracles receive Sapherya's recommendation.

But, while I was wandering about this troubling matter, I saw a flash of divine light coming from the direction of the Waser Slave Market.

“Oh no, my Idiot Goddess Sense is tingling!” I said as I fell a chill run down my spine.