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Chapter 55

 

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Translator: “Kousei” Editor: ”Ryunakama”

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「Dran-san!」

When I was drinking tea on the terrace next to the bathhouse with Selina, Christina, Nell, Fatima and Sierra, Lenia came with a cheerful smile.
Lenia still seems uninterested and unconcerned with anything except me.
No, she seems to be a bit hostile towards Christina, so I guess it’s not like she has no concern for them at all.

Lenia’s hostility towards Christina came from the fact that she considered her ancestors, superhumans, to be her and my nemesis. This won’t just go away even if I were to warn her.

It’s the reason that Lenia and I were reborn as humans, and as long as Lenia lives as a human, she cannot help but stay conscious of the revenge of the past.

However, rather unusually, Lenia is accompanied by a girl.

It was hard to imagine Lenia, who always looked down on humans, making friends at Magic Academy, and it was too surprising that I had never heard of her friend from Lenia herself.

Seeing all of the famous people of the school together in one place seems to have made her nervous.

The girl with light green hair reaching to her waist and tied with an orange ribbon behind her neck, was about the same height as Lenia, but in contrast to Lenia had very different body proportions and a timid expression. Putting the height aside, the impression she gave off was the exact opposite from Lenia.

Did she get along with Lenia because she was the exact opposite?

Smiling happily, Lenia, seemingly completely forgetting about the girl, grabbed an empty chair and sat down next to me.

The girl left on her own by Lenia was surveying us, lost at what to do, but being tactful, Christina found her vacant chair and offered her to take a seat.

Facing Christina, arguably the most famous person at the Academy of Magic, approaching which bears the danger of being exposed to a rain of jealousy, the girl let out a strange voice and then froze.

「Hey, Irina, don’t make such a pitiful face just because you saw that woman. Get a grip.」

「I-I-I-I’m sorry. I’m Irina Ebena Cranan. Lenia-chan’s c-c-c-classmate.
And please don’t mind Lenia-chan’s ridiculous rudeness. She is like that with everyone. I apologize in her stead.」

Christina laughed uncomfortably as Irina repeatedly bowed, and then tried to calm her down.

「I don’t mind it, you don’t need to apologize.
I’ve known Lenia since I went to Slania, but it seems that she hates me. I’m already used to getting the cold shoulder from her.」

「Le-Lenia-chan, you were doing such a rude thing to Christina-senpai?! 」

Lenia , who was looking at me with a huge smile plastered on her face, turned to Irina without changing expression. She also seemed to be faithful to her appetite, throwing the remaining sweets into her mouth.

「Hmm? Mnuch, *gulp* such a woman is not worthy of respect. Throughout heaven and earth and the Three Realms,, I earnestly respect only two individuals.」

Lenia’s three realms are the heavenly world where the good gods live, the earthly world where we live, and the demon world where the demon gods live.
There are also the underworld, the spirit world, the elemental world, etc., but if it is related to Lenia, it would be about these three worlds.

「T-There is someone whom Lenia respects? 」

Irina was more surprised at the existence of someone that Lenia respects, than her disrespectful attitude towards Christina.

For her, who likely knows Lenia for longer than us, learning that there is someone Lenia considers worthy of respect seemed to be a big shock.

「Of course! That is Dran-san over here!!! 」

Ah, yeah. That’s the way Lenia would react after getting to know me.

In turn Irina turned to me, who is famous in a way unlike that of Galois’s big four, such an intent gaze full of suspicion that it seemed like she was trying to stare a hole through my face.

「Fumu.」

「Errr, thank you for taking care of Lenia?」

It’s not like you are her guardian, I muttered in my heart.

Perhaps she was a cushioning material for Lenia, who didn’t take human relations in consideration at all and had built up tons of discord, and she has always taken care of her in various ways.

Thinking of Irina’s hardships so far, I can almost feel tears welling up my eyes.

「No, my daugh… Lenia must’ve caused you a lot of trouble. That’s the kind of personality she has after all.」

「Eh?! Fa-Dran-san, I’m not such a troublesome child…」

As Lenia hurriedly stood up, and I lightly waved her off 『yes, yes』, Irina surprised us by suddenly starting to sob.

「Uh-uh-huuuaaaaaaah, D-Dran-san, you are the first person to say that. Lenia-chan doesn’t listen to me at all, and picks fights with all sorts of people, causing conflicts, and doesn’t reflect at all ~~」

Probably, everyone who was here except Lenia and Irina would have thought.
Even Sierra, who is waiting like a shadow, must have understood Lenia’s personality and felt the same with this short relationship.
As Irina was crying, Lenia, as if worried about being exposed to her blunders in front of me, who she adores as her father, keeps glancing at Irina and me.

「Look, Irina-chan, please, don’t cry. And you Lenia-chan stop causing trouble to Irina-chan.」

Fatima stood up from her seat and taking her handkerchief wiped Irina’s tears while taking a jab at Lenia.

「W-why would I…! 」

「It’s only my guess, but if you keep doing the same, even Dran will grow to dislike you.」

「No!」

An immediate answer? Lenia seems to have gotten very attached to me.
With her tears wiped by Fatima, Irina finally calmed down, and stared half in doubt at Lenia, who was swearing to me that she would reflect on her actions so far.
Fumu, it’s probably impossible to fully believe that, considering how Lenia conducted herself so far.
And when I thought it would be difficult to reform Lenia now, a loud female voice suddenly reached my ears, coming from the road leading to the girls’ dormitory.

「Criiiiiiistina-san!」

Fumu, it seems she wants Christina, and not me. This is quite unusual, as Christina-san seemed so antisocial, that I was beginning to worry if she has any friends at all. How unusual. Even so, what a loud voice. I almost covered my ears out of reflex.
A magnificent glow of gold jumped into my eyes as I looked back at the source of that voice.

The sunlight reflected off the blonde ringlets, making them glow with a radiance that threatened to burn my eyes, adorning the female student approaching from behind us in a gorgeous manner.
Her appearance is brimming with an overwhelming, pushy aura, just being near her sounds like an exhausting prospect.

「Phenia, I can hear you even without shouting. Such behavior is unbecoming of nobility that you speak so much of.」

「Oh my, Christina-san. So you remembered what I said.
Christina-san, who is so famous for not accepting anyone’s invitation!
Christina-san, who repeatedly refused my invitations, no matter how many times I called her!
Christina-san, who is just sitting listless by the window both during classes and during breaks!
Even I couldn’t suppress my surprise from seeing that Christina-san having a tea party, doing such an unladylike thing against my better judgment.」

Fumu. She is heavily emphasizing Christina-san’s name and solitude, but in short, it seems that this female student named Phenia wants Christina-san’s attention.
She seems to have been invited to a tea party by Phenia, but Christina refused.
Partly because of that, she can’t hide her surprise from the sight of Christina-san attending this tea party.

「Sorry for suddenly interrupting you. I’m Phenia Phoenixian Phoenix. A third year student of the Galois Magic Academy.
And a classmate with Christina-san.
As I said earlier, I was surprised to see Christina-san, who is always alone, in a group, and accidentally shouted..」

This overload of『Phoenix』bothered me a bit, but if my memory serves me right, it must be an aristocrat family that has a history with one of the top-ranking mythical beasts, a phoenix, just as the last name suggests.
It is a great noble house, arguably the most influential in the northern part of the kingdom, and one of the five most notable in the whole kingdom.
Although it is not an old aristocrat with a history dating back to the founding of the country, they had a remarkable character that had a phoenix as a familiar, and together, with that phoenix, managed to accomplish a number of deeds of arms, eventually changing the house name to Phoenix, thus ascending as a great noble house, is what I remember.
「By the way, Christina-san, would you mind introducing your『buddies』? 」

The way she sarcastically said『buddies』 was informative of how detached from human relations Christina-san usually was. Just what kind of attitude did Christina usually have at the Magic Academy? I think life is more fun if you learn to interact with people a little more.

「I understand. First of all, Fatima Criste Dissidia, a sophomore, and Nelneshia Furen Apienia, a sophomore. And also Sierra, Fatima’s familiar.」

「Nice to meet you, Phenia-senpai. I’m Fatima Criste Dissidia, the third daughter of house Dissidia.」

「Luozo Zolan Apienia’s eldest daughter, Nelneshia Furen Apienia. Thank you for taking care of me during the previous Magic Tournament.」
The two introduced by Christina-san got up from their seats, picked up their skirts, moved their left foot back one step, and bowed elegantly. Sierra also followed the example of her mistress Fatima and made some foreign greeting.

Phenia returned the greetings with a flawless manner. Fully perfected and refined bearing of a lady that was transmitted through her whole body, from the tip of her toes to the tips of her hair, made one doubt if it really is the same person that was shouting just a short while ago.

「Next, from here, Lenia and Irina Ebena Cranan sophomores. Like Nell, you should already be familiar with Lenia from the previous years competition.」

「Yes. However, Lenia-san is just like you, and despite getting a recommendation, she didn’t participate in the competition.」

「Hmpf.」

「I-I’m Irina Ebena Cranan. I am honored to meet the famous senior Phenia here. 」

「Nice to meet you, Lenia-san and Irina-san. Excuse me for interrupting your fun.」

「Then, lastly, you probably at least heard rumors of him. Dran of Bern village and his familiar Selina.
Getting to know him during the spring break we have been friends since then. You shouldn’t underestimate him for being born a commoner.
He is a seasoned warrior and an expert mage, rivaling dragons in his ability. I also have a lot I can learn from him.」

Following Fatima and Nell’s example I stood up from my seat and bowed towards Phenia.

「I am honored to meet you, Phoenix-sama. I’m called Dran of Bern village. 」

「I’ve heard quite a few rumors of you. Finding a talented person like you will brighten the future of the kingdom. Please study hard.」

「I’ll remember those kind words.」
As not to say anything unnecessary, I refrained from saying anything extra and returned to my seat, upon which Phenia immediately lost interest in us and switched it to Christina-san.
It is natural, since Phenia’s interest was originally directed only at Christina-san.

「Well, Christina-san. To be honest, I’m relieved to see a usually lonely girl in a circle of friends.
It seems that you are now accepting invitations to tea parties, so I would like you to attend my tea party as well.」

「Well, that’s right. I’ve always declined your invitations, should be about time I accept it at least once. Okay, let’s attend your tea party this time.
If possible, it would be preferable if it would be a more casual gathering, can you take that into consideration? 」

Christina, whose shoulders slumped showing she had surrendered, replied to Phenia, who immediately laughed with a shining face.
「Oooooooooooohohohoho!!! If you, Chriiiiiiiiiiiiiiistina-san, absolutely INSIST, then I, PHE! NI! A! Phoenixian!! Shall invite you to my tea party~~~.
Oh, I’m looking forward to the next tea party! Then everyone, I’ll excuse myself~」

She left with a boisterous laugh, in the same bustling manner as she appeared, leaving us stunned.
She is just like a storm. Well, having an excess in energy is great, but she is a good example of it going too far.

「Christina-san, she is quite an amusing person.」

「Fufu, she is an unusual girl who kept calling out to me like that for a long time. To be honest, I sometimes feel suffocated by the strength of the pressure, but considering that she is still trying to associate with me, I can’t come to hate her.」

「Fumu, she certainly shows a fierce obsession with Christina-san.」

「By the way, she is the last one of the Galois’s big four, 『Golden Flame』 Phenia who has the immortal fire bird phoenix in her family name and family crest. The strongest fire user among the students of this school.」

「Fumu, it’s hard to judge humans by their appearance and words, huh.」

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