As I was left baffled by the sudden deaths of the Medwin house, Relton turned to Fina.
"Relton…? You helped me?" [Fina]
"...I'm sorry. You don't need to visit our land if you do not want to any longer. I'll ensure that all your fees for school are paid for." [Relton]
He then glanced at the… I'm not going to say he was dead, but I wasn't sure if Fina's dad was alive. Let's say he was just knocked out.
"I'll also make sure that father no longer gets on with his antics." [Relton]
With that, he dragged his father towards the exit.
"Wait!" [Fina]
I'm sure Relton heard her considering the volume of her voice. However, he didn't even stop. All he did was leave.
("Understandable. Oh, wait.") [Solace]
I had forgotten that Fina now has the infliction of not being able to use mana.
"Leyhna, any ideas of how to cure Fina?" [Solace]
"Uh… Maybe I can ask my dad?" [Leyhna]
Ah, yes. Because suddenly asking your dad would fix everything.
"Does your dad know anything?" [Solace]
"Her father is the Spear King. So, it wouldn't be a stretch for him to know a few things." [Fina]
I stand corrected. Maybe her dad can fix everything.
"Your dad is a King?!" [Solace]
"Yep. He's pretty strong." [Leynha]
"Hold on. Doesn't that only mean that he's good with a spear?" [Solace]
"It also means he's got connections." [Leyhna]
Never had I ever imagined Leyhna saying something that actually made sense.
"For now, we should just head back to school. Fina hasn't been there in months so she's going to need some time to catch up. Meanwhile, I'll go contact my dad." [Leyhna]
"Alright. I'll see you later then." [Solace]
I turned to leave, but Fina grabbed me by the sleeve.
"Wait." [Fina]
"Yes?" [Solace]
I turned to find that my eyes were locked with Fina's.
"Thank you." [Fina]
"...No problem." [Solace]
God she smelled nice. I mean- wait- she was kind of a little too close for comfort.
"Will I see you again?" [Fina]
I wasn't sure how to answer that. I kind of wanted to limit how much I interacted with her as Alt. In the end, I just decided to say something that my Master might say.
"If fate wills it." [Solace]
Fina gave me a strange look before releasing her grip.
"You're a weird one. N-Not in a bad way, I mean." [Fina]
"Uh-huh. Okay." [Solace]
Knowing girls, I will never know if that was a compliment or an insult. Either way, I still exited the same.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
The next day, I accompanied Fina to school. As Solace, of course. It had been a while since she'd been to school so I had the pleasure to meet her teachers again.
"And that sums up the whole story, Ms. Ross." [Fina]
Sitting at her work desk, Fina's teacher was left dumbfounded.
"...So you almost got married off as a contract tool. Then, you were saved by your best friend and some random man." [Ross]
"That is correct." [Fina]
Ms. Ross sighed.
"I understand. However, can you tell me why you didn't ask me for help?" [Ross]
She leaned forward with a worried expression.
"I am here for you. Professors here have the authority to protect their students under any means. It's even possible for us to interfere with royal circumstances. Please Fina… reach out." [Ross]
Fina went silent.
"I… I just didn't want to bother you." [Fina]
Ms. Ross had a sad look in her eyes. Perhaps pity?
("I don't think I should be here for this.") [Solace]
Instead of just listening in, I decided to leave a |Doppelganger| here for a moment so I could ask my Master if he knew any possible way to cure Fina. Hopefully, he had some kind of mystic crap to pull out to solve this.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
"Master!" [Solace]
"Hm?" [Vincent]
Sitting there while leisurely sipping tea, Master greeted me with a nod.
"Welcome back." [Vincent]
"Master, I have a question for you." [Solace]
"Ask away." [Vincent]
I recounted the details of what happened to Fina in order to give him context.
"So, do you have some kind of magic thingy or acupuncture that can help?" [Solace]
Master pondered for a moment.
"I do not have a cure for it." [Vincent]
All hope faded.
"However, I do have two methods to fix it." [Vincent]
All hope returned.
"How?!" [Solace]
"Do you want the hard way, or the easy way?" [Vincent]
"Easy way." [Solace]
It was an instant reply.
"Then it's very simple. You give her your mana." [Vincent]
"...What?" [Solace]
"You will give her the source of your mana. In exchange you will no longer have access to it." [Vincent]
I no longer wanted the easy way.
"The hard way please." [Solace]
"You must journey to the depths of a dungeon to retrieve a certain item. Unfortunately, you are not strong enough." [Vincent]
"Can you give me a level requirement?" [Solace]
"Hm…" [Vincent]
Master scratched his chin.
"I think around level 200 would suffice." [Vincent]
I was level 62.
"You're shitting me." [Solace]
"I am most definitely not "shitting" you. Whatever that may mean." [Vincent]
"Can you at least give me the location?" [Solace]
Master scoffed.
"And send you to your death? I think not. Instead, I have prepared some training for you." [Vincent]
"...Are we going into that dream world again?" [Solace]
Instead of speaking, Master replied by throwing a sheet of paper at me. Thankfully, I was fast enough to catch it.
"What's this?" [Solace]
"Your syllabus." [Vincent]
"...Huh?" [Solace]
"You will be attending the same classes as Fina. Now that she no longer has mana to activate her skills, she is defenseless. Protect your summoner." [Vincent]
I was stunned.
"How did you prepare this?" [Solace]
Then it hit me.
"...You already knew?" [Solace]
Master took a sip of his tea.
"Did I?" [Vincent]