126. It might be best for her
Sway sway…
Sway sway…
fresh, salty air, strong wind current.
It's a familiar feeling for Lex. Swaying uncontrollably followed what the sea waves wanted. Lex was on the ship. The place he's going to is St. Marionette High School, which is on the off-coast island. They didn't have an airport there, so the only way to get there was by ship.
It's been a year since he left the Crimson Eagle and reunited with Kate. They graduated from middle school together and decided to enroll in St. Marionette High School. Lex thought it was weird why Kate decided to enroll at this world-renowned high school, especially after knowing the Minsthal family situation.
However, it seemed to be on Auntie and Uncle's suggestion that she decided to enroll there. When Lex went to ask them, they said they were already prepared for this a long time ago. If we want Kate and Ella to live in peace, we have to resolve this situation as fast as possible. And it's better if we are fully prepared, make the first move, and are not ambushed.
Lex agreed with their decision, he didn't want Kate and Ella to live in hiding like sewer rats. and with Kate or Ella active in the Hidden World, it's only a matter of time before the world realizes their bloodline. Also, they made quite large connections over the past decade preparing for this day. The reason Lex was able to train with Crimson Eagle was also because of this. In the end, nothing changed about what Lex had to do, he just had to protect his close friend, that's all.
In the past year, Lex has been busy improving himself. There are three main things he had to do. First of all, there was Alice. Now that Alice has become a vampire, which is also considered a Mana race, Lex has made full use of his connection to prove her identity and create an ID for her. Next, he also started to train her now that she had awakened her mana. not just him. Kate and Ella also helped a lot on this. By the time they graduated, Alice was already on the level of D-rank by Crimson Eagle standards.
The second thing Lex had to do was related to the bright light he saw at the end of his fight against Brad, the vampire progenitor. Lex had started to step onto his path. Now that Lex has touched what they call the higher state of Mana, Ether, he finally knows the big difference between those who have stepped on their path and those who haven't.
In simpler terms, Mana was like air, and the normal population of the Hidden World only knew we breathed air or, at most, oxygen. But once you step onto your path, you will know that air is not only made of oxygen, there are other elements included in it. A high concentration of oxygen was even poisonous to humans. Mana was the same. Being able to use Ether means you are able to manually alter this composition and make the most of your specialty in any situation. That's why they were called the higher state of Mana and named Ether universally, or there would be too many names for that. And only those who see it with their own eyes understand the universe-like possibility behind Ether. And Lex is still on the starting line for this endless journey.
And the last thing was, of course, his 'Wing'. With the awakening of his wing, he was finally able to use External mana, meaning many of the magic spells he learned from Livia became possible to use. However, he wasn't used to controlling External Mana so he had to start from the beginning again. Or so Lex thought... but the reality was far from that.
At first, he didn't feel or notice the anomaly happening with his body. But the more he used and developed his Wing the more he started to feel discomfort in his body. Lex was unable to explain the strangeness that happened, however, there's one thing that he was sure of, and that is... his physique become weaker the more he used his Wing.
In the past, Lex knew his body was unique. It was hard to explain, but if he had to, there was like a level or gauge of skill on his body. And whenever he leveled up on that particular skill, his whole body strengthened to a certain degree. And now he felt he was starting to lose those bonuses.
(It felt like those characters got nerfed to balance the game, damn it!!) Even after checking his body, there was no result indicating his situation; he is healthy, so he was left without a clue. Lex became vexed every time he thought of his situation. Then he slowly relaxed his mind, and "Haa~" Lex sighed as she leant on the ship's fence.
"What are you thinking?" Someone appeared beside Lex, and he felt his cheek being softly poked.
Lex had already guessed who it was, so he turned his head and replied, "Nothing-" His word stuck in his mouth. He was dazed looking at the person in front of him.
"What? Did the cat get your tongue? Or is it me who got it?" She let out a giggle as she gently pinched Lex's cheek.
Lex awoke from his trance when he was pinched. He stared at the young woman in front of her. Her beautiful face, her blonde hair that danced with the wind, and her white and elegant uniform each exuded an irresistible charm toward Lex. Her cute and cheeky act didn't help in lowering her charm at all.
Without answering her, Lex brought his face toward her. inches and inches, his face came closer, yet the young woman didn't pull away or close her eyes. Instead, she looked at Lex very closely.
then shortly after, their noses touched each other. "Yes, you got it perfectly." Lex replied, "You looked beautiful today too, Kate."
Hehe," Kate let out a soft giggle again as they stayed like that for a few moments, forgetting that they're on the ship's deck in public so that every other student could see them.
When they separated, it's unknown who started it first. They acted like it was instinct and took each other's hands, feeling the warmth of the other person.
It was then that Lex felt a jolt from the other side. His body was pulled a bit before something snuggled into him very closely. A long, golden-brown-haired head immediately entered his view.
There's only one person on board who would do something like this. Lex realized this and didn't mind if the new person acted as she pleased because he knew who she was. Still, he couldn't help but sneakily glance at Kate, wondering about her reaction, and as expected, Kate didn't show any special reaction like usual.
Sometimes Lex could read Kate's mind like a book, but sometimes she was an enigma to him. He never forgot Kate's word that day, he thought Kate would start something, but on the contrary, the next day. Kate and Alice, who had just checked out of the hospital, came together and announced to him that they would date him together. It was mind-boggling to Lex, especially since it came so soon after Kate's ultimatum. But of course, now that they've served themselves on a silver plate, there's no way Lex would refuse that. Then it started the strange relationship between the three. (Besides, I could handle Kate just fine.)
And back to the present, Alice turned upward, staring at Kate. *Bleeegh She let out her tongue and mocked Kate. In response, Kate stared at her with a smile before pushing Alice's nose. "Aaaa, but you two flirted with each other, forgetting me~" Alice said her voice became strange because of Kate.
Lex could only let out a wry smile while stroking Alice's head to calm her down. "This situation reminded me of our childhood times." Lex said it to himself, but loud enough for the other two to hear him. Alice and Kate stopped bickering, the scene where they used to play together also emerged in their minds, they unconsciously let out a smile the same way as Lex.
"Still, it's a pity Dia couldn't join us," Lex added. To which Alice replied with a nod, "She enrolled in a different school after graduation," then followed by Kate, "She said it was because of her family's circumstances that she had to move away."
"However, it might be best for her like this," Kate continued.
"What do you mean?" Alice is unable to understand the meaning of Kate's words.
On the other hand, Lex caught on to what she meant and agreed with her. "It's because we're no longer normal," Lex explained. "We might be able to talk comfortably, but it was impossible to have the same relationship as before with only the three of us having shared secrets. Also, Alice experienced it firsthand; we aren't in a peaceful world."
"Ah!" Alice quickly understood their point, but she also became depressed every time she remembered that."
Looking at Alice's reaction, Lex hugged both of their waists, pulling them closer. "By the way, Alice, Kate, I'm the happiest man to have you both," he added,
The two looked at Lex exasperatedly before they smiled toward each other and snuggled closer toward Lex.
Then, at that time, the ship's deck became increasingly noisier and crowded, which quickly caught the attention of the three. Lex, Kate, and Alice quickly realized the reason behind this incident as they followed the others' attention.
Land on sight. The massive, majestic-looking castle could be seen with the naked eye. It was as if they turned back time toward the European medieval, or the Great Britain era. It was a mix of an antique-looking castle with modern technology mixed in. That was quite a sight. Then, before long, they arrived at the off coast independent island of St. Marionette High School.