"So, what you have to do is to take this equation here and compare it with the equation below."
"Okay, got it. So, is this the answer?"
"Mm, it looks good. You have to improve on your writing though, marks could be award for the working as proof of your answer. So even if your answer is wrong, your working could give you marks."
Kaze was receiving the strict teaching that Lunaria promised.
As promised, Lunaria had properly taught Kaze for 3 weeks now. While they weren't able to meet up every day of the week, they still managed to make it work in between of clubs and personal life. It helped that one of Lunaria's friends would usually be present, so it made the study session much merrier.
While there hadn't been significant improvement with Kaze's studies since it had only been a short time, he was still able to tell that Lunaria's teaching was effective. Her method was easier to understand and more attractive. Not to say that the teachers weren't helpful, but somehow there was a difference between having your teacher teach you or a close friend to assist. Kaze, in particular, who performed better in one-on-one sessions, was benefitting more from Lunaria.
Lunaria did this not so that he would become dependent on her all the time, but rather to help set up his foundation to be able to study himself. She told him this from the start already, but from the looks of it, it didn't seem like she would leave him alone any time soon. Rena, Sera and Shoko could easily tell that Lunaria looked forward to their studying time too. This was likely because it was rare to find someone who would treat her more as a normal person than a princess.
As for his sword fighting club, there was also not much progression made with his club members. Even though his skills during the weekly sparring showed that he was a cut above the others, the pride of most nobles were too much for them to want to admit he was better, much less interact with him. The only exceptions were limited to Noel and some of the committee members. The president was someone who excelled more at using the bow than the sword, so it was a little surprising for Kaze about how the president was chosen anyway. This just proved that one didn't necessarily needed strength to climb to the top.
On the other hand, Lunaria showed her prowess within the student council to handle paperwork. Being the eldest princess, it was natural that she would be faced with a lot of work that she needed to help her parents as part of her training, so the work from the student council was nothing compared to the workload of a nation. She quickly rose through the ranks, though it was mostly because the student council committee begged for her to become one of the committee members to help them with her input.
Even with the extra workload, Lunaria proved to be effective both in class and when teaching Kaze. This changed Kaze's perspective on Lunaria a little, because he was starting to realize that she was more capable than he initially thought. While he knew that she was a princess, that did not mean he knew what her work involved and what she could do. In fact, most people acted like they do but in reality, they were not aware of the lives that people like Yuuji and Lunaria have in private.
"Time to leave," Kaze sighed, packing up his stuff.
It was time for the library to close for the day, so the two had to leave earlier. Since it was a Friday, the library would close earlier than usual for clean up over the weekend. What's more, today was the day he would be heading over to Lunaria's room for the first time for dinner. Their monthly test had just finished and Kaze showed a slight improvement. While the marks didn't increase as much, the improvement was shown in his work instead and that was enough for Lunaria to be satisfied that she didn't waste her time on him. To celebrate, Lunaria and her friends decided to invite Kaze over for dinner.
The reason for this was because it was less risky for them to be seen eating out together. Plus, Lunaria was making something special tonight so all the more that they wanted Kaze to come over. Lunaria was constantly praised for her home cooking among other things by her friends, which made Kaze curious about the extents of her cooking skills as well. What's more, he had eaten her food once before and already knew she was a skilled cook. His curiosity got the better of him and, against Yuuji's teaseful gazes, decided to accept the offer.
"Mm… as expected, this is difficult," Kaze sweatdropped as he stood in front of the girls' dormitory.
While he had passed by the area before, he certainly dared not get close to the area in the case he would be suspected for being a pervert. It wasn't rare to see boys hanging around the area at all, but the constant fear kept bugging Kaze from ever approaching the area. Right now, he had the proper excuse, but it was still a little overwhelming for someone with little to no interaction with girls like Kaze.
"Come on, it really isn't that tough to step foot into the area."
Lunaria, who was right behind him, giggled at his constant reluctance to look at the dorm.
"I don't think you know this, but the security itself is very good. Since I manage to secure one of the higher-level dorms with my connections, we have good security. Not to say that the other dorms don't have the basic security in place, but mine is different. I even placed extra enchantments on around my room," Lunaria explained, dragging him by the hand.
As part of the general security, a magic spell was placed on the dorm surroundings that prevented boys or any intruder from getting past the entrance to the dorm. They could so much as step foot into the land, but not get any further. With permission from one of the residences of the dorms, they would be permitted in but naturally with a limit to how many guests one could bring along.
Kaze easily passed through the initial security level with Lunaria's help. Especially when regarding a higher level presence like Lunaria as a foreign princess, strict measures were taken to ensure that she wouldn't be threatened.
The two ascended to one of the higher floors from the stairs in the main lobby of the place. At this time of the day, they hardly met any female students who would be within the vicinity of where they were at. Even so, one or two female students who passed by them easily dismissed their doubts when they saw it was Lunaria who was leading the way. If it was Kaze who was walking ahead, there would easily be suspicion casted onto him. All of this matter had been taken into account by Lunaria, who confidently brought Kaze up to her room.
"By the way, I think you should know this beforehand, but I have used spatial magic to expand my room," Lunaria told Kaze in a hushed tone to ensure that no one would accidentally overhear them.
"What do you mean?" Kaze tilted his head. "I don't know what spatial magic is?"
"Oh right, you probably have not heard about it before," Lunaria sighed. "It's advanced magic beyond the school level, but you will know soon."
When they arrived in front of the door, Lunaria used her bracelet to unlock it and brought Kaze in. At once, Kaze understood what she meant when she said that she expanded her room. From the outside, it looked like a single room that contained at least a private bathroom from the looks of the area of the dorm they were headed earlier, no doubt one of the more expensive rooms, if not, the most expensive. Even then, it was obvious from the looks of it alone that it was expanded beyond the ordinary size.
Upon stepping feet into the room, Kaze could tell that there was a lot of work put to modify the space and design of the room to suit that of Lunaria's likings. The entire framework was different, showing off how advanced the magic Lunaria used was and how good her overall control of it was. To be able to allow her room to maintain this size at all times, the use of a catalyst was needed and magic had to be constantly supplied at intervals to ensure that it wouldn't diminished. For someone like Lunaria, this was of no difficulty.
"Surprised?" Lunaria asked with a proud smile when she saw the look on Kaze's face. "It took more time than expected, but I did it. I know it's against the rules of the dorms, so please keep it a secret on me."
"… Even if I did, I don't think anyone would even believe me," Kaze muttered, plopping himself onto a chair nearby. "Plus, if you did use a catalyst, then there would be no evidence."
"Right, that makes sense," Lunaria sighed in relief at this. "Well, I'm going to have a shower and then prepare dinner. Rena and the others will be over in a minute, so please wait here. I trust you that you are not going to attempt anything funny."
Lunaria placed Shiro down on her bed to allow her to get some rest. She then took a few pieces of clothing from her drawer and brought it with her to the bathroom, leaving Kaze on his own in the large room. Even with the time alone to himself in silence, he was still in quite the disbelief at what he was seeing. As much as he wanted to explore the room around him, all he could do was sit still and allow his eyes to swarm the place. He didn't want to betray the trust that Lunaria placed in him by snooping around, but it was hard not to look.
"… That being said, Lunaria really is quite the neat girl…" Kaze muttered, glancing at the tidy bed and table. "She even has a mini kitchen right here. I suppose she does have quite the passion in cooking."
His gaze met Shiro's, causing him to shiver because the rabbit's red eyes were locked on him as though it was watching him. Kaze tried to ignore it but the pressure from the rabbit was abnormal.
"Oh Kaze, you're here," the sound of the door opening was followed by the sound of familiar voices.
Kaze turned around to see that Sera and the other two had arrived. They were a little surprised to see him sitting still without moving around but it was a good thing too. That just meant that Lunaria was right to place that much trust in him, to the point that she could shower with him around. Well, even if he did step out of line Lunaria could easily deal with him, but now her friends could judge for themselves on their opinions of Kaze.
"Err… hi," Kaze awkwardly greeted the girls. "Do you all live here?"
"If you mean the dorm, yes, but the room? No," Sera shook her head at this. "We do live near Lunaria though, so we can respond quickly if anything does happen."
"You can sit there and wait, we will prepare dinner," Rena smiled at Kaze as she started to take out some of the ingredients stored. "You can do your work or something."
Time passed quickly with the few of them staying in Lunaria's room. 2 hours later, dinner was served along with desserts.
"Ah, please don't mind the amount of food there is on the table," Shoko addressed Kaze's concerned look when he saw the number of dishes being plated. "This is because Lunaria is a dragonkin, and dragonkins consume more food than we normally do."
"Mou~ can you at least address it in a way that does not make Kaze think dragonkins are gluttons?" Lunaria puffed her cheek at her friend's explanation.
"What I mean to say, is that the amount of food consumption varies from race to race," Shoko sighed, needing to appeal to her friend's concerns. "Dragonkins, in particular, eat more food than we do. This has to do with how dragonkins are originally not…. dragonkins, per se. They originate as huge winged beasts known as dragons, but have evolved to the point that they are able to switch between their original form and dragonoid forms."
"I will take it from here," Lunaria helped to fill in the gaps as she was more of the expert on the subject, being a dragonkin herself. "Kaze, in the modern era we live in now, you rarely see dragons anymore. That is because we can take on the form of dragonkins, a much more convenient form to move around in. It's not like we can't transform anymore, but we rarely need to unless the circumstance demands it."
"Oh… is there a reason for this?" Kaze asked, feeling intrigued by the topic at hand while they began eating.
"Erm… I would say its nature?" Lunaria shrugged with a wry smile, feeding Shiro at the same time. "There has been research about it, but no conclusion can be made as of now. One of the more popular theories scholars in Aravel are leaning to are that we dragonkins go through a cycle in our life where we have the choice to choose humanoid form as our primary look. However, as we age for hundreds of years, we began to morph to our dragon form as our primary form instead. If you compare the statistics of the age range in our population, the results check out with the research. Of course, it's not conclusive as I have stated but it is something that is of concern."
"Wow, Aravel sounds a lot more developed than I initially expected," Kaze felt impressed with the subject of research that Lunaria had described to him. "It does make me wonder what Aravel looks like."
"Hmm… if you really want to know, maybe Lunaria can show it to you herself," Sera looked at Lunaria. "She can project scenes of the streets with magic that is based off her memory. Of course, it's another advanced Projection Magic which sub-class is still being researched, so don't find it strange."
As if to respond to her friend's words, Lunaria waved her hand gently and a huge floating screen appeared in front of them. It floated above the table where they ate so they could all see for themselves. Even though Aravel was a small nation compared to most in the world due to the population of dragonkins available, it had a lot of land, so it was astonishing to see the extremes of the nation. From the highest mountain peaks all the way to huge wide valleys, Kaze was left speechless as Lunaria showed him the best parts of Aravel that she could remember in glitchy images. Since it was rare to be able to produce images from one's own memories, it was natural that the image would not be as clear due to the continuous fluctuation of one's thoughts in the present. Even then, Kaze could get a good view of what that was Aravel.
"How is it?" Lunaria asked Kaze, breaking the long silence between them. "Do you like it?"
"It's… so much more different from what I imagined," Kaze gulped. "It's breathtaking."
"Thank you for your praise, it means a lot to me," Lunaria bowed lightly. "I am glad that you think of Aravel as such a good place. We have a lot of flaws too, but that does not mean we don't have the good parts that we dragonkins are proud of."
Moving away from the beautiful sceneries, the images slowly shifted to the town. There was a palace in the middle of it, meaning that the town was the main area of the nation and it was Lunaria's home too. Kaze could see that the streets had a steady stream of people, meaning that despite the small population life was thriving. As a race that live in seclusion with low birth rate, the nation was by no means big, but it could be advanced. While thinking so, Kaze unexpectedly spotted the look of a strange vehicle in the background.
"Um, what was that?" Kaze asked, pointing out the vehicle for the others to see.
"Oh, that," Lunaria's expression changed a little and glanced at Kaze. "You don't have to worry about that. It's a strange statue we have, yeah."
"I'm pretty sure I saw someone getting out of it though?"
"A statue that… people can sit in it."
"What's the point?"
"To eat or rest."
"Wouldn't that make even less sense?"
Kaze sighed at the reluctance of Lunaria to tell him the truth but he did not pursue the subject any further. Knowing that Aravel had secrets it wanted to hide too, he respected the decision of Lunaria. Thankfully, the topic was easily shifted when the image of Lunaria and her family could be seen eating together.
"That's father and mother, the Emperor and Empress," Lunaria pointed out for Kaze. "The rest are my sisters."
"Wait, you have four sisters?" Kaze asked, feeling a little baffled by this fact.
"Um… yeah, we don't have any males in our family branch," Lunaria awkwardly nodded. "Which is why finding the suitable heir to the throne would help immensely."
"Lunaria is saying that because she naturally is the first in line," Rena explained to Kaze with a sigh when she saw how Lunaria became tight lipped all of a sudden. "The reason Lunaria feels troubled by this is because she has been approached countless of times over the years."
"Oh… for marriage you mean?" Kaze felt slight sympathy for the princess all of a sudden.
"Yes…" Lunaria grumbled. "No matter how many times we rejected the approach, people are persistent. While Aravel is closed off to outsiders, our basic political information is still known and we have nobles sending invitations all the time. I'm just glad that mother and father are understanding and allow me to make the conscious choice myself."
"Lunaria rarely talks about this because it aggravates her, but it's good to vent sometimes," Shoko whispered to Kaze.
"What about… you girls?" Kaze shifted the topic carefully. "Do you all have arranged marriages too?"
"Oh, elves are generally fine," Sera smiled. "Other than there being the so-called arrange marriage with the child of different area leaders, we are free-spirited and get to choose our own partners."
"Plus, Sera is a candidate for being a high elf, so it is of utmost importance that she should not be involved in marriage yet," Rena added. "Well, I can't say much for myself since I am a commander of one of the army garrisons, but yeah."
High elves, while being a foreign term, was something that everyone knew. They were considered to be an even more elite species of elves that make executive decisions within the nation of Yvel in a democratic manner. While their job scopes weren't limited to just decision-making, they also had heightened mana perception as well as magic control, making them very formidable opponents on their own. If one were to go up against a high elf, they would have a hard time defeating them. This was to make up for the lack in strength that elves originally didn't possess.
The nation of Yvel was made up of mainly forest patches, meaning there was a high abundance of magic sources deep within the grounds. Trees around the highly dense areas of mana had different properties to them after their roots were able to absorb some of the magic source as parts of its nutrient over the time span of decades. As such, it was important that the forest areas were protected and only selective few parts could be flattened for agriculture or land purposes.
In the more secluded and heavily guarded areas of Yvel, there were huge trees that towered higher than the average trees surrounding the area. Their trunks were hard as steel and impossible to damage with normal means. This was due to the influence of the trees under the rich source of magic supply lying dormant under the ground. The reason for the magic supply to not be depleted after so many years was due to what was known as the Holy Tree of the nation.
The Holy Tree, as the name suggests, was a sacred place where rituals and secrets of the elf nation were gathered. Unlike what most people believe in, spirits don't actually populate the land of the elves but act as a mean of communication to the Holy Tree. In a way, it was believed by the locals of the land that the spirits of their ancestors after death would remain forever within the Holy Tree, watching over the land and protecting them for years to come.
As Sera and Rena told stories of their hometown to Kaze, the group didn't realize how long they had been talking from the start of dinner. Even after they had finished all the food, they were reluctant to call it a night as they wanted to share more with Kaze. It was rare that there would be a human whom they could open up too so much, so it made sense they wanted to treasure this moment.
"Alright, why don't we relax a little more?" Shoko was the first to break the topic once Rena had completed her part of the story. "Kaze, you can drink right? I don't think age matters in Czech when it comes to alcoholic content."
"Well, I'm pretty sure students of our age are allowed to," Kaze nodded at her question. "Are you going to buy some alcohol?"
"More like I already have alcohol from my part of my hometown," Shoko grinned.
Opening her dimension storage, Shoko stuck her hand through the dimension hole and brought out an oblong bottle. It was obviously used to store the said alcohol, but the real concern was how powerful it actually was.
"This is true Ile product," Shoko presented the bottle for Kaze to examine before she opened it. "Ile is the name of my nation, by the way."
"In Ile, their choice of agriculture products is actually rice," Lunaria revealed a fact to Kaze. "They live mainly on flatlands with abundant chances of rain annually, so it is actually a good choice for the foxkins to turn this to their advantage. They do grow a few other products, but rice is their main produce. As such, this wine of sort is made from fermented rice."
"Ohh, so it's different from the alcohol here that is mainly made from fruits," Kaze smiled at this and handed the bottle back to Shoko. "Is it very strong?"
"No way, it's supposed to be something for casual occasions or even normal drinking," Shoko smirked at Kaze as she said so. "What's wrong? Can't handle your alcohol too well Kaze?"
"I was brought up in a church, isn't it natural to assume I don't have any prior experience?" Kaze sighed at Shoko's teasing. "Not to mention that I don't have the money to spend on alcohol."
"As someone who struggles to even purchase food from the cafeteria, I can see that," Lunaria gave Kaze a look of pity. "Don't worry, I can guarantee rice wine isn't too strong. Instead, it has a mellow taste that slowly seeps down the back of your throat because of the nature of the product. There are methods to strengthen the taste, but because this particular one is made with a more traditional approach, increasing the alcoholic content would only destroy the pleasant taste it already has."
"As expected of you girls, you truly are knowledgeable on all sorts of subject," Kaze smiled wryly at them. "I suppose living a long life is worth it."
"Well, not if you aren't actively participating in local events," Rena sighed. "Unlike us elves, dragonkins live thousands of years at a time if in great health condition, though that rarely happens in the first place."
"If you do end up getting drunk, we will make sure to take good care of you," Sera gave Kaze a light laugh, causing him to feel as though they do enjoy teasing him. "Rena and I hold up well, I don't think I need to talk about Shoko, but I am not so sure about Lunaria."
"Dragonkins don't really prefer the taste of alcohol, so even as a royalty, I rarely have experience with it," Lunaria sighed. "I know humans really love it for some reason, but I personally believe it is nothing more than acquired taste."
"That is actually true," Shoko nodded enthusiastically. "I don't prefer alcohol made normally, but I enjoy rice wine."
Bringing Kaze his first ever glass of wine, the other girls received theirs and lifted it in the air at the same time.
"To friendship."
The sound of their glass clinking was followed by the soft gulps of alcohol going down their throat. For the group of five, they allowed their conversations to guide them deeper into the night.