The orphans spent their last week of the school year doing their final exams. If they passed, they'd get to move up to the next stage. Every day, they came in to revise for four hours and then complete a test. To ensure there was no cheating, the teachers stationed magic detectors at classroom doors that would go off when any active spells or magic items were detected.
On Friday, Paley confidently finished his last exam, a Science paper.
He sighed and looked at Dillie. She smiled at him optimistically. Then, he looked at Adimia, who was quivering in excitement. He jumped out of his seat and turned to Paley.
"I answered every question, Paley!" He exclaimed.
"Adimia!" The teacher collecting the papers shouted at him.
"Good job, Adimia," Paley gave him a thumbs up. He and Jurie had been tutoring Adimia for the past month, and it seemed to have paid off.
On their way out of school, the members of the Magic Club approached him and the orphans.
"Paley, we wanted to ask you something," Nova said.
"What is it?" Paley replied, trying to hurry the conversation.
"Can we spend the week at your house? He asked, raising Paley's brow, "This is the last time we'll get to do anything together. I'm moving out of Lusitra next week. And Ponna's going to the countryside." He had a begging look in his eyes, so Paley accepted. Besides, he enjoyed spending time with them.
"Sure," He said.
"Can I come?" Dillie asked.
"You might as well."
"And us?" Libon and Paley's apprentices popped up from behind him.
Paley sighed, slightly annoyed. "All of you can come." He said.
"Yay!" "Sleepover at Paley's house!" They cheered.
"Ask your parents for permission today. I'll pick you all up tomorrow." He joined the orphans. "Are you guys okay with them staying over?" He asked them.
"Of course!" Adimia said.
"It's gonna be so fun!" Amasha and Bacha exclaimed. Jurie and Rauba were more than happy for them to stay over but just nodded reservedly.
"Should we write our addresses for you?" Negie asked.
"No. I remember where you all live." The calmness with which he said those words slightly creeped them out, but they brushed it aside. "Well, then. I'll see you all tomorrow." He split off with Dillie to drop her off.
"I'm looking forward to your company." Jurie smiled at them all. It mesmerized the boys, especially Elhom and Nova. They were incredibly jealous of Teerom.
"I'm so sorry!" Elhom bowed at her.
"For what?"
"For harassing you back then." He was the one who upskirted her.
"Oh, I've already forgotten about that. Don't worry." She laughed. That was one thing that Paley really liked about his older sister. She took after Madella in how forgiving and kind she was.
When Paley got home, he asked Madella for her permission to have everyone over. Turned out the orphans had already told her about it and she agreed immediately to it.
Negie woke up in the tiny room that she shared with her siblings. The only light was streaming in through gaps in the cheap curtains that half-covered the window. She shared two beds placed shoulder to shoulder with her two younger brothers and toddler sister.
She quietly slid off the beds and rushed downstairs, putting her slippers, shirt, and trousers on.
"Good morning, mama. Good morning, papa." She went into the kitchen-living room. There was a big window on the wall, and below it were the stoves and cupboards of the kitchen. Her parents sat at a rough rectangular table in the middle of the room, sipping on warm coffee.
"Mornin'" Her father nodded at her, "How are you?"
"Great." She took two slices of bread out of a cabinet and started making a simple chicken sandwich.
"Are you going to be okay?" Her mother asked, worried.
"I'll be fine, mama. It's just a week." She finished making the sandwich and joined them at the table. "What're those?" She asked, noticing two letters under her father's elbow.
"They're just some letters." He tried to conceal them more.
"I can tell when you're hiding something," She snatched the letters and opened them. They were eviction warnings. "Didn't you pay them the eight gold coins?"
"Yeah... but they want 200% more than the normal amount." He had a stressed, depressed look on his face.
"It's because of our skin, isn't it?"
"Negie," Her mother tried to protect her innocence.
"Yeah, it is because of our skin." Her father answered honestly and turned to his wife, "Parva, she's not a child anymore."
"But, Krish-"
"Why? Why do they hate us for that?" Negie protested, cutting off her mother.
"Who knows." He sighed.
For a moment, Negie silently stared at the papers before she remembered she wanted to tell them something important. She blushed as she prepared to say it.
"By the way... I..." She began, taking a bite out of her sandwich, "I think I've found someone." She said. Her parents jumped out of their gloom at the revelation.
"L-Like a boy?" Parva asked frantically, and she nodded shyly. Her parents wanted her to get married since she turned 12; it was Nijian (Equivalent of West Asia) tradition for girls to marry young. Though they didn't force it on Negie, they just encouraged her.
"Is it Paley?" Krish - her father - caught on, and she nodded again. Her siblings woke up to her parents' cheers and rushed down to see what the commotion was about.
"What happened?" They asked curiously.
"Your big sister's getting married!" Krish exclaimed.
"No! I'm not getting married! I'm waiting until I'm 16." Negie insisted, dropping an anvil on her parents' excitement.
"Why not now? He's such a nice boy. And a monster hunter. He's the perfect man for you! Everyone will be jealous." Parva insisted.
"Yeah, he is. But I'm not going to propose to him until he loves me back."
"You're my beautiful little angel. There's no way he doesn't love you." Krish pinched her cheeks.
"Does he like someone else?" Her little brother asked out of nowhere.
"No- yeah- I don't know." Negie exhaled sharply, "Most of the girls at school like him. And then there's Dillie. She's always with him, and he might even like her!" She complained.
Her parents glanced at each other hesitantly before Krish decided to speak up.
"Negie. Love is hard. It's a long struggle of a battle that sometimes you lose. But if you truly love him with all your heart, you will win. He will have to love you back." He nodded rhetorically.
"Okay... Thank you, papa." She hugged her father.
Suddenly, Paley knocked on the door. "Mr. and Mrs. Shivai, I'm here to pick up Negie." He said. Everyone inside froze; he knocked on the door again. Negie took her bag full of clothes and an axe before rushing to the door. Her family followed her and watched her open the door intently.
Her parents had already seen Paley before when he dropped her off on his Golems. But her siblings hadn't, and they lost it when they saw the awesome Earth Golem he sat on. Luckily, Parva and Krish managed to keep them contained.
"Hey..." Negie smiled, but it slightly faded when she saw Dillie sitting on the shoulder next to him. The other apprentices and the Magic Club members were there too, but on different Golems.
"Hello," Paley greeted her back and then her family, "Hello,"
"Hello." Krish and Parva waved, restraining their children and grinning as Negie approached the Golem. "Can I sit next to you?" She requested boldly.
"Sure." The Golem picked her up and placed her right next to Paley.
"No fair, I want to sit next to you," Dillie complained.
"How about this, then?" Paley shifted to behind the Golem's head, so they were both the same distance from him. Negie frowned at Dillie, who victoriously smirked as she reached for his hand.
"Can you hold my hand?" She asked but had already grabbed his hand before he could answer.
"Mine too," Negie fought, grabbing his other hand.
"What's wrong with you two?" Paley snatched his hands back, "Come on, let's go." He made the Golems begin walking.
"Have fun, Negie!" Parva waved.
"I will!" Negie waved back.
"I'll miss you so much, little angel!" Krish said.
"Me too, papa!" She turned forward to see Paley looking at her smugly.
"Little angel, huh?" He teased.
"Got a problem with it?"
"Not at all. My mom calls me an angel too sometimes."
"With a look like that?"
"What do you mean?" He felt his face and realized he'd forgotten to apply Facimut Pulveris. Quickly, he reached for the jar of Facimut Pulveris that he usually kept in his pocket, but it wasn't there. Everyone chuckled as he searched his pockets.
"We've already seen your real face before," Libon said.
"When?"
"After the whole lightning bear thing."
"Don't worry, I like it better like this," Negie and Dillie both shared a lack of subtlety when flirting given their youth.
Everyone took in the peaceful surroundings of the orphanage as they approached it. The sweet scent of overgrowing grass filled their noses, and the sun above showered them in summer's warmth.
"It's so chill out here. I love it." Homar mumbled as she looked around at the vast fields of grass and the forest beyond the river ahead.
"I know, right?" Paley said pridefully.
"First time here? I come every day." Dillie boasted to Negie, though she actually went there once a week.
"Well, we'll see who he's gonna get married to."
"Married?" Paley asked, but they ignored him and continued fighting.
"What do you think this is?" Dillie showed her the Awakening ring on her ring finger.
"That's an Awakening ring. Besides, I bet he put it on that finger by accident."
"Do you two want to marry me?" He asked forwardly.
"Huh!?" They suddenly panicked, realizing they had nearly confessed through their argument, "No! Why would you think tha- We were just joking." Dillie and Negie laughed awkwardly.
"What kind of joke is that?" Paley paused the Golems and signaled everyone to get off. He stopped the spell, pushing the Golems into the ground - it was annoying clearing the mounds of debris with Air Magic, so he added the extra step to the spell.
He opened the door and let everyone into the cottage. Madella was stocking the kitchen cabinets with fresh ingredients she bought that morning. Teerom and Jurie sat by the fireplace, chatting as they waited for Paley to arrive.
"Hello!" Madella greeted.
"Hello, Miss... Uh," Ponna began.
"Call me Madella. Come in." She sat them down on pillows in front of the fireplace with Teerom and Jurie.
"Hello, Nova. Hello, Ponna." Jurie greeted.
"Hey," Nova nodded, blushing.
"Hello," Ponna gave a warm smile.
"You guys know each other?" Teerom asked.
"They're in my class."
"Oh, I see."
Paley went upstairs where all the other orphans were and called them downstairs with him.
"Your house is so big, Paley," Ketto said as Amasha, Bacha, Reben, and Adimia excitedly came down the stairs. Paley lagged behind with Rauba, who hid behind him.
"Thank you," He replied to Ketto, and they all made a circle in front of the fireplace, talking the time away as they waited for the last person, Hig, who had said that he'd be there later.
It was now midday, and he still hadn't shown up.
"The idiot's probably still asleep," Paley sighed and stood up, "I'll go get him."
Hig's sleeping schedule was an enigma to Paley. He slept between 8 pm and 6 am and woke up between 4 am and 12 pm.
He wasn't surprised when Hig opened his door wearing nothing but underwear five minutes after Paley knocked.
"Hello, Paley." He yawned, "Are we going on a hunt?"
"No. I invited you to come over to my house, remember?"
"Oh, right! Sorry, let me get ready. I'll be right there!" He rushed into his house, hurriedly put on a light shirt and pants, mismatching, and came back out. "I'm not too late, am I?"
"Only about three hours. Come on, everyone's waiting." Paley flew them back to the orphanage, where, after they made fun of Hig's horrible fashion, they all had a toast.
They held glasses of their favorite juices. Nova and Ponna stood up to make a speech, taking deep breaths.
"It's been a blast, everyone..." Ponna began, talking to the Magic Club, "We're going to miss you so so much." He turned to Nova, who smiled and nodded.
"This toast shouldn't be one of grieving," Nova continued, "It should be one of celebration. It should be a celebration to honor the Magic Club's new leader, Paley!"
"Huh?" Paley watched everyone cheer and clink glasses.
"To celebrate all of the new members: Dillie, Libon, Elhom, Tugas, Iji, Ketto, Ott, Homar, Hig," Nova began struggling to remember their names and his mind went blank at the orphans, "Jurie, and uh..." He motioned to Amasha.
"Amasha!" Amasha introduced himself.
"R-Rauba," Rauba said shyly.
"Bacha!"
"Reben!"
"Adimia!"
Madella clapped as everyone cheered. Nova turned to Teerom, who looked back at him uncomfortably. "And Teerom, right?"
"Hm, you know my name."
"Of course, I do. Jurie never stops talking about you,"
Teerom looked at Jurie, who gave him such a pure smile it could bring tears to his eyes. "I hope it's good things,"
"Of course, now then!" Nova exclaimed, "Let us commence your beloved Dungeon Master and Tommie's last game of Dungeons and Dragons!"