Cliff and I made our way to the girls' dorms after homeroom. Boys typically aren't allowed on the premises of the girls' dorms so Cliff waited just outside the gate while I bravely walked the stone path and knocked on the door to the dorm room.
I knew I might ruffle some feathers just doing this much, but I was so widely known throughout the school at this point that I was confident nobody would start a commotion over it.
A large beastgirl, named Goliade answered the door. Her face contorted in anger the moment she saw me and she reached out to grab my shoulder but her hand stopped in midair inches away from me. Beads of sweat could be seen forming on her forehead as her hand began to tremble.
"O-oh... Um... You are... Um... I'm sorry!"
She started to back away from me when I called out to her, causing her to flinch.
"Goliade! Wait!"
"Huh!? How do you know my name!?"
"I don't mean to startle you, but could you please deliver a message for me?"
"A... message?"
"Yes. A good friend of mine, named Elinalise Dragonroad just moved in here yesterday. Could you please let her know that I'm waiting for her just outside the gate? I don't want to intrude into your dorms."
"Elinalise? I've never met her but I did hear about a new girl moving in yesterday. Yes, I'll pass your message along."
Goliade seemed relieved after I explained why I was here. I can't help but wonder what rumors Linia and Pursena have been spreading about me. I waved goodbye and made my way back to the gate, trusting Goliade to fulfill this mission for me.
When I got back to the gate I found Cliff staring upwards off with a red blush on his face as his right hand waved slowly in the air.
"Cliff? Everything alright?"
"Huh?", Cliff looked surprised as he focused his eyes on me. "Yeah. Everything is great..."
"Did something happen while I was gone?"
"Yes. It's all so perfect."
"What's perfect?"
"This day. This moment. This world."
If I didn't know Cliff so well I would have thought that he was high on something, but I had a sneaking suspicion that I knew what had happened. In my previous life, Cliff had told me about the first time he saw Elinalise and described it as a picturesque, perfect moment. It was love at first sight.
"I've found my true love. The person I was born to meet. When your friend gets down here could you please ask her to introduce me? I need to figure out who that woman is!"
"I'm sure that won't be a problem", I answered with a sly smile.
The two of us waited for about five minutes before I saw Elinalise walk out of the dorms and she started walking towards us. Despite not technically being a student yet, Elinalise was wearing the official female student uniform only with a white and red leather robe over top of it. The robe perfectly hid her missing left arm. Perhaps she was self-conscious about it?
"That's her!", Cliff whispered to me. "That's the woman I was talking about!"
Ignoring Cliff's comment I opted to wave to Elinalise.
"Rudeus, did you need something? Who's your cute friend?"
"Elinalise, this is Cliff Grimoire, he's a fellow special student and a good friend of mine."
Cliff had been paralyzed in shock when he realized the woman of his dreams was actually the friend I had intended to introduce him to, but he recovered quickly when I began to introduce him.
"Indeed! My name is Cliff, madam! It's a great pleasure to meet you!"
"Wow. What a polite, young gentleman. Is there something you need of me?"
"On the contrary", I butted in. "I was thinking that he might be able to help you with your current predicament."
"Miss Elinalise, I pledge to do everything in my power to help you. Your unparalleled beauty has left me captivated. I would very much appreciate the opportunity to become better acquainted with you."
There was a short pause of silence as Elinalise looked somewhat taken aback. After a long moment she grabbed me by the arm, pulled me through the gate to the other side of the wall, and whispered into my ear.
"What's the deal, Rudeus? Is this your way of apologizing to me? I told you to forget about it."
"No, I just thought I should introduce him to you. He's a good friend of mine, you see."
"Then what's all this about pledging himself to me and being captivated by me?"
"I suppose he just fell in love with you at first sight", I whispered back with a smirk.
"Is that supposed to be funny?", she chided. "Why would you bring a naïve little choirboy like this to meet me? You know what I'm like."
"Just talk with him. He's a good man, and he should be able to help regarding your arm."
Elinalise paused for a moment and then frowned.
"If he really has fallen for me isn't this a problem? I don't like dealing with men who are serious about me. I wouldn't want to cause a rift in your friendship."
"It's fine. Just tell him the truth, if you can. He's a lot more mature than he looks. I'm sure he'll understand."
"Okay well... If you're sure."
"I'm sure. Let's get back over there though. Don't you think it's rude to whisper to each other just out of his view right after meeting him?"
The two of us walked back through the gate where Cliff remained patiently waiting.
"Sorry about that", Elinalise said while looking a bit embarrassed. "I was just caught a little off guard."
"That's completely understandable", Cliff agreed. "I felt the same way. It's not every day that you fall in love at first sight."
Elinalise winced a little at his response but managed to maintain her composure.
"Well, on that note, I think it's about time for my appointment at the training hall."
Elinalise glared at me as I started to walk away.
"Thank you Rudeus!", Cliff yelled to me. I just waved my hand to him without even looking back.
I was technically lying as I hadn't yet reserved time at the training hall, but it was true that I intended to do so. I made my way to Vice Principal Jenius' office and explained that I needed some time alone to practice some experimental magic. Given my contributions to the school and the fact that it was now well known throughout the school that I was one of the Seven Great Powers, Jenius assured me that I could take all the time that I need. He promptly gave the order to close one of the training halls until further notice.
I made up my mind that for the time being I needed to focus all my attention on figuring out what's going on with my mana. I'm hoping Orsted will be able to help me with that, but I don't want to rely on that.
By the time I reached the training hall, a teacher was already in the process of putting up a sign that the hall was closed. Impressive how fast word spreads around this school.
"Master Rudeus!", the teacher bowed in respect once he noticed me approaching. I know I'm actually significantly older than this teacher, and far more powerful, but still it feels weird for a teacher to bow to a student like that.
"The training hall has already been cleared out. You should be able to experiment in private."
"Uh, thanks."
I opened the door and walked past him. True to his word, the entire combat hall was empty. It was almost eerie seeing as this place is normally full to the brim.
I stepped through the protective barrier into one of the training circles.
'Time to get to work.'