CH 30

A giant water ball appears above the giant tree that’s burning red thanks to Ririi’s magic.

The water ball created by my magic energy slowly envelops the giant tree like it’s a living being. There should be vapor, but there isn’t any, because of the difference in the quality of our knead magic energy.

Ririi is a high elf, but it’s still too soon for her to beat me.

“All right…”

I see the water ball has completely enveloped the tree, and make it disappear. The fire has been put out completely.

We avoided a repeat of the incident with Miss Esmeralda.

“Fuah…”

“Ririi!”

I turn to look when she lets out a quiet sound, and see her staggering with a blank look on her face.

Thankfully, I manage to catch her before she falls.

“Are you all right!?”

She doesn’t respond. I make magic energy flow into her to try to figure out what happened, and see that she passed out due to using too much of her magic energy.

She should be fine if I let her sleep. That’s a relief.

“…I need to teach her how to control her magic energy before school starts… And a hat would be useful too.”

Magic items have several different roles, and hats serve to stabilize magic energy. Usually students only need them later when the magic energy inside them expands, but Ririi should start wearing one now.

It looks like her magic energy is already beyond that of her upperclassmen.

I hold her, grab the bug catching net on the ground, and head home.

◆

“…Now that I’m getting a good look at this, I think I forgot pretty much everything I learned in school.”

I’m sitting on a sofa, leafing through a textbook from magic school that I brought from my parents’ house… I keep thinking to myself ‘did I learn that?’. Did I really use this textbook?

“It’s not like you ever paid attention in class anyway. Why was it someone like you that I…”

“I already said sorry. If you still have a problem with that, blame the school for putting such an emphasis on practical skills.”

Sieglinde is grumbling next to me. Well, she was always by far the number one in school in every way except practical skills. That’s the whole reason why the title of top student evaded her, so I guess she has some right to complain.

Especially when the person that snatched that tile from her is sitting next to her.

“Still… Did you eat something bad? How come you’re reading a textbook?”

Asks Sieglinde with suspicion in her eyes.

After coming home from the forest, I put Ririi in bed and brought pretty much every textbook in my parents’ house.

I need to teach Ririi how to control her magic energy. Of course, I control my own magic energy on a daily basis, so I know how, but there’s a big difference between the correct way and what I feel. I need to start by teaching her like the textbook says.

And so, as I was sitting in the living room reading the textbook, Sieglinde dropped by to visit.

She sure is here a lot for someone who says she’s so busy with work.

“Rude. I was the most diligent man in the town where I lived before.”

“Were you? If that were true, I imagine that town was populated with nothing but idiots.”

It is true. Zenith does exist.

“I see, so that’s how you feel about me, uh?”

I say jokingly with a disappointed tone, and Sieglinde gets flustered and starts waving her hands.

“Ah, no, that’s not it. It’s just a sort of figure of speech…”

“I know. And I really am an idiot.”

If I didn’t hang out with Sieglinde back when she was always in the magic school’s great library, I would’ve probably failed every test.

Sieglinde was nice enough to help me study even though I was her enemy. I’m so sorry for snatching the title of top student from a saint like her.

…It’s probably about time I start repaying her.

“…Sieglinde.”

“What?”

Sieglinde reaches over to one of the books on the table and starts leafing through it. I wonder what she’s thinking about, as she squints her eyes and looks filled with nostalgia.

“I know you want to be Ririi’s mother, and I want to help.”

“Pff!?”

Sieglinde does a sort of spit take, covers her face with the textbook, and starts coughing.

“Hey, that’s filthy. Don’t get saliva on the textbook.”

Her shoulders are going up and down so much, I’m betting she can’t even hear me through her heavy breathing.

After taking a few deep breaths, she glares at me with her moist eyes.

“Weiss, don’t play with me…”

“…? What are you talking about?”

She said before that she wants to be Ririi’s mother, and I’m just saying I’m willing to help with that.

“There’s a way to say things like that… Like with a better mood…”

Sieglinde is mumbling with her face turned away from me. It’s completely different from her usual sharp way of speaking.

“What mood? It’s fine, we’re alone here.”

I don’t want to talk about Ririi out in the open, but we’re in my house. There’s no better time to discuss this.

“A-alone…! Are you sure…!? This is basically… That, right!?”

“Stop yelling… You’re the one who said it. Did you change your mind?”

I said I’ll help her, but it all depends on whether or not Ririi opens her heart to Sieglinde. I doubt Ririi is going to take to her unless Sieglinde is serious about this. Apparently kids are perceptive that way.

“No no! I didn’t change my mind… So… Weiss, you feel that way… Is that it?”

Sieglinde is mumbling to herself again like she’s off into her own world.

She spends the whole rest of the day with a smile on her face to the point of being creepy, but now that I think about it, I don’t think I ever saw her smile even once when we were in school.

She looks surprisingly cute when she smiles, but I can’t tell her that.