At an office, there is a woman who is hunched down under a desk with her bum sticking out. She is currently reaching for the stray parchment that had fallen from her desk.
(Creak...)
The door opens and...
"Hello! Long time no see!!"
(Bam!)
Upon hearing the familiar voice, the woman looked up in surprise and had hit her head, she had completely forgotten that she was under it.
"Maria, is that you? Are you okay?!"
"O... owww..." [Maria]
When the person heard her, he peeked down. There, clutching her blue hair under the desk whilst crying in a fetal position is Maria.
"Hi... Irvine... long time... no... see..." [Maria]
Maria answered while still visibly hurt with small tears on her eyes.
"Err... sorry." [Irvine]
Upon realizing it was his fault, Irvine apologized and used his regular level healing magic. The novice level is already enough for that kind of injury, but he only did it just to make sure.
"Thanks!" [Maria]
After being healed Maria instantly regained her composure.
"How have you been?" [Irvine]
"Still struggling on how to teach the students. However, I amslowly getting the hang of it, you?" [Maria]
"Somehow... it''s difficult to be at the capital." [Irvine]
"You''ve had it rough there too huh..." [Maria]
Irvine has been away for quite some time now. He said that theemergency summonswas due to KingAlexis having been struckby an illness...
"How about the others?" [Irvine]
Maria had toldIrvine, that they are somewhat doing alright. Michelle and Steven seemed tohave returned to normal, although shecannot help but notice them being mournful from time to time...
Since Angelica''s disappearance, Mooly had taken on the role as their big sister, sothe sisters aredoing well and seemed to have increased in numbers. From what I heard from Michelle she has said that when the word had gone out that we were taking in orphans the children from all parts of the kingdom started flocking all over to Dalio.
I have spoken to some of them and discovered that the orphans whether it be in a town, city or village.Would all travel together using what little moneythey have to get here, therewerealso those who had nomoney, so asa solution to that the other orphans would pitch in for them so that they could alsotag along. Because of that every three or four weeks we had newcomers coming over. Also since we have started accepting them we have seen an influx of boys.
We had originally designated them as sisters, because it is due to the fact thatthe orcs only left the girls alive due to their usefulness to them... Now, thegirl to boyratio in the sisters building is at 9:1. I can only hope that they all get along well with each other.So I''m currently wondering if weneeded to change the names of the building and organization.
I had reopened theshop due tothe demand for Angelica''s imbued magic crystals. As of now, they are selling well, however... I canonly replicate her enchant withthe use of spells... so the effects were a bit different.
The wind crystal can only be used as a fan without the effects of weightlessness and speed. The earth crystal is almost similar to hers albeit not as indestructible...the only thing that is the same is the water crystal which could give you a clean source of water. The fire crystal worked the same as before, but... the flames can harm you. Ihavereceiveda lot of complaints when I sold itbecausea lot of people got burnedwhenthey first used them...
Mrs. Helenstill worked at the City Hall. Apparently, becauseshe used to work atAngelica''s shop, it honed her skills of memorizing the inventory of items. So when Michelle had trouble with the stocks and inventory, Mrs. Helen had become her go-to person.Oftentimesshe would also helpus restock on magic crystals to sell in the shop.
The daycare thatAngelica has devised managed to help out alot of parents. Because before, the parents couldn''tleave their childfrom the worry thatthere was no one to look after them. Now they can drop them off at the daycare and be all at ease. At the daycare, the children are taken care of and were also taught how to read and write much likeat the school.
Speaking of School, master Jose and teacher Thelma had been gaining recognition for teaching magic that a few of their friends had decided to move in and become professors.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Evelyn had been brutal with the training ofour new students. Iwas able to observe her classes once and all I can say is whenthey were done with her training the students dropped down like flies... despite all of the protests, the students said that her training does pay off. People who strived to become adventurers also sought after her training.
When we had more students a few rascals seemed to have slipped in... those who they think of themselves as "entitled" just because their families held some kind of position. At least most of the studentsfrown upon those kinds ofattitudes, so the problem will die out sooner or later.
Russel and the dwarfshave become well adjusted totheir life here at Dalio.I have been told that their profits have gone down due to needing to import metals, but they said that it was a fair trade-off.
Almost everything is coming together, but all is not well...
"And Blake?" [Irvine]
Maria shakes her head.
"I see... so he still hasn''t gone over it..." [Irvine]
As he finished he saw Maria shed a tear.
"M-Maria, I-" [Irvine]
When Irvine was about to apologize Maria had put her hand up to stop him. She then smiled and said that it was alright, but behind that smile of hers, Irvine knew that she was still affected by it...
Angelica has really influenced her... the old Maria is a far cry from the one he had known up till now. Irvine wanted to thank Angelica for what he did for his friend, but now he wasn''t able to do so...
"Shall we go see him?" [Irvine]
"Who?" [Maria]
"Blake." [Irvine]
~~~Sisters Building~~~
"Ah, big sister Maria is here!"
While they walkedat the ground floor, a small child that was playing had recognized Maria and called out to her, the other childrenwho were around ran up and greeted them.
"Hey-hey is he your boyfriend?"
"From where did you hear that?!" [Maria]
Maria had gone beet red when she was asked by another child, she cannot comprehend how a child so young could know of such a word. She was aware that she is blushing so she looked away from Irvine to hide her embarrassment, unbeknownst to her Irvine was also the same.
"Ahem... ahem..." [Irvine]
Hecoughed and the children looked at him.
"Have you seen where Blake is at?" [Irvine]
He saw Maria''s reaction earlier so he tried to change the subjectin order toget over their awkwardness. The children then huddled together, it was like in a comic where each one was giving him small glancesas they whispered stuff toeach other.
"You are mean for not answering big sister Maria''s feelings!" [Children]
"Eh?" [Irvine]
"Meany!!" [Children]
They allbooked after shouting atIrvine which lefthim stunned. After the children had run Mariasaw a girlwho was left behind soshedecided to ask her.
"Have you seen Blake?" [Maria]
When she asked, thegirl pointed and looked upwards.
"The roof? I see, thank you." [Maria]
The girl smiles as she getspattedon the head. Then, shescoots offto her fellow sisters, who were waiting for her. When they got to the roof, they have caught a glimpse of Blake who was leaning by the wall, blankly staring at the sky.
"Hello, Blake how are you?" [Irvine]
"..." [Blake]
Irvine attempted to strike a conversation but was ignored.
"Hi, Blake, its Maria how are you?" [Maria]
"O... k..." [Blake]
"Damn man, you are getting thin have you already eaten?" [Irvine]
"... Yeah..." [Blake]
He looked at Blake and noticed that he has lost some weight since the last time he saw him.
"Isn''t it about time you get over her?" [Irvine]
Worried, he only said that in order to help Blake.
"Shut up..."Blake said in a murmur.
"Er, can you speak a bit louder?" [Irvine]
Irvine politely asked when he hadn''t heard him.
"I said shut up!!" [Blake]
Rage filled Blake''s eyes and all of a sudden he stood up andpunched Irvine by the cheek.
"What''s your problem man?!" [Irvine]
Irvine stumbled on the floor and as he got up he also attempted to punch Blake, but he managed to evade it and had hit Irvine again this time on the stomach.
"You! It is because of you that Angelica''s!!" [Blake]
"If I hadn''t done that then both of you would''ve died!" [Irvine]
Irvine wheezed as he answered angrily, he then brought out his cane and wasreadying to cast a spell when...
"Both of you stop it!!!" [Maria]
Maria shouted at the top of her lungs which made them halt, her eyes were swelling with tears...
"It''s not his fault... If only I hadn''t fallen off the sled then..." [Maria]
"Maria..." [Irvine]
They all felt that they could''ve done something to prevent what had happened but... they were unable to do so. Then, the three noticed that some of the sisters wereeavesdroppingat the corner and when they have been discovered the sisters hid and ran.
"I could''ve..." [Blake]
"Maria lets go." [Irvine]
Blake and Irvineknew that it is unsightly to show the children that they were fighting so they just decided to end it there.
"But..." [Maria]
"There is no use talking to him."[Irvine]
Irvine held Maria''s hand as he forcefully pulled her away.
Evelyn had just finished her activities at the school and was coming to the sisters building toeat and rest. There she saw Irvine holding Maria''s hand as he hastily pulled her,she noticed that tears were streaking down Maria''s face. Knowing that Blake had been there she had already concluded that hehad done something stupid so she went to check up on him.
"So...how long do you planto stay cooped up here?" [Evelyn]
"That''s none of your business." [Blake]
"Oho... now answering back at your master eh?" [Evelyn]
"Let me be. I just want to be left alone." [Blake]
"Are you sure that Angelica would''ve wanted that?" [Evelyn]
Evelyn changed from playful to a serious tone.
"Stop it..." [Blake]
"Do you think she will be happy if she saw the state you are in right now?" [Evelyn]
"Just stop!!" [Blake]
Blake began to cry as he answered back to her.
"I just... don''t know what to do anymore..." [Blake]
When he cried. Evelyn, not knowing what to do; scratched her wolf ears as she looked away, she wasn''t bullying him or anything.She had only wantedBlake to open up but shehadn''texpected it for him to cry.
"Hahh... you damn kids..." [Evelyn]
Evelyn leaned on the same wall right next to Blake. Next, she placed her small palm over his head and petted him.
"She would be delighted if you returned back to your normal self." [Evelyn]
She offered him some emotional support because it pains her to see him that way.
"Here, use this to wipe away your tears." [Evelyn]
Evelyn didn''t have any handkerchief on her, so she presented to Blake, her silver fluffy tail.
"Master... thank you..." [Blake]
"Well, it''s also my duty to support my stude-" [Evelyn]
(Sneeze!)
"Hey, you little fucker!I didn''t say you could sneeze on it!!" [Evelyn]