Chapter 191: Aftermath
-----Kaede's POV
Mai and I end up leaving, heading back to the academy. Luna also left, to notify her parents of the situation so we ended up walking for a bit before splitting off from one another.
Eventually, I made it back to the academy, but it seems like everyone is still eating in the cafeteria. I don't plan on grabbing any food, so I take my seat beside Olivia who was sitting with Gabriella. I couldn't see where Violet and Collin are, so my only guess is that they're doing "stuff" somewhere.
Olivia: "Welcome back, Kaede."
Kaede: "Hey."
Gabriella: "How's Ellen?"
Kaede: "She's doing fine."
Gabriella: "I still can't believe that someone like her is suspended... Our whole class was talking about it."
Olivia: "...But what if she ends up being expelled?"
Gabriella: "I don't think that'll happen. Maybe if Ellen wasn't a daughter of a duchess, then maybe."
Kaede: "Her mom is that powerful?"
Gabriella: "Of course. She arguably has the most power in the kingdom besides the king and queen."
Kaede: "Ah~ Is that why you ran away from her when you went to greet her?"
Gabriella: "Huh?!"
Olivia: "Pfft, haha."
Kaede: "She isn't that scary."
Gabriella: "I was drunk! I didn't even know that you guys were talking about her when you mentioned Iris."
Kaede: "You don't like her?"
Gabriella: "Of course I like her. My mom doesn't though. Says she's stealing from us."
Kaede: "Your mother who belittles your achievements in class?"
Gabriella: "Y-yeah..."
Olivia: "I'm sorry..."
Surprisingly, out of no where, Olivia apologizes? Why though? Before I could question it, Gabriella opens her mouth with a stern look on her face.
Gabriella: "Hey. It's not your fault."
Kaede: "What happened? I'm confused, did Olivia do something?"
Gabriella: "Oh, no. I just told mom about how my roommate also managed to enchant something. But when I mentioned Olivia's name... My mom got all heated and lashed out at me. Saying stuff like, "I can't believe a commoner is at your level. I told you your little accomplishment means nothing." Like sorry, but I'm not some genius like her. I bet she also had trouble in her academy days."
So this is like Violet's dad, but in reverse. But at least in this case, Gabriella's relationship with her mother doesn't seem to be the best. Of course it's entirely up to Gabriella if she wants to run away, leaving her family behind.
Olivia: "Still... I feel bad for making things worse between you and your mom."
Gabriella: "Like I said, it's fine~ And anyways, I'll show her just how strong I am!"
We continue to idly chat, but the main topic of discussion was Yui and her fight with the teacher. Even among the other tables, I can hear that they're all talking about it. Some on her side saying that the teacher deserved it, mainly the commoners were in favor of Yui. The nobles however were against her, some even heated saying she should've been given a harsher punishment.
-----Yui's POV
I know I said that I'm happy with this outcome, but seriously... This is quite troublesome.
Alice: "Come on! Let's go again."
Yui: "Yes~"
Mom still isn't back yet, but it seems like Alice is in the mood to put me through more of her intense training. My footwork feels perfect in my opinion, however my forearms are the first to become exhausted as each swing Alice makes feels heavier and heavier as time goes on, putting me out of breath. At least I can see Alice is also sweating, if only a little.
Alice proves to be an opponent I have never beat. Most cases, I make use of my speed to overwhelm my opponent, but Alice is as fast as me, if not a little faster. She's only a tiny bit taller than me and our rapiers have the same length, so I can't even make use of a reach advantage. Every time I try and close the distance, she repositions herself, keeping me at a distance, sometimes even spinning around me, testing my footwork even more.
Yui: "I've... had enough."
Alice: "Okay fine~ We can take a breather."
We both take a seat at the bench under some shade.
Natalie: "You did well, my lady."
Yui: "Th-thanks."
She hands me a glass of water as I immediately begin to chug it, leaving just a little bit left.
Natalie: "I can refill it if you like?"
Yui: "Yes please, thank you."
I give her back the glass before she runs back inside, leaving me to steady my breathing.
Alice: "You seem to be getting better."
Yui: "Thanks. But my arms still feel quite-"
Alice: "Haha, not that. I was talking about you embracing the noble life."
Yui: "O- oh."
Alice: "But yes, you've improved in fighting as well. Maybe 1 more year and you'll be at my level."
Yui: "You think?"
Alice: "Of course. You are my disciple after all."
Yui: "Hmm."
I remember thinking back about putting Natalie through combat training. If she's going to be my personal maid, then I think they needs to also be able to handle a sword.
Alice: "Ellen?"
Yui: "Just thinking about putting Natalie through the same training as me."
Alice: "Oh? As in, sword training?"
Yui: "Yeah. But maybe I'll wait till we uhm, leave Inasdale."
Alice already knows of the plans, but I look around to make sure no one else was around as I said that.
Alice: "I don't think it'll hurt to train her now. It won't be easy to leave. Yarene is quite far after all."
Yui: "True."
She's right. The thought of fighting monsters while moving to Yarene didn't cross my mind. There's no way we'd go unnoticed either, since we'll be moving everyone from our territory along with us, including other's like Luna and her family. Sure mom has her own personal army, but it's not as large the main army in Inasdale, so having extra people knowing how to fight will be nice.
Natalie: "Here you go."
Yui: "Thank you, Natalie."
Natalie: "My pleasure, mistress."
I take the glass of water, taking a sip of it as the coldness from the glass cools my hands.
Yui: "Say, Natalie."
Natalie: "Hmm?"
Yui: "Do you know how to fight?"
Natalie: "As good as an average person, hehe. Why?"
Yui: "Would you like to learn?"
Natalie: "Sorry?"
Alice: "She wants to train you how to handle a sword."
Natalie: "Huh?"
Yui: "Don't want to?"
Natalie: "N-no. It's just that, I'm your maid."
Yui: "Yup! And a friend, and now my disciple!"
Alice: "Pfft. My disciple having her own disciple? How interesting."
I guess it is a bit weird. It's like a student trying to do a teacher's job, teaching another student. Maybe "tutoring" would be the better term to use. Ah~ But oh well, I'll stick with it for now.
Natalie: "S-so... What do I do?"
With our short break now over, we move back into the middle of the courtyard, with Natalie now holding a wooden sword that I used to use back when I was little. Both Alice and I also switched to wooden swords for the sake of Natalie's training.
Yui: "Just try and swing at me."
Natalie: "What?!"
For a moment, I was confused why she reacted like that, but I guess from her perspective, I just asked her to try and hit someone she serves, someone she also sees as a friend.
Yui: "Don't worry. I'm strong, I can handle it."
Natalie: "Still... I don't feel comfortable swinging at you. What if I accidentally hurt you?"
Alice: "Fufu~"
Meanwhile, Alice is just enjoying this. At least when I was little I wasn't scared about hurting Alice. She had a much easier job than what I have right now.
Yui: "Then maybe just try and hit my sword instead, and not my body."
Natalie: "I, think I can do that."
Yui: "Okay good, come at me whenever you like."
And so, our training session had finally begun. Compared to before when I was sparring with Alice, Natalie is a lot slower in comparison, however I think that's mostly sure to her slowing down before her wooden sword gets near me. It's cute how she's being so careful that I find myself smiling as we train, letting her know that everything's okay.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone