Chapter 11
Even though it's my first time at this magical academy, I already know exactly where Selkie's office is because I sensed her presence as soon as we arrived. By calculating her location and the path she took when coming down to meet us, I can already walk to her office with my eyes closed.
That gives me the freedom to fully examine the rest of the academy as we pass through its halls. And there are certainly some interesting sights.
“They dress funny.” Zoe points to a group of students near our age. “Like Quiche.”
“It's Guiche–is no doubt what he would say.” I make eye contact with one of the male students.
The kid looks from me to Selkie, then back to me. When our eyes meet again, I see a new emotion in them. Jealousy.
“Hey, Selkie.” I call out to her without hesitation.
“What?”
“Could it be that you're really popular around here?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing. I just get the feeling that you'd attract a lot of attention from certain people.”
She doesn't respond. Knowing her, she's blissfully unaware of just how popular she is. Selkie's always been one to underestimate the effect she has on guys.
Turning forward again, I take a good look at her. She's wearing a tight skirt that's completely black with no fancy designs. Her shirt matches it, but there's a bit of flare to her top half thanks to a decorative mantle that falls around her shoulders.
Her skirt is rather short for the people of this world, only going down to her mid-thighs. Below the hem is a pair of black tights that disappear beneath the skirt.
By all accounts, she looks like a teacher. Though in truth, the only ones who actually dress like that are people cosplaying as teachers.
After going up two flights of stairs, we reach a door at the end of a long hallway. Even if I didn't already know, it would be obvious that it's Selkie's office, partly because there aren't any other doors or paths beyond it, but mainly due to the fact that her name plate is hanging front and center.
“Sit.” Selkie gives us a simple order as she rounds her desk and takes her fancy chair.
I look around and notice something. “There are two chairs and three of us.”
“Figure it out.”
“Ah, I have a solution.” I turn to Lyra. “Looks like you'll be sitting in my lap.”
“As if I'd do such a thing!” She goes a bit red.
“Hmm.” Selkie narrows her eyes at me.
“Fine, fine.” I turn to Zoe next. “Looks like you get the honor of sitting in my la–”
Zoe plops down in one of the chairs. “Don't wanna.”
Lyra's already taken the other one, leaving me standing in the center of the room.
“Now,” Selkie begins without hesitation. “Tell me the truth. How did you know that I favor the sleeping snow rose?”
“Oh, is that the name of the flower? I just picked it because it's white.”
Selkie raises the hand still holding the rose. “It’s too early in the season for it to bloom. That means you must have gotten it from a florist who knows how to get the plant to flower early. Or…”
I take Selkie's piercing gaze without flinching. “Or?”
“Or you have a method of preserving it from last year's blooming season.”
“Preserve it for almost a whole year? That's ridiculous, right? I mean, I'd need some way to essentially stop time.”
“Yes.” She narrows her eyes. “Yes, you would.”
“Or maybe there's a third option. I'm just really lucky to have found one that bloomed early, and it just so happened to be your favorite flower.”
“Quite a coincidence.”
“Maybe the universe is trying to tell you something, then.”
“And what would that something be?”
I stand proud. “To help us out!”
“...” Selkie lowers the hand holding the rose until it disappears behind her desk. “Rejected.”
“What!? Why!?”
“Because I don't like being led by the nose. Either spill everything you know or find someone else to help you.”
“But I haven't even told you what we need.”
Selkie taps her desk. “Then hurry and say it. It won't change my answer, though.”
“Hm, hm, hm! I wonder about that!” I smile at her, which only causes her to frown. “Selkie–ah, can I call you Selkie?”
“No.”
“Selkie, the three of us need to go north, to the edge of the mist.”
“Are you crazy? There's no way I'm bringing a bunch of kids with me to the mist. You've lost your mind, Trit–” Selkie goes silent, as if suddenly recalling something from the past.
“Wow, sounds like you have a lot of experience telling someone that they've lost their mind.”
Selkie sits back in her chair, looking down at the sleeping snow rose still held in her hand. It's out of view for us, as she's holding it in her lap behind the desk.
But I know her well enough that every thought and action is obvious to me.
After a few seconds of silence, she raises her face to meet mine again. “My answer won't change. You're far too young to go near the mist.”
“But you do make trips there, right? And you must take some students and teachers with you.”
“I do. It's good for their training.”
“Is that the only reason?”
“...” Selkie stares at me with an unreadable expression.
“Hey, Selkie. How long has it been since the mist in this part of the kingdom has crept closer? It's been a long time, hasn't it?”
“Obviously. This city would have to be abandoned if it got too close.”
“I wonder why it's not getting any closer. There must be a reason, right?”
“How should I know?”
I shrug. “As a former member of the hero’s party, you have to know a few things. Building your academy this close to the mist would be a gamble if you thought the city would have to be abandoned any time soon. But I don't get the feeling that you're the least bit worried about that.”
I tap my chin. “It's almost as if something you're doing is keeping the mist at bay. This city is too far from the mist for you to be casting any sort of spell, but you do make trips there with the academy's staff and students on a regular schedule. A very regular schedule. Why is that?”
Selkie is silent for a long second. “I already told you. It's for their training.”
“Yes, powerful humans stepping into the mist to battle mutants is a great way to level them up and give them valuable fighting experience. It's the perfect excuse to make your trips, don't you think?”
“You…” Selkie’s eyes narrow again. “Who are you? You're no normal kid looking for adventure.”
“I already told you. I'm Triton.”
Selkie stares into my eyes, as if trying to peer into my very soul.
She often watched me like this, especially early on in our adventure. At first, it was because she didn't trust me, like she doesn't trust me at this very moment.
But after a while, she started staring deeply for a completely different reason.
After several breaths, Selkie shakes her head. “Impossible. There's no way it could be true.”
“What?”
“Nothing.” She turns away, looking at Lyra and Zoe. “My answer hasn't changed. Only staff and students of the academy are allowed to accompany me to the mist. Or B-Ranked adventurer parties who wish to join us.”
“B-Ranked, you say?”
“Yes. So if you wish to go, you'll either have to join the academy or rank up at the guild. Either way, you won't be able to accomplish either before we leave tomorrow.”
“Ah, actually…”
Lyra pulls out her guild badge. “I'm B-Rank.”
“...What?” Selkie can hardly believe her eyes and ears. “You're still a kid. There's no way Hawk would allow you to obtain such a rank at your age.”
“He didn't have much of a choice. I defeated him in our duel, after all.”
“You … defeated Hawk?” Selkie looks between me and Lyra. “He may not be exceptional, but he's still a seasoned adventurer. There's no way he'd lose to children.”
“Check the guild records for yourself. Lina is our advisor, so all you need to do is ask her.”
I nod several times. “You see? We're strong enough to handle a couple weak mutants at the edge of the mist, no problem.”
“You're B-Rank, too?” Selkie still looks skeptical.
“Gah…!” I fall to my hands and knees. “You didn't have to go for a critical hit…”
“What's wrong with him?” She asks Lyra.
“He's always like this, especially when the topic of his guild rank comes up.”
“Always like this…” Selkie once again gets a distant look in her eyes.
“I'm C-Rank, okay!?” I shout up at the heavens. “A pitiful little C-Rank! Go on! Laugh it up!”
Selkie doesn't seem to have even heard me, her mind still in some distant place.
After a few heartbeats, she opens a drawer in her desk and pulls out a notebook. With a quill, she begins writing something inside.
“Tomorrow morning,” Selkie says as she writes. “If you're not here, you're getting left behind.”
“Woah, really!? We can go!?”
“Don't make me second guess my decision.”
Still on my hands and knees, I bow so deeply that my head touches the ground. “Oh, Mistress Selkie. I shall forever be in your debt! To think you would allow a worthless C-Rank like me to go along!”
“Oh, stop being dramatic,” Lyra says. “She really will kick you out of the group at this rate.”
I shoot up to my feet. “Understood. Abandoning pity harvesting method immediately.”
Selkie looks at me with a calculating gaze. “Not just his name, but…”
“Hm?”
“Never mind.” Selkie stands. “Tomorrow at dawn. You better not disappoint me.”
“That's the last thing I'd ever want to do.”
“And one more thing.” Selkie looks to Zoe. “Leave the kid at home.”
“I’m not a kid!” Our little spirit companion makes a fuss, her cat ears standing tall.
“You’re not fooling anyone, least of all me.” She turns back to me. “I don’t know where you picked up this young beastkin, but I’m not bringing a child into the mist. Leave her at home.”
“Actually…” I pat Zoe’s head as she sits in the chair next to where I stand. “She’s stronger than me.”
Selkie narrows her eyes, trying to ascertain how much of what I just said is true. When your conversation partner obviously loves to joke around, it makes it that much more difficult to tell when they’re being serious.
She had the exact same problem 15 years ago, so I can only imagine how nostalgic she’s feeling right now.
As for Zoe’s strength—she is technically stronger than me right now. Considering I’m only level 5, that’s to be expected since she’s a major spirit in human form.
“Go ahead,” I say. “Test her.”
“You can’t be serious. She can’t be older than five. That’s far too young for her to meet even my lowest challenge.”
“C’mon. I heard you used to teach the former hero’s attendant, Rosa. And wasn’t she just 9 years old back then?”
“Rosa had been trained by Triton himself before I ever gave her a single lesson. The two cannot be compared.”
“I don’t know about that. What if Zoe is even stronger than Rosa was back when you first started training her? I bet that’d be a surprise, huh?”
Selkie once again looks deep into my eyes. Sometimes, knowing too much can lead to blind spots. For example, if someone thought they knew almost everything about magic, then it’d be easy to simply brush off absurd statements about magic as impossibilities without ever giving them a moment’s thought.
Selkie is humanity’s greatest mage, despite still being rather youthful. Even 15 years ago, she was a young prodigy with nearly unlimited potential. That’s precisely why I picked her up as a companion back then.
Someone who had just been summoned from another world and knew very little about the core concepts of this world’s magic should not have been able to surprise a genius like her. And yet, during our travels together, I continually showed her magic that should have been impossible.
From the ability to sense mana, to the time-stopping Void Space where I keep my items, and even the power to protect people from the mist’s corrupting effects. There were a lot of moments when even Selkie, one of the world’s most knowledgeable mages, had a hard time believing her own eyes.
Are you remembering those moments right now? All those times your expectations were shattered?
The headmaster continues staring at me, her thoughts nearly as easy to read as my own.
“You.” Selkie speaks to Zoe, rather than to me. “Prepare yourself.”
A spark of energy erupts from Selkie, though there’s no visual indication that she’s cast a spell. It’s a simple psychic attack, meant to break through the opponent’s magical defenses and leave them vulnerable to spells that can manipulate their emotions. Instilling fear in the opponent is a common follow-up after penetrating their magical defenses.
Against a normal five-year-old girl, even Selkie’s weakest psychic attack would break through with ease. By that logic, Zoe should be completely vulnerable to mental manipulation.
And yet…
“Did you do something?” Zoe tilts her head, looking cute.
“Impossible…!” Selkie realizes just how easily the cat-eared girl repelled her attack.
“Oh, did we already start?” She looks up to me. “Do I attack, too?”
“Sure.” I give her the go-ahead.
“Yay!” Zoe stands from her chair. “Hammer-Hammer Attack!”
Despite the name, Zoe doesn’t actually bring out her hammer. I told her to not summon it or anything else from her Void Space while other people are around, unless it’s an emergency.
Instead, her Hammer-Hammer Attack is actually the very same psychic spell Selkie used on her.
“Wha…!?” Zoe watches with surprise as Selkie’s magical defenses absorb her attack with ease.
“Not bad, girl.” The headmaster stands. “But you’ll have to hit me a lot harder than that if you want to overpower my psychic barrier.”
“I can do it!” Zoe releases yet another Hammer-Hammer Attack, this one even stronger than before.
“Is that your full strength?” Selkie brushes it off a second time.
“Hey! You’re not supposed to be this strong!” Zoe pouts at the headmaster.
“I should be the one saying that. Never in all my years have I met someone capable of casting such powerful magic at your age. Or could it be that you’re not really a five-year-old beastkin like you appear?”
Selkie reaches into a drawer and pulls out a familiar amulet. It’s one I made for her back during our adventures together, just like I did for all of my companions.
Lyra recognizes the amulet immediately. “Isn’t that…”
I nod but don’t give a verbal response. The last time we saw a similar amulet was when Lyra and I first met. Rosa carried it around with her, as it protects against the corruption effects of the mist. But at the same time, it can detect the presence of spirits.
And it’s that second functionality that Selkie needs.
“You’re…” Selkie looks between Zoe and the amulet. “Not a spirit?”
“Me?” Zoe points to herself. “I’m Zoe.”
Selkie stands behind her desk, just staring at the young catgirl for a short while. Eventually, she returns the amulet back to its drawer and retakes her seat.
It’s a good thing I hid Zoe’s spirit energy when I patted her head. I knew Selkie would come to that conclusion.
“Interesting.” Selkie looks to me, rather than Zoe. “I take back my words. Bring Zoe to the academy tomorrow. And don’t be late.”
“Will do!” I give her a salute.
Selkie’s a busy woman, especially on the eve of a trip to the mist. So, she skips any semblance of etiquette and essentially kicks us out of her office.
Once we're back in the hall, I pump my fist. “Now we have an easy way to get to the mist. And we're being escorted by the great mage Selkie! Don't you love it when things work out?”
“Don't jinx it,” Lyra says flatly.
“As if anything ever goes wrong around me.”
With that, we begin the walk down the academy halls, heading toward the exit.