Chapter 2: Reincarnated as an aristocrat with a purpose

Takahime Fujime sat there and listened to every word the teacher spoke. She was articulate with her words but so able to ground the lesson in simple terms for the other students. Yet, he had already studied part of the lesson yesterday. Still, the free time allowed him the opportunity to head to the restroom.

“The Binomial Theorem is a formula that can be used to expand a two-term expression raised to any power. This formula can be used to identify a specific term within a binomial expansion,” the teacher spoke as she wrote down the equation on the blackboard.

Raising his hand, Takahime waited for the teacher to address him.

“Yes?”

“May go to the restroom, Miss Nishinaki?”

“Sure.”

As Takahime made his way down the empty hallway, he pulled out his phone and took note of the time. He had an unread message from his mother asking what he wanted for dinner, among a few other messages that he had not bothered to check. Entering into the boy’s restroom, Takahime started to notice something red on the floor. Looking up from his phone he was greeted by a sight that would haunt his nightmare for eternity.

The smell of iron, a metallic scent that hit his nose and finally started to register in his brain. Sitting against the wall was two of the few people he called friends. They were smiling while the signs pointed to the outcome that the two of them had sliced open their wrists, in particular cutting a single vein. It was more than his brain could handle and in that moment he dropped his phone from the sound of a loud bang.

Unable to process what was going on, Takahime rushed out the restroom in hopes of getting the teacher or some authority figure to help. Before he could understand what was going on, more loud sounds echoed throughout the school hallway. Screams of fear could be heard as Takahime turned a corner. He was unsure what he was going to do as he was not prepared for what was happening. As he turned another corner his mind froze, his body stopping like a deer caught in headlights.

Before him stood six armed men in all black and wearing ski masks. He watched his life start to flash has the six men pointed their weapons in his direction. His brain continued to fail to function while his body stood there. A series of six loud gunshots rang out as he closed his eyes. Breathing and heart rate were beyond the standard limit as he tried to turn and run.

One step was all he managed before his body dropped under its own weight. He looked at his stomach to she he had been shot four times in the gut and two times in the legs. Blood rushed from his blood as he struggled to move. Yet, his body refused. With every passing second he could feel his life slipping away. As he started to become engulfed in a bright light, he allowed himself to fade from the world. His grip on life had faded to black.

Darkness was all that was left. Yet, even in the darkness he could see a twilight golden ray in the distance. Where was he? Was he died? He continued to question if he was truly dead as the ray of light grew bigger in size. In an instant, he found himself blinded by the light and confused by what was around him. There was a lot he did not understand, his mind was confused by area around him – the fact that he had a body.

In front of him sat a little girl dressed in a shrine maiden outfit that had clear Chinese influence.

“Looks like it is that time again,” a little girl spoke as she closed her pocket watch.

“Where am I? What is this place?”

“You are here and this place is where you are,” the girl calmly remarked.

“Do not screw with me! Do you have any idea what I just saw?” Takahime yelled in a fit of rage.

The girl did not speak. She merely waved her hand to the side causing a spacial riff small enough to fit her hand in. Pulling out a stack of papers, she spoke with a monotone voice as if she had been doing this for hundreds or even thousands of time.

“Takahime Fujime. Third-year at Hanamizu University of the Arts. Your life was cut short when you were shot and died by an armed group of terrorist.”

“You didn’t even open your eyes! Also, how do you know all this? What are you? Who are you? What is this place?”

Takahime was angry to the point no words could describe what he was feeling while the girl could sense all his emotions. The girl waved her hand over the papers and incinerated them into ash.

“You are rather loud in comparison to the other two.”

“Other two? What other two? Do you mean—”

“Please calm yourself, princess,” the girl said taking note of the name’s meaning.

Without warning, Takahime rushed over to the girl and grabbed her by the collar of her shirt. She was unphased by everything that was transpiring and showed no sign of caring that he was lifting her up off the ground.

“Don’t call me that! Just tell me where they are!”

“If you would kindly release me, I will grant you one request,” the girl said in a calm tone.

Takahime released the girl and took a moment to breathe as well as calm his nerves. As the girl returned to her sitting position, he say down as well.

“Forgive me. I just… I lost my composure for a bit. You must be the goddess or some angel who will guide me.”

A cute giggle escaped the girl’s mouth as she covered it like a proper lady.

“No. I am simply an observer. My realm is what I watch – the world of Eystial. You will be the 667 reincarnation. I can grant a single request that is within the realm of my abilities.”

“Only one? Okay, what exactly can I request? Like, if I ask you to take me to my friends can you do that?”

“You will be reborn into my world. Thus, your request is impossible.”

Takahime took a moment to think about what to request. If he was unable to be taken to his friends he would have to get word out there. In order to do that he would need power. While he was unsure about the world he would be reincarnated to, he had seen a bit of Japanese animation that often placed a protagonist in a medieval era roughly similar to medieval Europe. If he wanted to have a chance of finding them, he would need connections, power and wealth. He needed to be high in society but not on the same level as royalty.

“All right, what about ensuring I am reborn into an aristocratic noble family? That way I will have wealth and can have ties with powerful connections.”

“It can be done. Shall I grant your request?”

“Yes. I wish to be reborn as an aristocrat.”

In an instant the girl snapped her fingers as Takahime found himself in total darkness again. He feel as if he was in a state of numbness or weightlessness – almost as if he was floating in the void of space. Only his mind continued to process and compile his thoughts. Where was he? The question of where he was quickly left his mind once noticed a small ray of light.

Trying to reach for the light prove unless as he seemed to move closer and closer to the light before him. As the light started to increase in size, Takahime started to realise that everything around him was silent. There was no sound which made him start to question if he was actually in space or going to be reincarnated into the vast universe of the world.

Inching ever closer, he could start to hear something faint coming from the light. Before he could try and make out anything, he was surprised by a large hand reaching through the light. He final the fingers of whatever had caught him as it rushed him into the light. Upon breaking out into the light an over stimulation of sounds, smells and blinding lights harassed his senses, attacking them without remorse.

His brain still needed time to process what was happening but now he could hear the sound of screaming and felt a liquid all over his body. Everything was jarring until the screaming shifted into laboured breathing. Even though he was only able to see red, he was starting to adjust to the sounds around him.

“Ydal ym, lrig a s’ti!”

While he was still dazed at the voice near him, he could feel a hot cloth wiping down his body and eyes. Upon opening his eyes he was greeted by the sight of young girl in a maid outfit. The girl had long autumn brown hair and beautiful chocolate-brown eyes. Takahime was taken aback by the girl before him and even more struck by her smile.

“Si, ehs lirg lufituaeb a taht ho.”

Before Takahime could take in the beauty, he could feel the maid walking to an area and placing him in the hands of another woman who appeared to be in her 30s. She was still young and her smile lit up the room. Judging by fact the woman was laying in bed and the obvious brown hair, he had concluded that this was his mother and the other girl was their servant.

“Gnilrad lufituaeb ehs t’nsi?”

“Wait! I can’t understand what all of you are saying,” Takahime tried to say but only loud screams of crying rang out.

His vocal chords had not yet developed completely, nor had he learned the language of this new world. Something he had not thought about was the lack of language and comprehension skills required to live in a new world. Money, status and connections were one factor in the equation, there was still learning the mathematics of the world, currency, language, trade and various noble duties. He had not planned for the goddess to simply abandon him without the ability to function but it appeared as if this was truly the case.

“Evol, reh llac ot hsiw uoy od tahw tub? Llew desiar si rethguad ruo erusne llahs ew. Deedni.”

“Eylseia Valentine Iyzaritel.”

It had just dawned on Takahime, or rather Eylseia now, that he was in fact a she. No longer was there a mighty sword to wield but a key hole that unlocked the pleasures of the world. Looking around at the room that surrounded her, she could see the bedroom was adorned with valuable objects and luxury furniture. The bedsheets were soft and the ones she had been wrapped in were pleasant to her body.

Still, Eylseia needed to get accustom to the new world and understand the inner workings of their language. As she continued to survey everything around her, the parents she had been born to did what many parents would do in her past life. Even if she was unable to understand the words, she could tell that the parents were repeatedly saying their names.

“Rehtom,” the woman pointed as she said the word again and again.

Learning a new language was often tough for people. In her old world, the Japanese language was considered hard to many due to the large amount of Kanji and grammar rules. Yet, this was nothing compared to when she tried to learn English. The English language was enough to give anyone a brain aneurysm with how complex it was. Yet, his two friends hand managed to learn it, speak it, and write it fluently in less than three months – on top of the eighteen other languages they knew.

For now, she needed to learn the common language spoken in this world. While she was unsure of how many languages this world had, she needed to be fluent in the most common language to be able to hold a conversation with people and communicate. As her mother continued to say the word again and again, Eylseia was starting to pick up that the word was mother. Looking up to the man that loomed over her like a gallant hero, the man spoke.

“Rehtaf.”

She continued to listen to the two of them repeating words and trying to pick up small key words or phrases. Hours passed before she found herself in the arms of the maid that had cleaned the blood from her eyes. She had not realised it before but the girl did not have human ears like her parents but elf ears. While she did not want to be rude, it was impossible for Eylseia to resist trying to touch the girl’s ears.

The elf maid smiled and seemed to bare no problem in allowing her the pleasure of touching the pointy ears. Eylseia was glued to the elf’s ears and continued to trace her small fingers along them. She could see one ear was pierced with a gold ring that resembled a small tag. Etched into it was the number six. It was a bit strange to her that the jewellery wasn’t a ring or some stud type of piercing.

“Netaeb eb dluoc i tuo taht llup uoy fi, luferac,” the maid said with a cute smile.

Eylseia still had no idea what was being said but the calm smile put her at ease. As the hours passed Eylseia took note of different maids that took care of her. In total there were six maids from what she could tell. Each of them were different, likely half-breeds of mixed blood. With her understanding she was able to surmise that there were two human maids, two elven maids and two demon maids.

She was unable to tell if the maids were truly happy as they all appeared cheerful and smiled. When she was alone with them, there was no hint of anger or ill-will from what she could see. On top of that, none of the elven or demon maids seemed to mind when she would touch their ears or horns.

The hours turned to days as Eylseia sucked up all the information of the world around her. She had started to pick up words and phrases. While she was nowhere near the level to communicate she could sightly pick out the key concept in a conversation. Still, she had a long way to go in order to be fluent and converse in this new world. On top of that, there was studying the history of this world, geography and what was beyond the house that she was in.

#

Eylseia had started to pick up on the language after two years of being immersed in it. Although she was still a beginner she had learned to speak. She was able to ask questions, express what she desired and understand the common tongue when others were speaking. On top of this, she had managed to start walking around the house.

The manor that she called home was vastly different than what she was used to. There were various rooms, long corridors and many objects of value throughout. Dinner with her family was enjoyable. She felt like she was back in her old world where she would have her mother’s cooking and they would talk about various news, events and how their day went. The biggest difference this time around was that she had maids to wait on her hand and foot for anything. Everything was a dream.

“Oh, right, Elyse.”

“Yes, father?”

“Since you are mature for your age and progressing faster than most children, I have instructed Six to be in charge of your studies.”

Eylseia turned to where the maid was standing. Her father had simply referred to her has a number. Yet, she bowed politely and smiled – ignoring the rudeness that transpired. It had been on Eylseia’s mind for a while but she had often noticed that the maids spoke their minds, even if they were alone. Each of them were careful in the presence of her father or mother of house, even herself.

Yet, something deep down inside her was telling her not to engage in the issue. She had to simply pretend she did not hear it and merely treat it as normal here. Still, there was something that forced her to ask a question which forced the room to go silent.

“Father, why do you refer to her as Six and not her real name?”

There was a hint of anger in the man’s eyes. The room had shifted from warm and light hearted to cold and serious. Eylseia realised she had messed up but it was too late – the damage had been done.

“Because that is my name, lady Eylseia,” the elf maid spoke calmly as she made her way over to Eylseia.

Eylseia watched as the maid smiled and used a wet cloth to wipe a small bit of food that had stuck to her cheek. It had taken a while but she finally understood that all the maids were simply masking their fear. Yet, what was a two year old able to do? After a few minutes of torturous silence, the quiet discomfort was broken.

“In any case, you begin your studies tomorrow morning.”

The day that followed, Eylseia was greeted by the morning rays of light that blinded her eyes. Her maid was punctuational and did not wait for her to get out of bed. In a few minutes she found herself cleaned and dressed, ready to tackle the day.

“Now, today you will begin with the fundamental history and geography lesson.”

Eylseia sighed a bit. History was not her strongest subject and little interested her beyond wars and guns. Still, if she wanted to survive in this world she would need to know more about it. As Eylseia made her way over to study table, the maid held out the chair. The antique desk was made of a solid dark wood and showed signs of ageing as well as cravings that Eylseia could not read.

“Before we begin, please tell me, what is your real name.”

The maid was quiet and clearly did not wish to discuss it. A fake smile returned to her face as she tried to mask the pain.

“Six, lady Eylseia.”

“Fine. How about this. If I show promise in my studies, will you promise to share your real name with me? Even if it is in private, I wish to know.”

The maid smiled an almost genuine smile that was filled with joy.

“If you do well, I shall honour your wish,” the maid said with a tear in her eye.

While the moment was a sweet one, it was quickly extinguished as the maid placed a book down on the desk and pointed to it.

“First, you will learn about the city and where you live.”

“Yeah!”

Hours passed as Eylseia felt her mind go numb to all the information she was being presented with. The kingdom of Syalica was vast and expanded up to the border of the demonic kingdom to the east as well as the elven woodlands to the north. Sharing the name of the kingdom was one of the three royal capitals.

“We are located here, in the city of Syalica. If we turn to this page here we can see a detailed map of the city. This is the Iyzaritel manor where we live. Just south-east of that is the place where you will go to school once you turn fifteen and spend your next three years at the Syalica Academy.”

“So, is it like an elite school?”

“Yes. Few can get in. As a matter of fact, your older sister Ryina will be accepted once she becomes of age.”

Eylseia rarely saw her older sister. Ryina was only three years older than her but showed extraordinaire talent and skill at her age. If she had any hope of being has good as her than it was clear that she needed to study hard. The hours began to fly by as Eylseia carefully studied each of the lesson and material within the books. By the end of the day, she had a decent understanding of the world, the geography and some idea of the local economy. While was far from an expert, it was enough to get by for the moment.

“Okay, I think we are done for today, lady Eylseia.”

“Thank you for taking the time out of your day to teach me. I really enjoyed our time studying,” Eylseia said with a cheerful expression on her face.

The maid was a bit thrown off but the compliment but quickly composed herself and smiled.

“It was my pleasure, my lady.”

“Please just call me Eylse.”

“No, miss, that would be too improper.”

“Okay, I order you to address me as Elyse when we are alone.”

For a second the maid was happy but that soon faded as her mind thought about the consequences if she did so. Yet, she was unable to reuse the request.

“Right… thank you for being a diligent student, Eylse.”

With the daylight fading, Eylseia took a moment to explore the rest of the manor. As she made her way through the home, she made note of all the rooms and where they were at. Almost every door was able to be opened or led into another room – apart from her parents rooms and the maid’s rooms. Yet, there was one door that eluded her as to why it was there and where it went to.

She stood in front of the large wooden door that had seen better days. It appeared rustic and while it was apart of the house, she was unable to reason why it was left in such a terrible state. Her best guess was that it was a basement used for storage. Still, there was something in her gut that was saying she needed to check out the door.

Early the next morning, Eylseia was ready to begin her studies. She was up before the maid could pull back the curtains. Without waiting for the maid to clean and cloth her, she did everything herself and quickly made her way over to the desk. There was a hunger in her eyes to study and learn about various other topics. The maid smiled as she grabbed one of the books that focused on elves and elven culture.

“Figured today we could learn about my and my culture, if that is okay… Eylse,” the maid said blushing slightly.

“Sure. I would love to learn more about your race and culture.”

Opening the book up, Eylseia was greeted with an image that would forever be burned into her mind. The illustration was of a beautiful young elven girl with the prominent feature of her bare feet showing. Many thoughts were running through her mind as she stared intently at the illustration.

“Um… are you sure this isn’t a book about foot fetishes?”

“Foot fetishes?”

The maid tilted her head, confused by what was running through Eylseia’s brain.

“If you look on the other page here, you can see that this section discusses the magical source of all pure born elves.”

“R-Right… Sorry, the illustration did kind of take me by surprise.”

The elven maid giggled and slowly highlighted the important concepts of elves.

“Pure born elves draw their magic from the soles of their feet. It is why we often try to go without shoes whenever possible. Of course, living in a human kingdom does make it… difficult.”

“You say, pure born elves, can I assume there are other types of elves too? Like half-elves or demonic elves?”

“Yes, breeds like that exist. Pure elves will always draw their magic source from the soles of their feet but with half-elves the location of the source could change. Some half-elves draw from their hands, ears, chest, stomach or even thighs. Meanwhile elves born of a pure elf and a demon will have their magic source anywhere between the stomach to the feet.”

Eylseia continued to listen intently as the maid continued to speak of her culture, homeland and local customs that elves participated in. Before long, the hours had passed and the sun was shining brightly in the sky. The maid took a moment to allow her throat to rest.

“We can continue that lesson another time. For now, how about something to eat,” the maid said as she closed the book and placed it with the stack of other books she had on the desk.

#

Eylseia sighed as she laid her head on the desk. She was exhausted and her body was ready to give out on her. She had shifted her focus from the elves to the demon before ending with the important history of the world. A world shifting event that caused things to be what they were. Reading through the text, Eylseia learned that in the Luminous 616 a catastrophe event caused the complete destruction of the city called Asytral.

The city of Asytral was said to be the heart of the world, a thriving city of magic advancements where multiple races conglomerated and co-mingled with each other. Yet, no one could explain what caused the destruction of such as powerful city. Regardless, this provoked a war between humans, elves and demons. While the war has died down, it still boiled at the surface. Eylseia was no stranger to the history of war. In her past life she learned of various wars that many nations waged. Small conflicts to grand world wars, she was not surprised by the fact that even in this world, war was a big mover in shaping all aspects of life.

“And after all this time we still don’t know what caused the calamity?”

“No one knows. Researchers and scholars have speculated but as to the cause, no one has any idea.”

“Do you think we will find out one day?”

“I can’t say. No one travels through that land if they can avoid it. Mostly wild monsters like wolves, spiders and dragons.”

It was a safe bet that Eylseia would not be venturing into that area for the foreseeable future. She could only hope though that her friends were out there and safe. The world was a vast landscape of terrain and there was no telling where her friends would be. They could have been reincarnated as slaves, commoners, nobles, royalty, humans, elves, demons, the list was endless. Yet, she wanted to find them and see them again as they were the only true friends she had.

Eylseia continued listening the last bit of the lecture from the maid until she was finally able to close the book. She was completely drained of energy but proud of the progress she had made in understanding the world better. Even if it was slow, she was still young and had all the time in the world to learn what she could of the world.

Before long, the hours spent studying turned to days, the days into weeks and weeks into months. Her persistence made her well above the average, child at her age. She soon realised that by the standard of the most tests, she would be considered a genius. While she did not see herself as one, she was able to past various mock-up exam tests from the Syalica Academy.

“I think we are done for night. You are well on your way to being a scholar at a prestigious institution, Eylse.”

“I couldn’t have done it without you. So, do you plan to tell me your real name now?” Eylseia asked with a smirk on her face.

The maid was silent for a moment. She had agreed to reveal her name but was afraid to do so.

“It’s… Fyerina Rikushyilae. My friends would just call me Riku.”

“Fye— Fyeri—”

Fyerina giggled as she wrote down her name on a blank piece of parchment.

“Fyerina Rikushyilae. And this is how Riku is written.”

Eylseia studied the name carefully.

“Don’t hurt your brain. Just Riku is fine,” Fyerina said with a smile.

Many more months and years passed as Eylseia studied various subjects in her free time, taking up fencing and archery to practise her combat skills. Yet, she was missing something. In her past life she took up a hobby of collecting guns – albeit they were only toys. She wanted to feel a gun in her hands again just once. There was a part of here that wished to try and craft a simple flintlock from scatch.

“Hey, Riku, do you know what a gun is?”

“Hmm? I do. While I have never personally used one, they are often carried by high-ranking generals. Common soldiers do not carry them due to their extreme price tag.”

“I see.”

“Why did you ask?”

“I just like weapons. Figured one day I could own a gun.”

Riku was silent for a moment.

“Well, suppose I was to let it slip that your father has a gun in his studies and maybe while I am cleaning a curious girl just happens to sneak in?”

Eylsiea’s eyes lit up in excitement. She stood to her feet with haste.

“Riku, get to cleaning that study!”

“As it happens, I was just about to do that.”

Riku made her way to the study and unlocked the door with a one of the keys she had on her. Opening the door revealed a room with a large collection of books. In the corner of the room was sitting area while to the left was an antique desk. Various objects sat on the desk from books to a quill and ink. Hanging just above the desk on the wall was a rifle. It had looked relevantly similar to what Eylseia had seen in her old world from magazines.

“Please be careful, Eylse. If anything gets damaged in here I would be the one in trouble,” Fyerina said with a nervous smile.

“Don’t worry. Can I hold the gun real quick?”

“I…”

Fyerina was a bit hesitant but reluctantly give into the overwhelming cuteness of the girl in front of her. Agreeing to let her hold it, Fyerina carefully took the gun off the wall and placed it gently in Eylseia’s hands.

“It’s heavy,” Eylseia said as she struggled to keep the weapon from dropping to the ground.

“Yeah, it will take you a few years before you can carry one of these,” Fyerina said as she placed the weapon back onto the wall.

“Thanks for letting me hold it, Riku!”

“Just keep this a secret between us, okay?”

A few days had passed since Eylseia had experience what a gun felt like. Yet, as she ate with her family and went about her studies, she started to noticed that Fyerina was nowhere to be found. She had gotten used to Fyerina being by her side or helping her study. Her mind raced with various different ideas of what could have happened to her. Was she secretly sold off? Her memory thought back to the old wooden door that she was unable to open. She was unsure what was behind the door but she knew she would have to wait until it was night to try to open it.

Hours passed until the midnight hour fell upon the city. Eylseia concluded that her parents, sister and all the maids had finally gone to sleep. Making her way down the hallway and stairs, she crept slowly until she was standing in front of the door. She was surprised for a second to see that it was slightly opened. While she had no idea who or what was down there, this was the opportunity she needed to see for herself. Opening the door a bit she found herself greeted with long stairwell that went downward for a bit.

Unlike the walls and floors of the manor, this area was rustic and cold. The faded stone walls had seen better days while the paved stone floors felt disgusting against Eylseia’s bare feet. She could feel her heartbeat hasten as she continued down. At the end of the stairs she was greeted with a decently size square room that looked similar to a torturer’s dungeon. Yet, it was not the unspeakable tools that sat on a nearby table that made her heart sink, it was the sight of Fyerina strapped down to a device she had never seen before.

The wooden contraption appeared old and not well taken care of. It was a common device used for demon and elves. Fyerina’s arms were tied together and forced above her head. Rope had been tied around her ribs and hips to prevent her form moving. The device forced her onto her knees and her ankles were locked in a stockade. Unlike a standard stockade, this one held special toe rings that allowed someone to force the toes back and spread them apart.

Before Eylseia could let out a loud scream, she felt a hand covering her mouth. She was terrified and unsure what to do. Yet, at the sound of the calm voice whispering in her ear she knew she was okay.

“Calm down. Do not scream or raise your voice. Understand?”

Eylseia nodded and turned to see her older sister holding a small vial filled with a green liquid.

“What are you doing here, sis?”

“I could ask you the same question,” Ryina replied as she popped off the cork to the vial.

“What is all of this?”

Ryina sighed as she made her way to where Fyerina’s feet were. Eylseia was disgusted by the sight she was seeing before her eyes. Fyerina’s feet had been whipped and flogged to the point large amounts of dried blood had settled. It was a gruesome sight that Eylseia wish she had not seen.

“Sorry I can’t do more, Fyerina.”

“That’s… all right, miss… the kindness you two have shown me is more than enough.”

Pouring the green liquid onto Fyerina’s foot forced a slight gasp from her mouth. As gently as she could, Ryina rubbed the liquid with careful precision from heel to toe, carefully getting each toe and in between them. Eylseia watched as her older sister continued to treat Fyerina with care.

“How is that, Fyerina?”

“Much better, thank you… Ryina.”

“As for us, we need to return to our rooms and never speak of this again.”

Eylseia nodded and made her way back to her room. She failed to get a decent amount of sleep as her mind recalled the horrors of what she had witnessed. Yet, the next morning at breakfast everything appeared normal. Fyerina was smiling and standing off to the side ready to serve Eylseia as she always had. There was many things she wished to talk about with her older sister but she knew she would have to save her enquiries for another time.

#

Eylseia continued her studies throughout the years and honed her training with the sword. It was not long before she found herself at the Syalica Academy. In only a short year, she had become well known throughout the school and gained friends along the way. She looked out the window to the beauty of the city around her. At age fifteen she had entered the Syalica Academy and rose to the top ranked student like her older sister. Part of her was disappointed that her sister had graduated as she had hoped to test out everything she had learned for the past sixteen years of her life.

Her mind continued to wonder about everything she had learned over the years. Her parents never spoke of the things that went on in the manor, nor did any of the maids. Everyone pretended to be a perfectly normal noble family. Eylseia had much she wanted to talk to her sister about but never found the right time or what words to say. Still, Eylseia was happy that she was able to be with Fyerina again for her time at the academy.

Nearly every student at the academy was some form of nobility and many of them at least had one maid to serve as their personal attendant. Alongside this, each student had their own room in a dormary that served as a place for them to study, work on homework and sleep.

Eylseia sighed and stood to her feet.

“Let’s go, Fyerina.”

Fyerina smiled as she followed alongside Eylseia.

“I am pleased you are able to pronounce my name this time around, lady Eylseia.”

“It took a while but I was finally able to learn it.”

Exiting out into the hallway, Eylseia made her way to a nearby stairwell and headed down. The building held a luxurious appeal but still antique and prestigious architecture. Various large classrooms and space outdoors for different types of combat training existed. Rounding one of the corners that led into the courtyard, Eylseia was greeted by two students she had befriended during her time at the academy.

“Yo, Eylse!”

Ariylia Cyindriel was an elven beauty and her long blond hair flowed as gracefully as the wind while her piercing sea green eyes illuminated the dark. Like many of the students she was dressed in the standard Syalica Academy uniform that consisted of a white buttoned up shirt with a black tie for the boys and ribbon for the girls, black trousers for boys or a black skirt for girls. The uniforms somewhat resembled the outfits students at Hanamizu University of the Arts. One big different was the freedom of choice for accessories, socks and footwear. Ariylia wore a pair of thigh-high white stockings with blue accent trimming at the top and a pair of white ankle boots with various buckles.

“I hope you’re doing well.”

Hyilia Carionvael was another friend Eylseia had met and was often shy – hiding her face with her cloak. Unlike Ariylia, Hyilia was a human with long blue hair tied in a pair of pigtails. The dark black bags under her eyes showed a lack of sleep but made her ocean blue pop while her half-moon gaze appeared murderous to those that did no know her, she was simply misunderstood. She wore a pair of black thigh-high stockings that were paired with black knee-high leather boots.

“Doing as well as I was the day before.”

Eylseia and the others took a walk around the academy grounds. Various students were busy training their skills or engaging in some form of activity.

“It is a bit hard to believe sometimes that we are in a new world,” Eylseia said as she looked around at the world before her.

“I think it was more shocking for us to learn that our class president is now a noble princess,” Ariylia said with a playful smirk on her face.

“Noble aristocrat. There is a difference. A princess is someone of royal blood and bound to the throne of this kingdom of Syalica. I am… more like a government official.”

“Do you think any others in the class were reincarnated here?” Hyilia asks.

“It is possible. I was told I was the 667 reincarnation. Tachibana— Sorry, I mean, Ari was 669 and Hyia you were 671 which means there is at least two out there.”

Eylseia had managed to find two of her old classmates from her old world. She no longer felt completely alone, yet, she still felt something was missing. Her two friends were out there in this world and she was determined to find them.