Chapter 15

“Hey, hey, Meline, have you tried bubble tea?”

A large group of carriages made their way north, heading for the fields where they would be training. Kade and Ayane sat on the third carriage, along with some friends from their class. The two of them could just teleport there, but they kept that fact hidden.

“Bubble… tea?”

“Yes, it’s the new shop that has just opened in the cafeteria.”

Since she usually cooked food for herself, she rarely went to the cafeteria. She needed to stay close to Kade, so when her friends invited her, she politely declined.

“You should try it sometime.”

“Yeah, it’s really delicious.”

“I’ll consider.”

While the girls were talking about food, the boys had a completely different conversation.

“If you combine this card and this card, you can get double exp.”

One of the boys had brought a pack of card games, another invention made possible thanks to printing technology. The carriage was large, but the distance between them wasn’t large enough that it would harm Meline, hence Kade could hang around here, discussing games with his friends.

“Isn’t it more effective to combine it with the starter card? Since you get three times exp that way.”

“Normally, that would be the case, but the bonus of that combination could be disabled with a debuff.”

“And this one no?”

“Yep, so if you know your opponent took out a debuff card, playing this pair is the wiser choice.”

The conversation continued.

“By the way, doesn’t this one look like Meline?”

Kade was surprised at the sudden change of topic. The boy who said it said it in a whisper. Meline shouldn’t be able to hear it, but her ears were much more sensitive compared to the average person. Kade glanced her way.

“I hate it when it gets stuck!”

“Shouldn’t they make the straws larger?”

She was still in a conversation with her friends, didn’t seem like she noticed.

Kade glanced back at the boy holding the card. The girl in the card had long black hair and red eyes, just like Meline, but with a witch hat and purple robes.

“Haha, she’s like a witch,” one of the other boys whispered.

“Probably the type to act all high and mighty.”

Kade felt uncomfortable hearing it, especially since the group seemed to do it on purpose, hoping it would catch Meline’s attention. Meline continued the discussion with her friends, however. Maybe she really didn’t realize it.

The carriage pulled to a stop. With their attention still on the cards, the rear door opened.

“... That’s a terrible combination,” Linda said all of a sudden, bringing the attention toward her.

“What do you mean, Miss Linda?” One of the boys asked. Linda asked for the cards, looked through the deck, and revealed a card. “Use this, and the entire deck would be useless.”

“But that’s one card. The probability of your opponent getting it is abysmal.”

“But not zero. Always prepare a backup plan. Anyway, let’s go.”

Linda returned the cards to the boy and let the carriage passengers get off. After exiting the carriage, Meline immediately looked for Kade, who was waiting beside the carriage.

“Do you think bubble tea tastes good?”

“... What even is that?”

“I don’t know.” Meline shrugged.

“Should we try it when we get back?”

“Sure.”

The training site was surrounded by large mountains, with a large open field in the center. At the northern end of the field were several entrances leading up to a wide network of dungeons. The training would last for sixteen whole hours, going through the night until the next morning.

They would need to cook their own food, prepare magic barriers to protect them while they sleep, and reach the end before their time's up. Students could create their own team, with each team consisting of a maximum of four people. There were no rules against not having a team; however, just that the odds stood against them.

Thus, Kade and Meline became a team by default. Since their goal wouldn’t be to win or place that highly in the first place, they decided against adding extra members. Just the two of them, start to finish. It wouldn’t be a challenge, and even if it was, it wasn’t one they wanted to participate in.

“Meline, Kade,” Linda called them over. She brought them away from the other students, into one of the buildings. Their school wasn't the only one using this place, so there was a facility for staff members who maintained the facility. Linda took them to the complex’s cafeteria, which was currently empty.

“Is something the matter?”

“I… I need to talk to you about something.”

“What is it?” Meline tilted her head.

“The hero.”

Meline gasped. “Fight?”

“No, of course not!”

“Ehh…” Meline looked incredibly disappointed.

“But it’s important.”

“I’ll give you three minutes.”

“You literally have free time for an hour…”

After free time, they would have a briefing for the training, then dinner, and then some time to prepare before finally heading into the dungeons.

“... Anyway, the hero claimed to have found something interesting.”

“Interesting?”

“Well… Do you remember the thing about the lost children?”

Kade tensed up. Lost children, children who originated from nowhere. When they appear, they lack any memories of their past.

“What about them?” Meline glanced at Kade, fully aware of the fact that Kade was one. Linda knew about this as well. She had been watching over them for years at this point. At some point, Kade got accustomed to living in this world, but his past hadn't disappeared. For so long, he didn't look at it. But now, that fact was thrust straight into his face.

He came here with a mission.

“We never found out about Kade’s ability, right?”

All lost children had some kind of ability that was unique to them. This ability wasn’t something they learn, it was something they were born with. None of the lost children ever had any understanding of their own ability.

“Isn’t it the fact that he made me a familiar?”

“That might be one of them. But… What if the hero’s sword and the mysterious scrolls had something to do with one of the lost children? What if that magic technique was made by one of the lost children, and the reason it was lost wasn’t because of the war, but rather, because nobody could replicate it in the first place?”

Meline let out a gasp. Kade had never even seen the hero’s sword. He hadn’t touched the scrolls, either. Back when he first saw it, he assumed Meline would be the one to figure it out. He lacked any magical abilities, after all, and he could only read one tiny part of it. A part that made no sense.

But… touching it? Now that he thought about it, something might happen if he touched them, or at least observed them in closer detail.

“... Why now?” Meline asked. “Why find out about it now?”

“Do you think the hero updates me on every little progress he makes? Anyway, if you can promise me not to fight the hero, I can propose a meeting with him.”

“...” Meline glanced toward Kade. She already made that promise before. She looked annoyed at the idea of having to reiterate it.

“Do you trust me that little?”

“Yes.”

“I think that’s a good idea.” Kade was also curious about what the scrolls contained, about the true reason why Meline couldn’t fight him. It had been ten years, but that meeting was still fresh in his mind.

And then it hit him. What if the hero brought a way to sever their link? W

What if his mission came to an end?

“Fine, I promise I won’t fight the hero,” Meline said, albeit reluctantly.

“Good. Off you go, then. You still have a dungeon to conquer.”

Kade and Meline returned to the rest of the students, all while the thoughts continued swirling in Kade's mind.