The next maestro to challenge

The next day, Mimoko pondered to herself as she prodded her dinner with her fork.

"What you thinking about?" Daria asked.

"Which maestro to go after. The Paris trip isn't for another few days, so I was thinking that maybe I should try going for one of the other maestros, but I can't decide on who."

"Why's that?"

"Since I'm going to France, I can wait on challenging its maestro, but I feel like I could go for one of the other maestros, yet can't decide on who. China seems like the easiest, but I could also do Norway. Russia, however..."

"You don't want to go there, trust me."

"Which is why if I wanted to challenge its maestro, I'd have to ask you for a favor..."

"Have Ian call all his SPCMs over? Easier said than done, sadly. Some of them are loyal only to Tsar Grigori, and wouldn't come unless he gave the order."

"Why are they even SPCMs then?"

"A combination of things. One, Ian was tricked into appointing by a man he thought was his friend, another threatened to take out someone close to him if he didn't appoint them, and one simply became more loyal to the tsar with time."

"That must be why he's willing to change federations."

"Yes, but you can bet the tsar's doing all he can to prevent the move from being finalized. That said, it should be finalized no later than April 1st."

"After graduation..."

"Something wrong with that?"

"I actually want to try and beat the ultima-master before graduation."

"Why's that?"

"Because it would just feel more satisfying, and you know, I wouldn't feel like I'd still have something to do. I want my graduation to truly be a celebration."

Daria smiled and patted Mimoko on the head. "You really are something. Alright, I'll let Ian know about you, and see if he can work something out. Oh! Why not challenge Peter to a series of matches, and if you win them all, he has to rematch all the Russian SPCMs before you. He's beaten them all, so they can't avoid a rematch with him no matter what the tsar says."

"I like that idea, but I doubt I could do that before Paris."

"So Norway or China... China. When it comes to Norway, Amelia believes you actually need to seek out every SPCM yourself. You could ask your friends for help with a few, but you'd probably have to search Norway for the rest, and trust me, Amelia decided to stick some in some hard-to-find places, not to mention, she herself is a challenge to face. China on the other hand, you've already beaten Xiu, the strongest SPCM, so the others should be a walk in the park. Then Xiao Lin could serve as the water you wash it all down with."

"I don't mind going places. In fact, I kind of prefer to seek out all the places on my own. That said, maestros can't resign, yes? There's still some unfinished business we have with maestro Xiao Lin."

A malicious grin lit up on Daria's face. "Humiliate her."

"The day after Valentines Day, I will and then some."