Still a-Life

... It's dark.
Where am I?
Last time I was...
Oh right, I died.
The beast is about to destroy and decimate the kingdom, and I got eaten at the last moment.

…

Did I save that mage and the woman?
I tried my best, but I could only do so much…
If only my father was here, he could easily handle that beast by himself, probably.

…

Everyone back home must be wondering where I am.
I hope Miss Lady doesn’t hate me for departing so soon.
And Miss Mocca─

*Scream~!*

…

I hear someone… They sound like they’re in pain.
But… What can I do?
I can’t even pierce the beast’s bulging eyes, let alone take it down.

*Sob* *Sob* The sound of a teenage girl weeping in the distance.

…!

A girl? What’s she doing here?
She has white hair, and wearing… the academy uniform.
Sitting on the ground, losing all faith in herself.

“Please… Help… me…” The girl cries in a soft voice.

She sounds… Just like me when I was at the mountain. With no hope in life for all the eye can see, I could only tremble in fear and wait for my inevitable demise.

…

…

…

No, I can’t let that happen to someone else.
I need to stand up.
My body… Even if my body isn’t moving, I have to stand up!!

Flames start engulfing the darkness, the girl’s cries and tears vaporizes from the heat of the fire. While a slow, soft looking flame blankets the girl.

… And besides, I can’t die yet.
I still have so much I want to do.
Icarus has made us phoenixes a mortal, but I refuse to die now.
Not now, at least.
I can’t let a single tear beside mine drop to the floor!

That girl is…
I have to save…!
(You helped me when I cried, so I have to repay you!)
Let me save you…!

The fire burns through the darkness, light appears in front of my eyes as the fire completely covers my surroundings. From within the faint light, I see…

“…m” *Twitch* Twitch*

(Stand up, Miss Mocca!)

The fire grows bigger and bigger, even blocking my vision of Miss Mocca from within the light.

(I’m sorry… Kohaku-kun…)

“…!!!!”

*FWOOOOOOOOM~!!*

“MISS MOCCA!!!!.... ───”

──────

 ??? 

“AH!!”

...

… I see an unfamiliar ceiling, light shines through the windows around the room. I’m strapped to a bed with curtains surrounding it. My body is covered by bandages, and my wounds have been fully patched up.

*Step step step*

I hear the sound of footsteps coming inside the room, the person walks in front of the bed where there’s no curtains, revealing who they are.

*Step step* I sit up from the bed to see the person. They're finally within my view, a woman dressed in a nun outfit holding what looks to be a tray of hospital care supplies.

She looks at me directly in the eyes. 

*Clank* *Thunk~*

She suddenly drops the tray, then─
“… IT’S A MIRACLE~!!”

The nun rushes out of the room, yelling from the top of her lungs about a ‘miracle’.
(What was that all about?)

Anyway, where am I now? How am I still alive?

*Rustle* *Rustle*

I try to get up from the bed, my arm aches as if it hasn’t been moved for a long time. But it isn’t as painful as before, when my wounds were open and my body's covered in bruises. I ignore the pain and get up, walking up to and looking out of the window.

I see many buildings that I can only describe as ‘fancy’ looking. Many bystanders walk in beautiful dresses and pleasant suits and some are accompanied by people wearing maid outfits and guards with a weapon on their waist.

“Where… Is this?”
(Even just from my observation, I feel a great sense of displacement flowing through my mind.)

*Step step step!*

Multiple footsteps can be heard walking toward this room.

*Step step…* “Kohaku-kun!”

“─!!, Miss Mocca…”

*Step step~* *Leaps!*

Miss Mocca then suddenly jumps at me with her arms wide open, reaching me and immediately hugs me tightly.

“Oh~… Thank heavens! You’re alive…!” Tears of joy flow down Miss Mocca’s face as she crouches to cradle me after she saw me standing on my own two feet.

For some reason, her warm embrace made me jerk my eyes, as tears also starts dropping down my face. I slowly move my arms up, and hug her back.

“Miss Mocca… I─I’m sorry!” I let out a loud cry as I wet her shoulders with tears and snot.

“Why are you apologizing for…?” *Sob* *Sob*

“I… I escaped the shop, and I didn’t stay like you told me to...”

“It’s okay… It’s okay, you did great. You’re the sole reason the kingdom is still standing.”

“I… But I did something I’m not suppose to! Uwaaaa~!”

“You… You were out for a whole month… I thought I lost you…” *Sob* *Sob*

We criy as we cuddle each other in relieve for a while.

…

~Sometime later~

*Clank*
A tea cup is set right in front of me as I sit on a chair next to Miss Mocca with a man sitting across us. We moved to another room where the nuns guide us to. There, we saw the man sitting on the sofa, waiting for us.

“Please, help yourself.” The man who wore a tall hat and robe tells us to get comfortable.

(He said it, so I might as well.)

*Sips* “…─!!, It’s sweet!” As the only tea I’ve been drinking was Miss Mia’s bitter tea, this is a groundbreaking discovery for my tongue.

*smiles* “I’m glad that it is to your liking. Anyway, let’s talk about the important matter.”

*Sips* “…?” I stare at the man as I drink the tea, looking confused at what the ‘important matter’ could be.

Miss Mocca grabs my shoulder and looks at me.

“… Kohaku-kun, go show your wings.”

“Hm? Okay.”

*Fwoosh*

I take out my wings from behind my back, with glorifying flames coloring the wings all around.

“─!!! That is─!”

“… Yes, this boy is a phoenix.”

The man looks at me, then stands up to lower his head and bow.

“Phoenix-sama, welcome to Rosavelle. I am the high priest of this church. I apologize for our late greeting.”

Seeing a man who appears to be of high standing suddenly bow his head makes me nervous, especially given the status they have bestowed upon me; one I don’t think I deserve.

“Awawa~! Please raise you head! M─my name is Kohaku! You don’t need to call me by my race, and I didn’t even do anything…”

The priest raises his head.

“It’s an honor, Kohaku-dono. To have a phoenix bless our country, especially one who saved us from the impending disaster that was the apex beast, there’s no amount of gratitude enough to repay your deed.”

Miss Mocca suddenly interrupts our rambling. “Please get to the point, there’s a pressing matter that needs to be discussed.”

“Yes…”

The priest sit back down with a serious expression on his face.

“Lady Mocca, you said that someone attacked this juvenile phoenix during the coming of age parade a month ago, right?”

“Yes, and I reported the thugs to the authority. But nothing has come back yet.”

“Hmm…”

The priest suddenly sweats and looks worried.

“They could be with them.”

“─!!, You mean Them?”

(What are they talking about?)

The priest looks at me who’s confused by their conversation.

“… I suppose we should enlighten Kohaku-dono too. Sooner or later, he will learn of them, and we don’t want him to be the judge and executioner.”

“─??” I look at the high priest even more confused than before.

“The kidnappers that attacked you, and the primal beast summoner is most likely Abyss Eden.”

Abyss Eden is the most infamous criminal organization that runs throughout the lands of this continent. They’re known to be extremely hostile towards those who uses magic, even more so for creatures that are known to be magical by nature. Some people say that they’re being backed by some corrupt nobles that has unsavory taste and sometimes ask them to do assassinations.

“… Even if we can raid one of their bases, more will come and inherit the operation. We could only do so little to help. I’m sorry…” The priest bows on his chair.

I look at the priest, understanding that this is beyond his power.

(From my own conclusion, the rumors of corrupt nobles helping them seems to be true. The priest can’t convict those corrupt nobles without proper evidence so their hands are tied.)

“… It’s okay, mister priest. I understand.”

The priest looks at me, already expecting such response. He knows how phoenixes act during such incidents, most likely already have met plenty of phoenixes before me.

I respond some more. “This seems bigger than just a normal crook doing things for profit, and you most likely don’t wish for me to do anything brash to them or they’ll use their connections to somehow convict me instead.” I told everyone my conclusion.

“─!!!”

Miss Mocca and the high priest look at me in shock, having solved the puzzle just from simple observation and little hints from our conversation.

“… Alright, I promise this won’t happen to you while you’re in the kingdom, and especially while at the academy.”

“Academy...? Wait a minute… Miss Mocca, how long did you say I was out cold for?”

“… About a month?”

I think back to what the lady behind the counter said when I enrolled.

“…The academy starts in two months…”

“… I’M GOING TO BE LATE!!!”

I panick and run around the room, not knowing what to do as I’ve yet to prepare for the school supplies nor the uniform.

“AAAHH~!”

“Kohaku-kun! Calm down and sit down! You don’t need to worry.”

*Step step* *Skrrt~*
I quickly stop, then walk towards Miss Mocca.

*Thud!* 
I go on my knees and hug Miss Mocca’s legs as she sits down on her chair.

“Did… did you buy me my supplies and uniform?” I look at Miss Mocca with glistening eyes like a puppy waiting to get a treat.

“… Even more than that.”

“Hm? What do you mean?”

“Ahaha… Kohaku-dono seems to be a very cheerful one.” The priest smiles from my random antics.

“Lady Mocca, I’m once again asking for your cooperation.”

*Sigh* “Do I need to teach a special class again?”

(Eh? Are they discussing about Miss Mocca teaching a class? Is she a teacher?)

Miss Mocca then looks at me, already knowing what I’m about to ask.

“Yes, yes, indeed, I am a teacher at the academy. Last time there was a special young kid who’s beyond anyone’s understanding, so I had to be the one to tutor them.”

“Ehh~!? You’re a teacher, Miss Mocca?”

Miss Mocca smiles as she looks at me.

“Seems like I’ll be teaching you again soon, look forward to it~”

“Woaaah~! Yay! Miss Mocca! Ehehehe~!”

I jump and hug Miss Mocca on her seat, excited that we’ll keep meeting each other even during my enrollment in the academy.

“… As you might have guessed, Kohaku-dono. You will be studying in a special class dedicated for rare species and special individuals. You will have two other classmates with you.”

(Two classmates? That’s it? Seems like my friend list are going to be limited to outside my class.)

“… I won’t spoil the surprise, you’ll meet them eventually anyway. Try to befriend them if you can.”

“Okay mister priest.”

We finished our meeting, and went out of the room. Miss Mocca has a few final words with the priest, so we stood in the center of the church where the front door of the exit is visible yet out of reach. It takes them awhile to talk, so my mind drifts off elsewhere. Then─

*step step step step*
Multiple nuns walk behind a girl who looks to be the same age as mine. The girl glance at my direction, locking our eyes together.

She has pearly white eyes with equally beautiful pearly white hair. She wears an outfit different from all the nuns, almost like she’s higher ranked than the nuns following her.

“Who is─”

*Step step step* *Crowd~*
Before I could ask who she was, multiple nuns start surrounding me in awe.

“Are you a phoenix?! It’s the first time I’m seeing one!”
“Oh phoenix-sama! Thank you for blessing us with your presence~”
“I heard that you were badly injured, are you okay? I can help!”

“Awawawa~”

“Do not berate him with so much rambling, you’re startling him.” The priest walk towards me with Miss Mocca following behind.

“Alright, Kohaku-kun. Let’s go get your uniform.”

Miss Mocca drags me out from the nun’s clutches, and we bow as we take our leave.

...

Outside the church, I saw a floating broom in the middle of the road.

“Wha─ what’s that?”

“Hm? The broom? It’s our transport. We’ll ride this as we go back.”

“But I thought you said we can’t fly within the kingdom.”

“Ah, actually you can ride a floating object just fine, as long as you’re within the height limit and the speed limit, you’ll be okay.”

“…”

I stare at Miss Mocca who got on her broom and starts pouting.

“Hey, c’mon! Birds aren’t the only one allowed to fly, and I don’t suggest you start flying low just for the sake of it.”

“… Okay…”

I get on and sit on the groove of the broom. Miss Mocca ask me to hug her tight while I’m on, so I did.

*Swooosh~*

The broom starts speeding up hovering around the speed of a normal carriage. We left the church and the high-end area.

…

 Central City 

While riding the broom…

“Are you excited for school? It’s not often for anyone to get tutored by me.”

“Of course! I can’t wait even longer for the school to start already!”

“Fufu, while we’re at it, how about a little tour on the academy?”

Miss Mocca steers her broom towards and above the academy.

“Uwaaah!”

“Hold on tight, the academy is an exception for the no-fly zone.”

We reached the academy zone, she immediately flies the broom high above the sky.

“Woaah~! So huge!”

“This is going to be the place you’ll stay in for the next six years, make sure you remember the layout.”

Miss Mocca takes me around the school from above, looking at the many buildings and facility the kingdom’s finest academy has to offer.

Among the field, I spot something particular.

“?... Miss Mocca, is that swords and armor?”

“─!, Ah, I guess they didn’t tell you yet. The academy has a knight course for those who wish to serve the kingdom’s frontlines. Most of the attendees are commoners, since not many nobles attend these courses. Being skilled at wielding magic is seen as something of high status to them, so they have little reason to attend such courses.”

“Magic is high status?” I ask, tilting my head slightly in confusion.

“That’s not what I’m saying. It’s just how the people here sees it. It’s obviously not true in most cases, and many adventurers who graduated from the knight's course have come back with many achievements. I know it’s not saying much as I’m a commoner turned high status from graduating at the top of the magic class, but I’ve known many knights that’s close or on par with me.”

“Woah~, someone’s as strong as Miss Mocca? Do you think they’re also as strong as Miss Mia?”

“I wouldn’t say, she’s definitely strong with her ice magic since she’s part ice fairy, but if the knight has proper gears, she’ll have a hard time too.”

“Oooh~…”

“Ah, and over there, is the arena.”

The academy holds a tournament once a year for all students in the academy to attend, mixing the knight and magic course together to fight for the crown for being the best in their year.

“Keep this from everyone, but the academy actually rewards the teacher with the winning student. So, a lot of us are desperate to make sure everyone in their classes succeed and reach their full potential.”

“Ohh~! Can I get as strong as Miss Mocca?!”

“Fufu, we’ll see once you graduated. If you want to be at the top, expect gruesome training from me!”

With that, concludes the academy tour. We go back home while getting the school uniform specially tailored for me, and the school supplies crafted by Miss Mocca herself!

I’m fully ready to attend school. Next up, School life!