{a few days later at Jean Sweetbell’s office}
“Thank you for coming. It’s so lovely to see you all. How have you been?” The academy’s headmistress addressed the teachers gathered at her office.
“I would say I am rather satisfied with my health. Your concern is highly appreciated, ma’am,” Karinous Zeanlor answered with a light bow.
“I can’t believe I will say this, but I was getting more action during the practical classes than during the last two weeks. Grrr…” Ranga’s answer sounded like a complaint.
“I’m fine I guess,” Estella was not in the mood for some reason.
“I’d say… I am doing quite good,” Belinda on the other hand, was feeling rather cheerful. She even had a smile on her face, which was rare during the meetings like this one.
“Wonderful. I’m so glad all of you are doing so well. Now, about the results?” Miss Sweetbell leaned on the table with her elbows, locking her hands together.
“I must say, majority of my students performed much better than I expected, ma’am,” Professor Zeanlor was the first one to answer her question again.
“Indeed. The groups I went with were actually trying, even the one with those troublemakers from earlier. I guess they put in some work after all,” Ranga grinned, making his fangs stick out of his mouth even more.
“Tch…” Estella Alifur didn’t want to answer the question.
“Is something wrong, Estella?” But Jean wasn’t about to let her off the hook.
“No…” the cat-woman teacher blurted almost rudely, but then quickly felt Jean’s intense stare piercing her through. “I… sorry, I… I had a rough week and…”
“That’s ok. We all have bad days,” the headmistress smiled at her kindly.
“Sigh… I… I apologize for being so grumpy,” Estella finally eased up. “I suppose I’m a little upset because the students I went into the Magic Dungeon with didn’t perform that well.”
“But they have passed the dungeon exploration test, didn’t they?” Miss Sweetbell wanted to know.
“Not… all of them,” Miss Alifur felt embarrassed to admit it.
“Oh my, that’s too bad,” Jean didn’t actually sound upset hearing Estella say that.
“Yeah, I had a few of those myself. Some students still didn’t care about the results, but at least they did the minimum to help their teammates. Except one maybe. I had to… force my hand on him, grrr…” Instructor Dreknor furrowed his eyebrows.
“Wow, that sounds serious, Ranga. Mind elaborating just a little bit?” Jean asked playfully, but everyone knew she wanted all the details.
“I had this one group where, as soon as we entered the dungeon, one student refused to listen or do anything his teammates tried to suggest. He wouldn’t even move from his spot. We were inside the dungeon already and, even if the entrance room had no monsters in it, leaving him behind wasn’t an option. The brat was arrogant to the point he openly stated he’d have the whole team fail by simply having them leave the dungeon without doing nothing,” Ranga was becoming more irritated the more he spoke.
“Language, Instructor Dreknor,” the headmistress reprimanded him.
“Ah, apologies, ma’am,” Ranga realized he shouldn’t lose his cool.
“And?” Jean wanted him to continue.
“We left the dungeon,” was his answer.
“What?” Estella couldn’t believe her ears.
“That’s not like you at all, Ranga,” Jean suspected there was more to it.
“Heh. I couldn’t leave the other students by themselves inside the Magic Dungeon now, could I? So, I pretended we were actually leaving. The other students couldn’t argue with my decision and followed along. However, we went back to the outside entrance only. I took the said student’s backpack and left him with the guards. He was to listen to them and stay put until we come back. Since they have authority as public servants, disobeying them would’ve put him at risk of being punished or even expelled. I liked the look on the student’s face when we turned to go back into the dungeon. Grrr,” Ranga Dreknor grinned really wide, remembering the incident.
“I take it back. That does sound like something you’d do, Ranga,” Jean sounded like she was amused by it.
“The other students did quite well, even if they were one person short. We stayed in the dungeon for a few hours before leaving it. When we came back, the last party member was still with the guards. The rebellious hatchling wasn’t as arrogant as he was before we left him there,” the black tiger-looking teacher grinned wide again.
“Quite an incident,” the headmistress chuckled mildly.
“Are you saying you are ok with it, Jean?” Estella was surprised Jean didn’t scold Ranga for what he did.
“But of course. Or did you expect me to be upset, my dear Estella? I think Ranga made the right choice. Failing one student instead of all five, that is. Besides, the student openly said that he wanted to fail,” Jean explained her perspective. “I’m sure you would’ve done something similar in his situation yourself?”
“Tch… I’ve… done enough damage already,” Estella crossed her arms under her chest, also turning her face away.
“Have you now?” Miss Sweetbell knew exactly what Estella meant by it. She then turned to another teacher in the room. “Mister Zeanlor, at least one of your groups performed quite well I’ve heard?”
“I must agree, Miss Sweetbell. The students I went with were rather capable too. They’ve progressed quite deep into the Magic Dungeon, found some amazing treasure, and took care of most of the monsters without much effort,” Professor Zeanlor told the headmistress about his experience.
“Most of the monsters?” Jean quickly picked up the professor’s wording.
“One can only do so much without water or food. As much as the students were willing, I couldn’t allow them to go forward any longer, even though the boss monster’s lair was just a few caves ahead. Obviously, I didn’t tell them that, but I couldn’t let them engage the boss monster in their current state. They were… determined, but at the same time, impatient. It was pleasing to see students being so eager, but also concerning at the same time. I had to… force my hand as my colleague phrased it earlier, and had us turn back. They had performed exceptionally well during the run, and yet… the students weren’t pleased with themselves in the end. I found it rather intriguing,” Karineus Zeanlor was telling, as well as, analysing what happened.
“Almost reaching the boss monster’s lair. What fantastic results, Professor Zeanlor,” Jean complimented the tall, slim teacher.
“Thank you, ma’am,” the professor bowed his head. “However, Miss Salroze is worthy of much bigger praise.”
“Indeed. You had outdone everyone else out there, Belinda. The end results surprised even me,” Jean quickly turned her attention to the female teacher who had been silent all this time.
“I had outdone everyone else? Please, I had to rely on the students to not starve in the end. I should be the last person to receive any credit,” Belinda smirked.
“What? You had the students feed you?” Ranga raised his eyebrows.
“I’ve stayed inside the dungeon with that one group for almost two days, remember? And how long does an average student test run last usually? Two to three hours at best?” Belinda threw one of her hands to the side.
“Yeah, but…” Ranga held his chin, thinking about it.
“I had a hunch they’d be better prepared than an average student group, so I packed extra supplies to last me for more than half a day, but… I didn’t expect them to be that much prepared, or to learn what they wanted to achieve,” Belinda suddenly became embarrassed after remembering she was less prepared than the students.
“So, defeating the Fanged Whitemane Wolf was their plan all along, eh?” Instructor Dreknor wasn’t exactly asking a question, or being surprised about it.
“Not… exactly,” Miss Salroze somewhat frowned.
“Hmm?” That got Ranga’s attention.
“Intriguing,” as well as, Professor’s Zeanlor. Estella’s cat-like ears flickered too, but she didn’t say anything.
“They were planning to defeat the boss monster on the second floor,” Jean answered the question every other teacher had in their heads.
“What? You must be kidding?” Estella jumped from her seat.
“That’s what Belinda wrote in her report. Didn’t you, Belinda?” Miss Sweetbell asked her.
“It’s true,” was Belinda’s short answer.
“Tch… So, why didn’t they?” Estella felt like teasing her colleague.
“They… ran out of food and decided to turn back,” Belinda answered.
“Ahahaha!” Ranga started to laugh out loud after hearing her answer. “Ran out of food, hah.”
“That was unfortunate indeed. However, we shouldn’t dismiss one distinct detail,” Professor Zeanlor commented in his usual, calm voice.
“I’m so glad you’ve pick it up, Mister Zeanlor,” Miss Sweetbell was happy about it.
“Detail? What detail?” Unfortunately, Estella hadn’t picked it up. Ranga looked seemingly confused as well.
“With my group, I had to intervene and have us turn back. With Miss Salroze’s group, it was the students who made the decision. That is… a remarkably tremendous difference,” Karineus Zeanlor sounded very impressed by the realization.
“I see…” Ranga wasn’t laughing anymore. “Grrr… I’ll be looking forward to going with them into the dungeon next time.”
“Hey, who said it would be… Tch… never mind,” Estella sat back down, also turning her slightly flushed face away.
“That would be most compelling experience…” the tall, slim teacher held his chin with one hand, deep in thought.
“What excitement. Maybe I should put my name on the list too?” Jean asked with a tease.
“Eh? But… but you can’t,” Belinda’s words sounded almost like a protest.
“Why not? You’re not telling I’m too old for it, Belinda?” The headmistress pretended to be upset, yet still had her charming smile on her face.
“That… has nothing to do with it,” Belinda was perplexed about her question.
“I’m still a teacher here, am I not?” Jean kept it up, which also made an impression she was enjoying it too.
“Yeah, but…” Belinda had the strangest facial expression.
“Ahahaha!” Ranga laughed out loud again. “Sounds like fun.”
“Hmph,” Jean chuckled. But then leaned on her table with her elbows again. “I had a meeting with them just the other day again.”
A complete silence instantly befell the room.
“Heh, you sure know how to pick the right moment,” Estella finally commented with a smirk.
“And? How did it go?” Instructor Dreknor asked in a serious tone.
“Wonderful. They congratulated us for such amazing results and said it would be a shame to close down the Magic Dungeon,” Jean answered with the sweetest smile on her face.
“Really? They… congratulated us?” Estella stared at Jean, suspecting it wasn’t exactly how it went.
“Miss Sweetbell must’ve been extraordinarily tactful,” Karineus Zeanlor commented tactfully.
“Hah, I wish could’ve seen their faces when you delivered the news. I bet they jumped from their seats,” Ranga grinned, trying to imagine it.
“They were already standing by the time,” Jean didn’t give the details, but everyone knew when she meant business, she meant business.
“So, what happens now?” Belinda wanted to know.
“Nothing. Or should I say, the Magic Dungeon exploration stays the way it is now. Which also includes the expulsion for failing the Magic Dungeon exploration test is no longer in effect as well,” the headmistress didn’t sound sad or upset about it, though.
“That is a big win for us none the less,” Professor Zeanlor stated in a somewhat relieved voice.
“Indeed,” Jean Sweetbell agreed with him. “I will brief you about it in more details later. The next important topic that we’ll need to discuss is the upcoming Magic Power Games, but… I believe it is time for us to end this meeting, unfortunately. Before we finish, does any of you have any questions that need addressing? … No?”
“Oh, it might not be directly related to anything we have discussed, but…” Ranga was the one to remember something, which made everyone else curious too. The black tiger-looking beast teacher turned to Belinda. “What is this Thank You gift Flavia was bragging about the other day?”
“Wha…” His question threw Belinda off in an instant.
“Oh? A Thank You gift? Please, do tell more, Belinda,” Jean asked, with every other teacher turning towards Miss Salroze as well.
“It was… no big deal, really…” it was evident Belinda felt uncomfortable about it. “The students… decided to get me a gift… as a thank you for being their guide.”
“What kind of gift I wonder?” Jean wasn’t about to let Belinda wiggle out of this one for sure.
“They got me… a thank you card… a book, a cake and…” the more Belinda spoke the more intense her cheeks burned. “… and flowers.”
“Flowers? Oh my, I feel envious already,” the headmistress tilted her head to the side.
“Hey, I said it was a gift from the whole group, not from him personally,” Belinda snapped at Jean.
“But I didn’t say anything about ‘him’, whoever you meant,” Jean told her with such a tease, even Belinda’s ears became red.
“Eh? I… never mind,” Belinda turned her flustered face away.
“A Thank You gift, eh? That’s a first,” Ranga looked up, one hand touching his chin.
“Such courtesy. A well-deserved respect,” Karineus Zeanlor was moved by the news.
“Tch… flowers…” Estella mumbled to herself, but averted her face away for whatever reason. The cat-woman teacher wanted to pretend she didn’t care, but her cheeks were telling otherwise.
“What a lively atmosphere,” the headmistress seemed to enjoy seeing how the other teachers were reacting.
It was clear the other teachers were at least a tiny bit envious of Belinda. None of them had received anything from the students, after all. Not many students even bothered to say thank you after their dungeon exploration runs. So, buying even the tiniest gift was out of the question. Surprisingly, Jean didn’t pry for the extra details about the Thank You gift Belinda received and ended the meeting soon after. Apparently, she still had some other matters to take care of.
{a little while earlier at the Magic Research student club}
“Hello everyone. Huh? You’re… here?” Narias entered the main club room and found Growly, Flavia and Nicky simply waiting inside. He was surprised because he didn’t expect them just to be there doing nothing.
“Hey, partner,” Flavia greeted him excitedly.
“Hi,” Growly was his usual self.
“Hi Narias,” Nicky was charming as always
“Sorry, I was held up. There were more people at the library and it took me longer to get the books I wanted. Why… aren’t you training?” Narias wondered.
“Did you hear, Miss Sweetbell had approved our request to use the kitchen. They’ll start renovation works in a few days,” Flavia told him excitedly, ignoring his question.
“Oh, yeah. I’ve been told about it,” Narias admitted.
“Big kitchen, cool,” Growly was happy about it too.
“Isn’t that great, Narias?” Nicky clapped her hands.
“Yeah…” he agreed, but found their behavior somewhat suspicious. “Where is… Ileena?”
“Ileena said she will be meeting with someone and might be a little late,” Nicky explained, but didn’t say who was she meeting with.
“Ok… Anyway, I will go outside to train then,” Narias placed his books on one of the tables and was getting ready to leave.
“She also said we should wait for her before doing anything,” Nicky stopped him from leaving.
“Wait for her?” It was an unusual request, since Ileena would always tell everyone they should be doing something useful instead of just sitting around. But he decided to leave it at that for now. “Well, ok.”
I wonder what’s going on… Narias wondered in his head.
Fortunately, they didn’t have to wait for too long. Ileena showed up with some books in her hands as well.
“Hello. Apologies, it took me a little longer than I expected it would,” the club’s manager apologized for being late.
“That’s ok, we understand,” Nicky, who also seemed to know what Ileena was doing, didn’t mind.
“Yo’, Ileena. How did it go?” Flavia was also on board with whatever it was.
“Hi,” added Growly.
“Hello Ileena. Oh, and Emilia too,” Narias greeted them both.
“Greetings everyone,” Emilia entered the room after Ileena.
“Now that everyone is here, I’d like to announce something. Our club has a new member. Or… will have a new member if everyone approves of her joining us,” Ileena didn’t waste time with the unnecessary speeches.
“Hey, you know my answer,” Flavia grinned.
“It’s ok,” Growly was Growly with his answer.
“I’m happy with it too,” Nicky smiled her cutest smile.
“What? Emilia is joining our student club?” Narias’s cheeks started to burn red. “My answer is yes. Oh? I mean, I am ok with her joining, that is.”
Aah… I became too excited there… Narias became a little embarrassed.
“Hmm…” Emilia smiled, feeling happy at how Narias reacted.
“Emilia… was already considered to be part of our student club. I meant… somebody else,” Ileena’s words made Narias face her.
“Somebody else?” He was surprised, as well as, curious.
“Yes. There was one person who filled out the application form properly, and they seemed to be serious about joining our student club too. But I wanted to get everyone’s approval before making the final decision,” Ileena was basically speaking to Narias.
I see. That is reasonable. And it looks like everyone else is already on board, which means I am the only one left. However, I still don’t know who the person is. Narias was putting the dots together.
“Who is it?” He asked.
“Come in, please,” Ileena invited the person to enter.
“Huh? V… Vivia?” Narias definitely didn’t expect to see her.
“Good day. It is a pleasure to be here,” Vivia greeted everyone with an added lady-like bow.
THAT… IS… AAAALL! Volume 3 is done. /bigapplause
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{a few days later at Jean Sweetbell’s office}
“Thank you for coming. It’s so lovely to see you all. How have you been?” The academy’s headmistress addressed the teachers gathered at her office.
“I would say I am rather satisfied with my health. Your concern is highly appreciated, ma’am,” Karinous Zeanlor answered with a light bow.
“I can’t believe I will say this, but I was getting more action during the practical classes than during the last two weeks. Grrr…” Ranga’s answer sounded like a complaint.
“I’m fine I guess,” Estella was not in the mood for some reason.
“I’d say… I am doing quite good,” Belinda on the other hand, was feeling rather cheerful. She even had a smile on her face, which was rare during the meetings like this one.
“Wonderful. I’m so glad all of you are doing so well. Now, about the results?” Miss Sweetbell leaned on the table with her elbows, locking her hands together.
“I must say, majority of my students performed much better than I expected, ma’am,” Professor Zeanlor was the first one to answer her question again.
“Indeed. The groups I went with were actually trying, even the one with those troublemakers from earlier. I guess they put in some work after all,” Ranga grinned, making his fangs stick out of his mouth even more.
“Tch…” Estella Alifur didn’t want to answer the question.
“Is something wrong, Estella?” But Jean wasn’t about to let her off the hook.
“No…” the cat-woman teacher blurted almost rudely, but then quickly felt Jean’s intense stare piercing her through. “I… sorry, I… I had a rough week and…”
“That’s ok. We all have bad days,” the headmistress smiled at her kindly.
“Sigh… I… I apologize for being so grumpy,” Estella finally eased up. “I suppose I’m a little upset because the students I went into the Magic Dungeon with didn’t perform that well.”
“But they have passed the dungeon exploration test, didn’t they?” Miss Sweetbell wanted to know.
“Not… all of them,” Miss Alifur felt embarrassed to admit it.
“Oh my, that’s too bad,” Jean didn’t actually sound upset hearing Estella say that.
“Yeah, I had a few of those myself. Some students still didn’t care about the results, but at least they did the minimum to help their teammates. Except one maybe. I had to… force my hand on him, grrr…” Instructor Dreknor furrowed his eyebrows.
“Wow, that sounds serious, Ranga. Mind elaborating just a little bit?” Jean asked playfully, but everyone knew she wanted all the details.
“I had this one group where, as soon as we entered the dungeon, one student refused to listen or do anything his teammates tried to suggest. He wouldn’t even move from his spot. We were inside the dungeon already and, even if the entrance room had no monsters in it, leaving him behind wasn’t an option. The brat was arrogant to the point he openly stated he’d have the whole team fail by simply having them leave the dungeon without doing nothing,” Ranga was becoming more irritated the more he spoke.
“Language, Instructor Dreknor,” the headmistress reprimanded him.
“Ah, apologies, ma’am,” Ranga realized he shouldn’t lose his cool.
“And?” Jean wanted him to continue.
“We left the dungeon,” was his answer.
“What?” Estella couldn’t believe her ears.
“That’s not like you at all, Ranga,” Jean suspected there was more to it.
“Heh. I couldn’t leave the other students by themselves inside the Magic Dungeon now, could I? So, I pretended we were actually leaving. The other students couldn’t argue with my decision and followed along. However, we went back to the outside entrance only. I took the said student’s backpack and left him with the guards. He was to listen to them and stay put until we come back. Since they have authority as public servants, disobeying them would’ve put him at risk of being punished or even expelled. I liked the look on the student’s face when we turned to go back into the dungeon. Grrr,” Ranga Dreknor grinned really wide, remembering the incident.
“I take it back. That does sound like something you’d do, Ranga,” Jean sounded like she was amused by it.
“The other students did quite well, even if they were one person short. We stayed in the dungeon for a few hours before leaving it. When we came back, the last party member was still with the guards. The rebellious hatchling wasn’t as arrogant as he was before we left him there,” the black tiger-looking teacher grinned wide again.
“Quite an incident,” the headmistress chuckled mildly.
“Are you saying you are ok with it, Jean?” Estella was surprised Jean didn’t scold Ranga for what he did.
“But of course. Or did you expect me to be upset, my dear Estella? I think Ranga made the right choice. Failing one student instead of all five, that is. Besides, the student openly said that he wanted to fail,” Jean explained her perspective. “I’m sure you would’ve done something similar in his situation yourself?”
“Tch… I’ve… done enough damage already,” Estella crossed her arms under her chest, also turning her face away.
“Have you now?” Miss Sweetbell knew exactly what Estella meant by it. She then turned to another teacher in the room. “Mister Zeanlor, at least one of your groups performed quite well I’ve heard?”
“I must agree, Miss Sweetbell. The students I went with were rather capable too. They’ve progressed quite deep into the Magic Dungeon, found some amazing treasure, and took care of most of the monsters without much effort,” Professor Zeanlor told the headmistress about his experience.
“Most of the monsters?” Jean quickly picked up the professor’s wording.
“One can only do so much without water or food. As much as the students were willing, I couldn’t allow them to go forward any longer, even though the boss monster’s lair was just a few caves ahead. Obviously, I didn’t tell them that, but I couldn’t let them engage the boss monster in their current state. They were… determined, but at the same time, impatient. It was pleasing to see students being so eager, but also concerning at the same time. I had to… force my hand as my colleague phrased it earlier, and had us turn back. They had performed exceptionally well during the run, and yet… the students weren’t pleased with themselves in the end. I found it rather intriguing,” Karineus Zeanlor was telling, as well as, analysing what happened.
“Almost reaching the boss monster’s lair. What fantastic results, Professor Zeanlor,” Jean complimented the tall, slim teacher.
“Thank you, ma’am,” the professor bowed his head. “However, Miss Salroze is worthy of much bigger praise.”
“Indeed. You had outdone everyone else out there, Belinda. The end results surprised even me,” Jean quickly turned her attention to the female teacher who had been silent all this time.
“I had outdone everyone else? Please, I had to rely on the students to not starve in the end. I should be the last person to receive any credit,” Belinda smirked.
“What? You had the students feed you?” Ranga raised his eyebrows.
“I’ve stayed inside the dungeon with that one group for almost two days, remember? And how long does an average student test run last usually? Two to three hours at best?” Belinda threw one of her hands to the side.
“Yeah, but…” Ranga held his chin, thinking about it.
“I had a hunch they’d be better prepared than an average student group, so I packed extra supplies to last me for more than half a day, but… I didn’t expect them to be that much prepared, or to learn what they wanted to achieve,” Belinda suddenly became embarrassed after remembering she was less prepared than the students.
“So, defeating the Fanged Whitemane Wolf was their plan all along, eh?” Instructor Dreknor wasn’t exactly asking a question, or being surprised about it.
“Not… exactly,” Miss Salroze somewhat frowned.
“Hmm?” That got Ranga’s attention.
“Intriguing,” as well as, Professor’s Zeanlor. Estella’s cat-like ears flickered too, but she didn’t say anything.
“They were planning to defeat the boss monster on the second floor,” Jean answered the question every other teacher had in their heads.
“What? You must be kidding?” Estella jumped from her seat.
“That’s what Belinda wrote in her report. Didn’t you, Belinda?” Miss Sweetbell asked her.
“It’s true,” was Belinda’s short answer.
“Tch… So, why didn’t they?” Estella felt like teasing her colleague.
“They… ran out of food and decided to turn back,” Belinda answered.
“Ahahaha!” Ranga started to laugh out loud after hearing her answer. “Ran out of food, hah.”
“That was unfortunate indeed. However, we shouldn’t dismiss one distinct detail,” Professor Zeanlor commented in his usual, calm voice.
“I’m so glad you’ve pick it up, Mister Zeanlor,” Miss Sweetbell was happy about it.
“Detail? What detail?” Unfortunately, Estella hadn’t picked it up. Ranga looked seemingly confused as well.
“With my group, I had to intervene and have us turn back. With Miss Salroze’s group, it was the students who made the decision. That is… a remarkably tremendous difference,” Karineus Zeanlor sounded very impressed by the realization.
“I see…” Ranga wasn’t laughing anymore. “Grrr… I’ll be looking forward to going with them into the dungeon next time.”
“Hey, who said it would be… Tch… never mind,” Estella sat back down, also turning her slightly flushed face away.
“That would be most compelling experience…” the tall, slim teacher held his chin with one hand, deep in thought.
“What excitement. Maybe I should put my name on the list too?” Jean asked with a tease.
“Eh? But… but you can’t,” Belinda’s words sounded almost like a protest.
“Why not? You’re not telling I’m too old for it, Belinda?” The headmistress pretended to be upset, yet still had her charming smile on her face.
“That… has nothing to do with it,” Belinda was perplexed about her question.
“I’m still a teacher here, am I not?” Jean kept it up, which also made an impression she was enjoying it too.
“Yeah, but…” Belinda had the strangest facial expression.
“Ahahaha!” Ranga laughed out loud again. “Sounds like fun.”
“Hmph,” Jean chuckled. But then leaned on her table with her elbows again. “I had a meeting with them just the other day again.”
A complete silence instantly befell the room.
“Heh, you sure know how to pick the right moment,” Estella finally commented with a smirk.
“And? How did it go?” Instructor Dreknor asked in a serious tone.
“Wonderful. They congratulated us for such amazing results and said it would be a shame to close down the Magic Dungeon,” Jean answered with the sweetest smile on her face.
“Really? They… congratulated us?” Estella stared at Jean, suspecting it wasn’t exactly how it went.
“Miss Sweetbell must’ve been extraordinarily tactful,” Karineus Zeanlor commented tactfully.
“Hah, I wish could’ve seen their faces when you delivered the news. I bet they jumped from their seats,” Ranga grinned, trying to imagine it.
“They were already standing by the time,” Jean didn’t give the details, but everyone knew when she meant business, she meant business.
“So, what happens now?” Belinda wanted to know.
“Nothing. Or should I say, the Magic Dungeon exploration stays the way it is now. Which also includes the expulsion for failing the Magic Dungeon exploration test is no longer in effect as well,” the headmistress didn’t sound sad or upset about it, though.
“That is a big win for us none the less,” Professor Zeanlor stated in a somewhat relieved voice.
“Indeed,” Jean Sweetbell agreed with him. “I will brief you about it in more details later. The next important topic that we’ll need to discuss is the upcoming Magic Power Games, but… I believe it is time for us to end this meeting, unfortunately. Before we finish, does any of you have any questions that need addressing? … No?”
“Oh, it might not be directly related to anything we have discussed, but…” Ranga was the one to remember something, which made everyone else curious too. The black tiger-looking beast teacher turned to Belinda. “What is this Thank You gift Flavia was bragging about the other day?”
“Wha…” His question threw Belinda off in an instant.
“Oh? A Thank You gift? Please, do tell more, Belinda,” Jean asked, with every other teacher turning towards Miss Salroze as well.
“It was… no big deal, really…” it was evident Belinda felt uncomfortable about it. “The students… decided to get me a gift… as a thank you for being their guide.”
“What kind of gift I wonder?” Jean wasn’t about to let Belinda wiggle out of this one for sure.
“They got me… a thank you card… a book, a cake and…” the more Belinda spoke the more intense her cheeks burned. “… and flowers.”
“Flowers? Oh my, I feel envious already,” the headmistress tilted her head to the side.
“Hey, I said it was a gift from the whole group, not from him personally,” Belinda snapped at Jean.
“But I didn’t say anything about ‘him’, whoever you meant,” Jean told her with such a tease, even Belinda’s ears became red.
“Eh? I… never mind,” Belinda turned her flustered face away.
“A Thank You gift, eh? That’s a first,” Ranga looked up, one hand touching his chin.
“Such courtesy. A well-deserved respect,” Karineus Zeanlor was moved by the news.
“Tch… flowers…” Estella mumbled to herself, but averted her face away for whatever reason. The cat-woman teacher wanted to pretend she didn’t care, but her cheeks were telling otherwise.
“What a lively atmosphere,” the headmistress seemed to enjoy seeing how the other teachers were reacting.
It was clear the other teachers were at least a tiny bit envious of Belinda. None of them had received anything from the students, after all. Not many students even bothered to say thank you after their dungeon exploration runs. So, buying even the tiniest gift was out of the question. Surprisingly, Jean didn’t pry for the extra details about the Thank You gift Belinda received and ended the meeting soon after. Apparently, she still had some other matters to take care of.
{a little while earlier at the Magic Research student club}
“Hello everyone. Huh? You’re… here?” Narias entered the main club room and found Growly, Flavia and Nicky simply waiting inside. He was surprised because he didn’t expect them just to be there doing nothing.
“Hey, partner,” Flavia greeted him excitedly.
“Hi,” Growly was his usual self.
“Hi Narias,” Nicky was charming as always
“Sorry, I was held up. There were more people at the library and it took me longer to get the books I wanted. Why… aren’t you training?” Narias wondered.
“Did you hear, Miss Sweetbell had approved our request to use the kitchen. They’ll start renovation works in a few days,” Flavia told him excitedly, ignoring his question.
“Oh, yeah. I’ve been told about it,” Narias admitted.
“Big kitchen, cool,” Growly was happy about it too.
“Isn’t that great, Narias?” Nicky clapped her hands.
“Yeah…” he agreed, but found their behavior somewhat suspicious. “Where is… Ileena?”
“Ileena said she will be meeting with someone and might be a little late,” Nicky explained, but didn’t say who was she meeting with.
“Ok… Anyway, I will go outside to train then,” Narias placed his books on one of the tables and was getting ready to leave.
“She also said we should wait for her before doing anything,” Nicky stopped him from leaving.
“Wait for her?” It was an unusual request, since Ileena would always tell everyone they should be doing something useful instead of just sitting around. But he decided to leave it at that for now. “Well, ok.”
I wonder what’s going on… Narias wondered in his head.
Fortunately, they didn’t have to wait for too long. Ileena showed up with some books in her hands as well.
“Hello. Apologies, it took me a little longer than I expected it would,” the club’s manager apologized for being late.
“That’s ok, we understand,” Nicky, who also seemed to know what Ileena was doing, didn’t mind.
“Yo’, Ileena. How did it go?” Flavia was also on board with whatever it was.
“Hi,” added Growly.
“Hello Ileena. Oh, and Emilia too,” Narias greeted them both.
“Greetings everyone,” Emilia entered the room after Ileena.
“Now that everyone is here, I’d like to announce something. Our club has a new member. Or… will have a new member if everyone approves of her joining us,” Ileena didn’t waste time with the unnecessary speeches.
“Hey, you know my answer,” Flavia grinned.
“It’s ok,” Growly was Growly with his answer.
“I’m happy with it too,” Nicky smiled her cutest smile.
“What? Emilia is joining our student club?” Narias’s cheeks started to burn red. “My answer is yes. Oh? I mean, I am ok with her joining, that is.”
Aah… I became too excited there… Narias became a little embarrassed.
“Hmm…” Emilia smiled, feeling happy at how Narias reacted.
“Emilia… was already considered to be part of our student club. I meant… somebody else,” Ileena’s words made Narias face her.
“Somebody else?” He was surprised, as well as, curious.
“Yes. There was one person who filled out the application form properly, and they seemed to be serious about joining our student club too. But I wanted to get everyone’s approval before making the final decision,” Ileena was basically speaking to Narias.
I see. That is reasonable. And it looks like everyone else is already on board, which means I am the only one left. However, I still don’t know who the person is. Narias was putting the dots together.
“Who is it?” He asked.
“Come in, please,” Ileena invited the person to enter.
“Huh? V… Vivia?” Narias definitely didn’t expect to see her.
“Good day. It is a pleasure to be here,” Vivia greeted everyone with an added lady-like bow.
THAT… IS… AAAALL! Volume 3 is done. /bigapplause
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Extra thanks to nonomo4 and Lynderyn for extra support and help.
