One More Member?!
1960 Words
The next day, Mindy and I woke up early in the morning, preparing some breakfast. Well, I was making preparations for breakfast; Mindy flew to the markets to buy some ingredients. The trees Azalea grew with her magic had edible fruits growing out of them, but they’re not exactly ripe yet.
Once Mindy came back from her shopping trip, breakfast was in the making, and soon enough, everyone woke up from the morning aroma, and indulged themselves with the hearty meal.
“These eggs taste awesome!” Tem exclaimed.
“I was worried since the yolk looks raw, but it really tastes amazing!” Hailey stated.
“This meat tastes great, too!” Leroy added.
“Is this boar meat? I’ve never had anything like it,” Austin asked.
“It’s a part of boar’s meat called ‘bacon’. All it needs is a little seasoning," I explained. "And the egg yolk is okay to be eaten raw. It's the whites that needs to be cooked well. I like my eggs with a runny yolk over a cooked one."
"You're definitely getting us hooked to these," Belle said, practically stating that she also liked the yolks raw.
"Too bad the others aren't here to eat with us. I bet they'll love your cooking just as much as we do," Shaun stated, much to my embarrassment.
"Aww, you're just saying that," I said.
"Actually, he might not be wrong," Azalea corrected, to my confusion, especially as she was facing one direction. "I think they're rushing over here now."
At that, I and the others all turned to where she was looking and saw what seemed to be a dust cloud making its way towards us. Not long later, the dust cloud stopped right by us, revealing it to be Sheera, who had also dragged Taurus, Philia the raccoon crossbreed, and Bruce the bat crossbreed here. Not only that, but practically as soon as she skidded to a stop, the shrew crossbreed fell to her front, much to our confusion and worry.
"S-Sheera?!" I gasped, rushing to her with Mindy and Azalea by my side.
"Are you okay?!" the latter asked.
"Hu-..." the shrew crossbreed weakly spoke.
"Huh?"
"Hun-... -gry... Need... food..."
At those words, I recalled the girl's unfortunate condition as a shrew crossbreed and hastily brought a plate of sunny-side up eggs and bacon to her, right in front of her nose. One whiff, and like a switch, life was suddenly brought back to Sheera, as she grabbed the plate right out of my hands and dug right into the meal like no tomorrow.
"Mmm! Delicious~!" she squealed. "I feel life coming back to me through this food~!"
Leroy let out a small chuckle at those words. "Considering how your species work, I'm not that surprised at all," he said. "Still, what brings you here early in the morning?"
"You even went as far as to drag Taurus and the others here," Shaun added.
Swallowing a large mouthful of breakfast, Sheera answered, "I mean, we did promise to train with you guys. With the mock exam coming up and everything, it's all hands on deck, isn't it? We need all the time we have to train, especially you guys. Us nobles can help you train, and in turn we can get some practice in ourselves."
I and the commoners were quite touched with how committed Sheera was into training with us. We just met yesterday, and the first impression was not that great, and yet, she was this dedicated into helping out.
"That shrew is lying..." came Taurus's voice. "She just wants to eat that female commoner's cooking. Said she refuses to start the day without it..."
"Well you would too, if you had tried it!" Sheera exclaimed, practically confirming the claim.
"Oh, so that was your real intention," Leroy said in a judging tone.
"Give us back our respect and awe for you," Tem lightly demanded, causing the hungry crossbreed to let out a nervous chuckle.
"I-In any case, we are here, now," Bruce spoke, changing the subject.
"Yeah. We were all planning on coming here after breakfast in the first place," Philia pointed out.
"Yeah, after breakfast. In which we didn't even get a chance to eat," Taurus reminded his fellow crossbreeds.
A stomach rumble was heard, and the pair looked down with blushing faces.
"If you like, Lady Levi can make you guys something to eat," Mindy suggested, to their surprise.
"That's a good idea. Can't start training on an empty stomach. And you did bring back more than enough ingredients," I agreed.
"Is that really okay?!" Bruce asked.
"Of course. We are classmates, after all."
A smile formed on his and Philia's face when I said that, as I got to work on additional meals for our guests.
******
After breakfast was over, we all gathered in the middle of the meadow, where Mindy and I had revealed the training regime we made for them.
"Last night, Mindy and I had came up with a training schedule for each of you. Nothing difficult, that I assure you all. Just something we believe can help each of you with your magic," I began, as Mindy handed out the schedules we made to each person.
"Our magic? When we should be focusing on combat?" Taurus questioned.
"Except magic is a part of combat. And I assure you, we made these schedules after Mindy's careful examination and observation on each and every single one of you. You may find it ridiculous, but I think you'll find them to be worthwhile."
After each of them have received their plans, I noticed some taking peeks at the other's timetable, which led them to raising their brows at what they were seeing.
"Do... we each have different schedule or something?" Shaun voiced out, causing the rest who did not take a peek at the other papers to do so, and realize they all have different plans.
"I'm glad you asked that. As Shaun had asked, each of you have different planners. The reason is quite simple; as I said, we made these schedules for each and every single one of you. Some may have the same plan, some may have entirely different settings. All in all, what's on your papers are what is set for each of you. And, as this is only the first day, Mindy and I will be supervising each of your training, giving you some pointers or advice if you ever feel stuck on anything at all."
"I think- no, I know- you have yet to realize it, but we crossbreeds are better off without our magic," Taurus said, clearly against the schedule I made for him.
I only smiled lightly at those words, knowing full well why he was against it. "I know what you're thinking about your magic, and what others think about it. But in all honesty, your magic is actually strong in its own right. You just have to think outside the box with it, that's all."
Taurus was taken aback when I said that, not at all expecting such words to be said, most likely. Given what was said back at the training ground the other day, I wouldn't blame him. In fact, from that conversation, I doubt anyone in this world had thought of the magic being used in that way. But for a fighter like Taurus, it was undoubtedly the best option for him.
"Now then, if there are no questions, I think now is a good time to start training. Everyone, scatter around. Go to the woods, if you have to." At that, the group went to start their training.
Just as they left, a voice called out. "Wow... You actually did it."
Mindy and I turned and saw Dora approaching us.
"Dora! Yeah. It wasn't easy, but I managed to convince every one of our classmates to train with us," I said.
Mindy, who was unaware of Dora, turned to me and softly asked, "Lady Levi... This girl, is she...?"
"The noble classmate who couldn't make it to training yesterday, Dora," I introduced. "Dora, this is my friend, Mindy."
Dora softly smiled and held out a hand. "It's nice to meet you, Mindy."
"Likewise," Mindy agreed, accepting the hand.
After they shook hands, Dora turned back to the others, watching as they situated themselves with their respective training regime.
"They're all doing their own respective training right now. Mindy and I will be supervising them as they go. Same will be said for you and the others. Well... for you, we need to know what your magic is first. You're the only one we don't have a training regime for," I explained.
Dora wordlessly nodded. Though for some reason, instead of a neutral or a happy expression, she seemed unsure about something. "Um... This is everyone?"
"Not really. Kyle and the other human nobles have yet to arrive," Mindy said then. "I truly hope they are not skipping out. Not after all the work Lady Levi had put in coming up with training for them."
At that, Dora turned to us with wide eyes. "Just them?!"
The tone she used right then did not sound like a good tone. In fact, it was anything but good, as Mindy and I turned to each other with unsure expressions.
"Dora... Are we missing someone?" I asked her.
Rather than answering, the surprised expression on her face grew. "Levi... You did take a look at the list I gave you, right?" she asked back.
"Only a brief look. Why?"
Dora looked like she wanted to say something to that, but refrained from that, and had a realized expression on her face. "Will I be right as to guess you had searched and recruited based on who was in the classroom yesterday?"
"Huh? Well, yes. That's exactly what I did..." I hesitantly answered.
"I see... I should've came after all, then..." Those words caught my and Mindy's attention, as Dora said something that shook us both. "Actually, there is one more person in our class."
We were both baffled with the reveal, as Mindy asked, "One more?! Who?! This should've been everyone!"
"It's my own fault. I assumed you already knew. Our class has a total of twenty students. Out of everyone who came into our class, there was one who didn't come on the first day. For a sensitive reason..."
"Sensitive how?" I asked.
"That's not for me to tell. But I can tell you where she is," Dora said. "I'm so sorry I didn't tell you this yesterday..."
"It's fine. If anything, I shouldn't have jumped to conclusion that everyone was attending school on the first day. So, who is this person?"
"Her name is Flora, a crossbreed. You can find her in the flower garden at the back of the academy. She likes to be at a place with a pleasant scent, where there is little contact with people."
"Got it. Then I'll head over to her to her now. Can you help Mindy supervise everyone's training?"
"Of course," Dora nodded.
Mindy, however, was more reluctant with my choice. "Milady, are you sure? I can go with you instead..."
"You're the only one who knows how everyone's training is supposed to go, how they can improve or work on their magic in greater detail," I pointed out. "I trust you to help them, more than anything."
Mindy still seemed unsure about the situation, but eventually nodded in agreement. "I understand, milady..."
I nodded back at her response and ruffled her head a bit in comfort, before making my way to the flower garden, where our last classmate was to be.
- Writer
