Chapter 09: Royal City
--I cannot believe it! It's the Royal City.
Today, I'm going to accompany Arnold Rocco to the Royal Exam for Alchemists' Apprentices, which I also am preparing myself to take on two years from now.
Thinking about it, it's been three years since I met Arnold.
I'm twelve years old, but I haven't seen him in these last three years.
However, it seems that Master and Miss Mercedez - Arnold's master - had been in regular contact, and they had exchanged information about each other's disciples.
Master often reported to me
"Arnold, has been working really hard, he's truly giving his best"
According to Master, today's exam is supposed to be easy for Arnold.
In the meantime, Arnold has been working even harder on his studies that before I met him, and has earned a reputation as a genius.
I, too, am steadily gaining knowledge and skills as an alchemist.
I'm confident that I can do the basic preparations and potions with my closed eyes... with a certain amount of precautions - I never tested it on someone because it was actually dangerous though.
I was also able to understand and replicate complex formulations that are considered difficult to read for most students.
And I even made recovery medicines for the people of the village of Emme on behalf of Master on several occasions.
Master laughed at me the last time, saying, "You're still a student" but she also said, "If you take the test now, you'll pass it as the top of the class," which is the best compliment I could have received.
In other words, today, I came to the royal city, Chevalier, almost as a tourist, even though it's a preliminary inspection to take notes of what I need to learn in the next two years.
That's the reason we are here today, Master and me.... and someone else, who came too.
"Laura, are you okay?"
"Yeah, thanks."
A hand reaches out in front of me as I step out of the carriage.
I took his hand and smiled at the person who reached out to me - Lucas.
At the age of 12, Lucas is much more mature than he was three years ago.
I think that the childishness has been erased from his face, replaced for more manly and sophisticated face's features now.
Compared to three years ago, it's a neutral look, still not a man, but he's no more a kid.
The difference in height with me, which wasn't there three years ago, is starting to show up a bit these days.
The sleek hands and feet and the enlarged palms.
I'm sure he will grow taller and taller.
I don't remember the detailed profile numbers, but I remember that he was about 170cm - 175cm tall at the start of "Last Brave".
Since that surprising discover about how he feels about his powers, after I returned to the village... I and Lucas are back to the former "best friends" stage.
Of course, I play with the other kids, but I spend most of my time with him.
He was not depressed about losing the place of "my only friend", so we were fine.
After all, Lucas is my important childhood friend... It's only natural that I get along well with my childhood friends.
It's just... I'm NOT going to fall in love with him.
Yes, that was the only thing I decided to avoid from happening, that was something I was too nervous about... specially because everybody thinks that we're a couple.
This time, as soon as I told him that I was going to the royal capital, Lucas immediately wanted to go with me.
I wondered if it wouldn't change the story plot if Lucas goes to the Royal City before he set off as a brave hero.
But Lucas' parents and Master, they supported his idea.
He had spoken with them before he went to ask me, so I no longer had the right to ban him from accompanying us.
When I told him that I was ok with it, Lucas smiled so happily that I thought as long as he can show that kind of smile it was worthy.
"And Miss Berta."
"Oh-- I'm sorry."
Lucas reached his hand out to my mentor as well.
The moment my gaze met with Master's, who had taken the hand offered to her, she glanced at me a strange "partner in crime" look.
As if saying, I didn't expect help from Lucas, after all he's your "my private knight"... You're very lucky, he is a true gentleman or something like that.
I let go of the gaze and looked at the streets of the royal city.
"Great..."
When I directed my attention to the city, I noticed how amazing it was.
Whether you look to the right or to the left, there is a row of gorgeous buildings.
This sense of unity.... The house's exterior decorations, including the roof and walls, the entire city seemed to be a single work of art.
The voices flying around and the light music coming from somewhere.
"Wow! This scenery is full of color. "
That's what I thought while playing The Last Brave.
But now, all this panorama, this sheer amount of information in front of you now... actually seeing the Royal City, it makes my eyes spin.
Swallowed up by the atmosphere of the royal city, I didn't notice where I was standing nor all the people surrounding me, when I began feeling lost, Lucas grabbed my hand, pulling me away from the center of the crowd.
"This is the inn."
Master stopped in front of a large building.
This building - the inn - looks familiar.... I used to pay <<240 Madokas>> to stay at this inn.
I went through a familiar entrance and found someone waiting in the large lobby.
Miss Mercedez, a beautiful woman with swirling pale green hair, waved her hand in our direction.
The smile on her face was as beautiful as it was three years ago.
Her hair, which used to be so long that it almost hit the floor when she walked, was braided today, making it very voluminous.
The dark-haired boy, Arnold, who was standing beside Mercedez, now possessed a face with already polished handsome features, he still conserved that air of being a bit cold and distant.
"Little Laura, Master, it's been a long time."
"Miss Mercedez!"
I practically ran to meet them, and we exchange greeting for the first time in three years.
Naturally, when the distance between me and Arnold decreased, I could appreciate his face's features better.
"...wow."
At fourteen years old, Arnold was a handsome young man.
If I take a look closer, his eyes became sharper than three years ago.
His nose gave him an elegant, distinctive look.
...
Even the curve formed by his lips is beautiful.
His face appears now more angular, its contours look like chiseled by an artist.
He's also grown a lot in height, as usual, he was and is the handsomest boy I had ever known.
"What's with that funny voice?"
His voice have already changed too.
"No. It's like...the atmosphere has changed since we first met."
Ignoring my words, Arnold asked, "What have been you doing until now?"
"Studying to be a alchemist, and you? You haven't been slacking off, have you?"
"Yes, of course!"
He is still working hard every day... studying to become a genius-- no, a Royal Alchemist Master!
It's no different from it was three years ago.
There was a time, when I underestimated the art of the alchemy, thinking that with my extraordinary memory, my studies would soon be over.
Which was soon demonstrated to be wrong because the more knowledge I acquired the more I discovered was required to become an alchemist.
There's no limit to the study of alchemy.
New preparations are being discovered all the time, and new benefices from already well-known medicinal herbs.
In addition to the fact that there are a lot of people with a lot of experience and knowledge in the field.
There are also a lot of people, who are using their knowledge to discover and document new things on this field.
"I'm going to be one step ahead of you to become the Royal Alchemist Master. I cannot fail the exam, I won't allow it"
"Huh..."
Arnold thinks he has already passed the exam, even though he hasn't taken it yet.
I know he's good, but he's so confident...
That is something I envy from him, I've been working so hard to get confidence on myself these past three years.
"You're Lucas, right? My name is Mercedez and this one here is Arnold. Nice to meet you."
I noticed Lucas, who was standing behind me, talking with Miss Mercedez.
Great, it's a good idea, so I can have a bit more of time and think about what to do next.
"Ah, yes. I'm Lucas Kamil, nice to meet you."
"Oh my gosh, you're so cute. You're Laura's childhood friend, aren't you? I've heard the story."
Smiling softly at Miss Mercedez, Lucas nodded, though his face blushed slightly.
If I were the old me, I might have fallen in love with him just looking his current smile... I'm thinking nonsense.
I watched the embarrassed face of my childhood friend, who has a smile that is hard to resist.
Then, Lucas turned and took a few steps toward Arnold, apparently he noticed we were looking at him.
When he came near us, held out his right hand, and he smiled his usual captivating smile.
"Nice to meet you."
Arnold glanced at Lucas's extended hand but didn't shake it--
"... You're good at pretending to be nice when introducing yourself to people you don't know, right?"
The first thing that came out of his mouth was sarcasm....
Arnold also directed his jokes with malice at me the first time we met, but that was because he was jealous of me.
He was seeing me as a rival, so to speak, someone who wanted to be an Alchemist Master, just like him.
But Lucas is different, he has nothing in common with Arnold, he's a complete stranger, and yet...
I never expected him to be so sarcastic all of a sudden.
Moreover, if you look closely, you can see that Arnold's mouth corners have been raised, obviously he is mocking Lucas.
Nevertheless, this is the first time I've seen Arnold's smile.
Three years ago, it seemed a bit more respectful... a little childish, but it that was appropriate for his age.
In the last three years, has it become even more skewed?
"Arnold! I'm sorry, Lucas. He's a really shy guy, and his mouth becomes very rude when he's embarrassed."
Miss Mercedez intervened hurriedly.
However, Arnold interrupted his own mentor's words and threw a question at me.
The tone of his voice was clearly irritated.
"Ampere, why did you bring this guy here? He has nothing to do with the exam, is just an outsider."
To this question, I hesitated for a moment, not knowing how to answer.
If you ask me "why", I can't find a good answer because there isn't a real reason.
It was just to make everybody happy, nothing more.
In place of my hesitation...
"I'm protecting Laura. That's the reason I'm following her here today."
... Lucas replied in a strong tone.
As soon as he did, an acrimonious air flowed between the two of them.
--These two don't get along... at all
I don't understand... Arnold was clearly in a good mood when we came here, minutes ago... And Lucas too.
He has a calm personality that makes everyone likes since the first met ... but he has a strong determination.
He's really stubborn about what he has decided to do...
I know they both are very strong-willed but since they don't like the same things, I thought they wouldn't have any reason to be at odds with each other.
But these two clearly don't fit together.
The tension in the air made me unable to say anything.
Well, I think that if we give them enough time to know each other better... Arnold's gaze was fixed on Lucas's eyes.
--Oh! No, no!
I realized that it was directed at the crest in Lucas's left eye.
"... what's that on your left eye?"
I know it wasn't on purpose or because he was trying to be snarky, it sounded like a question that spilled out of his mouth without him noticing.
But at those words, Lucas got clearly upset.
--Is this power scary to you, Laura?
The words of three years ago and the image of the frightened blue eyes, was brought back to my mind.
Half-reflexively, I had unconsciously stood up between Lucas and Arnold.
"Mister Arnold, please don't speak ill of my childhood friend. Lucas accompanied me because he was worried about my safety, since I have never been on a city so big like this."
At my words, Arnold furrowed his brow.
He almost opened his mouth for a second, but without saying anything, he turned from the spot and disappeared from our sight.
--What was all this about?
My mind was at lost, looking in the direction where Arnold disappeared, I couldn't help but wrap my head around the troubles that our early arrival have already caused.
Chapter 09: Royal City
--I cannot believe it! It's the Royal City.
Today, I'm going to accompany Arnold Rocco to the Royal Exam for Alchemists' Apprentices, which I also am preparing myself to take on two years from now.
Thinking about it, it's been three years since I met Arnold.
I'm twelve years old, but I haven't seen him in these last three years.
However, it seems that Master and Miss Mercedez - Arnold's master - had been in regular contact, and they had exchanged information about each other's disciples.
Master often reported to me
"Arnold, has been working really hard, he's truly giving his best"
According to Master, today's exam is supposed to be easy for Arnold.
In the meantime, Arnold has been working even harder on his studies that before I met him, and has earned a reputation as a genius.
I, too, am steadily gaining knowledge and skills as an alchemist.
I'm confident that I can do the basic preparations and potions with my closed eyes... with a certain amount of precautions - I never tested it on someone because it was actually dangerous though.
I was also able to understand and replicate complex formulations that are considered difficult to read for most students.
And I even made recovery medicines for the people of the village of Emme on behalf of Master on several occasions.
Master laughed at me the last time, saying, "You're still a student" but she also said, "If you take the test now, you'll pass it as the top of the class," which is the best compliment I could have received.
In other words, today, I came to the royal city, Chevalier, almost as a tourist, even though it's a preliminary inspection to take notes of what I need to learn in the next two years.
That's the reason we are here today, Master and me.... and someone else, who came too.
"Laura, are you okay?"
"Yeah, thanks."
A hand reaches out in front of me as I step out of the carriage.
I took his hand and smiled at the person who reached out to me - Lucas.
At the age of 12, Lucas is much more mature than he was three years ago.
I think that the childishness has been erased from his face, replaced for more manly and sophisticated face's features now.
Compared to three years ago, it's a neutral look, still not a man, but he's no more a kid.
The difference in height with me, which wasn't there three years ago, is starting to show up a bit these days.
The sleek hands and feet and the enlarged palms.
I'm sure he will grow taller and taller.
I don't remember the detailed profile numbers, but I remember that he was about 170cm - 175cm tall at the start of "Last Brave".
Since that surprising discover about how he feels about his powers, after I returned to the village... I and Lucas are back to the former "best friends" stage.
Of course, I play with the other kids, but I spend most of my time with him.
He was not depressed about losing the place of "my only friend", so we were fine.
After all, Lucas is my important childhood friend... It's only natural that I get along well with my childhood friends.
It's just... I'm NOT going to fall in love with him.
Yes, that was the only thing I decided to avoid from happening, that was something I was too nervous about... specially because everybody thinks that we're a couple.
This time, as soon as I told him that I was going to the royal capital, Lucas immediately wanted to go with me.
I wondered if it wouldn't change the story plot if Lucas goes to the Royal City before he set off as a brave hero.
But Lucas' parents and Master, they supported his idea.
He had spoken with them before he went to ask me, so I no longer had the right to ban him from accompanying us.
When I told him that I was ok with it, Lucas smiled so happily that I thought as long as he can show that kind of smile it was worthy.
"And Miss Berta."
"Oh-- I'm sorry."
Lucas reached his hand out to my mentor as well.
The moment my gaze met with Master's, who had taken the hand offered to her, she glanced at me a strange "partner in crime" look.
As if saying, I didn't expect help from Lucas, after all he's your "my private knight"... You're very lucky, he is a true gentleman or something like that.
I let go of the gaze and looked at the streets of the royal city.
"Great..."
When I directed my attention to the city, I noticed how amazing it was.
Whether you look to the right or to the left, there is a row of gorgeous buildings.
This sense of unity.... The house's exterior decorations, including the roof and walls, the entire city seemed to be a single work of art.
The voices flying around and the light music coming from somewhere.
"Wow! This scenery is full of color. "
That's what I thought while playing The Last Brave.
But now, all this panorama, this sheer amount of information in front of you now... actually seeing the Royal City, it makes my eyes spin.
Swallowed up by the atmosphere of the royal city, I didn't notice where I was standing nor all the people surrounding me, when I began feeling lost, Lucas grabbed my hand, pulling me away from the center of the crowd.
"This is the inn."
Master stopped in front of a large building.
This building - the inn - looks familiar.... I used to pay <<240 Madokas>> to stay at this inn.
I went through a familiar entrance and found someone waiting in the large lobby.
Miss Mercedez, a beautiful woman with swirling pale green hair, waved her hand in our direction.
The smile on her face was as beautiful as it was three years ago.
Her hair, which used to be so long that it almost hit the floor when she walked, was braided today, making it very voluminous.
The dark-haired boy, Arnold, who was standing beside Mercedez, now possessed a face with already polished handsome features, he still conserved that air of being a bit cold and distant.
"Little Laura, Master, it's been a long time."
"Miss Mercedez!"
I practically ran to meet them, and we exchange greeting for the first time in three years.
Naturally, when the distance between me and Arnold decreased, I could appreciate his face's features better.
"...wow."
At fourteen years old, Arnold was a handsome young man.
If I take a look closer, his eyes became sharper than three years ago.
His nose gave him an elegant, distinctive look.
...
Even the curve formed by his lips is beautiful.
His face appears now more angular, its contours look like chiseled by an artist.
He's also grown a lot in height, as usual, he was and is the handsomest boy I had ever known.
"What's with that funny voice?"
His voice have already changed too.
"No. It's like...the atmosphere has changed since we first met."
Ignoring my words, Arnold asked, "What have been you doing until now?"
"Studying to be a alchemist, and you? You haven't been slacking off, have you?"
"Yes, of course!"
He is still working hard every day... studying to become a genius-- no, a Royal Alchemist Master!
It's no different from it was three years ago.
There was a time, when I underestimated the art of the alchemy, thinking that with my extraordinary memory, my studies would soon be over.
Which was soon demonstrated to be wrong because the more knowledge I acquired the more I discovered was required to become an alchemist.
There's no limit to the study of alchemy.
New preparations are being discovered all the time, and new benefices from already well-known medicinal herbs.
In addition to the fact that there are a lot of people with a lot of experience and knowledge in the field.
There are also a lot of people, who are using their knowledge to discover and document new things on this field.
"I'm going to be one step ahead of you to become the Royal Alchemist Master. I cannot fail the exam, I won't allow it"
"Huh..."
Arnold thinks he has already passed the exam, even though he hasn't taken it yet.
I know he's good, but he's so confident...
That is something I envy from him, I've been working so hard to get confidence on myself these past three years.
"You're Lucas, right? My name is Mercedez and this one here is Arnold. Nice to meet you."
I noticed Lucas, who was standing behind me, talking with Miss Mercedez.
Great, it's a good idea, so I can have a bit more of time and think about what to do next.
"Ah, yes. I'm Lucas Kamil, nice to meet you."
"Oh my gosh, you're so cute. You're Laura's childhood friend, aren't you? I've heard the story."
Smiling softly at Miss Mercedez, Lucas nodded, though his face blushed slightly.
If I were the old me, I might have fallen in love with him just looking his current smile... I'm thinking nonsense.
I watched the embarrassed face of my childhood friend, who has a smile that is hard to resist.
Then, Lucas turned and took a few steps toward Arnold, apparently he noticed we were looking at him.
When he came near us, held out his right hand, and he smiled his usual captivating smile.
"Nice to meet you."
Arnold glanced at Lucas's extended hand but didn't shake it--
"... You're good at pretending to be nice when introducing yourself to people you don't know, right?"
The first thing that came out of his mouth was sarcasm....
Arnold also directed his jokes with malice at me the first time we met, but that was because he was jealous of me.
He was seeing me as a rival, so to speak, someone who wanted to be an Alchemist Master, just like him.
But Lucas is different, he has nothing in common with Arnold, he's a complete stranger, and yet...
I never expected him to be so sarcastic all of a sudden.
Moreover, if you look closely, you can see that Arnold's mouth corners have been raised, obviously he is mocking Lucas.
Nevertheless, this is the first time I've seen Arnold's smile.
Three years ago, it seemed a bit more respectful... a little childish, but it that was appropriate for his age.
In the last three years, has it become even more skewed?
"Arnold! I'm sorry, Lucas. He's a really shy guy, and his mouth becomes very rude when he's embarrassed."
Miss Mercedez intervened hurriedly.
However, Arnold interrupted his own mentor's words and threw a question at me.
The tone of his voice was clearly irritated.
"Ampere, why did you bring this guy here? He has nothing to do with the exam, is just an outsider."
To this question, I hesitated for a moment, not knowing how to answer.
If you ask me "why", I can't find a good answer because there isn't a real reason.
It was just to make everybody happy, nothing more.
In place of my hesitation...
"I'm protecting Laura. That's the reason I'm following her here today."
... Lucas replied in a strong tone.
As soon as he did, an acrimonious air flowed between the two of them.
--These two don't get along... at all
I don't understand... Arnold was clearly in a good mood when we came here, minutes ago... And Lucas too.
He has a calm personality that makes everyone likes since the first met ... but he has a strong determination.
He's really stubborn about what he has decided to do...
I know they both are very strong-willed but since they don't like the same things, I thought they wouldn't have any reason to be at odds with each other.
But these two clearly don't fit together.
The tension in the air made me unable to say anything.
Well, I think that if we give them enough time to know each other better... Arnold's gaze was fixed on Lucas's eyes.
--Oh! No, no!
I realized that it was directed at the crest in Lucas's left eye.
"... what's that on your left eye?"
I know it wasn't on purpose or because he was trying to be snarky, it sounded like a question that spilled out of his mouth without him noticing.
But at those words, Lucas got clearly upset.
--Is this power scary to you, Laura?
The words of three years ago and the image of the frightened blue eyes, was brought back to my mind.
Half-reflexively, I had unconsciously stood up between Lucas and Arnold.
"Mister Arnold, please don't speak ill of my childhood friend. Lucas accompanied me because he was worried about my safety, since I have never been on a city so big like this."
At my words, Arnold furrowed his brow.
He almost opened his mouth for a second, but without saying anything, he turned from the spot and disappeared from our sight.
--What was all this about?
My mind was at lost, looking in the direction where Arnold disappeared, I couldn't help but wrap my head around the troubles that our early arrival have already caused.
