“Oh, Renaria! You belong to the Aerial class, right? If I remember correctly, Lance Eyring is also in your class, right?”
My face naturally cringed at the mere mention of Lance. Under her breath, Flager muttered, “Figures…” and shrugged her arms up towards Azure.
“I hope he didn’t do anything too improper towards you, Renaria…”
Azure was clearly concerned, so in response, I just gave her an extremely vague smile that was neither confirmation nor denial.
“Ah… well, you see Lance is a childhood friend of ours… He, without a doubt, is a little rough and tries to pick fights with everyone… So while I don’t think it’s my place to say this… I’ll apologize for his behavior towards you…”
“Please, if he ever does anything that makes you feel uncomfortable, come to us immediately. We’ll put him in his place for you.”
“What are you apologizing for Azure? We can’t be sure what Lance is feeling, for all we know, it couldn’t possibly be about that lousy wind guardian spirit of his… wait… no… I’m sorry, Renaria… I didn’t mean to… insult you or anything…”
It was common for Aerials to be considered lousy or incompetent guardians. While it’s unfortunate, it’s the world I live in. However, while those words did not affect me, I’m worried about Aria’s reaction… it doesn’t seem like she cares… I guess her reactions are more focused on the contractors of other Aerials. Luckily, for now, her attention is focused somewhere else.
“Oh no, it’s okay. Stuff like that doesn’t bother me.”
Having a guardian that is considered lousy and uninteresting helps my goal to not stand out to the world. I could not imagine what awful scenarios I would be in if Shine had gotten its way…
“Well… you see Renaria, Lance was expected to have exceptional magical abilities. He would study ways to strengthen his magical abilities as a child. He would often drive his body into extreme exhaustion, so much to the point that he would get sick with a Magic fever almost every other day. So I think the reason for his temper was the pure disappointment of receiving an Aerial as a guardian spirit.”
Magic fever is the body’s response to the growth of one’s magical capabilities. Most children start getting these fevers around the age of five. While some children who have magical powers do have these fevers, some are lucky enough to skip it entirely. Often, the fevers’ symptoms can be used to determine an estimated amount of magical power the child may have. I have gotten the fever a few times, but nothing as severe as my powers would suggest.
“You see, Lance’s family is a proud military family. I believe he wanted the salamander spirit, which specializes in combat skills. He often toted about wanting to be just like his father.”
“It would have been better for him if his family was blessed with salamanders like ours… but that was not his fate…”
Some families have been blessed by a single spirit. Basically meaning each new generation of a contractor will receive that spirit. For example, the royal family always gets the Undine spirit without fail. Fregel’s family, the Ganche, have the blessing of the salamander.
For my family, however, it varies. Within the Sheridan family, it’s even possible to receive the spirit of darkness, which cannot be summoned by any other family, so this is actually a family secret. However, it’s been a long time since one has been summoned. So whether it’s true or not can be confirmed.
“I believe he’s just upset that he isn’t with everyone else… Especially when most of us couldn’t make it into the specialized class.”
Seeing as the three of them were family friends, it would mean they all belong to prestigious families. Especially when you consider we belong to a specialized class for high-ranking noble children. However, out of his friends, he’s the only one in a separate class. Something like that must have affected his ego pretty harshly.
“Oh? Is that so?”
“You see, Renaria…”
Azure turns her gaze to Prince Cecil’s seat.
“When a royal is born, the aristocrats hastily start producing children as well. They use their children to further their positions in the world. Turning their sons into aids for the Prince and their daughters into political bartering tools with other prestigious families or royalty.”
“Lance believed the reason he couldn’t make it into this special class was because of his spirit, which is most likely not true; however, I’m sure those thoughts plague his mind.”
“But you see Renaria, you also have an Aerial, and you’re here, so I think it’s a matter of which family’s blood runs through your veins. While I don’t think it’s impossible for a Marquis family member to be in the lower classes, I just figure it’s extremely unlikely.”
In the special class, there are always armed knights waiting outside in the case of an emergency. The room itself is also protected with a magical layer making it possible for even the royal family to be at ease while studying. So while I feel safe here, I still have this nervousness about being in the same class with the Prince himself.
I originally wanted to be in a separate class from the Prince, but that would be impossible in reality. So, for now, I’ll just tread very carefully from here on.
I spent the remainder of my time idling with my own thoughts and concerns, and all of a sudden, Prince Cecil bursts through the classroom doors.
He makes eye contact with me and flashes the biggest smile and compassionate eyes… I have a bad feeling about this…