“Honestly, what’s taking them so long. Shouldn’t so called ‘Heroes’ be faster than this?” Complained a rather young looking man with dark brown hair, he wielded 2 short blades that sat comfortably on this back near his waist. This was attached to a red semi-long coat that reached down to his knees, and a pair of brown pants and a plain black shirt made of cotton.
“Easy Caste, if you remember what the princess said they’re from a world much less prone to violence than ours.” A stoic silver haired female held him back, she wore a similar outfit to the man known as Caste but instead of the two short blades she had a single great sword that did not look as if the woman could carry it with her body not remotely looking too muscular. However, it sat comfortably against her back which was adorned by a forest green coat and yellow shorts with a black crop top.
“Yeah yeah, I remember but still what does the royal family think WE can do? I mean we are high ranked adventures, but what can we teach the heroes?” Caste asked.
“I thought you were still the little brat I first met, but it seems little Fay has rubbed off on you no?”
Both turned to see a girl, she looked like a child in every sense of the word wearing a frilly one piece dress with a cat design etched into the fabric. She wielded a staff two times taller than herself which was a clear indication that she was a mage. Yet, despite her size the two adventurers bowed in respect towards the small mage.
“Lady Mei, it is good to see that you are well.” Fay stated, raising her head and smiling gently.
“It is good to see you are well Fay, and I am happy to see that you and the brat are still getting along well.” Mei replied, happily smiling with a mothers warmth.
A blush slowly appeared on Fay’s face, earning a small chuckle from the mage.
“I assume you both were called for the same reason as I?” Mei questioned.
“Yes ma'am, though I doubt what we can teach heroes if what happened yesterday was any indication on their strengths.” Caste stated humbly, but received a gesture from Mei to kneel down.
“They see promise in what you can offer, don't doubt yourself when you still have yet to try.” Mei comforted, patting the kneeling man.
“I thank you for the praise, though I don’t really think I’m worth all that.” Caste stated, rising to his feet once more as the mage chuckled.
“Well regardless, it seems our wait is over isn’t that right little maid girl?” Mei addressed to a maid that was standing behind the man.
Caste quickly turned towards the maid, seeing that following close behind her were a pair of-
“Kids?!?” Caste thought panicked getting into a defensive position, seeing the clearly annoyed face of the female demon following behind the group.
“The hell, one of them looks as small as Lady Mei…Could it be he shares the same powers? And whats with the demon behind them?”
“Good evening adventurers, allow me to introduce the summoned heroes Lady Saki Katsumi and Sir Kouki Takara.” The maid bowed, gesturing to the two behind her as they held hands.
“The demoness behind us is a slave gifted to the heroes by the royal family, you are free to ignore her.” The maid finished bluntly, earning a look of disdain from said demon as well a threatening growl that was quickly snuffed out by the slave curse.
“I see, and have you been crying young lady?” Mei questioned Saki, a small hint of concern in her voice. This earned a blush from Saki which she quickly coughed and composed herself.
“Ahem, yes but everything is fine now and we are both happy that you have agreed to train us both.” Saki replied, bowing her head in tandem with Kouki showing the proper respect.
“Interesting, she didn’t look down on me due to my size. Could it be…?”
“Hey, not to be rude but how old are you both?” Caste asked bluntly, earning a jab to the side from Fay.
“Ow! Hey, it’s a serious question!”
“Don’t be rude, you should know that by now.” Fay scolded, pulling his ear to make her point clear.
“Ow! Okay okay, I’m sorry!” Caste pleaded with Fay to stop, but before the argument escalated they were interrupted.
“I am 16, and Kouki is 15 while we are young we hope that doesn’t reflect poorly on us.” Saki answered professionally, surprising the three adventures on how mature she acted.
“They are rather young.” Mei thought, her face unreadable.
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“No offense, but is the princess sure about this? I mean, they’re barely adults.” Caste asked unsure, and clearly not believing they are capable.
“Are you questioning the princess’ assessment in the heroes?” The maid questioned, a murderous aura coming off her and causing Caste to back up holding his hands up.
“Forgive him, but I do have a question of my own if that’s alright?” Mei interjected, earning a sigh of relief from Caste only to receive a smack from Fay.
The maid did not respond right away, however after a moment she composed herself and nodded at Mei.
“Which of you was responsible for yesterdays magical display?”
Mei didn’t get a verbal response, instead she noticed how Saki brought Kouki closer to her in a protective manner.
“The boy then.” Mei concluded, stepping towards Kouki as she looked at him closely.
“Young man, do I have permission to lay a hand on your chest?” Mei asked, earning a confused look from Kouki.
“S-Sure…” Kouki responded hesitantly, which prompted the mage to touch his chest firmly but with no extra force.
Soon enough, Kouki felt a strange warm sensation filled his chest originating from where the mage placed her hand. It was slow at first, like if someone was pouring a steady stream of water on his chest, but before he could ask what she was doing she pulled back as if she were electrically shocked.
“What was that?” Saki asked worriedly, bringing Kouki closer to her chest.
“Owwie…” Mei feigned a whine, shaking her hurt hand as if the pain would fly off like something stuck to her hand. She soon composed herself, clearing her throat before speaking again.
“Forgive me, I was using my magic to see what his potential was and to say the least his magical potential is quite impressive. With the correct training, he may even surpass me.” Mei praised, earning a look of awe from both Caste and Fay.
“Is that a good thing?” Kouki asked, not sure about the complement.
“Ah, yes you wouldn’t know.” Mei apologetically stated, bowing her head slightly. “Now, my name is Mei and I am known as ‘The Greatest S-Rank Magician’”
“A rather presumptuous title don’t you think?” Saki stated bluntly, earning a chuckle from Mei and a sharp glare from Caste and Fay.
“Until now it wasn’t, I can confidently say that I was the most powerful mage within our guild association and some say I was stronger than the previous head mage of the castle.” Mei explained.
“You look so young though, is your skill level that high?” Kouki asked, earning a chuckle from Mei.
“Skill levels can be upgraded, or at least those with magical and martial arts skills can.” Mei stated, earning a look of surprise from both Kouki and Saki.
“Seems you weren’t aware of this either? Hmm, I suppose I can start there…anyways, despite my looks I am 35 and have been studying magic since before I could walk. You could say that I was born with the talent.” Mei admitted, earning a look of surprise from Kouki but Saki didn’t even flinch.
“Seems she’s very perceptive, or perhaps overly attentive?” Mei thought curiously, clearing her throat.
“As you could probably guess I will be training Sir Kouki, and you should you require some basic spells on the battlefield.” Mei finished earning a small bow from from Saki.
“Y-You don’t need to be so formal, just Kouki is fine even during my…umm expedition around several different countries none ever treated me like they do here.” Kouki chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his head.
“Were you an adventurer in your world?” Caste questioned, raising an eyebrow in disbelief.
“Umm…not really. I was more of a musician of sorts, and travelled around to distant countries to sing for thousands of people.” Kouki did his best to explain but the trio still looked a bit confused but did not ask any further questions.
“You’ll find out as the training starts, please can we start?” Saki insisted, earning a look of curiosity from Mei.
“You have my interest. Would I be allowed to have a space to teach him properly?” Mei questioned, earning a nod from the maid and a gesture to follow.
The group began to move, however Mei spoke up once again.
“Alone.”
This caught Saki off guard and she immediately brought Kouki to her side again. This earned a surprised expression from Kouki, but a chuckle was heard which brought his attention back to Mei.
“Please don’t stress yourself, we simply need a room to ourselves so I may teach him the more formal aspects of magic. If there’s time, I will have him demonstrate his power but only after he has a good grasp on the basics.” Mei explained, causing Saki to relax a bit and giving Kouki a chance to pull away as he looked at the maid.
“Is that alright?” Kouki asked, earning a double-take from Saki as she looked concerned.
“Kouki!”
“We need to learn as much as we can, if I go with you then I wont learn anything. Please Saki.” Kouki begged, looking up at the girl determined.
“So cute…” Thought Fay and Saki simultaneously.
“Fine…” Saki sighed in defeat turning towards the maid who nodded.
“I can lead you to the castle library after we have left Lady Saki and the others to the training grounds.” The maid explained, Saki turned to the demoness as the group nodded.
“You will stay with Kouki, you will protect him with your life if needed.” Saki stated bluntly, earning a ‘tch’ from the girl.
“Miss Mei.” Saki called firmly, earning a look of curiosity from the mage.
“I ask that you don’t go overboard, he has a very weak constitution and is prone to fainting when he’s pushed too far.” Saki warned, earning a look of understanding from Mei.
“I see, so that is why she is so protective of him.” Mei realized, now mentally preparing her teaching strategy with that in mind.
“You have my word, I won’t let him come to harm.” Mei promised, earning a sigh of concern turning towards the maid.
“Let’s get going then, please lead the way.” Saki stated, earning a bow from the maid as she began to lead the way to their respective training zones.
