[Hanako] Chapter 12: Idyllic Days

[Asta]

Mmmmm... What a classic situation.

Not wanting for there to be a mess, Hanako quickly dipped the tip of her finger in the chocolate that was running down the ladle and brought it to her mouth but before she gave it a taste she noticed the dark glob of confection that had settled itself on Falah's chest.

"Oh, you got some on you." she said casually and used another finger to quickly swipe it up and deposit the sample on her tongue.

[Throndir]

It wasn't until you had placed the chocolate into your mouth the second time that Falah started to blush.

"O-oh... Auu~"

"Thank you Hanako..." Falah said blushing still. "U-umm, I'm sorry, I always make a mess." She continued, her voice having notes of melancholy to them.

"That's okay Falah... I used to be fairly clumsy too before I started training to be a soldier. But everyone learns... Like Jitsuko over there!" Trudy winked at Falah.

"You'll be fine!"

[Asta]

"Yeah, it's no big deal. Making chocolate is kind of messy anyway so don't worry about it!"

Hanako smiled and gave Falah a reassuring pat on the head. "Tastes great, keep up the good work!"

[Throndir]

Falah smiled. "I will. I hope everyone likes them."

"So Hanako... What brings you here?" Trudy asked.

[Asta]

"Ah right!" Hanako exclaimed, having forgotten to mention why she was there in the first place. "I think I mentioned to you before I was planning on seeing what was down in the mine marked on Klein's map yeah? I was hoping that you would be able to come along with me during the trip. I figured that you and Kari combined would probably be enough to take whatever nastiness we could potentially encounter with me acting as support. Are you interested?"

[Throndir]

"The mines... The ones in the book we found... Of course! When do we plan to go? It might be short notice, but tomorrow the other admins of each of the sites are visiting the estate. Klein usually holds a meeting once a month with the heads of each of the sites, Minette was telling me about it earlier. The representative from the southern mining site heads back there usually after the meeting is done. We could potentially accompany them... Although... None of them know about what's happening here, and I'm not actually sure if they were truly loyal to Klein, or if they simply put up with him and excelled in what they did. Minette was... well... every female in this household had to deal with Klein, but, since Minette helped administrate everything, she didn't have it nearly as bad. The offsite administrators though...I believe they were actually paid, since he couldn't actually be physically at the sites to punish the rest of the works or enforce order."

"I was thinking, if everything goes well tomorrow, the southern administrator would help us get there?"

[Asta]

"I had planned to go tomorrow anyway, originally I figured we would head over while the meetings were going on but if you think the administrator can help grease the wheels so to speak then we could accompany them back to the site. I'm not sure if I want to tip my hand and tell them whats going on here yet, simply because the more people know the more likely we'll be exposed. However we're going to have to recall all the workers in the near future anyway so I guess we can cross that bridge when we come to it. Either way, I still have to speak to Kari about it but tomorrow is the most convenient day to investigate. We'll need to be well prepared since there's no telling what might be down there and I'd rather not be caught in a bad situation. To that effect we should come up with a list of things we should bring along, I'm all ears for your suggestions."

[Throndir]

"Mines... Yes. There was a standard set of gear soldiers bring with them during war-time. But specifically the mines we should probably bring things like light sources, ropes, and potentially climbing gear just in case." She nodded her head thoughtfully. "I'll go talk it over with Minette after I'm done helping Falah, so I can familiarize myself with the mines too, and maybe she can help suggest some things to bring."

[Asta]

"Sounds good to me, I guess I'll go check in with Kari next and see if she's willing to come along. I guess we can have a planning session later tonight." Hanako said, grateful that Trudy had some idea of what to prepare for the journey.

"Keep up the good work!" she said, turning to Falah and giving her a pat on the arm before making to leave the kitchen.

[Throndir]

Both the girls had waved you goodbye, as they continued to work on the chocolates they were preparing for everyone. Falah was doing most of the work though, but Trudy stayed with her to continue giving her instructions, and guiding Falah on what to do. The demon girl looked quite happy and content as she worked with Trudy.

Soon enough, you went to look for Kari, you knew her to be learning something from Carol, and you eventually made your way to where her lecture was being held. It was held in the room just left of coming in. Not the same room that was used for the meetings, but the one across from it. You knew there to be 5 soldiers that were particularly skilled at magic that was learning from Carol, but as you peered in, you saw both Kari and Amarille sitting with each other listening to Carol's teaching.

Carol being the one facing the door and the rest of the class saw you the moment you stepped in. "Heyoo Ms. Hanako!" With that the rest of the students turned and glanced towards you.

[Asta]

"Ah, evening everyone. Sorry if I'm interrupting. Feel free to continue." Hanako said with a waive. She needed to speak with Kari, but it wasn't particularly urgent so she was willing to wait. To illustrate that Carol should continue, Hanako took a seat nearby.

[Asta]

Requested rolls

Training:

Rolled 1d20+8 : 20 + 8, total 28

CON:

Rolled 1d20+6 : 18 + 6, total 24

[Throndir]

Carol smiled gently. "Alright class, we have a special guest! So I expect everyone to pay extra attention you hear? You are the magical pride of the estate! And today we'll have some practicals too!"

"Everyone do your best!"

Though you had jumped in, in the middle of the lecture, you managed to pick up a lot on what she was teaching. Carol Graf was in her prime when she taught, in fact, she seemed to be a different person altogether when she was up at the front giving the lecture,or even going around to each of the students helping them with the subject on hand. She seemed to take into account of the fact that this was your first time listening into the lecture, so she included a lot of other information as she taught the subject. She skillfully made the older information relevant to what she was currently teaching, so that it wasn't so jarring for the rest of the students either.

Not only that, you absorbed the information well. When it came to the actual 'practicals', which was moving mana into a mana crystal, you indeed felt like you were making good progress. You weren't able to actually transfer the mana, but you did manage to get the crystal to react slightly, which was apparently one of the first steps for the crystal to actually store it.


Location: Klein's Estate
Date: Day 14 - 5:00 PM

"Alright class. That's it for today. I'll be sure to see you all tomorrow!" Carol said smiling widely. Some of the men in the room blushed at that, but many of them nodded.

"Yes ma'am!" They chanted in unison with smiles on each of their faces.

You gained a title as well the moment the rest of the soldiers left the room.

You have gained a new title 『Student』
You have gained +1 WIS

Training
Transfer Mana (DC: 25, RS: 14): 4/14

"Not quite a spell, but the lady covers the basic form. This is more an exercise of how artful one is on being able to manipulate their mana. Tis quite interesting." Kari commented.

"Normally this sort of thing is considered skills that only the most skilled mages learn... But for this country to be teaching it so readily, their magecraft seems to be more knowledgeable than ours." Amarille agreed.

"What dost thou think, hero?" Kari asked you, noticing you were with them since you had come in.

[Asta]

"It's certainly interesting" Hanako commented, "My limited understanding of magic makes it difficult for me to comment though. Where I'm from, we don't have it, so even something the rest of you might consider trivial and mundane is pretty impressive to me."

She scratched the back of her head and gave a bashful smile at her own amazement.

[Throndir]

Location: Klein's Estate
Date: Day 14 - 5:00 PM

They both nodded at your response. "Since thou wast willing to wend through this lecture, perhaps we can continueth our lessons?" Kari asked staring at you. Amarille nodded slowly, she wasn't quite comfortable with the magic, but at the same time, she had accepted it.