With the aptitude test finished and some time to spare before the practical test, I decided to have lunch.
I had just polished off the boxed lunch Nine-Tails prepared for me beneath the shade of a tree when a voice called out.
"Kai."
Lifting my head, I saw my long-awaited childhood friend standing before me, running a hand through her long blonde hair.
"Oh. Having lunch, Laila?"
I suppose I could have fixed my manner of speech right then and there, but at this point, it felt far too late to bother. I decided to just roll with it.
"Yes. Mind if I sit next to you and eat?"
"Not at all. Fortunately for you, I'm not so heartless as to turn you away."
I gave my assent with an ironic little smirk.
"..."
Laila sat down beside me, silently studying my profile with an intense gaze.
"What is it?"
"You really have grown into a man, Kai. They say boys shoot up the moment you look away, so I suppose it's only natural, but still..."
Seeming to make sense of things on her own, Laila nodded a few times, muttering something incomprehensible under her breath.
"Setting that aside, where's Lumine? Shouldn't you two be together?"
"Oh, she was called over to the academy building just a little while ago. Apparently, they wanted to discuss the summoning aptitude test. It sounds like they're treating her to lunch over there, too."
Ah, right. Lumine had been the only one able to touch that canine creature, Kouma. Her score on the summoning aptitude test was undoubtedly an uncontested first place. From here, so long as she didn't make some catastrophic blunder on the practical exam, she would easily qualify for an academy of decent standing.
"I see."
Perhaps because it had been so long since we last met, I couldn't quite find the right words. In the end, I merely gave a slight nod and muttered that brief reply.
Laila let out a soft chuckle, retrieved a boxed lunch from her leather bag, and began to eat.
Any awkwardness in the air lasted only for that initial moment. Before long, she was happily catching me up on everything she and the others had been doing.
Apparently, Laila had been planning her departure from our hometown of Lamoor for quite some time. She wanted to see how far she could go once she stepped out from under the umbrella of the Helner family.
To be sure, Lamoor was deeply conservative, for better or worse. In particular, those born into prestigious families like Laila—barring outliers like myself—faced suffocating restrictions regarding their careers, marriages, and even their private lives. Studying abroad was likely her own modest way of rebelling against an existence she had grown thoroughly sick of.
Regardless, if this was the path Laila had chosen for herself after careful thought, that alone made it worthwhile. Above all, breaking free from the rigid stereotypes forced upon her by the fossilized blockheads of Lamoor was a stroke of good fortune in its own right.
"By the way, Kai, why did you suddenly change the way you talk?"
As usual, she caught me off guard with an uncomfortable question.
"W-Well, er... just for a bit of a change of pace, you know..."
I offered an immediate reply, though it was hardly a convincing excuse. Or so I thought, but—
"A change of pace... Yes, I suppose that might be nice as well."
Laila readily accepted my clumsy rationalization. It seemed she managed to find some sort of profound meaning in my half-baked excuse.
At any rate, as long as she was satisfied, that was good enough for me. Dwelling on the subject any longer would do me far more harm than good.
Just as I opened my mouth to steer the conversation elsewhere, a commotion broke out nearby.
Accompanied by shrill, excited squeals, a blond youth flanked by an entourage of fawning girls caught my eye as he strode across the courtyard.
"Hey, look! Isn't that Lord Somni Barrel?!"
"No way, really?! You mean the top-four finalist from the Sacred Martial Arts Tournament?!"
"I heard rumors he was taking the Babel exam this time, but it's actually true!"
"He's the same age as us, made the tournament finals, and was even appointed Prince Gilbert's youngest Guardian Knight for it, right? That's seriously amazing!"
He was just a boy who had the misfortune of advancing all the way to the tournament bracket because the adults around him overreached. Regardless of one's own desires, being praised far beyond one's actual capabilities was nothing more than a heavy burden. In a sense, he was a pitiable figure.
Noticing us, the blond youth strolled over.
"Well now, if it isn't our cowardly incompetent swordsman. Taking the exam this year too, are you?"
Beside me, Laila pursed her lips, ready to snap back, but I held up a hand to stop her.
"Regrettably, yes."
I shrugged with a dry chuckle.
"Do try not to make an unsightly spectacle of yourself. It would be quite embarrassing for the rest of us as fellow Amelians."
"Indeed. Let us both hope for the best."
Somni's brow gave a faint twitch, but he maintained his smug smile as he turned and walked away, his flock of admirers in tow.
"Kai—"
Laila furrowed her shapely brows, about to speak, but I gently placed a hand on her head.
"I'm fine."
I spoke to reassure her, just as I used to do in the past.
"Aah! Get your hands off my dear sister!"
A loud, willful girl came sprinting toward us at full throttle, throwing her arms around Laila and baring her teeth at me—the exact same way she had shielded Kouma from me earlier.
Swallowing the urge to ask if she was an overprotective guard dog, I stood up, raised my hand in a casual wave, and spoke.
"See you around. It was nice catching up. Good luck with the rest of the exams."
Leaving them with those parting words, I made my way toward the venue for the practical test.