Bab 97: Reunion

"Final verdict...?" asked Ohta, waiting for Will outside the Observatorium with Professor Deidre waiting to show them out.

"No midnight forrays or hitting the town until we secure our positions in the Elite Class," joked Will, causing Professor Deidre to close her eyes and faintly sigh.

"That's it...?" asked Ohta, raising her right brow with a hint of incredulity in her eyes.

"We also need to participate in the Duelist League, but I told him we were planning to join regardless," appended Will. "Other than that, we just need to be more mindful and not cause too much trouble moving forward."

"It would be best if you didn't cause any trouble..." supplanted Professor Deidre, but even she knew that was wishful thinking. There were many, both students and staff, who wanted Will and Ohta removed from the Elite Class and disbarred from ever rejoining it. It was apparent to them that he didn't respect the Royal Academy or value his position within the class, so dozens of formal complaints were filed by the families of students within the Elite Class and those attempting to enter it, several of which managed to reach the King's ear directly.

"All I can promise is that we won't go out of our way to seek trouble or start conflicts," said Will, smiling as he added, "If trouble comes looking for us or I'm forced to act on principle, I will accept partial blame on the condition those responsible for inciting said incidents are held to account. I would contend that's more than fair."

"Haaaaa..."

As she had other duties to attend, Deidre decided not to argue with or try to lecture Will. Instead, she showed them to the entrance, reminded them to report to Master Naitus before the day's end, and promptly left them to their own devices.

"What now?" asked Ohta, preempting Will's response by suggesting, "We could head to your room and hang out."

"That doesn't sound like a bad idea, but if we don't want to be disturbed repeatedly, I'll need to check on the twins and those I had sponsorship agreements with," said Will, crossing his arms and cupping his chin with his right index finger and thumb as he added, "I also need to write a letter to my uncle, reestablish contact with attendants, and make sure Tim, Dori, and anyone else who was sent to Oirthearhall is doing well..."

"Right..." muttered Ohta, frowning. She knew Will would become busy the moment they returned, but she was already beginning to miss their simple life back in the cave. Fortunately, she didn't really have any duties outside of tailing and protecting him, so while he was occupied with whatever he needed to do to maintain his status and interpersonal relationships, Ohta was planning to learn more about cooking, homemaking, and, potentially, managing an estate...

...

Sparing Will the need to look for them, most of the eighteen people he sponsored were waiting for him at the training hall he had leased for their private use. There was a palpable tension in the air when he first arrived, but while things didn't clear completely, things became considerably less strained when Ahmad abruptly approached him, sweeping him into a bear hug as he exclaimed, "My friend! You have returned to us! Sea and sky be praised!"

"Hrk—"

Though he stirred the Aura in his body to protect himself, Will still had the air forced from his lungs by Ahmad's bear hug. Fortunately, it only lasted a second or two before the Giant-descended youth freed him, squeezed his shoulders with his oversized hands, and whispered, "I wish you well in the ordeals to come..." in a hushed tone that, due to his loud voice, was easily heard by everyone present. As for why Will needed luck, it was due to the pink-haired archer and visor-wearing swordswoman oozing sinister auras despite the former sporting a carefree, slightly narrow-eyed smile and the latter modeling a stone-faced expression.

Speaking on Madeen's behalf, Hyste, standing next to her with crossed arms and the ashen-haired Breanne at her side, remarked, "You have a lot of explaining to do, William. Do you have any idea how worried some of us were by your sudden disappearance? Even if you took measures to ensure we could continue training and competing, how do you expect us to focus and train effectively when our friend and chief financier is missing?"

"There is nothing I can say to justify my selfish actions..." conceded Will, shaking his head before affirming, "But I can promise to never disappear like this a second time. And if it's any consolation, I brought back a ton of high-quality clothes and souvenirs. For example..."

Since Madeen was doubtlessly the most upset among those present, Will produced a C-Rank [Clairvoyant Cuff] from his Inventory, enchanted with [Extrasensory Amplification(B)], [Poison Resistance(C), and [Temperature Regulation (D)]. It cost him 3,000 Karma, but since he had earned at least that much from his interactions with Madeen, he excused the purchase as balancing his debt.

"This one's you, Madeen..." revealed Will, prompting a tense atmosphere to return to the room as everyone looked between the simple-looking but masterfully crafted bangle and the blind swordswoman staring at it using her visor. Because it was imbued with Mana, the visor was able to render the bangle fairly clearly, so while she was still angry, her pulse quickened as she tentatively stepped forward to accept it.

"I sense unfamiliar Magic..." muttered Madeen, slipping the bangle onto her right wrist without difficulty. The moment she did, the image rendered by her visor became considerably clearer, causing her no small amount of confusion until Will explained, "It's an Artifact that significantly enhances extrasensory perception, so I just had to get my hands on it. What do you think?"

Recovering from her stupor, Madeen looked up at Will, her eyes, hidden beneath her visor, widening when she noticed his face was rendered with near-crystal clarity. Truth be told, she didn't have a point of reference for what crystal clarity was, but since she could see the individual strands of Will's hair and the faint glistening of his eyes, she imagined what she was seeing was pretty close.

Believing that she would be letting Will make a fool of her if she simply forgave him on the spot, Madeen averted her eyes and faintly muttered, "I'm still angry..." in a faint, insincere tone. It was clear to everyone that she was more than satisfied with Will's gift, but since they didn't want to provoke her fury, everyone but Hyste remained silent.

"Yeah, you tell him, Madeen," said Hyste, sporting a mischievous smile as she asserted, "If forgiveness were so easily obtained, it wouldn't have any value. He should have at least brought a matching set."

Before Madeen could respond to her friend's words, specifically telling her to mind her own business, Will interjected to state, "In my defense, it's a pretty rare Artifact. But if that's all I had prepared, even I wouldn't forgive me. It's just that most of the things I brought back are articles of clothing, and this isn't the best place to pull them out."

"Well, what can you pull out...?" asked Alessandra, the menacing gleam in her distinctive pink eyes and feigned smile making it clear she expected a piece of jewelry or, at the very least, a new weapon. He technically didn't owe her or Madeen anything, but since they had made it pretty clear they harbored affection for him, she would be disappointed if he only afforded one of them special treatment...

Fortunately, Will had discussed things with Ohta in advance and prepared suitable gifts for all the girls who had a vested interest in him. The reason was to make it clear none of them were receiving special treatment, so in response to Alessandra's provocation, Will casually produced a pure white longbow with an angel wing motif, explaining, "This is an Artifact that can absorb light from the surroundings and concentrate it into arrows that can even harm Spirits. The power of the arrows increases the longer you have it drawn, but so does the strength required to keep it that way."

"Are you saying it doesn't consume the user's Mana and Aura...?" asked Alessandra, her eyes wide in genuine shock as she tentatively pulled on the bow's silver string. In response, the lights within the room noticeably dimmed as a shimmering white arrow of pure light materialized out of thin air.

"Its only real drawbacks are the strength required to charge it for longer than a few seconds and the fact it requires a light source to form arrows," explained Will. "The more light there is, the faster the arrows form and the greater their potency."

"Okay, I'll admit it," hummed Alessandra, her smile becoming noticeably more sincere as she embraced the bow and stated, "This might very well be the best gift I've ever received. I can't speak for everyone here, but I ninety-nine-point-nine percent forgive you~."

"And what about the remaining point-zero-one percent...?" asked Will, too curious not to.

"If you had given it to me while we were alone, I could have thanked you for it properly~" explained Alessandra, winking. Will rolled his eyes at this, which she didn't particularly appreciate, but she was intelligent enough to know when to pull back and not press her luck...

...

Following Madeen's and Alessandra's gifts, Will gifted Ishyll a C-Rank crossbow that could generate a protective shield in the direction it was pointed, Ahmad a pair of gauntlets that became denser the greater the pressure they experienced, Breanne a retractible spear, and Hyste a pair of greaves that amplified her affinity with Wind-Elemental Energy and, at least for a short while, allowed her to fly using Mana stockpiled by simply walking around. The items he gifted to everyone else were only D-Rank, but as even low-ranking Artifacts were worth a small fortune, they had no complaints.

Further cementing everyone's good mood, Will provided food and drinks for an impromptu banquet to celebrate their reunion rather than his return. Things became a little too festive when Hyste and Alessandra convinced him to hand over some of the clothes he had mentioned, leading to them and the other girls trying them on and impersonating runway models, but nothing untoward happened.

What surprised Will most of all was that Madeen also participated in the fashion show, aided by Hyst and Breanne. The outfits she tried on were much tamer than what some of the other girls tried modeling, but she still received considerable fanfare as many of the boys misconstrued her anti-social tendencies as an effort to compensate for a shier persona she only revealed to those she was closest to. Those she was legitimately close to knew this wasn't remotely true, but they cheered right alongside the boys since they had been trying to crack Madeen out of her shell for nearly five months with minimal success.

Unfortunately for the other boys present, the only opinion Madeen cared for among them was Will's. She had too much time to think about her true feelings while he was gone, so while she still didn't comprehend emotions such as love, previously viewing it as a more convoluted form of affection, she had come to understand it was deeply rooted in yearning. Will leaving without telling her had caused her to question everything from her hopes and dreams to her value as a woman. She eventually determined that her value was something she decided and compelled others to accept based on her actions, so if she wanted Will to acknowledge her, she first needed to become comfortable with the person she was and aspired to be. Then, even if he failed to recognize her, she would still be that person, allowing her to continue moving forward without him...

...