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Chapter 16: Parties
🕑 Added 2023-11-09 13:04:51 +0000 UTCHolidays had finally arrived, and we could go outside! I was so bored with the classes that kept repeating nonsense. After receiving my report card, I could finally return to the Shadowstep territory for this semester. With the holidays approaching, the school relaxed its guard, and I was able to visit the outside world with just Alicia and a guard.
In the past five months, I had only managed to get out of this 'prison' two times. I felt like I was stuck inside a golden cage! However, when I went outside, I realized that the wealth gap was even worse than County Shadowstep's. As we walked past the noble circle gate, every poor person attempted to beg for money or even rob us. Since we had a guard, there were no issues, but I wondered if I should complain to the second prince about this situation.
The capital was essentially divided into three areas, four if you include the royal castle. Outside of the stone walls were filled with fields and shacks or wooden houses for farmers. The inner circle contained the slums and other commoners, while the noble circle was home to all things shiny; nobles and honorary magicians were allowed to live here. Our royal academy was located in the noble circle, of course. The castle was technically inside the noble circle but had its own wall. Making it the fourth area. However, stores, blacksmiths, and craftsmen were all situated in the inner circle, along with the slums.
The noble circle was filled with villas for nobles. By the way, Shadowstep also owned a villa here. Even though we were still in debt, we had maids and butlers taking care of the villa. The house was impressive by medieval standards, but it looked like my house back on Earth. A simple house with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, and a dining room, similar to a 3LDK house.
My third brother, Alucard, was still in the capital. He dropped out of school and served as a southern gate guard captain. It was quite a lowly position, but better than nothing. He rarely came to this villa, so that meant the villa was mine to use! I could host sleepovers, parties, or whatever I wanted. What a shame that I had to live in the dormitory at the academy. Even though it was only a ten-minute walking distance, the school still prohibited me from commuting.
However, the holidays had finally arrived. After working for a week, I was able to hold a party at this villa in the capital. Yay! More than ten knights and my mage friends were coming. The party was a simple one, just a barbecue party. After we ate, I planned to show them illusions.
"Miss Eli, they're here!"
"Hello, Miss Eli! Thank you for inviting us to your villa," Abel, the leader of the knights' apprentices, greeted.
"You're welcome!"
"Ah, she's the dark mage who often comes to play with us, right?" one of his henchmen commented. They were a bit rude, but boys would always be like that. Some of the knights in my territory were like that, too.
"Are you sure this is wise? Won't they just make fun of us?" Alicia asked.
"Lady Eli is the sister of Zach, a captain in the northern frontier. In fact, just look at her dagger. She must be well-versed in martial combat, too. If only she were a man, she'd probably take a knight course along with her mage class," Abel answered.
"Ah! You knew my brother?"
"Of course. Nobody in the knight course doesn't know your brother. He is the youngest one to be made a captain. Soon, he will be promoted to a major, and after the wedding with Duke Bron's daughter, he will be promoted to sergeant or even straight to general!"
"I see. As I thought! My brother is amazing!" I clapped my hands. I didn't know much about military affairs or how they were ranked. But a general sounded amazing. Was a sergeant higher than a captain? I wasn't sure about that.
"Ah, actually, my father also talked about you! He is a clerk in Military Affairs," Damian replied. After some banter inside the house, there was a knock at the door. It was Nana and Safira. Apparently, they were our only mage attendees for today. Oh well, I knew for a fact that mages were quite arrogant and refused to mingle with knights.
"Ah! You asked for mages to attend, too?" Lily growled. Surprisingly, there were two girls here who took the knight's course, even though Brother Zach said there were less than 10% of them. Moreover, her body shape was fine! They didn't look like gorillas. The other girl, too! None of the soldier girls looked like the muscled gorillas my brother said they were! That idiot brother lied to me! It was fine for women to do knight's exercises!
"Don't worry. Both Nana and I are in the moderate faction. I am satisfied with being paid more than you. I will not degrade or mock knights. Eli here has already explained how important knights are when defending her territory," Safira said.
"Yes, I'm just a commoner," Nana added, a little shy. She was cute, with her black robe and purple hair enhancing her cuteness. Unlike me, who was a little tomboyish, she was what an ideal mage you would think of. Delicate and dainty body with a shy and demure attitude. She also didn't take any sports and had stamina even worse than me. She had a serf took her books to the classroom, after all.
"Alright! First up is a game. The one who loses in this throwing match must cook the barbecue!" I said as Alicia prepared the stove. The stove was a metal sheet with a magic circle and a feystone placement in the corner. One feystone could last for several days, depending on usage. When I placed a feystone, a fire would light up along the magic circle. A pan was usually placed on top of it after putting a stove rack on it. However, since we were grilling barbecues, we didn't need such a thing.
"Let me cook the barbecue, Lady Eli. I am your maid, after all," Alicia offered.
"Nope! You will also be joining us, Alicia. The loser will cook for the winner! And everyone else, too! Even me! If I lose, I will have to cook for you! Noble etiquette could get outside for this party! And no magic! It would be futile if I simply used dark tentacles to put the ball into the cup from a distance."
"Eh?" Alicia seemed shocked. However, this was my dream! I would not let you take it. When I was in a hospital, I could only imagine this kind of game from books or TV.
"Ahh! Lily may not participate then," the knights looked at her with pity.
"Huh? Why?"
"Lily has a skill. She cannot miss," Abel explained.
"No fair! I wanted to eat too!"
"If I win, I will share with you. Just sit this one out!" Damian said.
"Really?"
"Alright! Line up, guys and girls!"
The game then began. Of course, I didn't win. Damian was the winner. I suggested that Lily play along. She wouldn't be nominated as the winner, but a game is not just for prizes; it's for fun. What Abel said was true. She could perform trick shots like throwing from behind, blindfolded, etc. She could even throw the ball with her foot, and it still wouldn't miss. The next game was darts, but she would be excluded again. In that case, how about Twister? I had already prepared the sheets with colors.
"It's not fair for women! They are more flexible!" Damian complained.
"Oh, shut it. Nana and Safira lost immediately. You just lacked practice," Lily said. There was no chance for mages who never do sports to win against knights.
"Alright! Now, let me show you a movie!" The finale had finally arrived.
"What is a movie?"
"It's an illusion. I will show you the scene where a horde of monsters attacked our county!" I set up a wall as the place where I put the illusions. Then, the movie started from when the emergency alarm rang inside my county.
"Ah, that alarm wasn't using a standard bell from the empire," Damian, the nerd, complained.
"Oh, please, Damian. Really? Who cares?" Abel dismissed him.
"Alicia is there." Someone pointed at the wall.
"That's also against the law. Recruiting minors," Damian nitpicked again.
"Well, I agree on that one. But they were employed as mages. It is safe."
"If only the knights did a better job, County Shadowstep might not need to use such an extreme measure," Safira said.
"The knights are fine! Look, the battle began." I defended my territory's knights. Safira had a sharp tongue. No wonder she had few friends.
"I see. So, that's why our instructor keeps nagging at me. This is the real battle." Abel said. "Ugh! All the trolls and big games were handled by mages!"
"Ah! But without knights, it is impossible for us to win. They were the ones who held the line! Even after we put many traps and bottlenecked them there, there were a lot of enemies that passed through." I replied, trying to defend the knights. "The battle plan needed both mages and knights. Without either of them, we might lose or suffer casualties."
"I see. If you look at it that way, knights are certainly important. I shall let you know that we were not trained in close combat like that. A goblin sneaking in could even kill us when we were not looking."
"Did you even look at anything? I knew some mages who closed their eyes when chanting. Ah, look. There, that mage was closing his eyes. Alicia also closed her eyes," Lily berated Safira and mages in general. "No offense, but it was unthinkable for me to close my eyes like that in front of enemies."
"I don't do that anymore! It was hard controlling magic. You need to focus," Alicia defended herself. We all laughed together. The banter between the mage's camp and the knight's camp continued.
"Alright! Now that Eli has shown her magic, it's my turn! Here is my specialty!" Safira rolled up her sleeves. "Eli, do you have milk and sugar? I'm going to make frosted milk! I'll also need a metal bowl."
I looked at Alicia. "Alicia, do we have any?" Alicia nodded and gave her what she wanted. As she mixed the milk with a spoon, mist started to gather in the bowl, and the milk began to transform into a sticky ice cream substance. Then, she scooped one down onto a plate and tasted it.
"Delicious! As always," she said and then started to share it with both the boys and us. Ice cream! A heavenly substance that I could only eat once a month due to my medical condition. I never thought this fantasy world would have ice cream.
"Wow! Awesome! Delicious!"
"You're welcome!" Safira bowed elegantly.
"Now, Nana!"
"Eh? M-me? I-I don't have anything to show," Nana tried to hide in a corner.
"Why don't you show your dolls? You often showed them to me."
"W-well... Alright!" Nana brought out her dolls and then moved them without touching them. The dolls were dancing on the table. I was surprised to see that dark magic could move non-living objects. When I used mana sight, I could see black tendrils inside the dolls extending from Nana's feet. As a fellow dark magic user, this was great information.
"Awesome!" I clapped in excitement. Others were not so impressed, but they clapped in respect regardless.
"Auu⦠thank you!" Nana said as she hid her flushed face.
"Tomorrow, I'll also host another party!"
"Eh? Will you have parties every day until we go back home?" I wanted to say yes, but Alicia was glaring at me. Yeah, partying for a week here might be overdoing it. I didn't have that many games for them to play with.
"Hmm. Partying every day is tough. I have to message my parents, collect my report cards, etc. Maybe for three days?"
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"Alright! See you tomorrow at 2PM!" The boys and girls went home when the food ran out and the sun began to set. They sure had a healthy appetite to dig all of that beef I bought. I wanted them to stay over. But a 12-year-old party late at night with boys and girls might get out of hand without an adult supervisor, so I held it in. Maybe if I just invited Nana and Safira, we could have a sleepover...
"Greetings Lady Elidranthia. My name is Ludwin Seraphim. The second prince of the empire of Althemer."
Huh? Why has the second prince come to parties held by a fifth child of a count anyway?
