The Sword and The Shadow

Winleysha

After Annelotte's speech, Myr and Larwin gave their own short speeches. Unlike the two young principals, their speeches were more official and far more boring. They said things along the lines of studying well and contributing to the empire and whatnot. The rest was no different than normal school opening ceremonies. At the very least, neither side intentionally spoke badly about the other in an effort to disparage them.

After the ceremony concluded, the academies officially began running. The staff handed the students their necessities and led them to their respective dormitories.

As there were only some 500 students, the briefing and orientation went without a hitch despite being held right after the opening ceremony. It was completed by the afternoon of the same day.

Needless to say, Innilis and Sasha were assigned to the same dorm. The differences between the two academies were obvious from many points. For instance, the quarter for First Magic Academy students were 70 square meters for each person, complete with a bedroom, lounge, balcony and washroom. Students of Second Magic Academy, on the other hand, had to share rooms with another fellow student.

Even so, the students of Second Magic Academy who were mostly from poor backgrounds felt that they were incredibly blessed.

Sasha was carrying the same sack Leguna thought was larger than her. However, she didn't look the least bit tired. Instead, a look of excitement could be seen on her adorable little face. She held the key to her room and looked around.

"307… 307…" she mumbled as she looked for the door.

"Hey, Sasha, over here!" Innilis called out from not far away. She was standing at the entrance of her dorm room and waved to Sasha.

While it should've been hard to find a petite girl like Sasha amidst such a dense crowd, Sasha's sack made her easy to spot.

"Eh?" Sasha went to Innilis and looked at the number on the door. "Sis Innie, you're staying in Room 307 too? What a coincidence!"

"Hehe, I said we would be seeing each other often, didn't I?" Innilis proudly put her hands at her waist. However, she didn't reveal her relationship with Annelotte. She looked at the large sack and said in an elder sisterly tone, "Come, let me help you!"

"Ah, there's no need. It's really heavy…" Sasha hurriedly waved to refuse. Just like before, she brought nothing but her food and other necessities, which weighed up to 15 kilograms. Innilis didn't look much tougher than her and might not be able to lift it.

However, she soon realized she had misunderstood. Innilis wasn't going to physically help her. Instead, she began her dictation and a second later, Sasha felt the burden on her shoulders lighten considerably. She turned to look and found that her sack was floating in the air.

"Hehe, Magus's Hands! It's the most basic spell!" Innilis boasted proudly with a wink.

"Sis Innie, you're amazing!" Sasha's face was filled with adoration. Being a Stokian, idolizing magi was part of her culture and ingrained within her. Her first reaction at Innilis using a spell was awe.

It didn't even occur to her that she possessed the power to do the same thing, despite being enrolled in the same academy as Innilis.

Innilis helped move the heavy sack to a corner in the room and the two began to chat.

"Oh, Sasha, where are you from?"

"I…" Sasha panicked for a moment, but when she recalled that she had almost lost her life because of her life, she made up her mind and said, "I am a southerner…"

"Oh? The south?" Innilis casually said, "Do you mean the province of Locksin? It's a warzone there, so it must be messy, right?"

"No, further south…" she stammered, "I am a… a citizen of that empire…"

"What did you say?!" Innilis was a little stunned.

"I am a Stokian." Sasha spoke in a much softer volume after seeing Innilis's reaction. "I'm sorry… I'm not a spy or anything. I am a refugee in Hocke. My mother needs money to treat her illness and that big sister said I could solve my problems here, so I…"

"I see." Innilis nodded and continued making the bed.

"Sis Innie?"

"Yes?" Innilis loved hearing Sasha called her that. Was that how Minnie felt when she addressed her too?

"You aren't angry, are you? I'm a southerner… You must hate me, right?" she said, dejected, as if the circumstances behind her birth was her own fault.

"Why would I be?" Innilis knew that was why Sasha was feeling so nervous. She stopped what she was doing and approached her.

She stroked Sasha's head as an adult would, similar to what Leguna usually did. She then mimicked Leguna's tone of voice and said, "Actually, I'm not a northerner or Hockian either."

"Huh?"

"In fact, my hometown is even further than yours. I'm actually from Lance," she said with a smile.

"Why did you come here, Sis Innie?" Even though Sasha didn't know where Lance was, she could guess from Innilis's tone that it was a distant place.

"Because I'm the only one left at home…" Her expression darkened at the mention of that. Reminiscing the past, she said, "My father, mother, elder brother and sister are all…. gone… so…"

"Ah, I'm really sorry!" Sasha hurriedly apologized. She didn't think the confident Innilis would have such a sad past.

"It's no big deal!" Innilis said with a casual smile. "I still have him!"

"Who?" Sasha said.

"Innie, you're in Room 307, right?" Leguna called out from outside.

"She is," Eirinn answered. From the sound of it, she was quite curious where Innilis would be staying next.

"Ah, it's too bad Annie's busy. Otherwise, she'd definitely come too."

"Hmph! I doubt Sis Annie will be coming with you around! Even if she really did come, the whole place will be filled with students. She's far more famous than you are!" Eirinn teased. As it was the women's dormitory, Leguna and Eirinn's appearance didn't cause too much of a commotion. If they were at the men's dormitory, however, Eirinn's beauty will no longer cause quite some trouble.

"Well, that's because I can't be famous due to the nature of my job! Unlike her, I'll actually die if too many people know me!"

"Hmph, don't talk crap, Big Brother Leguna"!

"Leguna?!" Sasha heard the conversation too and the face of the youth surfaced in her mind.

It's a coincidence, right? Why does he even sound like him? Am I overthinking this? Sasha thought.

"Come, let me introduce you to him!" Innilis said. While she had to hide her relationship with Annelotte, Leguna and Eirinn were fine. Unlike Annelotte, Leguna didn't look as amazing and he wouldn't easily be noticed in a crowd. People wouldn't recognize him as the infamous Dark Requiem at first glance.

Innilis opened the door and proudly pointed at him. Jokingly, she said, "Sasha, my friend, I'm honored to introduce you to my… my boyfriend! He's Leguna!"

"Whoa, Innie, you're so daring all of a sudden! Aren't you afraid I won't be able to hold myself back?" Leguna joked.

"Hmph! I'm not afraid! If you can't, Sis Annie and Sis Eirinn will stand up for me!" Innilis didn't fear his threat at all, but her face was red from what she had just said. To hide her embarrassment, she forcefully changed the topic. "Um, this if my friend! She's called WInleysha. Just call her Sasha, Big Bro!"

"Sasha?" Leguna was surprised to hear that name. He looked in the direction Innilis was pointing at. There was a girl whose hair color resembled Innilis's. She was smaller than her and was none other than the little maid he met at the millennium capital a few months ago.

Leguna stared at her blankly and she returned the courtesy. Just as Eirinn and Innilis were confused about what was going on, Sasha suddenly burst out crying as she leapt into Leguna's embrace. "Big Brother! Waaaah! I've missed you!"