She Professed Herself The Pupil Of The Wiseman (LN) - Volume 14 - Chapter 10

Chapter 10

“ALL RIGHT THEN. Shall I take you on a tour?”

Suleiman began showing them around the different facilities on the estate grounds.

The estate was quite large and measured about six hundred fifty feet wide and five hundred feet long. Aside from the schoolhouse, there were other facilities present. The first of these was the stables. It was wide enough that five horses would have no trouble walking in abreast and was also furnished.

The children could probably learn a lot if the school were to bring in a horse and have them look after it. Artesia and the other teachers agreed to that as they checked out the facilities while discussing their future plans.

In addition to other facilities, such as a training ground, a warehouse, and a workshop, a small, custom cottage for practicing spells had also been provided. This was very much in keeping with the Kingdom of Alcait’s status as the Nation of Mages. It had been equipped with special protective walls that could prevent up to intermediate-level spells from breaching them.

The last place on their tour was the bathhouse that’d been set up beside the schoolhouse.

“Whoa, this is what I’m talking about!”

Solomon was very particular when it came to baths and had certainly not neglected to include them. The building had only recently been completed and had a child-friendly design without any sharp edges. The children would be fine, even if a little horseplay happened. And it was large enough that they could all go in at once. Not only that—it was also equipped with a specially made boiler which had been engineered using technomancy. Since it used magic stones as fuel, it was fairly cost-efficient.

“In that case, I’ll probably be coming here for a while,” Mira said. She handed Artesia a small mountain of magic stones as a housewarming gift.

Now that they’d checked out the outdoor facilities, it was time to finally venture into the main building.

“Oh my, it’s lovely.”

“This place is great!”

Heading inside from the entryway, they found themselves in the chapel. Suleiman said that they’d received some help here from the Church of the Trinity.

By indoctrinating the children into the teachings of the Church of the Trinity, the children would eventually become faithful believers. Mira smiled bitterly to herself about the duplicitous way in which adults thought.

They’d entered the chapel first, but after emerging into the hall, they found themselves in the school. It had been set up so that it could be used as a proper orphanage. There were several visible improvements to the schoolhouse. Having been the one in charge of revamping it, Suleiman explained all the improvements that’d been made. He took them to look at the lunchroom, which had been converted into a kitchen and a cafeteria, and the children’s playrooms, which had been remodeled into classrooms.

As one might expect, Lastrada and Artesia were positively delighted with the fantastic space. It had been constructed with careful consideration of their needs.

With his mood seemingly buoyed by the pair’s reaction, Suleiman went up the stairs while saying, “Next, we’ll be heading up to the third floor, which is all bedrooms. It should be sufficient for a hundred people to rest comfortably.”

Mira and the others followed after him as if they were taking a tour of some newly built house. 

Arriving on the third floor, they ran into the teachers and students, who’d gone up before them. It seemed as if the children were fighting about something, but it didn’t take long for the reason to dawn on Mira.

“They’re probably trying to decide where they’ll sleep.”

Mira’s assumption was right on the money. After asking the faculty to explain what was going on, they elaborated that a fierce struggle had broken out among the children over who’d get to sleep by the window or who got which bunk.

“Come to think of it, this happened before, didn’t it?”

“It did.”

The two smiled knowingly. It seemed that the same kind of bitter struggle had broken out in the treetop village as well. Taking a look to see just how different the beds were, the three understood why the children were fighting. There was no helping it.

The rooms were classrooms that had been remodeled into bedrooms, and each was split into four smaller rooms. Upon entering, the area immediately ahead was a hallway that led to the four rooms, each of which had a window. They were arranged so that there was one bunk bed on each side of the window and one bunk bed on each side of the room closest to the hallway. It was no surprise that the side facing the window would be more popular.

“Oh my… I apologize for our lack of forethought,” Suleiman said, as he gazed at the bedrooms with a look of shock on his face after Mira explained what was going on. He must’ve not been very familiar with how children interact.

Suleiman promised the children that he’d relay the matter so that they could settle it in a way that satisfied everybody. Having promised this, the children stopped fighting quite as much. The crisis was averted.

A few days later, Suleiman suggested a way to make the beds facing the hallway more appealing. The children no longer had a problem. One of his greatest strengths was that once he took on a job, he made sure to see it through until he achieved optimal results.

“That concludes my introduction, shall we head to the castle?” Suleiman said, switching gears once they’d finished looking at the third floor.

They’d finished their general tour of the grounds. It was now time for some very important business.

It was time for their audience with Solomon—for their reunion.

Mira and her companions let the faculty know that they’d be saying hello to Solomon and left the new orphanage to make their way to the castle. Climbing into the carriage that awaited them outside, they felt it sway for a little less than ten minutes. Alighting from the coach, they saw Alcait Castle standing tall before them.

“Ah, it hasn’t changed one bit.”

“It sure hasn’t. I wonder how many years it’s been… It sure brings me back.”

While there were some new buildings in the surrounding area, the exterior of Alcait Castle was unchanged.

A look of relief washed over Lastrada and Artesia’s faces as they looked up, almost as if they’d returned home to where they’d grown up.

However, upon going inside the castle, they became aware of a big change.

“Aaah! Miss Mira, welcome back!”

“Would you like a bite to eat? Or perhaps a bath?”

Perhaps alerted to Mira’s return, Lily and Tabitha arrived with impeccably maid-like timing, finding Mira at such incredible speed that she’d barely had a moment to register them.

“You’re in front of guests, you two,” Suleiman said, casually warning them. They turned around in surprise. Oblivious to Lastrada and Artesia, they hadn’t noticed Suleiman either.

“We beg your pardon,” they said, bowing.

Neither of them seemed to realize that Artesia or Lastrada were members of the Nine Wise Men since it was their first time encountering the pair. Upon being informed by Suleiman that Mira had things to do, a world-ending expression of grief fell across their faces.

He continued that it wouldn’t take very long, and smiles blossomed on the two women’s faces as their hope was restored.

“All right, we’ll be waiting, Miss Mira.”

“We made some delectable custard cakes for you!”

Bidding them farewell, Mira smiled to herself about how there wasn’t a chance that she’d escape. The words custard cakes soothed her anxiety, though.

“Quite a bit has changed, huh?”

“It’s totally different from back then.”

The exterior might have been the same, but the inside had changed quite a bit. The eccentric maids were a new addition. Observing this with their own eyes, Artesia and Lastrada smiled cheerfully.

Kagura had been a step ahead of them, and they found her waiting in Solomon’s office when they arrived. They were seemingly discussing things related to the current progress that’d been made.

“Welcome back. It’s good to see you again,” Solomon said, warmly welcoming them as a friend rather than as a monarch.

“I could say the same. It’s certainly a relief to be back.”

“It’s all thanks to Mira and you, Commander in Chief. Thanks again!”

Looking at Solomon’s face, Artesia and Lastrada plopped down on the sofa as if they could finally relax.

“Now we can finally take a breather.”

Artesia had been at the mysterious orphanage that Mira had sought. And she’d even managed to track down Lastrada, who’d been incognito as Phantom Thief Fuzzy Dice. With this, she’d finished investigating every rumor and lead they had that might lead to the remaining Nine Wise Men.

Kagura still needed to go soon, but she’d finish things up sometime before winter. Soul Howl planned on returning before the year was out as well.

This meant that she could confidently say she’d achieved the original goal that Solomon had given her, which had been to have half of the Nine Wise Men back by the end of the year. They could now finally catch their breath.

“You really came to the rescue. Thanks,” Solomon said, giving Mira credit for making it all happen.

Then, after their joyous reunion, they each delivered simple reports and began discussing various matters, such as Fuzzy Dice and how the orphanage was to be run.

On the Fuzzy Dice front, Lastrada planned to finish off the human trafficking syndicate once things at the orphanage had settled down. He’d already laid the groundwork to do so, and so there was no need to worry.

Meanwhile, Artesia wished to manage the orphanage, and so It was decided that she’d remain in charge of all aspects of its operation. They would receive some funding for running the orphanage from the church and the nobility. And per her own suggestion, any remaining funds that were necessary would come out of Artesia’s own pocket.

All that was left to discuss was when to announce that Artesia and Lastrada had returned. The two asked that it wait until things at the orphanage had settled down.

There was another reason to wait…

In four months, they’d be holding their National Foundation Day. The day was eagerly anticipated by the populace and would be the perfect occasion to announce the return of the Wise Men.

With a smirk, Solomon suggested that it’d be even more perfect if Kagura and Soul Howl could wrap up their business by then as well. If they announced that four of them had all returned at once, it would really be big news. Not only that, they could hold a festival commemorating the return of the Wise Men and attract a good number of tourists.

“That’s still four months away, so there’s a chance that you might find even more of them,” Solomon said, gazing at Mira expectantly.

Mira had managed to locate five of the Nine Wise Men. All that was left were Meilin of the Immortal Arts and Flonne of the Ethereal Arts. Depending on how hard Mira worked, she might manage to find all of them within the next four months, which would allow them to celebrate National Foundation Day in the best way imaginable.

But right now, they had precisely zero leads when it came to the location of the other two Wise Men. Garrett, the vice commander of the mobile armored division, had helped out someone resembling Meilin, but that was the last they’d heard of her.

“It all depends on whether or not we get more information,” Mira said, glancing away from him after thinking to herself for a moment.

Not confirming that she’d be able to finish in time, Kagura vaguely answered, “I’ll see what I can do.” She was dealing with a particularly tricky issue—she’d be finished when she was finished.

Solomon must’ve understood this, as he didn’t push it any further. He only said, “Should you run into any trouble, you know where to find me.”

For the four months leading up to the National Foundation Day, Artesia would be the director of the orphanage, and Lastrada would spend his time assisting her.

“So we’ll wait until the time is right to unveil our true identities. I love that kind of thing!” Lastrada said, signing onto the idea of the big National Day reveal. He was so excited that he was already thinking about how exactly he’d make his entrance.

Artesia didn’t seem to have much to say about it. All that really mattered to her was that she had her children.

After wrapping up business, they naturally moved on to chatting with each other. The group reminisced about what they’d been up to since finding themselves in the world, so as to bring each other up to speed.

As they were doing so, one other person came to join the group.

“Hey, I heard that Mira’s back.”

She must have gotten that from the maids’ information network. Luminaria flashed a smirk as she spoke. Judging by her expression, she must’ve meant to tease Mira, but she stopped dead in her tracks upon seeing everyone in the office. She had only gotten word that Mira had returned to the castle. The other three were a new development…

The intel had come from the maids, who were obsessed with Mira alone. It was no surprise that they’d neglected to mention the other guests. She was surprised to see anyone other than Mira—but the sudden reunion was positively shocking.

“Well, if it isn’t Artesia and Kagura…and Lastrada, too.”

All were old friends of hers.

Solomon had kept information about their arrival under wraps. From Luminaria’s point of view, this was a reunion twenty years coming.

There must’ve been a lot going through her head.

Looking at each face, Luminaria smiled bashfully and said, “Ahhh, long time no see.”