Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 5 — The Director’s Sudden Invitation
Ulysses planned to visit the Clausel residence early the following week.
The next day, during the morning break—
“Whoa!”
Ren turned a corner in the corridor and nearly collided shoulder-first with Headmistress Chronois, who appeared from the other direction.
As she almost toppled backward, the broad-brimmed witch’s hat on her head floated into the air. Ren was holding a paper cup in one hand, but hurriedly reached out with the other to support her.
“S-Sorry!”
“Careful… Oh, it was you, Ren-kun.”
Chronois’s hat had stopped in midair. Her body, too, remained perfectly suspended even without Ren’s support.
Even so, she seemed pleased that he had offered his hand.
The beautiful blonde woman looked up at him.
“Ren-kun, you’re still attending the rest of today’s classes as usual, right?”
“Of course. That’s the plan.”
Because of circumstances on the faculty’s side, the afternoon schedule consisted only of a brief homeroom period.
It was a rare day when the academy effectively ended at noon, much to the delight of the students.
Many of the voices around them already sounded more excited than usual.
“Then would you have lunch with me? We could take our time and talk. You can invite Licia-chan and Fiona-chan too, if you’d like!”
“Unfortunately, Licia said she was going to the dining hall with some of her female friends. Fiona-sama left as soon as this morning’s classes ended to handle work for House Ignat.”
Before leaving, Fiona had passed along Ulysses’s messages, including word that he intended to visit House Clausel.
“Ugh… Now it sounds as though I’m the only one with nothing to do.”
“What are you talking about? You always seem busy.”
“Then… perhaps Ren-kun could keep me company during this rare stretch of free time?”
“Of course. If you’re content with me, I’d be happy to.”
There was no deeper meaning behind the sudden suggestion. It was simply Chronois behaving with her usual playful charm.
Once the morning lessons ended, Ren went empty-handed to the designated place.
He entered the garden behind the school building and found Chronois waiting near a fountain in one corner.
He sat beside her on the fountain’s rim, and she handed him a paper bag small enough to hold in one hand.
“Lunch is my treat.”
The bag contained several sandwiches.
Ren accepted it, and the mark printed on the paper showed that they had come from a popular shop on the main avenue.
They had barely begun eating when Chronois asked,
“How has your sword training been going lately?”
“Mostly, I keep thinking that I need to work harder.”
Ren still trained at the Lion’s Holy Office as often as before, but recently his growth had not been as dramatic.
Edgar was busy, so Ren had fewer opportunities to cross swords with the Sword Saint. That had likely affected him as well.
Ren himself had never used it as an excuse, but the influence was real.
He ate another bite of sandwich and looked up at the sky, thinking that all he could do was continue putting in the effort.
The sandwich was excellent, incidentally.
Chronois was not a swordswoman, but Ren was curious how someone as powerful as she was had honed her magic.
“Chronois-san, how did you improve your skill with magic?”
Their fields were different, but he hoped her method of training might still offer something he could learn from.
“Me? I used a great deal of magic and studied a great deal.”
“That was all? You didn’t go through some extraordinary regimen?”
Chronois did not boast about her past. She simply described the result of steady effort, without arrogance or deceit.
“I studied as hard as I could and practiced my magic as hard as I could. I repeated that over and over for a very long time, and eventually I became who I am now.”
“As expected of one of the world’s greatest magicians.”
“Now, now. You shouldn’t tease your big sister, Ren-kun.”
Chronois smiled shyly and lifted a sandwich with both hands. It was large enough to hide nearly the entire lower half of her face.
“Come to think of it, Estelle said this morning that she was considering inviting you two somewhere.”
“Inviting us?”
Ren had no idea what she meant.
Perhaps Estelle was off duty and wanted to train with them or share a meal.
“Something like training or dinner?”
“I was on my way to the academy, so I didn’t hear much. She said she was planning a short trip and was thinking of taking you and Licia-chan along.”
“I see. So you only heard about it this morning?”
“Yes. Estelle has today and tomorrow off. She suddenly decided that, for now, she would go to Elendil.”
The most likely explanation was that Estelle had gone to ask Lessard, their guardian, for permission to take Ren and Licia somewhere.
â—‡ â—‡ â—‡ â—‡
“You two.”
After the short afternoon homeroom, Ren and Licia left the academy.
A tall, young woman with a dignified bearing called to them on their way to the station.
They knew her well. She was a practitioner of the Mighty Sword Style and a knight often seen at Estelle’s side.
Her jet-black armor would have drawn too much attention, so she had come dressed in ordinary clothes.
“It’s unusual to see you here. Is something the matter?”
“The Director is asking for you. Do you have some time? She would like you to come to Werlich’s workshop, if possible.”
Ren exchanged a glance with Licia, then nodded.
He had already warned her that Estelle might invite them somewhere, so she had no objection.
With that, the woman departed.
“Let’s go, Ren.”
The autumn wind lifted the hem of Licia’s skirt slightly.
Several dry leaves rolled across the surrounding cobblestones with a faint rasp.
“Do you think this is the invitation Chronois-sama mentioned?”
“Probably. We don’t have anything planned this afternoon, so we may as well ask Estelle-sama directly.”
“Yes. And since she chose such an unusual place to meet, I’m curious.”
“Come to think of it, Licia, have you ever visited Werlich’s workshop?”
Licia shook her head.
Not long after she first moved to Elendil, they had once planned to go there.
The incident at the construction site had interrupted those plans and led instead to her reunion with Fiona.
“That’s why I’m looking forward to this. What is his workshop like?”
“It is certainly… remarkable.”
Ren was thinking mainly of its cluttered interior.
They walked from the academy district to the entrance of the blacksmith district, where Estelle was waiting.
“There you are.”
She greeted them with a broad grin.
“I thought you would be waiting at Werlich’s workshop.”
“That would have made sense, as you say. But I decided I might as well wait here instead, so I have been standing about with an appropriately imposing air.”
She set off into the blacksmith district, with Ren and Licia walking a step behind her.
“Are the two of you free after this?”
“More or less. Why?”
Estelle gave a satisfied, forceful nod.
“Excellent! Then come with me. You have both been throwing yourselves into training more intensely of late, and I want to give you some new experience!”
“E-Estelle-sama? Where exactly are Ren and I going?”
“Into the sky! The wind feels wonderful up there!”
That explained nothing.
Ren and Licia tilted their heads at the same time.
Estelle continued striding ahead, so they had little choice but to follow.
“Chronois-san told me at lunch that Estelle-sama might invite us somewhere!”
“Good! That saves me an explanation!”
“No, it doesn’t! That was literally all she knew!”
“You may relax. I went to Elendil this morning and obtained Viscount Clausel’s permission directly. With me present, you have nothing to fear.”
Estelle had done exactly what Ren predicted at lunch.
That was not the issue.
“Neither Licia nor I are afraid.”
“Hmm? Then why did you question me so insistently?”
“Because we don’t know where we’re going, and your only answer was ‘the sky.’ Of course Licia and I are confused.”
“Hmm… You may have a point. Perhaps I allowed my enthusiasm to carry me away.”
She did not merely have a point. Ren was completely right.
He chose not to say so, and Licia did not press the matter either.
Both of them were simply overwhelmed by Estelle’s boundless energy.