1 Awakening
Folia was spending peaceful days at Gardelsen Church during the long break.
“Folia-neene!”
The little siblings followed her everywhere she went, wanting to be by her side as much as possible while she was there. Though they were children without parents, they were precious family to Folia.
The children trying so hard to follow her were adorable, and her face broke into a smile.
“What’s wrong?”
“Mii-chan wants to play outside!”
“Okay. Once I finish hanging up the laundry, we’ll all play together.”
“Okay!”
Folia watched the girl bounce away with light, skipping steps to gather the other children, then went outside carrying a basket of freshly washed clothes.
The weather was wonderful, and a refreshing breeze made her hair flutter. A perfect day for laundry.
A year and a half had passed since she entered Centrior. While at the academy, she couldn’t spend time with her siblings like this and felt apologetic, but now that she had made fun friends, she also looked forward to when break would end.
At first, she had been anxious about whether someone like her—a commoner without parents—could fit in at a school for nobles.
However, thanks to a female student in the same circumstances who first extended her hand, she was enjoying a smooth academy life.
“I wonder if Raze-chan is okay… She seemed so busy with work…”
She found her thoughts drifting to the friend she had been with just days ago at the school festival management committee training camp.
It already felt like ancient history that she had stayed at the Emerald Palace arranged by Prince Ruben and prepared for the school festival—something that never would have happened if she had remained at the church orphanage.
On the first night of the camp, a stampede of harmful beasts overflowed from a nearby cave, and the next day they moved to a luxury hotel. Being back at the orphanage made it all feel unreal.
However, she clearly remembered how terribly lonely Raze had looked when they parted, and Folia was worried about her.
“She can study, works as an adventurer, and her magic activation is even more amazing than Luca-kun’s… She’s the same age as me but already independent.”
At the academy, it was almost time for the career survey.
Folia was allowed to attend the academy through the kindness of Cardinal Zell-Ire-Mordil, who had become her guardian, but her plans after graduation were still hazy.
The friends around her had more or less decided what they would do after graduation.
The sons of influential nobles who entered this academy typically joined the Knight Order, while the daughters returned home for bridal training.
Noble sons joined the Knight Order to develop the power to protect citizens from harmful beasts while simultaneously learning about common life with their own eyes.
Folia didn’t know what Carne would do, but women could also become knights. She might return to princess education as Ruben’s fiancée, or since she was also skilled at magic, she might join the Knight Order.
Others—nobles without territories and children of wealthy merchants—would return home to prepare to inherit the family headship, or enter research labs to deepen their studies further.
And Raze, her closest friend with the same social status, was apparently working as an adventurer—already employed.
Unlike herself, who was being supported by Cardinal Mordil, Raze was independent, and knowing this made Folia feel anxious.
“…What do I want to do?”
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Knowledge is valuable. Having it never hurts. That’s what Zell had told her when she entered the academy.
She was also interested in school, and was drawn to an environment where she could learn what she sought, so she studied desperately to pass the entrance exam.
If she entered Centrior, even an orphan could be recognized by others.
…If she did that, then even standing beside Zell, who held the position of cardinal, she wouldn’t be looked at with cold eyes—
Folia gasped and stopped hanging the laundry.
Her expression carried a certain melancholy.
(…I see… For me, studying hard and wanting to repay Zell-sama’s kindness was just a pretense… The truth is—)
As long as she could be by his side, that was enough.
She could decide without hesitation what was necessary for that, but wasn’t trying to stand beside Zell, who was a cardinal, reckless in the first place?
That’s why she couldn’t see her future path…
She understood. She had no choice but to admit it now.
She loved him—Zell-Ire-Mordil.
However, as things were, she couldn’t possibly stand beside him, let alone avoid constantly holding him back.
Her hand gripping the laundry from the basket tightened.
“I wonder what Raze-chan would say…”
If it were her, who handled everything smoothly.
If she consulted her about wanting to stay by the cardinal’s side and be useful to him, what advice would she give?
Folia could somehow imagine that she would surely say words of encouragement.
“—Folia-neene!”
“Wah! You startled me!”
Lost in thought, she hadn’t noticed the girl who suddenly appeared from behind the laundry.
Surprised, her shoulders jumped, and the girl looked up at Folia happily from below.
“Folia-neene. Talking about ‘Raze-chan’ again?”
“Eh? Ah… Yes. Raze-chan is truly a wonderful friend.”
“Neene always looks so happy when talking about Raze-chan, so Mii-chan is happy too!”
Told this with an innocent smile, Folia beamed.
She remembered how nervous she had been until the day of admission about entering an academy where noble and wealthy merchant children gathered.
At first, she was happy because Zell celebrated her passing and she could attend the most prestigious school possible. However, she had no confidence at all that she, who was raised in an orphanage, could manage well among children from high-ranking families.
At worst, she’d decided to just study hard and give up on relationships.
But then, right after the entrance ceremony.
When the class assignments were announced, she’d heard it was ability-based, but never thought she’d be placed in the top Class A. Her heart rate shot up in surprise, and when she tried to hurry to the hallway in a panic, she tripped in the narrow passage.
She fell right into someone in front of her, and thinking she’d already made a huge mistake, her mind went blank. If the other person was a noble’s child, this might be the start of bullying.
Such negative thoughts filled her mind, when she heard a girl’s gentle voice: “Are you okay?”
When she looked up, there was a girl with a small face and large amber eyes who seemed very approachable, firmly catching her.
Snapping back to reality, thinking this girl might also be a noble, she apologized frantically, but the girl reassured her by saying she was also a commoner student.
From that moment, Raze was special to Folia.
She could enjoy academy life, which she had felt so anxious about, entirely thanks to her.
Raze had created opportunities for her to talk with Carne, Ruben, and the others, and because they became roommates in the dorm, she managed preparations for unfamiliar events like parties.
Having grown up in the orphanage, Folia had acquaintances like relatives, but had grown distant from older children who graduated from the institution.
So Raze was the first person she could confidently call a friend.
Someone like her was probably what people called a best friend. It might be presumptuous, but that’s what she thought in her heart.
Even after graduating from the academy, she wanted to stay friends with her forever.
“Mii-chan will surely have wonderful friends someday too.”
Folia bent her knees and smiled at the girl.
She thought of Raze, wishing school would start soon.
It was right after that.
A warning whistle signaling the appearance of harmful beasts rang out.
“Folia! Quickly, inside!”
“Yes!”
Called by a sister, Folia hurried.
When this whistle sounded, taking shelter inside a building was required before anything else.
Behind Gardelsen Church was a forest where harmful beasts lived. Years ago, a stampede occurred in a cave in that forest, and people were injured. Though the church had special barriers, Folia’s face turned pale remembering the past. Honestly, seeing injured soldiers and villagers brought to the church was frightening.
(But I’ve already taken special classes at school… I need to pull myself together)
After taking roll call of the children who were about to go outside and confirming everyone’s safety, Folia began preparations for receiving patients.
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