房客(糙汉)何璐程曜坤

"Halt. You cannot cross the gates of the Aspakeony Academy unless you are a student or have a written permit."

The red-haired girl and the boy with the porcelain mask were stopped at the gate to the Aspakeony Academy grounds by two official-looking men.

The one who reached out his hand and refused their entry was an earth magician, he looked older and more distinguished than the light magician behind him.

Nonetheless, both of them seemed to be at least members of the staff working at the Academy although since they weren\'t wearing armor or any indications that they were guards the pair had to be either teachers or servants.

"I am a first-year student and he is my attendant. What\'s more, there is to explain?"

The red-haired girl shrugged her shoulders dismissively not showing even a bit of respect to the people in front of her.

"Miss, if you are a student then where is your school uniform or at least a badge of the first-year student you claim to be? After you show us the badge you will be allowed entry, although you still will have to confirm your identity with the headmistress."

As if seeing that his older coworker\'s words have little effect on the girl and assuming that it was because he was an earth magician while she was a fire magician, the light magician stepped up and declared with a high-and-mighty expression.

"Did he call me a Miss, not a young lady but just Miss without any additional honorifics?"

"He certainly did...!"

If the light magician really thought that his attribute would cause the red-haired girl to change her arrogant behavior then her annoyed scoff and the gasp of disbelief of her attendant got rid of that falsehood very fast.

"Whatever, I was going to talk with the headmistress anyway, but because of your transgressions upon this noble lady\'s honor..."

"...?"

The arrogant girl shook her head and swiped back her hair while the two men associated with the Academy exchanged confused glances, wondering about her intentions...

"Flashpoint."

*^%$#*

...and it was the last thing that they ever did as the girl changed a name of an unknown spell and an outburst of fire mana turned them both into harrowing enamel imprints in the place where they stood.

"Oof... Kierul, those weren\'t some bandits that you could get rid of with no consequences you know? We will get in trouble before we will even re-enlist you as a student."

The masked attendant groaned, tilting his head and turning it in a way that would suggest he was looking at his master with disappointment.

"They were headmaster\'s corpse puppets, what\'s the problem in dealing with them when she was the one being rude to me?"

Kierul made an indifferent expression stepping directly on the glazed ground while walking through the gate.

"I dislike the idea of reanimating corpses with magic in the first place. If anything I bet the souls of those two are happy that they will stop being exploited after their deaths."

She added, raising her head proudly because of the good deed she did.

"I am pretty sure that to become lady Aspakeony corpse puppet a magician has to submit a written request and even with that approved, after their death their family is asked again if the person of interest didn\'t say anything about changing their minds though?"

"...are you trying to pick a fight with me...?"

The masked attendant put his hand to his mask as if he was covering his mouth and exclaimed with a perfect innocence to which his master\'s expression darkened and she grumbled while glaring at him.

"Of course, but do you really want to suffer from mana depletion? I mean, you are just the most adorable cuddle fiend that I ever heard or read of so I don\'t mind but do you seriously want to reveal that to eve..."

"SHUT UP!"

Even after facing a serious threat the attendant merely snickered and his shoulders shook from the laughter he was holding back as the red-haired girl got a matching red face and she threw herself at him, blocking the space where his mouth should be with both hands.

"Pffft...! And what, pray tell, this adorable gesture is supposed to do to my mask, master?"

The attendant chuckled and grabbed the girl\'s wrist, gently moving her hands to the side.

"Unfortunately you will have to cut back on those cute habits you\'ve developed in the past months, we aren\'t in the woods anymore and have to act appropriately. Okay?"

He said softly while taking a step back without letting go of Kierul\'s hands.

"Yeah, yeah. Of course, I know that. Please release me, kind sir."

The red-haired girl rolled her eyes before lowering her head and looking back up at her attendant with a cutesy feeble expression and her voice trembled as if she was sorry from the bottom of her little heart.

"Good enough for you?"

But the illusion was immediately broken as the innocent expression changed into a mocking grin.

"Nope. You have a long way to go, my lady~"

"...!"

The attendant denied and leaned down while his pleasant voice reverberated because of his mask and the girl in his grasp turned her gaze away as he got so close that the tip of her nose was almost grazing against the smooth surface of the porcelain.

"E-enough of this! This is not the type of scene that we should be doing!"

Despite the sudden bashfulness, Kierul didn\'t forget her surroundings and pulled away as her attendant released her wrist and allowed her to go.

Not to mention that indeed their appearance was getting the attention of the leftover students.

For some reason, the disintegration of the two men that tried to block the entrance for the pair didn\'t seem to be understood correctly.

From what the masked attendant could pick on with his hearing it sounded as if they thought that the deceased two simply teleported away to inform the headmistress about the new arrivals.

Although... that way of thinking wasn\'t actually that surprising – in the end, a fire spell that could burn a person into enamel while NOT causing a powerful air quake simply didn\'t exist. Even the strongest known transcended fire magician, Ehmi Gamemi Victureo could not achieve something like that.

...though, that wasn\'t a thing for all...

...especially not the two heavily armored knights that appeared before the red-haired girl and her masked attendant...