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The Academy’s festival is happening today. Walking around with Natalia in the morning was an attractive option, but I needed to put myself in the right state of mind first, so I’ve tried to avoid seeing her.

“You! The black-haired girl right there!”

That’s why I’ve been walking around the festival alone, when someone calls out to me.

I turn around hearing that, and see a large and tall tiger demi-human, and from his appearance I guess he’s a noble.

His loud voice seems to have spooked the people nearby, as they all step away from us.

“So you’re Olivia!”
“Ah, yes, I’m Olivia Eto Gardeland.”
“Hmm, you seem quite well behaved. I’m impressed.”

I straighten my back and introduce myself as best as I can, and he replies by crossing his arms and nodding pleased.

“I’m Godwin Guo Feullade! I’ve heard about you from my son!”

Feullade? Then his son must be…

As I think about that, I see Mathias pushing his way through the crowd to reach us.

“Huff…huff… Please wait for me, father.”

I knew it, he’s Mathias’ father. Though unlike Mathias who’s a half-beast, his father Godwin is fully a demihuman.

“I also graduated from this academy, I told you I won’t lose my way here.”
“But you’re already lost!”

Mathias is out of breath and trying to reel in his father, but Godwin continues examining me unabashedly, or maybe he’s just that filled with confidence.

“Mathias has told me about you before. Apparently you have the best scores in the training grounds, and you’re a beauty to boot!”
“Umm…thank you…very much?”

I’ve fought Mathias for training matches a lot, and I tend to win. Though that’s the only thing where I get good results.

And my appearance…I guess it’s decent?

Though compared to other girls I feel like I’m too tall and I’ve been putting on a lot of muscle.

“I always wondered what kind of girl would be able to hold back my son like that, but I see you’re quite a fine young lady.”
“Please don’t go there, father.”

I don’t think I’ve ever seen Mathias so flustered. But what I heard next surprised even me.

“Olivia, what do you think about marrying Mathias after you graduate?”
“Huh?”
“Fatherrrrrrrrr!”

What? Marrying Mathias?

“In my family the eldest son is always the main inheritor, so Mathias will eventually have to become independent. I’d feel a lot more comfortable if he had a reliable partner to lean on when that happens, and you seem like an ideal choice.”
“Father! I’ve already told you many times not to worry about stupid things like that!”
“But you keep rejecting all the candidates I approve of, and it doesn’t seem like you have anyone in mind yourself.”
“Okay sure, but that doesn’t matter!”

I always thought Mathias was already engaged to someone since that’s common for nobles, but I guess that’s not the case for him.

We’ll graduate next year and become adults. I’m sure Mathias will have to worry about finding a bride a lot more than me once that happens, since he’s a noble and I’m a commoner. But I need to clear up things like this properly.

“Umm… I appreciate the offer, but I’ll have to decline very firmly, as there’s already someone I like.”

I’m already in love with Natalia, and even if Mathias becomes independent, I’ll still be marrying a noble, so I’ll be forced to take part in politics and other things like that. If that happens I won’t be able to live freely as an adventurer like my parents, so I want to avoid that.

It’s not that I dislike Mathias, he’s just not someone I see romantically.

“Hmm, so your heart is already taken by someone. There’s no point in any further questions then. That’s too bad, Mathias, but don’t let it get to you too much.”
“Why are you acting like I just got dumped?!”

I bow as respectfully as I can, and Godwin just pats Mathias’ shoulder in pity. Somehow Mathias looks really annoyed with everything that just happened though.

“Olivia, sorry for taking your time. Goodbye now! Gahahahahaha!”
“Urghhh! I’m really sorry, please forget everything that just happened!”

Godwin leaves while laughing loudly and Mathias desperately tries to catch up. I’m the only one left behind, and I just stare at the direction they went while not knowing how to feel about all that.

“… What was that all about?”

Then I hear a loud voice, which has been amplified with wind magic, echo through the entire Academy.

It’s the announcement of the next event. And it’s one I’m scheduled to take part in. I should head there soon.

Shaking off the confusion from my encounter, I head to the location where the event will be held.

As the Academy showcased the fruits of their work, Ryuka walked along the exhibitions with much curiosity.

Reibana also had magic, but their methods and theories were quite different. Learning from those differences and seeing what she could gain was also one of the reasons why she had been sent as an exchange student.

“Lady Ryuka, what do you think of this exhibition?”

Ruri pointed at a different exhibition a distance away. That one focused on types of barriers and how to construct them.

Ryuka’s black eyes looked through the written explanation and theories.

Those barriers were not exactly something Ryuka could benefit from, but the methods were so different from Reibana’s that she still got curious about them.

One never knew what could come in handy eventually, even if it felt useless at that moment. She only would be there for one more year, so she had to learn everything she could about this country’s magic by then, and continued checking the items on display.

Ruri watched her master do that, and began to find something strange about Seperion.

(This country seems rooted in fantasy, which makes sense considering they use magic, but I can’t see much influence from religion in their culture and lives. There are churches, but they don’t seem to have much authority or political involvement.)

That was a natural sentiment to have.

She had heard various stories about religions taking over countries in the past. Usually they would always become rooted in the lives of people, and become a controlling entity.

At least that was common in the history of her past life, as well as in fictional works. In some cases, the church could become so overbearing that they opposed scientific developments and oppressed people.

But in this world, regardless of the existence of monsters and supernatural powers like magic, religion was shockingly unimportant. While the Bran Church had been banned in Seperion, due to their ideas of only considering humans, elves, and dwarves, as people, and they protected the Branowa Church, it was still very different from the ‘Church of a fantasy world’ trope Ruri knew.

All of that was the result of Seperion’s founding king’s efforts to separate politics and government from religion.

(I guess the most unexpected part is that there’s no holy or exorcizing magic here.)

Ruri was thinking specifically of the magic used by priests or saints, which was used to counter undead entities.

It was common for religion to deal with matters of life and life after death, so it also made sense for priests to have the power to heal wounds, and purify the spirits of the dead. Though the Branowa Church still conducted funerary services in Seperion, and they had certain hymns they sung in such situations.

Ruri had looked into holy magic to purify undead monsters, but was told such a thing did not exist. On top of that, priests were not guaranteed to know healing magic either, there was no relationship between faith and magic elements in this world. Olivia was also an example of that, she did not have any religious beliefs, but had mastered magic to heal herself.

(Though well, all of that is the same in Reibana too. There’s even liches and vampires that are priests or nuns.)

As Ruri mulled about that, she looked away from the exhibits for a moment and noticed a large crowd.

At first she thought it had to be some sort of announcement, but then she saw Amy was standing on a podium in the center, talking loudly.

“Who do you think will win the tournament?! Now’s the time to place your bets! All the participants are listed over here too!”

Amy had organized a betting system around the tournament. She obviously had no permission from the Academy, not like they would ever allow such a thing.

But the students and guests seemed excited about it, so it was hard to stop now.

“What’s that girl doing now?”

Ruri muttered that, but then shrugged and took out her wallet. She was also the kind of person to partake in such activities.