The windows opened up to a clear view of the streets outside, though much of the scenery was obscured by the ma.s.sive garden between the manor and the fence. Thankfully, my gla.s.ses had the functions to magnify my vision and zoom in on the distant streets, in case I needed to watch out for anything happening outside the fence. However, towering above the trees grown in the garden was a beautiful scenery of the city, a panaromic view that was almost breathtaking in the darkness.

The city lights glittered in the night, resembling almost the stars overhead. Skysc.r.a.pers, Gothic-styled cathedrals and churches, and postmodern architectural buildings loomed overhead, looking almost like a city that never sleeps. I couldn't help but admire the view.

Then I closed the curtains, to minimize the risk of being spied upon from the outside. Not to mention I wanted my own privacy as well.

Before I could turn around and begin unpacking my luggage, I suddenly detected the presence of someone approaching my room. No, it wasn't as impressive as you would think. What, you thought I was some kind of a.s.sa.s.sin wannabe who was paranoid about visitors dropping by my room, checking in on how I was managing or greeting me or introducing themselves? This isn't a.s.sa.s.sin's Pride. I wasn't paranoid enough to place my hand on the hilt of my swords and prepare for an attack out of nowhere.

As I expected, the person knocked politely on my door, and a soft, timid and familiar voice spoke up.

"Um…Sensei? May I have a moment of your time?"

I was tempted to say no and shoo her away, but obviously I wasn't that rude or cranky. I did like Melina, she was like a little sister to me in the same manner Adrian was like a younger brother. So I smiled and opened the door.

"What's up, Young Miss? Do you need something?"

Melina balked at that. "Young Miss? Um, there's no need to address me so formally. Please call me Melina as you always have."

Ha ha, yeah. I expected that. I was just teasing her. I smiled, and she relaxed a little, brightening up as she put forth her request.

"Um, that is…"

She suddenly produced a sword out of nowhere. It was a wooden sword, similar to the bamboo s.h.i.+nai that I had her train with in my dad's dojo.

"Before school begins, do you mind giving me a quick lesson right now?"

Wow…she was so eager and impatient to learn, as always. Just like I suspected, she possessed a burning pa.s.sion for swordsmans.h.i.+p – a little like I did when I was younger. Anyone who tried to bar her from learning swordsmans.h.i.+p just because of a reason as nonsensical as "she has no talent" or excuses to prevent her from inheriting her dad's position was a b.a.s.t.a.r.d. If I could find them, I would beat the living s.h.i.+t out of them…okay, I wasn't a violent person by any means, so I wouldn't literally hit them. I would probably curse them until they cried.

However, as much as I appreciated her enthusiasm…

"Lady Melina, do you know what time it is? It's almost 10pm. I just reached your place. At least give me some time to unpack and settle down before asking for a lesson."

"A…ah!" Melina's hand flew to her mouth when she realized I was right. "I'm so sorry! I wasn't thinking!"

"Oh, no. You don't have to apologize. I understand how excited you are, and I personally can't wait to start teaching you again." I patted her head, running my fingers through those golden, silky strands of hair. Giving her a rea.s.suring smile, I then took a step back into the room. "Maybe tomorrow morning, before you go to school? Let's say…6am? That should give you time to wash up, have breakfast and then prepare to head for school by 8am. Your lessons begin at 9am or so, right?"

"That is correct." Melina beamed. "Thank you very much, Sensei! I'll see you tomorrow morning then, at 6am!"

"See you then." I watched as Melina bound down the corridor and disappear into the distance, and then shut the door so that I could return to my own private world.

Sighing, I glanced around the room on more time and began unpacking my luggage. As I did so, I was reminded that Melina was still attending school. Normally, I would be too, but I had been hired for this job.

Fortunately, I had completed all of my coursework, and gotten whatever credits I needed to. The only exception was my ice magic, but since I was unable to get into any of the ice magic cla.s.ses, I had no choice. Furthermore, this request from Duke Fergus Franklin was counted as a "mission", so like all other long-term missions, I was given leave from school to complete it. This particular job also counted as an exchange program, so if anything it would greatly help me in my application for a university and look very good on my resume.

Honestly, that wasn't the reason why I accepted the job – I accepted it for one reason and one reason only.

Because I wanted to help Melina.

She reminded me awfully of myself, back when I was dismissed as "trash" or weak or incompetent. I got that a lot when i was learning summoning magic. People looked down on me because they believed I would never amount to anything. I was so happy when I proved them wrong. Not that I would gloat over them or slap their faces like those usual cultivation protagonists did, but it was just fun to watch their faces when they realized how wrong they were. It never gets old.

"Hu…"

I stifled a yawn and exhaled wearily before stretching myself. The trip aboard the train had been quite the grueling one and now I felt exhausted for some reason. With that in mind, I resolved to get some sleep early after unpacking, especially since I promised to train Melina at 6am tomorrow morning. I sure as h.e.l.l didn't want to disappoint her by oversleeping and missing the training session completely. Now that would be embarra.s.sing.

With that settled, I proceeded to do whatever I needed to. Oh, and I still had a couple of anime episodes to stream and watch before I went to bed too…

*

The next morning, I found Melina fresh and early, already waiting for me in the back garden of her manor. She was dressed in her gym clothing, unlike the white and red dress uniform that she was wearing yesterday. So instead of a skirt, she was wearing black shorts. Good, because I wasn't the kind who enjoyed providing fanservice and all that nonsense.

"Sensei, I'm ready!" she called out, holding her bamboo sword straight up and a.s.suming the usual stance. I could tell from her focused expression, pale complexion and beads of perspiration that she was extremely nervous.

"I can see that," I responded with a light smile. "Do you remember the three forms that I taught you back in the dojo?"

"Yes!" Without waiting for me to ask her to display them, Melina was already moving. She thrust her sword outward and then spun around elegantly, each of her movements crisp and sharp. Each of her strokes was precise and fluid, and though there were a few flaws here and there, it was evident that she had put in a lot of effort into her swordsmans.h.i.+p training.

The sessions we went through back in Jing Tian City were beginning to bear fruit. I was scoffing inwardly at all the detractors who claimed that Melina had no talent for the sword. They were clearly blind and delusional…or they were desperate because they recognized that she had the potential to derail their plans and take over her father's position as head of the Franklin family.

Their plans were doomed at this rate.

"Excellent." Pus.h.i.+ng my gla.s.ses up my nose, I then reached for my own wooden s.h.i.+nai. Pulling it out of the cloth, I then adopted a stance of my own. "All right, let's move to the next step. Shall we spar a little?"

"Much obliged!"

Melina executed one of her strengths – like her mother, she was an excellent mage and I could see her golden mana flare up around her. There was a touch of majesty to it, and I felt as if I was witnessing a lion rising up and roaring proudly to challenge the heavens. She kind of reminded me of Leo, though given her gender she was more akin to a lioness rather than a lion. Still no less dignified, ferocious and majestic, of course.

Gender had nothing to do with strength and honor, after all. A lioness was still a dignified warrior.

As a show of respect for her skills, I also activated my own mana. In contrast to Melina's bright, luminous golden aura, mine was black – as dark as the night, and giving an ominous and treacherous feel. Even so, Melina brightened up, her eyes and mouth open wide in wonder at the intimidating sight.

"Wow!"

She clasped her hands and watched my mana admiringly.

"Sensei's mana is such a cool black! I always thought you were cool back when you were competing in the tournament, but seeing it up close like this makes me respect you even more!"

"Uh, I don't really deserve your respect," I said, feeling embarra.s.sed. "My mana lacks the pride and majesty that yours have…"

And it was no wonder. Melina was from the Franklin household, despite the stupid rumors that her relatives spread about her. Quite clearly they fabricated those false DNA tests while rejecting the authentic ones for no reason other than to further their nefarious agendas. Just from the mana alone I could tell that she was a proud scion of the Franklin household and was undoubtedly the daughter of Fergus Franklin. There was a n.o.ble air to her golden aura, one borne out of the highest ranks of past royalty.

"Um…Sensei, I am aware that Jing Tian Academy doesn't categorize its students into cla.s.ses and roles as such, but…if you were to evaluate yourself using the system of my school – of Saint Teresa Academy – what cla.s.s do you think yours would be?"

"Your school doesn't have the summoner cla.s.s?"

"Uh, maybe? I thought you were of the Samurai cla.s.s. So did Kufa Van Peer Senpai…"

"Give the whole samurai thing a rest already." I groaned. As much as there were stupid hints and lampshading references throughout the last few chapters, this was NOT a.s.sa.s.sin's Pride. Something the creator and some of the characters in the sotry had to get through their head. "I'm not a b.l.o.o.d.y Samurai! And before you ask, I'm not an a.s.sa.s.sin either!"

"You don't fight like a Dragoon either," Melina continued thoughtfully. "Those are mounted warriors, but you don't ride on your Soul Beasts to fight."

"Because I'm not a d.a.m.ned Dragoon! Are all summoners in Saint Teresa Academy Dragoons?"

"Um…" Melina c.o.c.ked her head to the side, seriously considering my query. "That's a good question. I have no idea. I have not heard of any of the cla.s.ses using summoning magic. Even the Samurai cla.s.s…they are well known for their incredible speed, but I have never heard of any Samurai summoning monsters to fight for them."

"That's because I'm NOT a Samurai!" I hollered in exasperation, and then shook my head in resignation. This joke was getting very stale, and I strove to move on from it. Swinging my wooden sword to ease the muscles in my arm, I then took a step forward. "More importantly, let's get back to training."

"Ah, yes, Sensei!"

Realizing that she had strayed from the point of this morning's meeting, Melina quickly retreated and stopped ten steps away from me, holding her sword high up. Unlike her, I relaxedand rested the false blade of my s.h.i.+nai in my hand while rotating my shoulders to warm up. Smiling brightly, I beckoned for her to begin.

"Please attack me however you want." Grinning confidently, I allowed my black mana to flare up around myself aggressively. "Don't worry about hurting me. Even if you think your sword will hit me, don't hold back and strike. Come at me with everything you have, and use all your strength. Otherwise this won't count as sparring."

"I…I understand!" Squeezing the handle of her wooden sword, Melina nodded as she forced herself to stop trembling. Sucking in a deep breath, she then focused her gaze on me.

For a few moments, nothing happened. The both of us just stood there, neither of us moving. There was a rustle as the breeze gently swirled in, a faint cry of a flying bird, and the crisp chirp of a bug nearby.

And then, with a determined yell, Melina narrowed her eyes and launched herself, swinging her sword down upon my position.