novelAlta 163 – The Hard-Working Teacher’s Wrath – III
163 – The Hard-Working Teacher’s Wrath – III
163 – The Hard-Working Teacher’s Wrath – III
A dark room lit with only a few candles. Not because there was a lack of resources to light the room. In fact, there was a pile of magic light fixtures laid off to the side that could have been used.
No, the room was purposefully kept illuminated with only candles because someone wanted to set a certain atmosphere.
And not a romantic one.
A long rectangular table in the center of the room. There, three women were gathered, on at the head and the others at the sides.
Roxy kicked her legs up on the table and crossed them, quietly looking at Eris and Sylphy. After a while, she said, "So. It's come to this after all."
A tense silence followed while Roxy waited for a response.
Sylphy was the first to crack, letting out a nervous laugh. "I-It's not really a big deal, is it, Miss Roxy?"
Following Sylphy's lead, Eris quickly nodded and said, "R-Right! It's what Rudy chose!"
Roxy let out a thin smile and slowly nodded. "Yes. I suppose it isn't a big deal. My beloved disciple is intelligent and mature enough to make his own life decisions."
Sylphy let out a more relaxed laugh and said, "Yes. Rudy is-"
*BANG.*
Roxy pulled her legs off the table and then slammed her hand on its surface.
Sylphy flinched and then started fiddling with her hair.
Eris almost fell off her chair, but she quickly caught her balance. After that, she meekly set her hands on her lap and averted her eyes.
Roxy huffed and then leaned back, crossing her arms. "It's one thing if Rudy took the initiative, but from what I heard from my dear disciple..." She glanced at Eris and Sylphy and said, "Draping yourselves all over him like that... Don't you have any shame?"
Sylphy winced. But immediately after, she regained her composure and pointed at Roxy. "What about you? Miss Roxy is Rudy's childhood teacher! You're already an old ha-"
Roxy narrowed her eyes. "Hm?"
Sylphy stammered and quickly corrected herself. "A-A mature woman! Going after Rudy is cradle robbing!"
Roxy raised an eyebrow and then looked at Sylphy up and down. After that, she said, "And you are not? I commend your efforts looking for my dear disciple, reckless though they were. But from your appearance and depth of mana... if we are talking about age, are you not older than me now?"
"Grk." Sylphy blushed and then lowered her gaze.
Another tense silence filled the room.
After a while, Eris cleared her throat and then looked at Roxy and Sylphy. "Um... Isn't it fine? If we all love Rudy, we can share, right?"
Roxy glared at Eris and said, "I do not wish to hear that from the woman who stole the position of Rudy's official fiancee."
Sylphy clicked her tongue at Eris and then nodded in agreement with Roxy. "Right. As if you have the right to talk about that, Miss Arranged Marriage."
Eris winced, but she didn't back down. Instead, she straightened herself with some conviction and said, "W-Well... Since I'm Rudy's official fiancee, I say it's fine! It's not like we're followers of Saint Milis or anything, right? So..." She blushed and then said, "S-So as long as we all love Rudy, i-it's fine to share!"
Sylphy still looked upset, but she let out a sigh. "...I guess it's better than having Rudy hate us..."
Eris rolled her eyes at Sylphy and said, "As if you weren't already on board with sharing, you perverted elf."
Sylphy looked to the side with an innocent expression and said, "I don't know what you're talking about, Eri."
Roxy looked at Sylphy and Eris. After that, she shook her head and muttered, "Lily and Zenny were right about Rudy."
The 'Greyrat Family Manor', as Onii-chan called it, was a big fancy mansion with three floors, a big basement, and a pretty courtyard. Sitting on a hill just outside the city, it was a perfect suburban-esque home with just the right amount of nature and privacy while being close enough to the city life to commute.
...That was something that Stella would never have thought she would be thinking since being reincarnated, but that was just how life was now, apparently.
But anyway, Stella's room was on the first floor and just off to the side from the main hall when you entered the mansion from the front entrance. Like, if you walked in and turned left, there was her room.
It was also pretty big. Large enough to fit a fluffy king-sized mattress, a full-sized study desk, a big walk-in closet, and more than enough room to run around in. At least for Stella.
Well, it would be if not for all of the random things lying on the ground.
Books, various magical trinkets, materials, magic stones, weapons, sheets of paper...
Seeing how messy it was, Stella felt her face warm up a bit. She cleared her throat and then muttered, "I-I'll clean it up later. I'm still unpacking."
Right. After all, she needed to sort through all the gifts they gave her as a hero back at the Great Forest.
That was the reason why it was so messy.
...I-It definitely wasn't because she got bored and started trying to break apart magical items and recreate alchemy or anything.
Stella carefully brushed a path through the mess and then started walking out of her room.
As she did, light particles starting forming beside her before turning into a fluffy white puppy. Leo, the Sacred Beast who got Stella into the whole mess of being hailed as the legendary hero.
The puppy looked up at Stella and then said, "Woof. Are we going on a walk again, Stella? Woof."
Wata rolled his eyes and said, "How many times are you going to keep acting cute, you mongrel? Just talk like a normal spirit."
Rex barked at Wata and then said, "I can talk how I want. Woof. And I'm a real dog, unlike you, fake cat. Woof."
"Fake?!"
Stella groaned and said, "Could you two not?"
Rex immediately stood at attention and said, "Understood! Woof!"
Wata sighed and waved his hand. "Fine, fine. I'll just ignore the mongrel."
Stella walked out of her room and then closed the door behind her. After that, she made her way out of the house and said, "Why is it always you two being loud and following me around anyway? I don't see Fai and Wyn being so annoying."
Wata shrugged and said, "That's because Fai is pretending to be a student with Miko and your big sisters. And as for Wyn..." Wata looked around and then tilted his head. "...I dunno? She's not here right now."
Stella furrowed her brow and then said, "Some sort of guardian spirit Wyn is." Stella huffed and then muttered, "Dropping cryptic hints all the time and then only showing up when it's important..."
Leo looked up at Stella and said, "That's because Lady Wyn has a lot of duties to attend to as well. Woof. Unlike the fake cat, she takes her duties seriously. Woof."
Wata bristled and said, "Hey! My job is to protect Stella!"
"No. Woof. That's my job. ...Woof."
"There it is! You hesitated again!"
"I don't know what you're talking about. Woof."
"Grrrrrr..."
Stella sighed and then checked her magic pouch and wand. After making sure she had all her important equipment, she looked at Wata and Leo and said, "Let's just head out already, you two."