The Distant Trail Of Ciara Badvia

The Saria Magic Academy
Part 5: Secret Revealed

SUDDEN IDENTITY REVEAL

“Miss Zeeland, list the names of the four major spirits according to Garland’s spirit theory.”

“Y-yes! Um, the fire spirit Sarandia, the water spirit Nadia, the wind spirit Cypha, and the earth spirit Normina.”

“Indeed, that’s exactly correct! You’ve studied well.”

Tyril gave her thanks and sat back down. It wasn’t particularly something to be proud of. This professor praised anyone, no matter what they said.

“The names of Garland’s four major spirits were said to have been taken from Wende’s folklore. Why, you ask, did Garland, a Harshian, draw upon the names of Wende’s fairies? Now, therein lies the rationale behind his development of the spirit theory. However…”

Don… Don… Don… Don…

Just as the professor drew their breath to continue the lecture, the bell rang. Its usual loud sound echoed throughout the city.

“Oh, it’s time already? What a shame. Well, we’ll continue this next class. Don’t forget to review, everyone!”

With a cheerful tone, the professor quickly left the classroom. The thundering of the bell marked the midday hour for the entire capital. Despite what the professor said, their anxious expression belied their itchiness to get to the cafeteria.

Tyril chuckled wryly and slowly tidied up her writing tools.

Sitting in the adjacent seat was Vanilla. She stretched both of her arms upward and smiled at Tyril. “I’m starving. Let’s head to the cafeteria fast!”

When she had checked, Tyril discovered that she and Vanilla were taking the same three classes per week. Two of those were before lunch, meaning they had an opportunity to eat together twice a week.

“Come on, come on! I’m really craving potato potage today!”

Ah, that sounds nice. Maybe I’ll order that too.

Tyril felt like they’d become good friends. Vanilla was more casual now, at the very least, perhaps indicating that they were getting closer. It helped Tyril understand somewhat as to why Misty disliked her initial politeness.

As she was about to stash her things away, a young man suddenly burst into the noisy classroom.

“Hey, is there a Zeeland here?”

Called out of the blue, Tyril froze. So did everyone else in the classroom. But, most of the others wore only an expression of curiosity, the question of “Who’s this guy?” written on their faces. A bit of tension was in the air.

“Uh, is Zeeland not here? Did she leave already?”

“Uhm… I’m Zeeland, yes,” Tyril replied hesitantly.

She considered playing deaf at first, but the young man might be bearing an important message. More importantly, she was quite curious as to who he was.

The young man had short, chestnut-colored, slicked-back hair and a smug smirk on his face. Tyril had no recollection of ever meeting him, though it was possible they briefly got acquainted before.

“Oh, so it’s you! Huh. You… look like an ordinary person,” he remarked.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Vanilla furrowed her brow at the approaching young man, instinctively standing between her friend and the stranger. She found him suspicious, it seemed.

Tyril caught her breath at his next words.

“You’re Ciara Badvia’s daughter, aren’t you? You must be great at magic!”

Suddenly, the room’s temperature dropped sharply.

On her back, her shoulders, her braids—Tyril could feel opportunistic gazes piercing her, and she could hear whispers ways away from people gauging the situation.

Misty’s advice echoed through her head.

“One thing to be cautious about: I think it’s better you don’t tell anyone that you’re Badvia’s daughter… They’re going to make a big deal about you being her daughter.”

One roommate and two of her professors she was studying under. Even if she included Dyne for good measure, the number of people in the academy who would know this fact shouldn’t exceed five.

So why does this stranger in front of me know about it?

With this exposed to the entire classroom, what sort of impact would it have going forward?

Vanilla, who had been shielding her, stood blankly for a moment, her eyes going back and forth between Tyril’s and the man’s faces in her confusion. “H-huh? That’s… what?” were the dumbfounded sounds escaping from her. It gave Tyril a shudder.

What does Vanilla think of me now? How does she feel about me?

Imagining it was frightening. Her thoughts irrationally jumped to fearing losing an important friend and leaving her alone. Baseless, but it haunted her all the same.

“Wait, am I mistaken?” the young man asked again, looking bewildered. He might look like someone incapable of reading the room, but he’d evidently sensed the tension in the air. “You’re Tyril Zeeland, right? The daughter of Badvia? Or did I get duped…?”

“Well, it’s, um… not a lie, but…”

Before Tyril realized it, she was responding even though she was under no obligation to the young man at all. Were Vanilla not next to her, she might have come up with a lie to escape instead.

“W-wow… So it’s true, huh? Amazing. Ciara Badvia’s daughter is actually going to the same school as me! This is incredible! Hey, could you show me some magic or something?”

He began chattering incessantly like a child, oblivious to what he stirred among those who attended the same lecture. He didn’t everyone’s muttering.

“Badvia’s daughter? Her?”

“That’s got to be a joke, right? I know she was the last to finish in the practical class.”

“Yeah, I’ve never seen her use magic properly. Have you?”

The more Tyril turned a deaf ear to their unwanted comments, the more they reached her ears.

Vanilla was the first to notice her friend’s trembling shoulders; her expression changed. She firmly pressed against the young man with her right arm, rejecting him coldly.

“I’m sorry, but we have to go. It doesn’t seem like you have business with us, so could you please step aside?”

“Oh, if there’s something you—”

Vanilla wasn’t about to let him carry on and pushed him away farther, then turned to Tyril. “Let’s go,” she said simply.

That set Tyril free from her paralysis. She hurriedly picked up her bag, stood up, and practically fled the classroom right behind Vanilla.

“Hey, wait a minute. We’re still…”

The door shut, and the young man’s voice faded gradually. An indescribable fear instantly took over Tyril. She instinctively hugged herself with both arms, unable to stop her body from shaking.

Vanilla turned to her again. “Are you okay?”

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MTL/N: Apologies for not updating last week. I ran a fever for most of that time.

For more from the author, visit:

Narou: https://mypage.syosetu.com/1258514/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/inui_takafumi

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Glossary: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_D4XF1ID8j7zti3pG-fqtcd0h0T9aZHK_CXsCrr5gwY/edit?usp=sharing
Revisions: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jS9QeSLaJfl6P_-Gl-zAY0dnKPep3or9fUl-HPukc9g/edit?usp=sharing