"Connection successfully established. Can you hear me, Naoto?", Tio asked, appearing on screen. Seeing this girl appear, Vita and Crow became surprised. Even Angelica was in the same boat.
"Loud and clear, Tio. It sure has been a while, hasn't it? Have you settled in properly?", I happily asked.
"Kyuu kyuu~", Tamamo's voice suddenly said around us, only to have a quick blur escape the bed beyond us. Just like that, Tamamo arrived at our side. Her five tails spun around happily seeing Tio on the screen. She sounded extremely happy seeing her.
"It is good to see you again too, Tama.", Tio said, looking at the silver-white fox. "And yes. There was some turbulence since I went back home, but the Foundation accepted me. I am currently living here as a live-in student. I work on projects when I can, and they brought me onto the Orbal Network Project. I'm not alone either. Some boy named Jona Sacred is also learning here."
"...You know I can hear you, Tio!", Another voice echoed in the distance from Tio's side. This voice belonged to that of a boy, and appeared rather annoyed.
I saw Tio turn her head, acting as if she was looking at something.
"Less talking, more typing, Jona. Your grades are on the line here.", Tio said.
"H-Hey! I'm trying, alright? That was totally uncalled for."
Still, Tio remained neutral, and simply turned back to look at me.
"You can ignore him, Naoto.", Tio said, acting nonchalant. Ouch. Just her cold stare alone told me all I needed to know.
Right. Now that I think about it, the Epstein Foundation has special classes to nurture like-minded geniuses to find their own paths, mostly aligned with orbal engineering. Since I meddled with Tio's affairs earlier than what should have taken place, she arrived at the Epstein Foundation a couple years ahead of time. In response, she encountered Jona Sacred now, instead of later. He's more of a side character, but he helps the SSS plenty later on with tech troubles, often working alongside Tio when she does her thing.
Looking back at me, I saw Tio reveal a rare smile. Tio remains deadpan most of the time as a result of her emotions being suppressed by Gnosis. Seeing Tio do this, we heard another grunt from Jona.
"Hmph, so you do actually know how to smile. This is the guy you prefer over me?", Jona asked.
Tio's eyes quickly turned icy-cold the moment Jona said that.
"SHUT. IT.", Tio stated. Even I could feel the coldness Tio released, even though that wasn't physically possible. "All it takes is one word to Professor Schmidt, and you're gone."
The boy then appeared on screen next to her, only to reveal a speckled, blonde-haired boy who was wearing glasses. Panic now appeared on his face.
"Y-You wouldn't do that, would you Tio? I'm like, the only friend you have here!", Jona said, panicking.
"Try me.", Tio said, still remaining cold. "Or did you forget already who it is you are in the presence of?"
"Eh?", Jona replied, stunned for a moment before he looked on screen, and got a good look at us. He then frowned. "Now that you've mentioned it, this place is WAYYY to fancy for my liking. It almost makes me want to---!?"
Jona couldn't even finish speaking before we all heard a loud thwack. Jona felt something hard strike his head, and felt some pain afterward. He frowned.
"H-Hey! What was that for?", Jona complained. A visible bruise soon appeared on his head. I kept my laughter to myself, but it was quite funny seeing Tio do this.
"You reap what you sow, Jona.", Tio simply said. To our surprise, we actually heard a third voice speak out to us. A voice I wasn't expecting to hear. It sounded quite aged.
"Disciple candidate, I needn't remind you that we are in the middle of performing a test now, right? I do hope you are using those fingers of yours to retrieve my data. You can fool around with your classmate on your own time.", The voice said, appearing arrogant.
It was then we saw the third figure appear on screen, which surprised all of us.
"You are...", I began to say, only to see an aged man whose hair was already white appear on the screen. He was old enough to be Grandmother's age. Perhaps even older? He even had a monocle worn over one of his eyes.
"Well, curiosity did get the better of me, wondering who exactly it was that my disciple candidate would reach out to while performing this connection test. I did not think it would involve Liberl's royalty. Let alone its two brats.", The man said, and clicked his tongue. "I swear, that damned Russell better not be with you all."
Still, even after hearing that, Kloe remained polite, and smiled.
"Fortunately, Professor Russell is not present here at the moment. It is just us, as you can see. It is quite the honor to meet one of Epstein's three famous disciples. This test must be quite important if it is being personally monitored by you.", Kloe answered.
"At least one of you knows how to keep a cool head. My disciple candidate is the one doing most of the work while this straggler here is picking up bits and pieces. I am here merely because the process is piquing my interest. I will be taking my leave shortly, but nonetheless it is a pleasure to get acquainted with you, Your Highness.", The aged man said.
"Likewise. It is an honor to meet you as well. You must be Professor Schmidt, whose expertise is known for its military advancements, and combat orbments. I do have something interesting I want to propose to you at a later date, and we can go over that later.", I said, also staying polite.
This man is none other than Professor Schmidt! I saw him acknowledge my words with a nod.
"You must be the Crown Prince. A pleasure, Your Highness. Still, I do hate owing favors. Sending my disciple candidate here to the Foundation a couple years ago is a blessing. She has been doing quite well as of late. It does sound like you might require my profile with whatever you require assistance of. Just be mindful that it will be only one favor.", Professor Schmidt responded, keeping his voice calm and collected.
Seriously? He actually agreed?
This is THE Professor Schmidt we're talking about here. You know, the one, which I apologize for a lack of better term for, is a gigantic pompous ass. He's more stuck up than higher-end nobles tend to be, all because he cares about the results of his work. Unlike others, though, Professor Schmidt has his wits to make ends meet. His research is thorough, and is widely applicable to all forms of military. He gave birth to the Panzer Soldats later on, thanks to collaborating with one of his own disciples, Franz Reinford.
I could go on all day about this, but I won't. Let alone meeting this guy like this, I didn't think I'd get a favor from him so easily!
"Thank you very much, Professor Schmidt.", I replied, staying respectful. "While our test may be short, it will be an honor collaborating with you."
"Hmph. The old man here only does what he wants to do.", Jona said, scoffing.
"True. The Professor can be quite lofty at times, but he did prove his point. We are simply here to collect data and ensure the connection stays on its course of action during our stay here in Crossbell. As we've been chatting, it's been stable. A good sign."
"So you really are in Crossbell doing this performance test.", I replied, smiling. Now that I think about it, the video feed is giving off a sense of familiarity, even though I haven't been in the room yet. It's their primary location where the entire Orbal Network is stored. You get to enter this room on several occasions while playing as the SSS. "Still, I did not think you would be acquainted with Professor Schmidt already.
Perhaps it was because of me sending Tio to the Epstein Foundation earlier than what should have happened?
I saw Tio nod her head.
"As I have said, a lot has happened since then. I am grateful for everything you have done for me.", Tio said, revealing a rare smile this time. Jona saw this, and shuddered.
"That's like, so gross. Can you stop doing that? The way you smile is creeping me out, Tio.", Jona retorted.
Hearing that, Tio's expression quickly returned to what it used to be, and sent Jona a deadpan stare. Seeing this, Jona felt Tio's intent. Tio didn't even have to say anything. Just this stare alone caused Jona to shut his mouth. And seeing him do this earned another round of laughter from us. And it wasn't just Professor Schmidt. Tio is already acquainted with Jona too. Maybe I should do a little bit of meddling to let Jona actually finish his studies here. But if I do that, he may not turn into his hacker ego, so I'm not sure if I should do that. We'll see.
As for Crow and Vita, the two enjoyed their time here while watching something they normally wouldn't have an opportunity to watch as a normal passerby. Crow's just happy-go-lucky as he is in the games, not giving two shits about what would happen from this. I have a feeling I will get along quite well with him once I attend Thors in the future. I plan to enroll in the same class he will be in, together with Angelica, a girl named Towa Herschel, and a guy named George Nome.
Vita especially. She came to learn of Emma's resolution. That alone brought another round of surprise. Emma and Celine are back in Eryn Village now as far as I'm aware to train their magic further. Right now, it was just Vita moving around Western Zemuria. She is now assisting Crow to train for the Azure Trials. When the time comes, Emma will still be my guide.
Sadly, all fun must come to an end, as the saying goes. The connection test provided Professor Schmidt with excellent data that will keep him busy for the time being. With him owing a favor too, I already have an inkling of what I want to request from him. It'll be a secret~
With all of that said, we soon ended the call with Tio after having a successful run of the Orbal Network. I'm sure they'll learn well from this, and I'm happy that I could assist them. To their own endeavors. I'm not sure when the next time will be when I meet Tio.
With Vita learning about Emma, she decided to take a rain check on the live performance she wanted to do here. Instead, she took Crow and departed Grancel Castle, wanting to have some fun in the city. I don't blame her. Perhaps on another day, we'll have that concert.
It soon became nighttime. We made sure Crow and Vita got fed with a hearty meal first before they wandered into the city. It was just Angelica, Kloe and I, until we heard a sound coming from the veranda.
Why am I getting a sense of deja vu all of a sudden?