"Hey, Matthius! Matthius!" Niel gently shook Matthius's body.
"Wake up, idiot!" Because he was impatient, Louis kicked Matthius's body.
Niel stood up, glaring sharply at Louis. "Be polite to the crown prince."
"The gentle way won't wake him up, you know!"
"And whose fault is it that he ended up like this?"
"This mister is really annoying, huh."
With his vision still dim, Matthius could hear two noisy voices around him. His head hurt even more listening to them. How could ice and fire be friends like this. Ah, please.
"Wake up. I know you're fine." Louis stared fiercely at Matthius, who was blinking his eyes.
Matthius slowly sat up, helped by Niel. He looked around at the darkness that had already fallen. "How long was I gone?" he asked.
"Maybe around... two hours?" Louis answered.
Matthius stared intently at Louis. The innocent-faced boy who had been mentioned several times by the Goddess. Why did they seem to know each other? If it was a god and follower relationship he would understand. Louis might just be a devout follower of the goddess to the point his name was mentioned in conversation.
"How is it?"
"Huh?"
"How did it go? Was it what you wanted?" Matthius repeated his question.
Louis stood up, looking down at Matthius from above. "Why are you asking about what I want? If it's already in line with what you wanted, that's enough."
"So you can speak wisely too, huh." Matthius also stood up.
"Wasn't I always wise?"
Matthius snorted in amusement. "Only a crazy person would think that."
Niel smiled seeing their interaction. Matthius, who closed himself off even to his father, was able to speak casually to someone other than his younger sibling and his mother. Well, though it looked more like oil and water forced together.
"Nice to see him open up to others. I thought he'd be talking to the palace walls forever." Niel muttered, ending with a light chuckle.
"Are you alright, Ancestor Sir?" Matthius heard Niel muttering something.
"Hha... s-something like that."
"Hey, you're listening to me, right!" Louis was furious that Matthius had turned away from him. "So troublesome!"
"Be a little polite to me, dumb kid." Matthius didn't want to lose.
Louis's face twitched in annoyance. "Who are you calling a kid, Your Highness?"
"Who else would it be?"
The two of them sneered at each other. Lightning seemed to appear to give a VS effect that hit hard. Niel could only force a smile watching it. A childish quarrel like this was the first he'd seen. If only his old friend were still alive and here, maybe that person would become the third participant.
"Look, I'm watching their growth for you. I'll tell you later when it's time for me to follow you."
"Are you senile, Sir?" Louis stared at Niel in confusion from below with his innocent face that was somehow extremely cute despite knowing his... annoying behavior.
"Really, Grandpa Sir?" Matthius also moved closer.
Niel clenched his fist in the air. His gentle heart had been touched by the unmatched cuteness of the two. "Do you guys want uncle to treat you to ice cream?"
Louis's face turned gloomy and he said, "Disgusting."
Niel's world collapsed. That cute face didn't match his soul. "Harsh words like that don't suit you." He commented.
"Louis!!"
Louis turned, seeing Sam approaching him. "Brother?"
Sam arrived, breathing heavily. Then, seeing Niel and Matthius standing right in front of him, he gave a greeting, "I offer my greetings to the small light of Luminaria."
"Brother, why did you come here?" asked Louis, making Sam turn toward him.
"You weren't seen anywhere since morning. How could I not worry? I've walked around the academy dozens of times looking for you, you know!" Sam complained.
Louis laughed softly with a curve in his eyes. "I told you not to look for me, right, brother? Did you forget?"
"I can't!" Sam's gaze turned enthusiastic. "How could I go a single day without seeing your sweetness? Are you already bored of being with me?" he asked with his face turning pitiful at the last sentence.
Louis tiptoed, trying to reach Sam's head to pet it. "Yosh, yosh."
"Louis..." He immediately hugged that small body and said, "I could go craazyy...!!"
Louis could only accept Sam's treatment. Then, he looked toward Matthius. "Have you been able to do it?" He slowly released Sam's hands that were clinging spoiledly to his body.
"I'll try."
"Try what?" Sam didn't understand.
"Try, try. Is a ninety-nine point ninety-nine percent chance of destruction worthy of being an experiment?"
"Wasn't it you who said you wanted to teach me? Take responsibility for those words."
Sam looked toward Matthius and Louis alternately. He didn't know whether to consider it a friendship or a quarrel. Niel saw his confusion, moved closer and patted his shoulder lightly while saying, "Let it be. Maybe in the future it will become something normal."
"I see."
"Attack me then, Your Highness."
"Huh?!" Both Niel and Sam were utterly shocked.
"Wa-wait, Louis. You're joking, right?" asked Sam.
"No. I'm serious, brother." Louis's serious face made Sam doubt him even more.
"I don't know how it works." Matthius interjected.
"Just use a basic light spell like Light arrow."
"How does someone who can't use magic know about basic light spells?" asked Niel.
"I'm a smart person who diligently reads books."
"So confident."
"I'm starting."
Everyone turned. Matthius closed his eyes, reciting each unfamiliar verse of the incantation in his head. That mantra was probably given to him by the Goddess. Not much. Just a few words strung together into one simple sentence. Its pronunciation brought out the effect of Rune language circling beautifully accompanied by light. This is what that pure light felt like.
"Light Arrow!"
A sharp light shot quickly toward Louis. So fast it blew away everything in its path. Those watching could only wince imagining what would happen if Louis failed to stop the attack. Let alone imagining him stopping the attack, dodging it seemed impossible.
"Louis!!" Sam couldn't stand it and shouted.
Louis didn't budge. He stared straight at Matthius's attack that would soon land on him. "Hear my command," His eyes behind the cloth opened, "If you know me, show your submission."
Whus...
Those arrows vanished like the evening sun about to be replaced by the night moon. Matthius there was shocked by what he saw. The basic spell that was difficult to control vanished in the blink of an eye, and what shocked him more, it was only with unreadable mouth movements.
"How... is that possible?" Matthius gaped.
"Louis, are you hurt?" Sam, worried, ran toward Louis along with Niel.
"No, brother. Don't worry, brother."
"Thank goodness." Sam breathed in relief.
"How did you do it?" Niel stared suspiciously at Louis.
Louis shrugged, "I don't know." He turned to Matthius who still couldn't believe it. "It seems you're still having trouble controlling it." He guessed, seeing Matthius's slightly ragged breathing.
"Right. It's very hard for me, who has never used magic, to hold back the large surge of mana in my body."
"What a shame. It seems this training won't end here." Louis rubbed his head from exhaustion.
"Please help me."
"U-um..." Sam made all attention turn to him. "Can't we just leave it to Sir Niel who is more experienced? I'm worried..."
Louis patted Sam's shoulder lightly while showing his smile, "Brother doesn't need to worry. Worry if His Highness's strength destroys the world before I'm done looking around."
"No matter how great I am, teaching someone greater than me to control a power that almost caused destruction, that seems like it would just be a suicide bomb for me."
"Then, how can you do it, Louis?" Sam really hoped Louis would answer.
"Maybe because I'm my father and mother's child." Louis answered, not carelessly!
"Alright, then who are your father and mother?"
"I don't even know. My mother herself is reluctant to tell me more about them."
Both fell silent. Matthius stepped forward to interject, but he held back when he remembered the Goddess of Light mentioning him several times in conversation. "You're dumber than me, apparently." He boasted.
"Tch."
"Hey, be polite to His Highness, Louis." Sam chimed in.
"Why be polite to a dumb kid like him? Huh!"
"Dumb?" Matthius's always-flat face twitched in annoyance.
"Enough, Louis..." Sam tried to prevent Louis from exploding. "Come on. I got a letter from father this afternoon. You have to come read it." He forcefully pulled Louis's hand.
"We also have to go meet His Majesty, Ancestor Sir."
"A-ah, right."
Sam pulled Louis, while Matthius left on his own with Niel. The quarrel was resolved. The dark night sky above became a witness. The sea began to calm. A gust of wind blew, sweeping away the emptiness after they left. That place was truly quiet. Only the faint sound of an owl could be heard echoing among the forest thicket.