A new year at Nine Petal Academy means a new crop of students, including a boy who can't control his magic, a thief, an angel, and even a suit of armor? Adela, Lei, and their friends are tasked with welcoming the new class of first years and helping...
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I poked my head out from behind the door and stared at the new boy as he read his book in the ship's library cabin. He had come here as soon as Koukyuu mentioned it. Whatever he was reading seemed fun. What could it have been about?
I got closer to get a better look at the title.
"Tamara, what are you doing?" Mira asked.
I jumped and smiled at her. Oh no, she caught me snooping! Hopefully, Jude hadn't noticed. He was a shy kid, so he might've tried avoiding me if he found me weird.
"Have you seen Jude? Lunch is ready. Koukyuu wanted me to gather everyone."
I nodded and pointed to the table. My eyes widened; Jude was gone! How had I not noticed him?
Mira looked around. "Hmm, I don't see any piles of snow." Snow! It must've absorbed the sound of his footsteps that I couldn't hear them!
I looked behind me. The door was closed, but I doubted he could've gotten past Mira. Plus, there was no sign of snow. My eyes shifted toward the stairs. Could he have gone up? No, there were no piles of snow there either.
My ears twitched at the sound of pages turning underneath the table. I gently tapped Mira's armor and pointed at the floor.
Mira laughed slightly and tip-toed toward the table, but her armor quickly gave her away as the book closed.
I dashed to the other side of the table and held out my arms.
Jude gulped. "H-Hello, Tamara." I'd scared the poor kid.
I gasped and held out my hand toward him. Whenever my big brother did this, I felt at ease.
His light-blue eyes stared at my hand. He gripped his book. "I'm not done reading it."
I shook my head. That wasn't what I wanted! Though, I wouldn't mind reading it when he was done with it.
Mira chuckled. "Jude, Tamara wants to tell you to come with us. Lunch is ready."
"O-oh! Sorry. I got sidetracked by my books."
I leaned forward a bit to get a closer look. It had dragons on the back cover! Was it a book on Wynaga? The interdimensional wars with them? Or maybe it was a fantasy novel!
Jude quickly moved the book away. "I-I'll let you read it o-once I'm done. U-unless it ends up b-being so good that I w-want to reread it."
If he did that, I might actually want to snatch it from him. I loved good books, but they were so difficult to come by these days. My big brother and sister worked hard to find whatever they could whenever they were abroad. Hopefully, they found some during their latest adventure. Not that I would've been able to read them anytime soon. Unless they sent them by mail! Hmm, perhaps I should've asked them to.
"Come on, let's go!" Mira said, waving her arm.
I nodded and followed after her. Jude did as well but stopped and knelt down on one knee and gripped his leg. Oh, no, had he sprained it?
