Crimson Phoenix Guardian- Aspiration to the Heavens: Becoming the Supreme Mage 4

Episode 110: Shouldering Pain

*Kanja*

"Kanja, wait up," Cart said, grabbing my arm.

"I'm alright," I said, slowing down as I touched the cold metal handle of one of the library doors. That self-righteous jerk's words weren't going to make me shed any tears. Not this time. Only actions could change how he viewed me. Plus, if anyone knew how futile words were, it was me.

Cart slowly let go of my arm. "You sure?"

"Yeah. I'm going to go see if I can find anyone to might help with the resource issue." Right now, Ayawamat and Adela were the main ones on my list alongside Mrs. Key. Ayawamat couldn't provide cotton, but his spiders could provide us with an alternative, silk. And Adela might've been able to create plants that didn't vanish. I didn't get to ask Ling about it, but given she didn't raise the possibility, it was unlikely she or Adela could do so. But it was worth a shot checking in.

Ling. Never did I expect her to step in for me like that. Maybe I'd misjudged her.

"Why not Shiromaru?"

I blinked. "Why him?"

He smiled. "I overheard him and Alto talking before. It seems Shiromaru does arts and crafts stuff, including sewing. We could also ask Master Eli. He teaches all the home economic classes, including sewing."

Eh? That guy sewing would be quite the sight. He gave off jock vibes. Although, he was a mighty good cook. As for Shiromaru, I wondered who he was. Felt as if I'd heard his name in passing before. So he had to be decently famous around the school.

"Know where we can find him?" I asked.

"I've seen him hanging by the home economics class in his spare time. He's usually working on some project or another."

Wow. He sounded like my type of guy.

"Great, I'll head over there."

He grinned. "I'll lead the way!"

I raised an eyebrow at him. "You aren't going to stay back? You're the group leader."

"True, but I haven't done much leading. Plus, this is a pressing issue! So as leader, I need to look into it!"

Oh? He sure seemed excited. Something told me there was more it than insuring we got readily available, good, and affordable materials.

"Say, is this guy strong?" I asked, smiling as we walked out.

"That's what I heard! He's one of the honor students of Lei's class!" Cart said as his pink eyes shimmered.

"Lei's class?" Then was he stronger than him and the others? Yikes. Having witnessed the power of three honor students of our class and fought two of them myself, I could only begin to imagine how strong those of the senior classes were.

"Yup! Uh, but don't worry! I won't ask him to fight me. Well, not today at least."

I chuckled. His intentions were so transparent. In the few weeks I'd known him, it felt as if he had grown.

"Say, thanks for standing up to me," I said, trailing close behind him as he led me down somewhat crowded halls. 

Some members of other classes were working on their projects in the middle of the hall. Although, why they did, I had no clue. There was plenty of space once all the areas outside of the main building were taken into account. Maybe it was familiarity. Well, not that I would know. I didn't attend a proper school during my junior high years. Nor for the second half of primary school for that matter. But I did attend several with Papa. The food was cheap, so it was a good way to get a lot of bang for our bucks. Even if most of it consisted of candy and fried food. A child like me wasn't going to complain. I loved it. But as I grew older, it did start to lose its novelty.