Everyday, I Fight!

Chapter 17: First Day

Though the inside was pure luxury, the path towards the school was not. The bumpy, wet road was full of mud and because I was already prepped up in a school uniform, I couldn't get my damn shoes dirty by getting outside.

The coachman was nice and understanding. However, he couldn't dare disobey his master. So I had to use a well practiced tactic on him, teary puppy dog pout, which made him uneasy.

"Very well," the coachman gave into my demands, "how about I carry you on my shoulder and you may sit beside me...?"

"Will you teach me to ride a horse?" I asked, excited.

"No, but... well..." he hesitated, "you know what they say... um... oh yeah! You must see things before handling them."

"Okay." I agreed. After all, anything was better than being bounced up and down inside an enclosed space.

I hopped onto his back and we rode quite a way. Upon reaching a dense forest, just before nightfall, he somehow managed to convince me to get inside the carriage.

It was dark inside and out, but the warmth within all those fluffy pillows and soft seats, made the night fly by quickly. It was the most costly carriage in the kingdom and yet, Charles casually booked it just for me!

I felt sorry for the coachman, so I gave him a woollen shawl I had packed in advance. He seemed touched by this simple clothing and thanked me.

...

Finally, just as the sun was shining up above us, by noon we reached the school gates. I jumped out at the first sight of freedom.

Though he seemed a bit surprised, the coachman smiled at me and asked, "My lady, we have arrived at the gates of the renowned Magic Training School. What are your next orders?"

Slightly startled by his sudden formality, I answered, "Hmm... well, the school doesn't seem to have ended for the day yet... so I'll stay here. Would you mind and take the luggages to the dorm?"

"Very well, as you wish. Have a splendid first day." He bowed politely and was about to leave when I called him back.

"Wa-wait!" I called out, "What's your name? You never told me."

"Oh, well..." he nervously chuckled and answered, "My name is Richard Roule."

"Hmm...?" I noticed something odd, "But don't you have mana? Why not a middle name?"

"It is a very long story, young miss and right now, it seems presumptuous of me to waste your time like this." Richard dodged my question.

I smiled gently and told him that it was okay to tell me whenever and I thanked him for the wonderful carriage ride.

Then I ran towards the school building, hearing the bell, finally waving a goodbye to him and watching the silhouette of the man and his carriage disappear.

"I guess I won't see him again." I thought, merrily skipping and strolling into the giant building that resembled an entire castle.

The more slowly I walked, the more I absorbed the beauty of this school. The outside was no doubt gorgeous, but the insides were simply too wicked to explain!

The walls were stretched high and the roof was shaped like a triangular dome... once or twice, I saw students inside these long tubes swooshing away at high speed from one end to another. They just popped up and then disappeared. The roof above was decorated with sparkles and mana infused butterflies fluttered their wings slowly making their way all over, but never going inside the pipes, despite having the ability to do so.