Thursday finally arrived. The day Shin will go back to school.
Ren woke up and grabbed his bell to wake Shin up. But when he went to his room, surprisingly, he was already up seemed have just finished taking a bath.
"You're late" said Shin
"...."
'It's not that I'm late! You're just too earlyy'
Breakfast went as usual, although Shirlette kept nagging for Shin to be more careful
"And don't forge-"
"-Ah Mom look at the time I'll be late byee"
Shin quickly got up, grabbed his bag and signaled for me to follow
'well that's new'
"Hurry up! Aria's gonna be early today" Shen said looking annoyed
'okay nevermind he's the same old Shin'
Seeing Aria outside the door, Shin quickly changed to his "kind and caring" side.
If he wasn't a noble he'd definitely have the talent to be an actor.
"Hi Aria! Did you wait long?"
Aria smiled
"I just got here. But are you sure it's okay for you? You even had to wake up early to accompany me"
"I just wanna tag along. I've been stuck here for days and I don't wanna go back with just my boring servant"
Ren : ".........."
You ungrateful bastard! I even set up a date for you!
Ren kept silent all the way to Freya with a polker face.
'you bastard just you wait, I'll get my revenge'
But in his mind he was cursing Shin.
During the classes, there wasn't anything interesting.
Because Ren's mana was low, even if he learned all the spells and controlling aura, he wouldn't be able to use it!
He definitely will go to a magic bookstore today no matter what.
But obviously, he doesn't have the original Ren's memories. And he hasn't gotten a chance yet to explore. So all he could do was ask someone.
Shin obviously won't answer me. He'll get annoyed if I get too close to Aria. Lero's back at the household....
Just as he was about to enter a room to deliver Shin's lunch, someone passed by him.
"-Cielo" Ren abruptly calls out
"-hm? If it isn't Ren, how are you?"
"...do you know if there's any magic bookstores here?"
"Well yes, but there's a library here if you want to study"
"I know, but I was just wondering"
"Hm...well there's one that's quite close, but it's in the opposite direction of when you go back to the Lotriare Household."
"That's fine"
Cielo and Ren got acquainted because of the tour. The reason why he didn't go to the library first was because most things related to mana aside from its history, were consumable books. Cielo gave some quick instructions and went on his way. Ren thanked him and went in to deliver Shin's lunch.
He was startled by Shin in front of the door staring at him.
Shin noticed Ren's expression and thought
'he's getting worse at maintaining his indifferent face'
Ren quickly recovered and gave him his lunch.
"Forgive me for the delay Young master"
Shin grabbed his lunch and turned around but he turned back to face Ren again.
".... you're going to a bookstore?"
"Yes Young master, I have some matters to attend to there. So you can go back without me"
"Do you even know how to find what you need?"
"...I can just ask"
"Where's the bookstore you're going to?"
"Someone told me it's around here. But it's in the opposite direction in going back, Young Master"
"...."
'Why's he asking so many questions? I'm boring aren't I? bastard' Ren thought
"You'll accompany me to another bookstore. It just so happens that I need more books for reference"
"Eh? Ah, yes Young master, this servant will accompany you"
In truth, Shin didn't need more books. He just thought his servant would become swindled by other people. He wasn't worried about the servant. It's not like that.
â¢â¢â¢â¢
Lessons were finally over and if was time to accompany Shin to the bookstore
During the ride, both of them were silent.
'so awkward' Ren thought to himself
As they got off the carriage, Ren looked at the bookstore in delight
It gave off a casual and comfortable kind of vibe
"Hurry up, and carry the books I pick out" Shin said
"Yes, young master"
When they entered, a girl wearing the Freya's servant uniform was there to welcome them
"Sh-shin? Welcome, please feel free to take a look here...."
The girl said shyly
Shin smiled and thanked her
Books, shy girl... glasses?
Why does this seem so familiar....
Ah! Harem girl no. 4? But wasn't he supposed to see No. 3 before her?
Sherry Birnette, a servant who was bullied by others in the past. When things got out of hand, Shin was luckily there and helped drown out the rumours.
'Should I set up a date for them? I don't plan on saving No. 3 and if I don't help Sherry, what sort of harem matchmaker would I be? only one harem member would be left!'
As Ren thought about this, Shin decided to go to a section in the far back and seemingly picked out some books at random and shoved them in Ren's hands.
This made Ren snap out of his daze
"Don't drop them"
"Yes, young master"
Shin walked to some other sections while Ren followed
"....are you not buying anything?"
Shin asked
"Ah, yes but I don't really know where to start..."
"What type of book do you even need? Hurry up, I want to go home"
"It's a book on increasing mana"
"Is this related to that time?"
That time.
When Ren used Sylvie's Brooch to help Shin escape
"....yes"
It's better to just say part of the truth rather than denying it, or else he'll be more suspicious.
Shin didn't say anything else and moved to another section again. Ren followed him while carrying the books Shin had stacked in his hands.
Looking at the section, there were quite a few books about mana. Some were extremely thick, while others were thin.
"Judging from last time, your mana's so poor that you pass out helplessly"
'.... that's cause I had to save you!'
Shin looked at the books for a second and picked out a thin book and put it in his stack.
He gestured for Ren to follow him to the counter.
While the girl was putting the books inside a bag, Shin told her to put one book in a separate one.
It happened so fast that Ren didn't have time to say anything on who should pay the book he needed.
When they went back to the carriage, all Shin told him was
"Keep it, don't bother paying. You'd have nothing left if you did"
'.....so arrogant. But, to give him the benefit of the doubt, he did help me. And it was the truth, this book was probably expensive considering it's a consumable type'
When they got back home, they did their usual routine as always.
After the family had just finished dinner, Ren thanked Shin once again.
Although Shin did not say anything, Ren was satisfied and went off to his room and slept to recover some energy
'tomorrow's their date, but I'm worried about the next scene. Better get some sleep'