[Eon's POV: ]
"Miss! Miss! Did you really see them?! Is that really a place?!"
"Ma'am! What did Master Neron exactly look like?! Please can you explain in detail!?"
"Lady Adela! Were the walls really made of gold and silver there?! What about the coffins?!"
"Miss, can we go there?! How were you able to go there?!"
"Is it true that the tomb is inside some cave that was previously infested with monsters and Lady Arina defeated it all by herself?!"
"Ma'am!!! Did you meet Lady Reinelle?! How did she look? What did she wear? Was she there~?!"
"Madam! Is the rumor about the empire keeping that place highly confidential true or can people still visit it?!"
"Miss! Is it true that there are many wild energy beasts in the forests of the southern part of the empire?!"
"How were you able to go there when it is on empire's territory ma'am!? Is it that only those invited by the empire or the Atraxia family can go in there!"
"Ma'am! Have you met Master Axion?! Was he there?!"
"Haaa…"
[[ "Why are our names coming up?" ]]
[[ "Because we are famous dear. Especially when it comes to [Epic Of Burning Hearts]. Whenever that name is spoken, my name is spoken. And whenever my name comes up, your name undoubtedly follows." ]]
[[ "That's… kind of romantic. I like it~!" ]]
[[ "I like that too. But not the way our names are coming up right now. I don't like it, and for some reason, I believe ma'am knows who we are." ]]
[[ "What? Did headmaster-" ]]
[[ "No. I think she figured it out on her own. Did you forget? She has special eyes that can see the spiritual aura of a creature. Something similar to the eyes that could see through one's Soul like that evil spirit." ]]
[[ "So she already knows? Damn… is that the reason she brought up the tomb?" ]]
[[ "No, the tomb was sure to come up anyway. She is one of the major fans of the book and though I did think it was a possibility, I didn't think she would actually just follow her heart and 'indirectly' interact with us." ]]
[[ "So we are her targets?" ]]
Rein had a face that screamed she didn't like where this was going but, she didn't have to worry about this mess as much as me.
[[ "I don't know about you but I think I'm definitely going to be a target in her class. At least until I show clear displeasure towards her ways." ]]
[[ "which you won't ever do because you are too good." ]]
She gave me a pitiful look out of nowhere that was also feeling helpless in this matter.
[[ "Well, at least until things get too out of hand. It's fine if it is just a little. Or, I have you if things get weird. Not that they will, I believe." ]]
"Haaa… hopefully. But I will do it if that actually happens."
"I'm always happy I have you."
She grabbed my hand and we looked ahead at our teacher who was still quietly looking at the children as they bombarded her with those questions.
From her perspective, they seemed just like little children overexcited over something commonly exciting.
But then there were also those who didn't know what was happening and why were they acting like that.
From their eyes, this behavior of theirs was inappropriate and somewhat bad but from the teacher's perspective, though she might not show it, she was definitely pitying them.
They were missing out on a really great thing but now that she had mentioned this, it was only natural that they would ask around and check out that novel, read it, and become one of the countless fans.
'Which... would ultimately be helpful to me as I wanted as many people to read it as possible. It was something everyone should read anyway.'
But this strange feeling I have right now that soon something is going to happen is unsettling.
"Alright, alright everyone. We don't have that long of a time that I would be able to answer every one of your questions.
Let's do this.
Someone will create a private chat group on the academy's forums and you can ask your questions there.
I will try to answer everyone if possible but only one question per person so choose what question you want to ask, and depending on the importance of the question, the quality of my question will vary.
Okay so, who will be the volunteer? I want someone who knows how the interface works and has experience with L-hexa coding."
L-hexa was one of the common programming languages here but it was one of the difficult ones and still, there were a few hands raised right now.
"Wow. It's amazing you young ones already know something that even I am not that good at. Alright then, who is sure they will be able to design it similar to the Chatbox on Maginet?"
Now that was a difficult task as the Chatbox thing she was talking about was something made of some of the highly advanced multicomplex-planetary programming languages.
But they just had to make it similar looking using that simple language. It was an easy task if you had played around on maginet, played the complex games, and tried your hand at creating one of your own.
It was pretty easy, but still, many hands went down, and of those who were still standing, I can tell only three to six of them were fully confident in their abilities.
"Alright then, you, you, and you, mister house captain."
She pointed at three students and the others slowly took down their hands with a sad expression.
"Don't be discouraged like that you all. There will be another chance to do something similar in my class.
You see, I'm not as talented as you all so I will need a lot of your help during our time this year."
She smiled at others and though it seemed convincing to them, I knew that was a pretty classic technique.
But that actually wasn't necessary.
"You three should work together and tell me and the others when it is done, alright?"
She only said that much, and she said them to work together so there was no leader in this group of three. Not at least officially. And that was a statement aimed at Alpha.
And he understood that so as they rested their hands, he respectfully nodded at her and the atmosphere of the class went back to normal once more.
"Haaa… alright, Luke. You can start now."
And so, we went back to the chat where she had asked us about the uniqueness of our culture.
...
[[ "What's unique in our culture darling?" ]]
Rein asked as the class was going on and now, her head was again on the bench and she was looking at me with a mischievous smile.
She knew more than enough about many cultures on three continents as she had lived among different groups of people throughout her life, so her question wasn't actually about the culture.
Those smiling eyes meant something entirely different and she wanted to hear a unique answer that only I could give her.
And my answer was a private thing so-
"Alright. As for the next one, how about that young boy at the very back? Mister vice-captain?"
-Swaaash.
[[ Master. ]]
I was almost going to answer her but then I heard Celes's voice and from the sounds from the moment before, I knew the one she asked this question was none other than me.
[[ "But you didn't even raise your hand…?" ]]
Rein looked at me with surprise and everyone was looking back at me as I stood up while looking at our pretty teacher.
[[ "That's what you call a surprise question." ]]
[[ "Tsk." ]]
I knew she wanted to curse but she held back. In a way, she also respected this teacher of ours.
"So young one. Tell us about your unique culture."
She smiled at us, and now that I was already in this situation where the class was looking at us with eyes that though didn't like us for many reasons, was looking forward to what kind of answer I would give.
For some, this was more gossip material, for others this was good information, while for some like our teacher, they genuinely just wanted to hear what I would say.
It was… bad. But this question was something Uriel had just asked a moment before and I was going to answer her anyway, so…
"I'm Lucifer, and I speaking for both of us, that's alright, right ma'am?"
I started with a question and she simply just nodded a little, telling me to speak as I want.
"Alright so…"
So, I started the little story of my culture, our culture, our small traditions, and something that I, something that we were part of.
"Both of us are primarily from the Roxana empire.
I was born in the central part of a southeastern border town while she was born in the south, exactly near the estate of the Atraxia.
But she left the place and her family when she was very young and went around places while I stayed with my family in that town, and I grew up healthily.
Truthfully, I only got to know more about the cultures and the society when we came to the capital as before that, I had mostly only stayed in our home there.
So, the most I know about the unique culture of the capital would be the way people are so used to the free way of living, how things are cheerful in times of festival, how everyone helps each other, and how the nobles willingly or unwillingly support the common people over there.
The winter festival is some of the most exciting times of the year that we both love, and the important events like the birthdays of everyone from the imperial family turn out to be a joyous day for every citizen of the capital.
Still, the most unique aspect of the culture that I am used to, that we are used to, would be the birthdays, celebrations, and… fireworks."
Taking a brief pause, I looked around at my classmates that were looking at me with surprised eyes, at the teacher that was smiling warmly at me with all-knowing eyes, and at my partner sitting beside me that had a unique happy look that only a few of us knew could recognize.
"We, both our families and people around us, place great importance on birthdays and consider them one of the most important events in one's life.
And we have our own little way of celebrating birthdays, giving gifts, and good wishes to each other.
And we improve it every year too. My siblings, me, this pretty lady of mine. We do our best to celebrate the day that marks the finishing of a cycle, of a year that gave us new knowledge and experiences, and as fireworks hold some certain special meaning to some of our family members, we also do that, though, only on a personal scale.
Our culture… truthfully, is limited to our family and close ones even though we have experienced many other cities, kingdoms, places, groups, and societies.
It is enclosed, personal, and special, and not just anyone can be a part of it. But those who do actually are part of it, part of us and our little family, these little things are something special all of them too. Very special, actually."
I bowed down a little, looked around at my shocked classmates, and then looked at my fiancee that gave me a look that meant whatever I said just now, she loved it.
And she loved it so much that… she couldn't help but kiss me before these hundreds of students watching the two of us.