The University of Magical Research and Affairs — Part 3
With my conversation with the professor out of the way, I headed out of the room and waved at Leila, who had been waiting for me just outside the door.
“Are the two of you done talking, My Lord?”
“Yup, thanks for waiting. Where’s Emyu?”
The younger sheep-horned, who I could have sworn was with her just a second ago, had vanished.
“It’s time for class, so she had to go. It may not seem like it with how much time she’s spent with us, but she has many lessons to attend, and she’s been neglecting them in favour of spending more time with everyone.”
“Oh yeah… that reminds me. I should probably have the kids go to school somewhere too, huh?”
Leila was pretty much in charge of their studies, but even with the sheep’s outstanding knowledge base, there were limits to how much she could teach them. It was going to be important for them to experience things for themselves, and an academy of some sort seemed like pretty much the perfect environment to do exactly that.
Having them stay at the school’s dorm also sounded like a fairly decent idea, but I wasn’t without my concerns, even if all I needed to do was give each a warp crystal for whatever emergencies may happen to arise. Maybe I should just like, turn wherever they end up going into part of the dungeon? All I gotta do then is set up a gate and boom, they can come home whenever they want. Makes sense, right? I mean, this world is hella harsh. You gotta give the kids a security net. I’m totally not going overboard at all right? Right? Yeah, definitely not. I’m innocent tyvm.
“Emyu is currently attending primary school,” said Leila. “With how old Illuna is, it may be worth another two years and then sending them off for secondary education.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. But hmmm… where should I have them go? I could send them to that one human city that’s right nearby, but maybe one in the demon realm might be better? Prejudice isn’t something that just ups and vanishes, even with all that international relations stuff we have going on.”
“That certainly does seem like it would be better for them. Your ties with the demon realm’s king should also ensure that you’ll be able to get them enrolled without any issues. He’ll likely volunteer his help. Baachsburg’s facilities are the best for learning there are. It may be a little further away, but I’d definitely recommend having them come here.”
Hmmm… I guess I better talk to him again before I head home. Especially with that whole thing with Lefi and whatnot. You know, I’ve never really thought about it until now, but this whole knowing Phynar thing has really been a huge plus, especially since his species is long-lived. He’s got another few hundred years at least.
Actually, I’ve got a whole slew of connections, now that I think about it. Pretty much everyone I know is hella important or good at what they do. So this is the power of networking, huh? I should probably at least try to keep my ties strong.
“Man… I sure am lucky with all these connections.”
“It’s because of your virtuous nature, My Lord,” she said, with a giggle.
“Yeah, Iunno about that one. I mean, I’ll take the compliment, but just saying, I’m pretty much just a selfish prick.”
“I can’t remember ever feeling like I was sidelined because you were acting selfishly,” she said. “And we all know just much you care for us.”
“I mean, I try to make myself look like a decent adult, at least, but I’m pretty much just faking it. I know how much of a piece of shit I am deep down, and that it’s really all just luck. I mean, you and Lyuu, we pretty much just met entirely coincidentally.”
My life so far’s been blessed with oodles and oodles of luck. There’s no doubting that, especially with how messed up this world is.
“I’m glad I met everyone. And that means you too. You’re pretty much irreplaceable.”
The demon giggled. “Was that meant to be an attempt at flirting?”
“Uhhh… maybe?”
It wasn’t my original intent, but I decided to go along with it after recalling the professor’s request.
“Is something the matter, My Lord?” she asked, with a bit of a skeptical gaze.
“Well ummm… you know… maybe kinda?”
I didn’t give much of an explanation, but the smile on her face revealed that she had seen right through everything.
“Was it something the professor said?”
“Man… I don’t know what it is, but I can never seem to lie to you girls. Honestly? Yeah. She told me to hit on you and stuff, because she was worried you were going to stay single for the rest of your life.”
“She always has been a bit of a meddler.” The sheep shook her head. “I’m awfully sorry, My Lord. She really isn’t the most sensitive person out there, and I know how awful the timing is, with Lefi only announcing her pregnancy last night.”
“Alright, you know what? I’ve made up my mind. You’re not allowed to call me ‘My Lord’ anymore.”
One short surprised blink later, the sheep-horned demon gave me the most beautiful smile.
“Your wish is my command,” she said, her voice soft and gentle. “What should I call you from now on?”
“Honestly, I really don’t care. You can call me Yuki, Master, whatever. It’s up to you. ‘My Lord’ is the only thing off the table.”
“Calling you by just your name seems a little too embarrassing… but I’ll do what I can.”
“Sure.”
“Well, I’m glad to have been of service, Yuki.”
“Yeaaahh… that’s a lot more embarrassing than I thought it’d be.”
Leila giggled. “I can already feel my cheeks reddening.”
We exchanged a look and smiled.
Frankly, I had no idea if, when, or how I was planning on following up on the professor’s request.
At the very least, I was going to have to talk to the girls about it.
But frankly, Leila had already been family for a long, long time.
And I had every intention of seeing her wishes through.
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