-Who are you?

The golden haired girl asked, her voice laced with caution as she spoke in a threatening manner as if she was demanding the answer instead probing it out of David, to David this voice was like thunder to his ears, he even imagined himself getting hit but this beauty but he tried to dissuade himself, quickly reasoning that since he didn’t do anything she likely wouldn’t do anything to him, in fact something similar like this happened when he first came to ravennest and met Syndra for the first time, her cold domineering aura was enough to freeze David into a statue, but once he got to know her and talked to her she wasn’t such a difficult person as he imagined, why would it be different this time? Syndra and that girl may be completely different but they were the same when it came to the way they showed their will and pride.

Calming himself significantly through his reasoning, David breathed in a small breath before courageously taking a step forward towards her explaining himself.

-Ahem, my name is David I’m from Murrtail village and I am 15 years old, I’m a new student to this academy and I was told that this is my dorm, sorry for interrupting your training, but I couldn’t help but watch, your skill is incredible I was dazzled the moment I saw you hit that dummy and when you used that last hit I was so astonished that I couldn’t help but come forward and clap my hands for such performance, well you’re really talented is what I want to say haha…

-…

Having finished introducing himself and explaining why he was here, David thought he did quite well, but for some reason instead of receiving a polite reply, the golden haired girl for some reason just stood there frozen watching him with her placid eyes, her quietness and stillness made David feel eerie, he even started to suspect whether or not he accidentally offended her to the point she was petrified making start feeling nervous, he even had half the mind to walk away maybe, but because of the way she was intensely focusing on him David didn’t feel it was right.

This continued for another 10 seconds, feeling now that something was really wrong, David raised his voice trying to ask if she was alright.

His words seemed to have woken her up from her stupor, but the next moment her faced turned a unnatural shade of red as she suddenly held her head down, her long golden hair hiding her face as her previously clenched fists loosened up in a tame manner as she suddenly started to fiddle with them instead.

The fierce and savage aura that was here also completely dissipated, if previously David felt like he stood inside a hot inferno then now he felt like he stood in front of a warm breeze, the sudden change disturbed David, but since now the golden haired girl didn’t look threatening anymore David felt that maybe he had done the right thing.

-Eh…I..ehm…thanks for your praise…you said that you were going to live here…

She asked, slightly raising her head as she momentarily met David’s eye before quickly turning back down, even though the atmosphere got better at his side, over at her side David felt like she was hotter than a oven at full throttle, he felt worried a second thinking that maybe she had gotten a fever from training so long in such loose clothes while sweating, but now even her sweat was starting to evaporate drying her at exponential speeds.

David was momentarily distracted by this display as he quickly figured that this too was a type of spell, not knowing that it was actually more related to feelings and how they reacted with mana, before asking his own question instead.

-Yes, the person who lead me here and showed me a few places, a senior, told me that this was going to be the dorm I was going to stay in from today on, honestly though while it was mostly pleasant, it had been a long day so I am really up for a good night’s rest, how about you? Ah! I forgot I don’t even know your name!

Suddenly mentioning this, the golden haired girl looked like she was surprised too, he even saw her mutter something under her breath which he could only hear bits of pieces of that being “how foolish can you get Val” before she seemed to take a breath calming herself as she straightened her back regaining a sort of dignified aura as she introduced herself in a loud voice reminding one of a soldier instead of a beautiful young girl like her, David thought.

-My name is Valentia Isenberg! I come from the Nohrn as a overseas student I am 16 years old and I am currently a second year not part of any division!

-I…I see..

David, slightly speechless by her loud and official introduction became a bit jittery listening to her, but he quickly calmed down before again coming closer to her, having now gotten more experience in talking with girls like Syndra, David started to think that he should be more assertive at times, being something like a mimosa plant in the past that only reacted to thinks, he learned that taking initiative through Syndra was important too, he wasn’t sure about this girl, but he at least wanted to seem friendly.

Seeing him approach, the girl’s red eyes flashed for a moment as they went wide, not sure what he was about to do, the girl felt confused on whether or not she should step away or stay still, not once in her life was she this indecisive or so rattled in her head, why she became like this even she didn’t know, but the moment she heard honest to sincere praise coming this handsome boy who came from who knows where, her brain had short-circuited as she could only stand there waiting for it to recover.

Valentia had been praised before, but in all those times it had always been from people older then her and mostly just teachers or instructors, never once did she hear any praise from her fellow peers instead she always overheard their jealous insults and gossip behind her back which eventually molded her fiercer personality which came from constant fights with her fellow peers, she always used this fierce personality to bite others whenever they barked at her to protect herself emotionally which always resulted in people stopping their insults, but also forcing others to distance themselves from her in fear, but now for the first time she encountered someone who didn’t do that nor tried to make her feel inferior and she was lost.

Originally when she saw David she thought he was making fun of her by clapping, she was so used to having people make fun of her that she never assumed that he was impressed by her skill and instead immediately assumed he wanted a fight with her, such mindset was not normal obviously and showed how deeply ingrained her distrust of others was.

She was completely different to Syndra in this sense, where Syndra completely ignored those who disliked her and repressed herself whenever she felt rage, Valentia never ignored anyone who she felt was slighting her, both ways of handling situations like these have varying results with only one identical symptom being predisposition of how others thought of them and major insecurity.

But at this point in time David obviously didn’t know these things, if he was that much of a deep thinker he wouldn’t have woman problems just like those he did in his past life, but this in itself was a type of a advantage too.

David now standing a meter away from her raised his hand in a sort of casual manner, his hand raised in a open manner, Valentia looked at it not sure what to take of it for a moment, but she quickly understood, quickly checking if her hand was dirty or not, which was previously covered by sweat but now completely evaporated by her blazing heat as she hastily took off her bandages on her hand.

David waited patiently, with a small smile on his face as he couldn’t help but feel that Valentia was indeed not really as bad as he thought, her fierce nature may be just a product of her surroundings just like Syndra’s.

-Again, my name is David, its nice to meet you senior Valentia.

-Me too, nice to meet you David.

Shaking hands, a peaceful atmosphere enveloped them as both of them lightly smiled at each other, and while it was nice for both of them, it had already gotten late, unknown amount of time had passed too and the sound of wings fluttering in the air could be heard as a owl suddenly swooped down and landed on top of David’s shoulder holding both a card and a key in its beak which was tied to a string.

The sudden arrival of their dorm manager made both of them jump as they hadn’t expected it, David especially since the owl was sitting on his shoulder, he imagined he would feel pain by talons suddenly digging into him, but surprisingly that didn’t happen as even though those looked like sharp talons they didn’t feel sharp at all.

-Ahh! I see that you two are already getting to know each other! How nice is it for fellow dorm mates to make friends so fast! It makes this old soul feel warm, and since you two are introducing yourselves I too remember that I hadn’t introduced myself yet to you Sir David, I am Tobias, Lady Valentia knows me already, but I am the manager of this dorm, I hope in the future that you will call this dorm your home for the foreseeable future, and now here is your room key and your identification card, remember if you lose either of them you will have to pay a replacement fee so keep your eye on them young man.

Tobias the owl hooted for a moment before dropping both items into David’s palm, looking at the card David noticed that it was made out of a weird crystal of sort that glowed blue what the purpose of the card was, was yet unknown to David and while he wanted to ask he simply too tired to really bring himself to ask as he figured that he could ask later, the key on the other hand was like a badge not your usual sort of a key, most likely magic relate meaning his room was most likely magical as well, figures since this was a magic school after all.

-So its true, David is really going to live here…Mister Tobias if I may ask, how did it come to that David ended up in this dorm?

Hearing this sudden question coming from Valentia, David momentarily felt surprised and puzzled at the same time, he wasn’t sure what her question meant, but he kept quiet choosing to look at the owl instead who wasn’t fazed and seemed to have expected the question.

-I expected this question Lady Valentia and not only from you, but I believe that answering it right now would be not right without all the other members of the dorm present, tell you what I we will discuss this once everyone is gathered, I don’t think Sir David here is has any energy left to really hold such a long conversation, instead if you would could you please escort him to his room?

Seemingly not satisfied with his answer, but also understanding from where he was coming from, Valentia sighed before looking back at David who was still slightly lost in this conversation, furthermore having Valentia escort him to his room also bore another question which made him think for a moment…

-Wait, senior Valentia do you perhaps also live here?

Hearing his question, Valentia momentarily looked a bit surprised before answering with a small grin on her face.

-Yes, what else did you think? That I would come all the way down here to train even though the female dorm also has a training ground?

Upon thinking about it David realized that indeed yes, it didn’t make sense otherwise, but still David couldn’t be blamed to think like that as he from the beginning assumed that this dorm was for…

-Hmm yes, maybe telling you a bit about this dorm right now would do you some good, you see Sir David, this dorm was only recently build or at least recent in the sense of our history, previously there were only 2 dorms one for the males and one for the females since the establishment of academy, but because of certain circumstances which happened roughly about 50 years ago the necessity for a third dorm to be build had sprung up, it came with immense sadness and tragedy too and in all honesty I feel that they shouldn’t have built this dorm as I believe that every student no matter who needs to be treated equally its only through equality that we as adults should…

-What he basically wants to say is that this dorm is meant for all the troublemakers or people with issues, the academy usually sends those they don’t like here or have a problem with so that they don’t have to deal with them interacting with other students, as they say out of sight out of trouble.

Being suddenly interrupted the Tobias looked a bit offended by hearing it so directly, he couldn’t do anything but sigh and reaffirm what Valentia just said.

-It is indeed as Lady Valentia says, but remember that there is so much more to it, the current political climate of the academy isn’t as stable as it once was, its only now through headmistress Midgale’s efforts who came to power recently that the academy is showing signs of reverting to its previous state…

-She maybe powerful but she still can’t go against the board of nobles so what’s the point really?

-Lady Valentia!

Tobias roared, making Valentia immediately shut her mouth as she knew that it was enough already, Tobias the owl also didn’t pursue this matter anymore as he simply sighed another forlorn sigh before turning back towards David who still didn’t understand what his purpose to all of this was as he couldn’t imagine he was a troublemaker or really deserved to be put in such dorm.

But then again, maybe its as the Owl said too complicated for him to understand at the moment.

-I am sure that, Sir David is a upstanding individual and kind, no I am convinced of it, the fact that you made our fiery Valentia into a tame kitten without your fists proves as much.

-HEY!

Valentia shouted, her face turning red as small amounts of flames suddenly sparked out of her head, but those flames seemed weak compared to her outburst as she quickly extinguished them before looking down and glanced at David with a bit of shyness and embarrassment on her face before looking away, Valentia didn’t want to show a bad side of her to David who she had just met, David in turn simply laughed it off thinking that she was just embarrassed.

The owl on the other hand looked amused and had a warm look in his eyes as he watched his two students before continuing with an ahem.

-But at the moment, I believe that it is best if Sir David stays here, not only because of the complicated situation the academy currently is in, but also because I believe out of all the dorms Sir Davids fits here the most, and don’t worry, while Lady Valentia may call your dorm mates troublemakers, its exactly the opposite, they are all warm and kind individuals with good hearts only mere victims to circumstance and decisions they had no power over, I truly believe that you will come to like them, much more so since you already conquered the biggest hurdle here which is our flaming pole of joy here.

-…

David again looked at Valentia the moment he heard that, seeing that she wasn’t replying this time and instead looking as if she was enduring it instead while sometimes pointing deadly glares at the owl at his shoulder, David truly felt that if the owl was speaking the truth that maybe indeed it was better for him to stay here, he wasn’t quite in on the idea of rubbing shoulders with a bunch of noble boys, without a doubt he wouldn’t fit in and Valentia here was already very nice in his opinion, but still there was a problem.

-But..but I am a man and she is a woman…wouldn’t there be a problem if a man and a woman lived under the same roof?

-…

-…

As soon as he said that, both Tobias and Valentia momentarily went quiet, and indeed this was a good point too, Valentia in fact looked as if she didn’t even consider this as her face started to turn another shade of red deeper while Tobias merely had a funny looking expression on him before speaking.

-I understand your worries, but I want to ask you first, from what you think right now, do you think Lady Valentia here is a unpleasant person to be around with?

-Eh!

-Hahh!

Both David and Valentia responded the same as they made a surprised shout, for David it was a bit awkward to say something like this in front of the person herself while Valentia thought about the same, but choosing to pretend as if this conversation had nothing to do with her while feeling worried deep down about David would say keeping her head down.

David obviously didn’t have much time to completely build his opinion of Valentia, but he tried to think and considering her gave his honest answer.

-I…I think that senior Valentia is a friendly person, I don’t know her enough to really add anything, but if she doesn’t mind and if the others also don’t mind then staying here won’t be a problem for me, no I’d like to stay, please let me stay!

David bowed his head to Valentia, who upon seeing this expressed a stunned expression as she didn’t expect for David to say something like that, she was sure that he would want to stay in the male dorm instead of living under the same roof with a beast like her, the fact that he didn’t feel disgusted by her appearance alone showed that he was an extremely open minded and big hearted individual, but then again she wasn’t sure if it would stay the same if he met the others.

She wanted the answers now before they went into a direction they couldn’t return from or made thinks unpleasant between them which is why she steeled her heart before putting a tough face and asking him.

-I personally don’t mind, in fact I should be asking you if you don’t mind staying with us, but let me tell you something first, including you and me there are another 3 students in this dorm and 2 teachers, I assure you while I did say that only troublemakers get into this dorm, compared to me those 5 aren’t troublemakers in any shape or form, one of them is even a model student of the academy while the other a extremely skilled potioneer, the 3rdone gets on my nerves at times but she isn’t a bad person in fact she is strong as hell, the two teachers are also extremely supportive and I respect them a lot, I am just telling you this because I think you’re nice, and they are nice too, but it’s just that their appearance…

Her last part sort of stopped in the middle as it seemed a bit too difficult to say for her, the owl didn’t comment on this as it probably judged that it had no right in this conversation, but David immediately understood the moment he heard her, having heard of this and thought about it the entire day, David in this moment made a decision for himself, feeling that pushing the issue aside for later wouldn’t solve anything he spoke with action rather then words as he didn’t want Valentia to hurt herself more with her own words.

He held her hand with both his own, feeling the warmth of her hand and numerous calluses made him feel that this hand had gone through a lot, he felt it was a nice hand full of warmth, but also determined spirit, he maybe from another world and have different aesthetic sense then others but it didn’t mind just because of his different sense of taste that he would nice to these girls just because of this, rather than make this hand his own he wanted to understand this hand more and maybe even support it, this was his decision.

Feeling David suddenly holding her hand, Valentia was shocked as she looked at David not understanding what this was about, but after as soon as she saw his blue eyes and his gentle smile for some reason her felt calm, its as if she could understand what he wanted to say and the warmth she felt from his hands had reached her heart making it beat quicker as feelings unknown to her awakened in a strange manner making her feel all sorts of things.

She knew at this point, that worrying about this issue hadn’t been necessary since the beginning, David was different and she was sure that he would fit in here with them right away.

The owl seeing this scene play out looked incredibly pleased as his eyes showed a deeply gentle light, he felt glad that someone as understanding as David came to them, Tobias couldn’t help but thank the headmistress in his heart as he remembered how she said that David was different from everyone she had ever met and that he would bring stability to the girls in this dorm.

Looking at this scene, Tobias was convinced that she was right, but it was getting late now, and a treasure like this needed to be cared for, the young man still had a long way ahead of him and getting him a proper rest was what he deserved.

Tobias about to call a end to this discussion was just about to say something, but before he could even say anything another voice entered this conversation instead coming from behind them.

-David?

-Heh? Senior Syndra?

Both David and Syndra stood opposite of each other as they looked at one another shocked at seeing each other so soon, David had thought that the night was already over, but it looked like he was wrong.

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If you want to read more, over 10 chapters of this series is on my site https://kakemonoko.wordpress.com/ please check it out if you like.