463 Chapter 463: Transfer Studen (2/2)

”Oh, and my dad has promised to pay you. Obviously we can't have you teaching me for free. So if you can submit the details of your bank account, Dad will deposit your pay every month.” He held up his smartphone and showed me an impressive figure, but I was still too distraught over the earlier revelation to swoon over the huge sum of money that the Stuart family was promising me in return for teaching their son. ”Let me know if it's not enough.”

”Hell, no! It's more than enough!” I was still trying to digest everything that Adrian was telling me, and in any case I wasn't a greedy fellow, so I wasn't going to demand a king's ransom or whatever. ”But seriously? You're staying in Melina's manor?”

”Yeah, I already said that, didn't I? You can ask her later if you don't believe me. Or at least the maids…what were their name?”

”Amelia,” I replied without thinking.

”Yeah, that's right! Amelia! You can call her and confirm with her right now if you don't believe me.” Adrian was turning away. ”For now, I need to go to the office to complete my registration. Do you know where it is?”

I sighed, still unable to make sense of what was happening. ”I'll take you there myself.”

*

That night, when we returned to Melina's home, the maids were throwing a party. They had prepared a huge buffet of food, laid across several tables. There were soups, pasta, chicken wings, and even Asian food such as dumplings (pot stickers), fried noodles and rice. They were bustling about the dining table in delight, bringing newly washed plates and utensils.

”Everyone! Cheers!” Melina was raising her glass of orange juice. ”Let us officially kick off the start of the welcoming party for both Sensei and Adrian!”

”Cheers!” the servants shouted, raising their glasses of whatever drinks they had. Depending on individual preferences, it ranged from wine to juice to tea. I had settled for green tea because I couldn't find any mango juice, and I wasn't very fond of orange juice. It was too sour for me. I had a sweet tooth, and I had an obsession for mango. It was my favorite.

”Thank you!” Adrian was delighted as he drank soda. Like me, he wanted mango juice, but was denied his favorite beverage. It was one of the several things we had in common. However, unlike me, Adrian wasn't fond of tea and preferred soda. Those drinks were too gassy for me, so I usually refrained from drinking those.

”At least I won't be alone in training now!” Melina seemed cheerful, not at all put off by the fact that she had an unexpected guest who would be staying with her over the next couple of years. It helped that they were similar in age. ”Prepare for some intense sparring!”

”Ha ha, I look forward to that!” Adrian then turned to me. ”We look forward to your guidance, Sensei!”

”Uh…right.” It felt weird, hearing Adrian call me that. I was used to being addressed like an older brother, rather than a teacher. ”I'll do my best.”

”Lady Melina has been looking forward to this welcome party for the entire week,” Amelia informed me as she sidled over, a bunch of seafood and pasta on her plate. She stuck a fork into the strands of pasta, twirled it, and then put it into her mouth. After chewing and swallowing, she smiled, half in satisfaction from the delicious food. ”She helped out in the preparations, you know?”

She then gestured toward one of the tables, which was a plastic table hidden underneath a velvet cloth.

”Our lady personally chose that tablecloth, you know? For the welcome party. Even though you weren't due for a week or so.”

”I see. I appreciate it.” The design of the tablecloth honestly made no difference to me, but it was the thought that counted. I was happy with Melina's sentiment – that was more than enough. Chuckling, I glanced at the blond princess. ”I'm glad she's here and in a good mood, though. I was half expecting her to just send her greetings at the start of the party before returning to her room and locking herself inside.”

”Huh?!” Melina gaped at me in astonishment. ”Why would I do that?!”

”Well, I mean…I thought you would be all depressed, after being made a fool of during practical training and being mocked by your friends…uh, classmates. Because they obviously can't be considered your friends.”

”Sensei, are you perhaps mixing me up with a character from a light novel series that has an anime adaptation? You're not an assassin who's trying to ensure that I'm the legitimate daughter of my father, the Duke of the Franklin family, and assigned to terminate me if you conclude that I'm not! You're not that edgy! You're more Deadpool than Kufa Vampir!”

”He does that a lot,” Adrian informed Melina before stuffing half of a chicken wing into his mouth. He brightened up as he chewed. ”Oh! This is good!”

”Of course. Amelia made it herself.” Melina puffed her chest out proudly. I didn't know why she was so smug about something that someone else cooked. Then she turned to me. ”And I promise I won't run out of the house in the middle of the night, go cry in some park, and then get attacked by a bunch of lycanthrope.”

”Okay, you've lost me there,” I admitted. Adrian leaned over and whispered into my ear.

”That's what happened in the anime…and the original light novel. After the welcome party.”

Yeah, that was right. I completely forgot about that. With Melina behaving so differently from the story we were supposed to be parodying, I couldn't remember what exactly happened in the original light novel, even though I had just watched the anime a couple of months ago. And to those who were asking, yeah, the anime was worth watching. Give it a shot. You might like it. I certainly did.

More importantly, I dragged myself back to the present and cleared my mind.

”You both have talent, so you don't have to worry. As long as you work hard, you should be able to do well.”

”Yeah! Let's aim for a high rank in this semester's practical exam!” Adrian cheered, raising a hand and punching the air.

”That's right! And I'm going to prove to everyone that I can wield a sword!” Melina waved her plastic knife about, almost as if she was playing make-believe wiith a disposable sword. ”I'll be a proper swordswoman of the Franklin family, and silence all those naysayers!”

”Young Miss, you can do it!” Amelia and the other servants applauded her enthusiastically. They truly believed in her, I could tell from the sincerity in their gazes and tone.

”Well…I'll do my best to whip you into shape.” Taking a deep breath, I took a sip from my glass and savored the sweet taste of the honeyed green tea. Even though I didn't feel very confident, I had no intention of letting my charges down. ”Our goal…the practical exam at the end of the semester. Let's aim to take revenge on all those classmates who were laughing at you for trying to be a swordswoman!”

The list of people to spite was long. Nirvana and her flunkies. Iris and her teammates for turning their backs on Melina. I was going to make sure they regretted ever scorning my student…

…and the best way to do that was to have Melina beat them in a sword fight. Easier said than done, of course. I honestly still had no idea how I was going to transform her from a talented mage into a respectable swordswoman. But I was sure as hell going to do my best to achieve that goal, no matter the odds. After all, I had faced worse odds before and prevailed.

This time wasn't going to be much different…I hope.