This Clueless Hero

The four of us walked into the palace courtyard, sitting on the stone path and looking at the nature around us.

Ned rubbed the side of his head.

"Will going to school be like this everyday?"

Alyx sighed.

"Probably..."

Erin pouted.

"Sorry..."

A smile emerged on my face.

"Haha, it's really not your fault. This would've happened sooner or later, I imagine. In the end, it's just an unfortunate circumstance."

Alyx shook her head.

"Yes... It appears that Erin can no longer go to school. There will simply be too many people pestering her."

Erin hummed lethargically.

"So... no more school?"

Ned smiled bitterly.

"Sorry, Erin."

My knuckle rubbed against my temple.

"We should talk to Mildred about this. Maybe she can inform Ela."

Alyx nodded.

"Perhaps that is for the best."

Erin pouted.

"So... no more magic?"

My hand waved dismissively.

"I'm sure we can have it arranged so that you can learn spells. After all, we just need to get the diagrams."

Ned nodded.

"That doesn't sound too hard."

Alyx brushed her long black hair aside.

"I suppose there is no issue for the two of you to go to school. However, I will stay with Erin."

The memories of the three boys came back to me.

...There would probably be a few issues, to say the least. Simply by being associated with Erin, we were also treated like targets.

"I... don't think they will leave us alone."

Alyx raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

My hand scratched the back of my head.

"Well, some people have seen us together. They probably think we have a relationship, so they will want to get to Erin through us."

Alyx furrowed her brows.

"Surely that wouldn't be the case?"

Ned was rubbing his chin with his thumb and forefinger.

"No... I think Jay's right."

Ned cut himself off after saying that. He appeared to be either thinking or reminiscing about something.

Alyx was a little upset.

"What? Why would they harass you guys at all? That just sounds ridiculous."

Erin put a hand on Alyx's arm.

"At least listen to them..."

A bitter smile emerged on Ned's face.

"Those people are... opportunistic. They are the kinds that would chase after the faintest connection that exists."

His eyes narrowed.

"In fact, they would probably harass us more than Erin herself."

Alyx furrowed her brows.

"What? That's just-"

"Alyx."

Erin squeezed Alyx's hand, calming her down.

Alyx turned towards Erin. After a second, she looked back towards us.

Her face twitched.

"Sorry, go on."

Ned let out dry laughter.

"It's because they believe we have some relationship with Erin. They want to use us to get a head start on impressing Erin by using a connection."

Alyx opened her mouth, then closed it.

She shook her head before sighing.

"I... see."

A chuckle escaped me.

"Oh come on, it won't be so bad! That just means we can spend our days here as a group of four!"

Erin giggled.

"Yeah!"

Ned laughed.

"Maybe it's not so bad? Anyways, I am getting hungry. Why don't we cook something?"

Erin flailed her arms around in the air.

"Yeah!"

With that, we got up and walked to the kitchen.

Ned turned to me on our way there.

"Ah, you haven't tried our cooking yet, have you?"

My mind quickly scanned through my memories.

"Haha, I haven't. You're right."

Ned smirked.

"Well, you ate the food they gave to us so fast. I wonder how much you would like the food we cook."

A chuckle escaped me.

"Sounds like it's pretty good."

Honestly, thinking of eating some food they cooked sounded pretty exciting. After all, it had been so long since I had it.

The black fruits I had obtained before didn't taste bad, but they weren't specifically made to taste good.

Not to mention... the taste of that rotten leg still lingered in the back of my mind.

We soon reached the kitchen, where Ned and Erin began to cook. Alyx and I helped out with miscellaneous things, but my eyes carefully watched the cooking process.

It did not take long for us to finish. By the end, I was fairly confident I could attempt the cooking process, however, there would probably be a lot of mistakes along the way.

We went to the dining table, carrying them back.

Once we sat down, Ned gave me a little nudge.

"Hey, try some."

There was a cheeky smile on his face.

My eyes rolled.

"Thanks."

My hand picked up a fork, stuffing some of the noodles into my face.

It was savory, yet refreshing. They slid down quite easily, making it quite satisfying to eat.

Ned smiled smugly.

"So?"

A chuckle escaped me.

"Yes, it's very good. Far better than what I've tried so far."

Ned laughed, taking on an overly pretentious position.

"Naturally, we made it after all."

A smirk broke out on my face.

"Haha, if I had anything to do with the cooking I probably would've messed it up."

Ned waved his hand dismissively.

"Everyone learns at their own pace. I'm sure you will be able to do it sooner or later."

I nodded.

"Yeah, I'll keep watching for now, but one day I will actually be helping out in the frontlines."

Ned gave me a light shove. There was a bright smile on his face.

"I will be waiting for that day."

The four of us ate our meals. We would occasionally make a remark, so silence would only last for a second at most.

By the time we finished, Mildred ran over to us in a hurry.

"Oh you lot are here! Sorry, I missed you."

My hand scratched the back of my head.

"Haha, sorry about that. We came back a little early."

Mildred put a hand over her heart. She gasped.

"Ah, why did you do that? Was the magic school not to your liking?"

Ned laughed awkwardly.

"Well... about that."

Erin looked at the ground, avoiding eye contact. Alyx looked at Erin before turning to Mildred.

"Erin was able to cast a spell with... great proficiency. As such, everyone was harassing her in an attempt to get to know her. We ran back so we didn't have to deal with them."

Mildred furrowed her brows.

"Ah, really? I imagine most of the children attending that school have their pride. Nobles usually don't approach others unless there are very specific circumstances."

A laugh came up from my throat.

"Well... she cast the earth spell and made a really tall dirt platform."

Mildred blinked a few times.

"That doesn't sound like something that would make the nobles drop their pride."

Ned smiled bitterly. Then, he pointed upwards.

"What if the platform reached higher than the ceiling of this place?"

Mildred followed Ned's finger. Then, her jaw dropped.

"What? You must be jesting."

Ned laughed.

"It wasn't just higher by a bit too. In fact, it was way higher."

Mildred blinked a few times.

"Ah... Well, that makes sense now."

My shoulders shrugged.

"So uh... it's going to be a little hard for us to go to magic school. Chances are, people will bother us the whole time. Could we be given spell parchments to learn from within the palace?"

Mildred's eyelid twitched.

"...But by not going to magic school, you won't be taught any of the principles in casting magic!"

Ned sighed.

"I doubt we will be able to learn those principles anyways."

He clicked his tongue.

"Those people... are not the types that give up."

Mildred was a little distraught.

"That is not good..."

She sighed.

"Alright, I will cancel your registration. However, are you sure about this? It may take a few days to reinstate you if you change your mind."

Ned looked at us.

"Anybody change their mind?"

Alyx shrugged her shoulders, Erin simply kept her head down, and I shook my head.

Ned turned back to Mildred.

"I guess that's our answer."

Mildred nodded.

"Alright. I will try to prepare some spell parchments for you."

My hand raised.

"Wait! Could you also bring the spell called controlled vines?"

Mildred shot me a curious look.

"Um... alright?"

Alyx looked at me strangely.

"...Do you have some sort of strange fascination with that spell?"

My hand scratched the back of my head.

"Well... I guess you could call it that."

Mildred was a little confused, but she didn't seem to have the time to care about Alyx's remark. She bowed.

"Farewell, I shall make the arrangements."

Mildred left in a hurry.

Ned turned to look at me.

Alyx walked over to Erin. They proceeded to whisper to each other.

After a few moments, Alyx waved to us.

"Erin and I are heading up. Goodnight."

Erin waved her hand high in the air.

"Goodnight!"

Ned and I waved back, giving our regards.

Once they left, Ned turned to me.

"Say, is that vine spell really cool or something?"

My hand scratched the side of my head.

"I mean, kinda? It's really confusing, I guess."

Ned raised an eyebrow.

"So.... why are you trying to memorize it?"