Aravel

Chapter 25

"You're... Frey?"

Lunaria was stunned by the sudden appearance of one of the strongest students in the entire school in front of her.

Thinking that she was about to request for a duel with her, Lunaria rejected Frey's request in her mind. Right now, she was too tired to have to face-off against her and wanted to go home to a nice relaxing dinner meal with her friends.

"Woah, before you leave, let me state first that I'm not here to request a duel," Frey waved her hands to Lunaria to ensure that she wasn't lying. "I just wanted to talk~"

"Frey-san... can this be held off for tomorrow?" Lunaria asked politely while making a tired sigh. "I'm exhausted from all the duelling today."

"No worries~ this is only going to take a short while~" Frey giggled and pulled Lunaria along.

Without much energy to resist in the first place, Lunaria followed Frey for a bit just to see what she wanted from her. The two moved over to a slightly secluded area with less students. It wasn't hard to find a place like that in school since it was already late and most of the students had returned home.

Once they were away from the students' prying eyes, Frey let go of Lunaria's hand and set up a sound barrier around them along with a powerful illusion magic. Seeing this, Lunaria's gaze instantly sharpened as she prepared for any sudden ambush that would be done towards her.

"Yosh, that should prevent anyone from spotting us," Frey nodded once she confirmed the barrier and magic were in place. "Um, Lunaria-hime? You can stop being so hostile to me. I don't have any intention of kidnapping a royal diplomat you know~?"

"... What do you want with me, Frey-san?" Lunaria asked her cautiously. "I don't believe that it is something simple if you went through all the effort to set up an elaborate anti-spy barrier around us."

"Oh~ its more related to what we will be talking about, I don't want someone to overhear us and spoil the surprise~" Frey smiled innocently. "Lunaria-hime, you know about the upcoming Moon Festival, right?"

"Um, yeah. I'm pretty sure everyone is aware of that," Lunaria nodded, her hand resting on the hilt of her sword just in case. "What about it?"

"You see~ us top 10s are asked to hold a match with each other as part of the entertainment process for the students~" Frey explained. "But then~ we got together and thought it would be boring if it was only us~ Hence, why I suggested to bring you into it as well. How about it? It's not a bad offer~"

At her words, Lunaria froze. What that was suggested to her caused her brain to suddenly enter a hyperspeed processing mode. To be able to fight in front of a giant crowd on the day of a huge festival was exactly what she needed to kick-start Kaze's motivation to fight others. It was a tempting offer, if anything.

"... What are the rules? Are you going to invite all the top 10s of our year?" Lunaria asked softly, trying not to look like she was so easily convinced. "Are we allowed to choose people of our choice?"

"Well~ the reason I proposed this to you is so that you, as the first of the first-years, will be able to find the other 9 yourselves," Frey grinned. "You know your form better than I do, so it makes sense you will handle the recruitment process~ How about it?"

Lunaria's eyes showed signs of hesitation at Frey's words. Surely, things weren't going to be so easy. If there was such a proposal, it was a huge request that not anyone could simply accept. There would be a lot of protests if the students deemed themselves worthy of being one of the few who would be selected to go against the top 10s of the school. Since the top 10s they were talking about involved everyone instead of certain years, age didn't matter anymore.