Unital Ring II: The Virtual Study Society

Meeting of Emperor and Princess

Cordelia leads us through the manor, introducing us to the maids and butlers that work there. Keeping my true identity secret, she simply told them we were "friends of the family." I guess, in this day and age, the Orthinanos family has regained more than the honor Medina fought for if mere strangers to the workers are bowed to. I wonder how much Mathias told his family after my previous visit.

We stop in the large, lavishly styled living room. I discarded the armor plates upstairs to be more comfortable, so I sink into one of the couches with ease. Kureha, who has more decorum than I do despite me being mentally older than her (she's two months my elder in age), sits in a chair with her hands placed in her lap. Cordelia joins me on the couch, nodding to a servant who places a pot of tea, several cups, and cookie-like snacks on a dark wooden table.

Based on the analog clock in the room (someone finally invented it) it's been twenty minutes since we arrived, but I no longer have plans to join Kirito and the others. This is just a safety dive into the world, so we're free to do as we please except enter Central Cathedral. Though unsaid yet implied by Dr. Koujiro's short remark to me, Obsidia Palace is also off-limits today. It sucks, but then again, I didn't go to Obsidia Palace last time. Eydis found out about me because Mathias got in contact with her. I didn't ask how, but I did create some communicative devices during the war. Maybe it survived to this day...and who knows, perhaps they'll be used to arrange a second meeting with Eydis again.

"Cordelia, may I ask a question?" Kureha starts as our host pours a brown-colored tea into the white teacups on the table. "Where's the rest of your family?"

"Hmm... Well, Father is a member of the Stellar Unification Council, so he's at the cathedral, and you know my older brother is an Integrity Pilot. He's at the base right now. As for Mother and everyone else, they're at the Uetra Valley estate."

"What about you? Do you stay here all day? You don't go to school?"

She smiles and glances at the hearth nearby, where Medina's old weapon hangs on display. "Oh, I do. I go to the North Centoria Imperial Swordcraft Academy." She says it so pridefully I hear a hint of her ancestor in her voice. My mind lets that go and remembers the academy, where Kirito, Eugeo, and Medina attended, followed by their pages Ronie, Tiese, and Ilia. I don't recall the latter girl as vividly as Kirito and Eugeo's pages; I didn't meet her until after the war, but I learned I helped her rise into the ranks of the first class of Integrity Knights free of Administrator's manipulation.

If I remember correctly, Kirito, Eugeo, and Medina were highly-ranked in their second year, though neither of them would finish it; Kirito and Eugeo were arrested by Alice for breaking the Taboo Index. Medina dropped out to join the Anti-Cedar Task Force right after I drop into the Underworld during the Ocean Turtle's invasion. Ronie and Tiese were with us during the ACTF and, later Ilia, during the Otherworlder War, but I don't know if they dropped out like Medina. I guess they did, for they'll be Integrity Knight trainees after the Rebellion of the Four Empires months later.

"What year are you?" I ask.

"Second year, second seat. Such a drag." She crosses her arms and frowns at the mention of such a great achievement. Kirito wasn't that high (probably because of his social standing rather than skill, though he defeated the first-seat Disciple in a duel at the end of his first year) and Medina, a second-class noblewoman, was seated lower because being a "defect" was worse than being a commoner. "I was so close to being the first seat like Mathias, but she won it."

If the Orthinanos style of swordplay remains, not many people can beat a master of the swift, agile katana sword style. I know that myself, I dueled Medina seriously once and couldn't beat her without resorting to Perfect Weapon Control - and back then, she didn't have the Mirage Sword then, but her father's sword. If Medina was judged fairly during her academy days, she would have been seated higher.