Chapter 77 Meeting New Junior Members
After the practical exams ended, the grading was hurriedly done, and it seems the announcement of the exam passers has been made. Lina-senpai, Chelsea, and I were called by Kasper-san to a room where five young men and women were present. They must be the passers of this year's Royal Alchemist trainee exam.
Among them, I noticed two familiar figures. A man with a fully grown large body and a girl with light pink hair. Both of them were examinees I coincidentally met yesterday. The girl seemed to have a faint hope of passing, but the way she spoke with a look of desperation as if it was her last chance, it seems she also passed successfully.
As I was stared at by the colorful eyes directed towards us, memories of last year flooded back. It was in this very room that I met Chelsea and Lina-senpai.
"Nice to meet you all, I'll be your senior in charge of education. Starting from the right, we have Lina Bevelstam-san, Laura Ampère-san, and Chelsea Gawley-san."
Upon lightly nodding to the junior members we met, they also bowed their heads.
Kasper-san introduced this year's passers one by one, explaining which junior members each of us would be responsible for mentoring.
First, Chelsea would be in charge of the shy girl with glasses on the far right, Lina-senpai would mentor the energetic young man with spiky hair next to her, and the girl with multiple colored streaks in her hair. And the two I would be mentoring were,
"――Laura-san, please take care of educating Iris-san and Basilio-san."
By some coincidence, it was the two individuals, a man and a girl, whom I met yesterday.
The man slightly widened his eyes upon seeing me. Then, he slowly smiled as if relieved. On the other hand, the girl cheerfully gazed at me with amber eyes similar to the heroine of Last Brave.
"Now, senpais, please guide each of them to the synthesis room. Thank you!"
* * *
"Um, nice to meet you again, I'm Laura Ampère. Please take care of me."
After leaving the room, I introduced myself again. I can't help but feel anxious, but these two will have a special bond with me, "special junior members." I want to build a friendly relationship with them as much as possible.
As I bowed my head with those thoughts, the girl immediately peered at me.
"Hey, hey, senpai, do you remember me?"
"We met on the day of the exam... Iris-san."
"Haha, that's right! I'm glad you remembered! Since you passed in one go too, you're just a bit older than me, so you don't need to use 'san.' Nice to meet you, Laura-senpai!"
"N-Nice to meet you, Iris."
As I addressed her as instructed, the girl, Iris, opened her mouth wide and smiled. She truly embodied the term "carefree." And indeed, she seemed to be a genius who passed in one go.
Yesterday she had a ponytail, but today she had twin tails. Her intricate hair arrangement seemed to match her nimble movements.
――But even so, I couldn't help but be drawn to her amber eyes, just like the heroine of Last Brave. Although her hair colors were different, her facial features didn't resemble each other, meeting someone with amber eyes for the first time made me likely to remember it for a while.
"Um, well..."
Suddenly, a low voice cut in. As I looked up in surprise, my gaze met green eyes.
He was Basilio, a hardworking individual who made the most of his last chance. Though he was a junior in position, in terms of actual age, he was much older than me.
"Nice to meet you, Basilio-san... It's the result of your hard work, congratulations."
Come to think of it, Basilio-san seemed uncomfortable and smiled modestly.
"N-No... It's because you talked to me back then, Laura-san, that I could face the exam calmly. I may not be a good junior, but please take care of me!"
Basilio-san bowed deeply. From the moment I met him in the hallway for the first time, I had thought he was probably a serious person, and that first impression didn't seem to be wrong.
While I found his nervous demeanor endearing despite being younger,
"Ahaha! What a bookworm!"
Iris laughed innocently. Whether those words struck a nerve or not, Basilio-san hung his head and froze.
There were two types: the genius type and the hardworking type. The youngest to pass in one go and the oldest to seize their last chance. They were complete opposites.
Being in the same educational group meant they would likely have many opportunities to work together in the same training room, just like Chelsea and I did last year. I was worried about my uncertain guidance, but I was also worried about the compatibility of these two complete opposites.
To try to change the awkward atmosphere, I quickly changed the subject.
"Oh, right. Have you talked to your family yet? Since you'll be living in the dorms, it's best to say a proper goodbye today."
"Eh, really? Then let's go now!"
Iris unexpectedly latched onto the topic I casually brought up. She raised her voice in surprise and immediately dashed off.
As expected, or rather, even more so, she was a free-spirited girl. Acting on her instincts or thoughts, she seemed to move freely.
Thinking about being led around by this carefree junior, Basilio-san followed her and her small figure. She headed towards a room prepared as a waiting area for exam candidates' relatives. Since the exam results were already out, most people had already left, and only a few figures remained.
When Iris found the person she was looking for, she enthusiastically embraced them and waved at me.
The person she innocently embraced was the man with dull red hair I was looking for yesterday.
"Hey, Mentor, that person is my senior in charge of education!"
"Iris, why are you talking back to your senpai like that? Ahh, you, from that time..."
The man caught sight of me with his amber eyes and slightly relaxed his furrowed brow.
His gaze was sharp, but having gotten used to Arnold, I didn't feel intimidated.
On either side of the man were two young men with silver and golden hair, whom I hadn't seen yesterday. Their postures were very similar, sandwiching the man with red hair and creating a clean valley. Both of them were of decent height, and the man with red hair was not particularly tall.
"Mentor, be more friendly."
The silver-haired young man whispered to the red-haired man. The man furrowed his brow in puzzlement for a moment but then quickly averted his gaze awkwardly.
"Oh? Ah, sorry. I've always had a bad mouth and look. I'm Reinhardt. You might have sensed it too, but Iris is grown up to be quite carefree, so she might cause some trouble. But her talent is undeniable. Please, take care of her."
With those words, the man, Reinhardt-san, bowed his head. From his attitude, it was clear that he cared for his disciple, Iris.
Despite his sharp tongue, he seemed to be the type who was deeply emotional. He was a character with a classic yet enduringly popular design. As I pondered meta thoughts like these, unsure of the right words to say in response, Iris suddenly burst into laughter.
"Mentor is in serious mode and acting weird."
"Hey, Iris."
The silver-haired young man reprimanded Iris gently and then looked at me kindly.
That's when I noticed. He also had "amber eyes" just like Iris and Reinhardt.
"I'm Sieg. If there's anything that's troubling Iris, please let me know. We've had our hands full with various things too."
Sieg, the young man, bowed his head softly. While gazing into his amber eyes, I nodded in response.
Suddenly, another face peeked out from beside the gently smiling Sieg-san.
"I'm Leon. Iris is a pain, but she's not a bad kid. Please take care of her."
In a tone similar to Reinhardt-san's, the golden-haired young man, Leon-san, said this.
His sharp, amber eyes looking down at me were also "amber." All four of them had the same colored eyes. However, their hair colors were all different, and there weren't many similarities in their facial features. Iris and Sieg-san also referred to Reinhardt-san as "Mentor." Ultimately, could it be that they are not a family after all?
In my mind, I remember the heroine of Last Brave. She had silver hair and amber eyes, resembling a character named Sieg-san. Despite the similarities, Sieg-san's smile never quite matched that of the heroine.
"Laura Ampère here. Nice to meet you too."
The somewhat unclear connection between the four of them is intriguing, but prying would be rude. Besides, I don't have time to pry. As the educator entrusted with the care of his important disciple, I need to ensure his peace of mind as soon as possible.
After exchanging greetings, Iris happily engaged with Reinhardt-san, expanding the conversation to include Sieg-san and Leon-san.
Iris was about to leave for training, leaving the others to chat in private.
"Oh, Laura-san!"
Startled by the voice behind me, I turned to see a woman with navy blue hair resembling Basilio-san standing there.
The woman, who seemed to be Basilio's mother, approached me quickly and said,
"You're Laura Ampère, right? I'm Basilio's mother. I apologize for any trouble he may cause you with his clumsiness, but I'd be grateful if you could guide him. Thank you very much."
And so she bowed deeply.
Suddenly being bowed to by a junior's mother left me bewildered. Nevertheless, I hurriedly opened my mouth to return the greeting.
"Um, Ma'am...? Well, I'm sure I have my own shortcomings, but I'll do my best. Nice to meet you."
Although taken aback, Basilio-san's mother seemed to tear up slightly as she bowed repeatedly. She must have been overwhelmed with emotion at her son's long-awaited success.
Despite her attempts to converse with me afterward, Basilio-san intercepted each time. He suggested that I was busy or that it was getting late and she should go home. While I found his attempts to dismiss his mother's presence questionable, I refrained from intervening in their private conversation, silently observing their exchange.
Eventually, Basilio-san managed to persuade his mother to leave. As she left, she seemed to want to say something, her gaze suggesting a hint of unspoken words, but she smiled and bowed deeply once more.
As soon as his mother left the waiting room, Basilio-san let out a small sigh. When I glanced up at him, he chuckled awkwardly, as if trying to conceal his sigh.
"Sorry for the disturbance. My mother tends to be overprotective. And, well, as my mother said, I've always been a bit clumsy and had to work harder than others to keep up... and I'll probably continue to be, so I apologize in advance for any inconvenience."
Basilio-san said, seeming unsure of himself.
Indeed, Basilio-san hadn't passed the Royal Alchemist trainee exam on his first try like Iris. He had failed multiple times. Yet, even though he had finally passed this time and become a trainee, he seemed to lack confidence in himself.
He gazed into the distance.
"My mother's dream has always been to have her child become a Royal Alchemist. So I have to work hard."
There was something melancholic about his profile.
He had mentioned "his mother's dream," not "his own dream."
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