NOVEL NEXT Chapter 3: Claire and Chitose
"Hey Chi, shouldn't you be more excited to see what our new classmate looks like?" a voice from behind Chitose said in a playful manner.
"What do you mean Claire?" asked Chitose while turning around to see her friend Claire Fineline.
Claire Fineline belongs to the prestigious Fineline family, an old nobility, some even say that they are the founders of the province of Triplance. Claire is a stunning beauty with blonde hair that shines like the sun.
Her hair is fixed in drill like curls from her neck down to her shoulders. Her eyes are as green as the most beautiful emeralds, and her frame is slender, but her bust size is a bit above average, to the dismay of her female classmates and the delight of the guys.
Claire is the most sought after girl in the entire school, one can say that she is the most popular girl. She behaves as a lady befitting her house, but acts her natural playfulness when she is with her friends Lyn and Chitose.
In terms of MAGIC, Claire is one of the average people in terms of mana and control. Nothing really special in her MAGIC, it was just ordinary, although one thing to note is that her mana oftentimes flactuates unexpectedly. What sets her apart from everyone is the fact that of all the students in the school, she is the only one who was able to visit the capital city of Mendelos.
Mendelos City is in the heart of the kingdom of Mendelos. Built about a thousand years ago as a fortress to withstand invaders from neighbouring countries. Over time, merchants and traders came to sell their goods to the men stationed there, wenches from all over the country also tried their luck at the taverns that were sprouting like mushrooms around the fortress to satisfy the thirst of the soldiers for alcohol and entertainment.
Adventurers and the like came in droves, hoping to make a name for themselves in this new town. People from around the area saw new opportunities and also settled near the fortress, thus they were able to benefit from the commerce and protection it offered.
Around five hundred years ago, the fortress, now a full blown city, has withstood the Godsbane war that the angel Tarmora waged against the people of the world. Refugees from all over the continent, went there for protection, and when the war was finally over, they established the new Kingdom of Mendelos, appointing one of the heroes of the Godsbane war Felgre Mendelos as the first king.
Now five hundred years later, Mendelos City is a sprawling metropolis, with concrete buildings, paved roads, a postal service, and a standing army of one hundred ninety thousand strong, fully armoured and fully mounted, under the command of the king and his generals.
Also located in the city is the most famous school across the entire continent; Spireforge Academy For Advanced Magic, it's headmaster is one of the only three Balekons alive at this era, Grandmaster Finas Alterane.
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Claire is very fond of Chitose and likes to hug her whenever she can. She has this obsession for fluffy and soft things. So it's no surprise that when she saw Chitose for the first time ever, she already took a liking to her, much to the annoyance of Lyn, who also wants Chi all for herself.
Chitose, Chi to her friends is the childhood friend of Lyn. When she was four years old, her mother Ayako started working for the Holden family as a housekeeper.
Naturally, since Lyn was an only child, she was very happy that another girl her age has come to live in her house. Although very shy, Chitose and Lyn became fast friends and has become inseparable since, much to the delight of Lyn's parents.
Chitose has a silver hair cut in a bob, her eyes have an amber tint which is very rare in this world, one might say its unique, she is also very intelligent for her age and excels in academics. One thing about her though is she gets bullied a lot because of her weight.
Chitose is fat, even in her childhood, she is already really fat, you could say that she might have a pleasant face, but her body size is really what makes people notice her. It doesn't even help the fact that her mana control is at best barely sufficient to be passable.
Even if she is intelligent enough to conjure advanced spells, her lack of mana hinders her. She also tried a lot of methods to increase her capacity to hold mana, but all failed miserably. In the end, she just stopped caring about it.
Her classmates talk about her behind her back, but she doesn't mind it much, as long as Claire and Lyn are always with her, she is happy and doesn't really care what others say.
Still, being bullied all the time is very annoying, and because of this Chitose developed a quick wit, to counter those people who make fun of her weight. She also became more and more pragmatic as she grew older.
Besides if they do badmouth her and Claire overhears it, not only are they in deep trouble but their parents as well, since the Fineline family controls almost all the business in Triplance. Lyn and Chitose first met Claire in their primary school days, and they have been best friends since then.
"Chitose! How about you, aren't you curious what our new classmate looks like?" asked Claire while frantically holding both hands of Chitose in an excited manner.
"Not really, it doesn't matter anyway since I'm pretty sure that whoever he is, and whatever he looks like, I will still be as I am to all boys, a fat orc that doesn't deserve any attention." Replied Chitose with relative pragmatism while pulling her hands away from Claire's excited grip and started writing on her notebook.
"It's okay Chi, you don't need boys, I am all yours anyway!" Claire exclaimed, then hugged Chitose tightly.
"Kyaah, so soft!" Claire squeaked with a blissful smile.
"Geez Claire, cut it out already..." Chitose protested, but it's futile since Claire was now tightly hugging her with no signs of letting go.
"Kyaaah!" Claire exclaimed with delight.
"You are hopeless..." An exasperated Chitose muttered, letting her best friend hug her tightly like a teddy bear.
Chitose caught a glance of Lyn looking her way.
"How odd…" she thought
"I swear Lyn just looked kind of angry… maybe it's just my imagination…"
Amid the commotion, the new student has finally entered the classroom, and a nervous Tusk Regnum slowly walked towards the front of the class.