Restricted Magic - Arc 3

Part 2

Erin and Gerald arrived just as their friends were sitting down to lunch.

"What took you guys so long?" Frederick held out a tray to Gerald containing a meal set. "If you'd come any later you would have missed the entire lunch break!"

Olivia elbowed him, handing Erin an extra tray as well. "You can't ask a couple 'what took them so long!'" She hissed, "What do you think they were doing?!"

"Wait, what do YOU think we were doing?" Erin raised an eyebrow.

"You know..." Olivia waved her hand vaguely, looking embarrassed, "Engaged couple stuff..." She blushed. " I don't want the details."

Gerald also turned bright red, while Erin laughed. "Nothing quite that exciting."

She explained quickly about the summons from her father and her response.

"Um... isn't that bad?" Frederick looked panicked. "That guy is basically going to tell your father that you telling him to get lost, right?"

"Do you want me to get rid of the messenger before he reaches your father?" A quiet voice asked.

Startled, Erin turned to face the pale young man who had been sitting down eating his lunch throughout the conversation.

"Matthias!" Olivia frowned at his words. "If you say that so seriously people won't know you're joking."

"..." He only studied her silently in reply, his eyes clear and focused. Erin didn't think he was joking.

"It's okay." She answered his question seriously. "Having him return my message will have a better impact than him going missing."

Matthias stared at her, a small amount of sadness in his gaze, before nodding.

"He wasn't serious." Olivia insisted.

Erin didn't say anything further, sitting down to eat her lunch. Gerald grunted discontentedly, dropping his tray on the table and sitting between the two.

"You don't have to protect her." He muttered, leaning forward to take a sip of the soup from his lunch tray.

Matthias didn't reply, but suddenly Gerald let out yelp of surprise. His spoon fell to the table, revealing that the soup inside had frozen solid.

He glared at the other boy. "So petty."

Letting out a satisfied smile, Matthias continued eating his lunch.

"Not that I want to break up this touching moment, but is anyone going to talk about the fact that Erin has snubbed one of the most powerful, bloodthirsty men in the world and he's probably going to come over here and kill us all?" Frederick looked around. "No? Just me? I'm the only one concerned about this?"

Erin shrugged. "Have to die sometime." She winked at Olivia who laughed.

"Psychopath, see if I care." Frederick grumbled, returning his attention to his lunch.

---

They finished their meal in peace. Leaving behind Matthias, who was in the year below them, the group headed to the practice ground for the practical training.

"Erin, want to be my sparring partner?" Grinning, Gerald grabbed Erin's hand and pulled her forward.

Olivia followed behind, her brow furrowed. "You know, I thought that you would be the type to not bear to fight your girlfriend."

"Really?" Gerald paused at that, thinking it over seriously. After a few moments he shrugged, his smile widening. "Erin being strong is one of the things I love about her. So sparring with her, helping each other grow stronger, is naturally something I should do."