Chương 8: Chapter 107: Metal of Friendship

Daichi held up his unwrapped present so everyone could see. His face had taken on an expression that she could only describe as polite awkwardness. He looked at Amelia, then glanced at his present before audibly swallowing.

"It's a thoughtful present, Miss Liona…" Daichi tapped his newly acquired book.

"It'll be a great help in my studies." Amelia rolled her eyes.

"Firstly," she began, raising a determined finger.

"You can just call me Lia!" She gave an elegant spin before continuing, "That goes for the rest of you, too! I know you like being proper Daichi, but your mother isn't here to tut and huff over you referring to an unmarried woman so casually!" Her words earned her some laughter from the rest of the women in the room.

"Secondly…" Amelia took a step forward and pointed to the book, "we both know you already have a copy of Advanced Salinas Formations: A Primer. Stop pretending like I might have forgotten, and thirdly"—Amelia tapped the book encouragingly—"why don't you open it and see what your present really is?"

"Oh?" Daichi said with a frown.

"Oh! Of course…" With everyone's attention bearing down upon him, the third-circle mage opened the textbook. As he thumbed through the pages his expression slowly changed, his eyes widening as he flicked through more and more pages.

"Would you look at that," Mel intoned, appearing behind Daichi and peeking over his shoulder.

"That's a lot of mathematics…"

"Incredible…" Hinako murmured, sticking her nose into Daichi's present.

"Look how she's derived the aetherflow from the double-helix spin formation! Wait…!" Hinako forced her body so close against Daichi the man's cheeks started to flush.

"Are you saying it can be constructed while the reuleaux triquetra is forming. What… what's this differential equation? How does it fit in with the Barfield-Sina Equations? Oh, how can you—""Officer Aikawa," Daichi emphasised, twisting his body so it wasn't so pressed up against the enthusiastic mage.

"Don't you think we should carry ourselves with a little more decorum, as officers of the Imperial Navy?"" Officer Aikawa?" Hinako intoned sarcastically, tilting her head.

"If you can call her Lia, you can call me Hinako! You did at the academy!"

"That was before we were commissioned officers. It's only proper—""Who knows how long we're going to be stuck in this tin can, Daichi." Hinako rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"You have to untwist your horns at some point! Now let me…" Hinako shuffled back up against Dachi, peeking at Amelia's notes she'd scribbled alongside the aetherflow diagrams.

"You will share this with me, won't you? Oh, incredible… to think the instantaneous method could be used for this part…" Amelia grinned while Daichi and Hinako peered over her notes. Her time at the academy had finally provided her with the correct nomenclature to formally express how she felt her spell formations worked.

Unlike most mages, who train in the Imperial Step-Wise Method, a process where spells were constructed in discrete steps that maintained overall stability while building towards the final formation, Amelia intuitively did it all at once. This method, which Amelia found out was called the Instantaneous Construction Method, wasn't unknown. It was used extensively in the high-level duelling scene, where every fraction of a second could mean the difference between winning the round or not.

The problem was that it generally took far longer to master a spell that way. The discrete, building blocks of the Imperial Step-Wise Method were simply more intuitive to the logical minds of most mages. But Serena hadn't settled for most mages when recruiting for the Vengeance's crew. For most of the final academic term Amelia had done her best to demonstrate, over and over again, how her magic manifested.

Progress had been good; while Daichi was the more powerful mage of the pair—firmly in third-circle—Hinako with her career aspirations of becoming a world-renowned duelist had the edge when it came to trying to match Amelia's speed and efficiency with aether.

"I've only found time to cover the earth sub-formations common in the Salinas branch," Amelia explained.

"But I've made some notes which can be applied to all branches, you'll just need to recalculate the numbers using your own characteristics. I know it's your present, Daichi, but make sure to share it with Hinako, okay?"

"Mmm," came the response. Despite Daichi's determination to maintain the boundaries and etiquette structures that a lifetime under his strict family had molded into him, he was, right now, fully engrossed in the book, muttering and mumbling alongside Hinako, occasionally pointing parts of Amelia's notes out to each other. After a few seconds he seemed to realise his lack of response and quickly apologised.

"Of course, Miss—" Daichi swallowed before continuing, "Of course, Lia. This is a generous gift, and I, uh, ahem…" The demon trailed off as Seonmi appeared next to him, leaning in on Daichi's other side to take a look.

"You have such pretty handwriting, Lia," Seonmi said.

"Some of the best I've ever seen."

"Thank you," Amelia replied, trying not to laugh at Daichi, who was fighting to maintain his composure as the two female demons were invading his personal space. Was it Amelia's imagination, or did she catch a devilish glint in Seonmi's eyes? She knew Seonmi's history as a confidence trickster who had infiltrated Samino high society and, despite the outward appearance of obedience and relative meekness, Amelia was certain that it was something Seonmi could switch on and off at will. Hang in there, Daichi!

I wonder what his mother would say if she could see him now, Amelia thought.

"I wonder what your mother would say if she could see you now," Mel said.

"A woman on each arm, Daichi. Never would have taken you for such a womaniser," Mel finished with a grin, folding her arms in mock disapproval.

"I am not, I mean, I'm not, I'm—" Daichi spluttered, snapping the book closed and taking a large step forward.

"That is inappropriate and not representative of what—""You're very naive," Arin piped up, glancing up from her newly acquired scope.

"You might have survived the academy, but you'd be eaten alive in the lowlands."

"Well, I have no plans on hiking through the wilderness and battling beasts like you're so fond of, Officer Song," Daichi huffed.

"She's not talking about the beasts," Ido chimed in, grinning widely.

"If the rumours about Ishaq are true, you might find yourself in some trouble, Officer Ishitani."

"And exactly what rumours might those be?" Daichi asked.

"Oh you know…" Ido waved a hand back and forth, "the kind that causes a man to leave everything behind. Especially an inexperienced one such as yourself."

"Really?" Daichi replied sarcastically.

"Inexperienced? I'm a third-circle mage and an officer of the Imperial Navy. I have enough talent to begin communing Salinas. I'm sure someone such as myself can handle whatever Ishaq can throw at me. Even if it's a place where unscrupulous individuals socialise and conspire, I think I can defend myself and others just fine." Daichi punctuated his sentence with a confident nod of his head.

"Oh dear," Arin mumbled.

"Oh dear," Mel said, hiding a laugh.

"Oh dear," Seonmi said smoothly.

"Oh dear," Hinako echoed, elbowing Daichi lightly.

"I'm sorry," Daichi said, looking befuddled.

"Is there an echo in here?" Daichi became more flustered as his question only prompted further laughter from the women in the room. Even Noburu was chuckling while shaking his head.

"Would someone kindly share with me this revelation that my brain is apparently unable to spot?"

"Don't think with your brain, Daichi," Ido said, tapping his singular horn.

"Think with your horn."

"My horn? Horns? What in the Seven Hells…?"

"No, not those horns, your other horn." Ido's words prompted another round of giggles from the women.

"Now come on! Has everyone but me gone mad?" Even Amelia couldn't keep her laughter in, joining the rest of the room in their joyous chuckling while Daichi looked thoroughly confused.

"Daichi," Amelia said, taking the executive decision to put the poor demon out of his misery.

"They're talking about sex."

"What?" Daichi stopped, frowning.

"Oh…" His eyes slowly widened.

"Oh…" Then, as if timed perfectly for the room's entertainment, his cheeks began to glow as red as the Red Moon.

"That is… that is…" Daichi swallowed, then, without hesitating any more, declared he had some studying to do and more or less pushed past Amelia and stormed out of the room to even more laughter.

"I hope he'll be okay," Amelia said once Daichi's footsteps had vanished from her hearing.

"Bah." Hinako shrugged her shoulders.

"He'll be back to his usual self within the hour. He'll be fine."

"His… type is quite common amongst the highborn," Seonmi mused.

"I've seen it more than once. Take a talented pair of horns like him, put them in a strict household with an overbearing and controlling mother and, well"—Seonmi gestured to the door—"that's what you get." Seonmi turned to Hinako and asked, "You mentioned he'd never left Asamaywa before?" As the mage nodded, Seonmi continued, "Once he's travelled a bit and seen a bit more of the world he'll realise there's a lot more to life…" She trailed off with a shrug. This story has been stolen from Royal Road.

If you read it on Amazon, please report it While the group discussed Daichi and his inexperience for a minute Amelia made a mental note to cheer the sullen demon up with a cup of Jimari when she next saw him. Until then, she had more presents to give out. Hinako was next, who thumbed her small, envelope-shaped present.

"I'm guessing this isn't a textbook filled with your notes," Hinako offered, flexing the thin present.

"Not unless you've found a way to write really small." At Amelia's encouragement, the second-circle mage carefully unwrapped the gift, revealing that the envelope-shaped present was, in fact, an envelope.

"Open it!" Amelia said, clenching her fists in anticipation.

"Hmm…" Hinako hummed, opening the envelope to reveal a few folded pieces of paper.

"Now what could this be…" Everyone's attention was captured as she unfolded the documents.

"Wait…" Her eyes widened as she read, followed shortly by her mouth hanging open.

"No… Ame—I mean—Lia! Really!? Ahh!" With a sudden burst of energy Amelia found herself wrapped in Hinako's embrace as she was spun around.

"It's only an offer, you don't have to accept it," Amelia began.

"Of course I accept!"

"What is it?" Mel asked.

"Take a look!" Hinako handed Mel the papers.

"It's…" Mel read silently for a moment. Then, like Hinako, her eyes widened as she threw a surprised glance at Amelia.

"It's sponsorship!"

"Sponsorship?" someone asked.

"Sponsorship!" Hinako echoed, buzzing with energy.

"To me! From House Thornheart!" Hinako twirled, snatching the papers from Mel and holding them tight.

"Do you know how significant this is!? It's hard enough finding a wealthy merchant to sponsor you, but for a noble house? Especially one that's already on the tongues and in the minds of half the Empire? It's guaranteed success! Soon you'll be hearing my name chanted from arenas from Ponan to Hokanai! No, even further!"

"Sponsorship… for her duelling?" Arin asked.

"Mmm!" Amelia gave her a thumbs up.

"And before you ask, there's nothing stopping military officers from partaking in a duelling career, as long as they don't do it while in uniform and their superior officer accepts it." She gave Hinako a reassuring smile, saying, "Don't worry, I buttered up Serena and convinced her it can be part of your training!" For some reason, instead of reacting positively, Hinako and the other demons looked at her like she'd grown a second head.

"You did what to the captain?" Seonmi asked, raising an inquisitive eyebrow.

"What an unusual use of butter. Some highborn have strange tastes, but who am I to judge? Still…" Seonmi placed a finger on her chin, her mouth curling.

"It does provoke some strange imagery."

"Whoa whoa whoa," Amelia quickly said, shaking her head and holding her arms up. Everyone was looking at her like she was a second Daichi! Even Mel had started profusely blushing! What did her friend think Amelia did to her girlfriend!?

"It's… it's a human expression!" she quickly explained.

"Never heard of a human using that expression," Seonmi said, now openly grinning.

"You make it sound like the captain is a cake. Or a canvas to be covered…"

"It's a Karlish expression!" Amelia protested, relying on her artificial backstory of the far-away country to come to her defense.

"It's common over there! Everyone says it! It just means to persuade someone!"

"By slathering them in butter?" Ido inquired, prompting the room to laugh and Amelia to puff her cheeks out and pout.

"Look at Mel! Any redder and she'll start shedding crystal!"

"W-what?" Mel spluttered.

"I'm not thinking of anything!" she said in a tone of voice that gave the game away that she was, in fact, thinking of exactly what she was accused of." Anyway," Amelia said, doing her best to rein in the giggling demons that anyone looking in would think were a pack of gossiping teens rather than commissioned officers and sailors.

"Hinako, I've heard the South has been the origin of many successful duellist careers. I bet Ishaq has more than a few arenas! I'll be there to support you, and if you get injured, well…" Amelia spooled up her aether, not enough to disturb the ship, but enough to make her dark brown hair glow a little.

"I'll be there for you!" After another hug and sincere expression of gratitude, Amelia turned to the last name on her list.

"If you've quite finished turning red, Mel, would you like to guess what's in your box?" Amelia couldn't help but tease the demon.

"I'll show you red," Mel muttered as she shook the small box.

"Some type of jewellery?" she guessed, holding it up to her ear and giving it a wiggle.

"You told me you went shopping for horn accessories in Kenhoro, didn't you? What's in here? Hornbands? Horncaps? Hmm…" Amelia couldn't stop herself from smiling, which only prompted Mel to grin in response.

"I got it right, didn't I? Oh, I hope you didn't spend too much…"

"Technically, it cost me nothing," Amelia said.

"Oh? Interesting…" That's because it's not jewellery, Amelia thought. Well, not the kind you're thinking of!

"Open it!" someone shouted.

"Mmm!" Amelia affirmed.

"Go on!"

"Right, right…" Mel mused, carefully unwrapping the present, revealing a small, fist-sized jewellery box.

"No markings on the box," Mel observed, rotating it to look at all angles.

"Right then, let's see what we have here…" Mel raised the box to eye level, and, after dramatically casting her eyes over the room to raise the anticipation, slowly creaked open the box barely a few millimetres before snapping it closed.

"Oh, come on!" Ido complained.

"It looked like a necklace," Mel said, casting a look at Amelia.

"Have another look," Amelia encouraged.

"It's not so much the necklace as what's on it that counts!"

"What's on it? What do you mean?" Mel frowned before opening the box fully, revealing the contents. She didn't say anything for half a dozen seconds.

"Umm…" Mel swallowed. After the demon finished short-circuiting and rebooting she closed the box and faced Amelia.

"This is… this is too much… It's too soon! You can't do this! I mean you can, but won't it cause you problems!? I'm not a noble, I'm not… I'm just me …"

"You're Melanie Mori!" Amelia said proudly, putting her hands on her hips.

"And that's all you ever need to be! And no, you can't refuse it! Sorry, but I insist!"

"Show us, already!" Ido cried.

"What is it exactly? You're acting like she just proposed to you!"

"Have a look," Mel said in a shaky voice. She opened the box for the third time, turning it so the room could see the necklace neatly positioned within. While the chain itself wasn't anything of note, the real value lay in what hung from the necklace. It was a bronze insignia. An insignia consisting of a circle split into quadrants, with two arrows sticking out from it as if they were horns. It was a symbol Amelia had made herself by layering the symbol for human and the symbol for demon over each other.

It was the formal symbol of House Thornheart.

"Is that…" Hinako began, swallowing.

"Is that the first…?"

"It's the second one I've given out!" Amelia held out two fingers.

"But the first one was silver. So this is the first bronze one. Now I know"—Amelia rolled her eyes and tilted her head from side to side—"that you're supposed to wait years before committing to such a relationship, but as the official Head of House Thornheart, I decided I had to snatch up Mel here before any other house realises what a valuable person she is!"

"I'm not… I'm not worth…" Mel swallowed loudly.

"Shit, I think I might cry, you idiot."

"See!" Amelia exclaimed with a grin.

"She's calling me an idiot. That's how you know she's close to me!" She bounced over and embraced Mel.

"You better not start crying or I'll start crying and then you'll feel bad!"

"This isn't just a gift, though," Mel whispered.

"It's a public statement. And if it's the first bronze insignia… it's going to send a message. Oh, Moons, my family is going to… going to…" Mel trailed off, making a few expressions that finished on a confused one.

"Actually, I don't know what they're going to do, but I know my brother will be extremely annoyed." Mel laughed, shaking her head and then twisted to hug Amelia back.

"This means more than you can know. Thank you, Lia."

"Shut up, idiot," Amelia mumbled.

"I'm crying."

"Now I'm crying…" Mel replied. A sniff sounded and Amelia opened a watery eye to see Hinako wiping her eyes.

"Why are women so—ow!" Ido jumped up from his seat, rubbing his side where his sister had elbowed him.

"Fine, fine… Have your moment." And so Amelia had her moment, embracing her friend—Melanie Mori, the first official friendship of House Thornheart. When Amelia had received the newly created insignias from Johan in her Asamaywa estate, Serena had explained that bronze was the traditional metal of friendship. While normally they would only be given to individuals who had maintained both a friendly and beneficial relationship for many years, Amelia hadn't hesitated when she decided to give one to Mel.

After all, Mel had almost died for her. In fact, she would have died if the Empress herself hadn't intervened and healed her! It was the least Amelia could do!

"It'll be difficult to show this off given your current disguise," Mel said, breaking the embrace and wiping her eyes.

"Going to be difficult to explain why our resident ice mage is going around giving away House Thornheart's insignias."

"Well, until then," Amelia replied, "keep it hidden! And safe!"

"I will!" Mel's eyes flashed with sudden determination.

"I'm still going to exceed you," Mel said.

"I'll be a Speaker before you know it and then we can have a real duel!"

"Mmm!" Amelia hummed happily.

"You should work fast, I can't be that far away from orange!" She wiped her tears and began spooling up her aether to clean the both of them. Then, she changed her mind and stopped. Their tears and the dampness on their uniforms was a sign of their friendship. It wasn't something that should just be magicked away.

"I don't know when we'll be back in Asamaywa, but when we are, you should stay over at my estate. You all should come stay. I'll cook you some delicious meals!" Mel laughed and hugged Amelia again. And, while they were embracing yet again, something in Amelia's mind clicked and she realised that she very much could, and would, kill to protect what she had right now.

It wasn't just the intense romance she had with the love of her life, but it was these platonic relationships that equally defined who she was and everything she stood for. Amelia wanted to protect those she loved, and advocate for human-demon relations. Other than Serena herself, what better pairing was more suitable than her and Mel?

"Right," Amelia began, ending the embrace.

"One last person on my list. She should be getting off shift right about now."

"Who's that?" Ido asked.

"The captain, obviously," Seonmi mused.

"I hope you have something special planned," Mel said, her cheeks flushing again for some reason.

"I'd feel bad if I got the best gift. I know how close you are, after all."

"Don't worry," Amelia said with a grin.

"I know just how to show my gratitude." Was it her imagination, or did Mel put a strange emphasis on the word 'close'? Was it possible that Mel might suspect that something was going on between her and Serena? Sure, Finella had said Amelia wasn't as subtle as she thought she was, but that was coming from a coffee-crazed demon that probably watched Amelia's every move for a single sign of Jimari beans. Amelia was sure she was crafty enough to keep her relationship secret from Mel and the others!

Food for thought, Amelia thought, filing the concern away for the future. Bidding the group farewell, Amelia gave them a final polite bow before exiting and making her way through the Vengeance's narrow corridors towards the Captain's Quarters. Perhaps Mel and the others underestimated just how sensitive her hearing could be, because as she turned a corner she heard their faint murmuring.

"We should pool our wages together and get her something in Ishaq," Hinako said. The following cascade of enthusiastic agreement filled Amelia with every bit as much warmth as she was sure she had provided her friends from her gifts. Knowing there was a group of people, no, a group of friends so eagerly planning to make her happy in the near future was simply so validating for everything she stood for and everything she wanted. After all, it felt good to do good things!

Humming to herself, Amelia continued her journey. It was time to see Serena!