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Although Geoffrey had deliberately lowered his voice, with Celestine's capabilities she could still hear him clearly, and tilted her head despite herself. She could sense the man's wariness toward her, though she didn't know the reason for it, and didn't much care either.
Even though this wasn't Crescent Moon Land and she wasn't currently at her full peak, dealing with a mere Emperor Realm Card Master was, for Celestine, no more than a wave of the hand.
More than Geoffrey's wariness, Celestine could feel that he seemed even more invested in the relationship between her and Luke, though she couldn't work out why he'd be so concerned with that particular matter.
After all, you couldn't very well demand that a tree understand the niceties of human social custom, even if it was a World Tree. All the more so when the whole of Crescent Moon Land had held nothing but Celestine and the Ancient Spirit Tree, with no other living being whatsoever. Even had she wanted to learn such things, she'd never had the opportunity.
"She's just a friend, Principal." Luke coughed and answered. His relationship with Celestine was a rather complicated and fantastical thing. Even if he spelled it out, Geoffrey likely wouldn't believe it, nor would he understand.
"Is that so?" Geoffrey didn't probe any further at the sight. The strong disliked being interrogated down to the root, after all. It was only that Celestine's display a moment ago had left him a little uncertain. "Since we've run into each other, the timing's good. A reminder for you."
"Uh, remind me of what?" Luke blanked. He hadn't expected himself to be Geoffrey's target. Did this count as walking right into it?
"Remember to come back to the school in a few days." Seeing Luke's blank expression, Geoffrey answered, a touch exasperated. "It'll be our school's closing ceremony then."
"The closing ceremony, this soon?" Catching the helpless note in Geoffrey's tone, Luke felt a flush of embarrassment. He really had forgotten all about it.
"I knew that if I didn't give you a reminder, you'd absolutely forget." Geoffrey shook his head, regarding Luke with a slightly peculiar look. "This year's closing ceremony isn't even early. It's actually two days later than in years past."
"And the reason for that comes down to you, in the end."
Huh? How does that have anything to do with me? This was Luke's first time out of the house in all these days. Don't go pinning everything on me, would you! Luke was thoroughly baffled by Geoffrey's words.
"For this closing ceremony, our Third High will be holding it jointly with First High and Second High. Not only will City Lord Victor and President Harrison attend, but even the Capital Governor will be coming in person." At this point, Geoffrey was utterly awash with feeling.
The Capital Governor, who administered the Capital's twelve cities, personally attending a closing ceremony was, for any school, an achievement worthy of being recorded in its annals, an immense honor. Geoffrey had never imagined the Third High he led would live to see such a day.
And all of it, beyond any doubt, was what Luke had brought to their school. Geoffrey knew Luke's performance had been outstanding, but he'd never expected it to alarm the Capital Governor into coming in person.
As for the matter of Lilith's visit to Ashenvale, only a very small number of people were aware of it. Even as the principal of the high school Luke attended, Geoffrey was not in the know. He merely relayed messages.
So Geoffrey had no idea that Luke had become Lilith's student. Victor had never mentioned it to him either, as it was a matter Aldric had repeatedly stressed keeping quiet. Even Harrison Cole had only learned of it because Victor had needed to cleanse Ashenvale of the rats hidden in its shadows as quickly as possible.
For that reason, Geoffrey didn't realize that Aldric's visit to Ashenvale for the closing ceremony also carried the underlying reason of Lilith. However strong the Capital Governor was, a Region Governor was still his superior. To say nothing of the fact that the talent Luke had displayed was indeed enough to earn Aldric's regard.
It was just that thinking of how Desmond Crane and Bianca Sterling had, upon learning the Capital Governor would personally attend, shamelessly come begging him to let the three schools hold the ceremony together, Geoffrey couldn't help mentally throwing the pair of them a gesture of grudging submission.
Of course, deep down he was still quite pleased about it. Chances to make those two come begging him didn't come along often.
"The Capital Governor's attending too?" That part Luke hadn't expected. "Mm, I'll head back then."
Luke didn't have many thoughts about the closing ceremony itself, but before leaving, he did want to go back and take a proper walk around, a way of drawing a satisfying conclusion to his three years of high school.
"Just see that you remember." Geoffrey quietly let out a breath of relief. "Then this old man won't keep the two of you any longer."
Conveniently, Victor and Harrison would both be there at the time, so Geoffrey wouldn't need to make special trips to the City Lord's Mansion and the Card Master Association.
The Capital Governor coming to Ashenvale was certain to be aimed at Luke. If the protagonist of the affair failed to show, then everyone would be left in an awkward spot indeed.
And the most important point of all was that a top-tier powerhouse was watching from right beside them, which put enormous pressure on Geoffrey, so once he'd gotten Luke's answer, he beat a decisive retreat.
Luke didn't read too much into it, exchanged a parting word with Geoffrey, and left with Celestine.
"Come to think of it, this kid Luke's luck with women is honestly absurd." Watching Luke and Celestine recede into the distance, Geoffrey quietly shook his head.
But where the relationship between Luke and Celestine was concerned, Geoffrey didn't keep speculating. Whatever it was, it wasn't something the present him could afford to look into too deeply. With the strong, it was best to maintain a certain measure of respect.
The encounter with Geoffrey was only a small interlude. Taking Celestine's circumstances into account, Luke ultimately settled on a vegetarian restaurant.
It was just that, watching her quietly pick through the vegetables and fruits in her bowl, Luke was struck by a powerful sense of déjà vu. A tree sitting there eating vegetables and fruits, tree-spirit though she was, still left Luke at something of a loss for how to react.
After dinner, Luke took Celestine for a stroll through Ashenvale's night market, and then the two of them returned home.
"Hm?" The moment he stepped through the door, Luke sensed that a mana crystal had condensed within his body. Ordinarily he wouldn't have paid it much mind, but this time was different.
Under normal circumstances, from activating the Crystallization Technique to condensing a finished mana crystal took roughly two hours. Even as Luke's level rose, the cap on his mana crystals rose along with it, so the time spent condensing a mana crystal hadn't decreased, nor increased. It had stayed steady within that two-hour window.
But this time, it had taken only a little over a single hour for Luke to successfully condense a mana crystal within his body, the time slashed by nearly half. That kind of efficiency could only be called terrifying.
Could this be because of Celestine? Casting his mind back a bit, Luke found that the only variable could lie with this ancient tree-spirit.
Back in Crescent Moon Land, he'd run into a similar situation. Within the range of the Ancient Spirit Tree, the mana recovery inside Luke's body had reached a downright terrifying degree, refilling almost the instant it was spent. Otherwise he'd never have set his sights on the Ancient Spirit Tree in the first place, and thereby drawn Celestine out.
And as the tree-spirit of the Ancient Spirit Tree, Celestine might well possess a similar ability, though perhaps not quite as terrifying as the main body's.
Announcement :
New Fic : Drawing Manga/Comic In Marvel
ฅ≽^•⩊•^≼ฅ Trust me and read first few chapters.
If you like Fic's where MC brings manga/comic in another world you will like this and spice on the top, you will see the said character's also in this world.