In A Noble Magic Academy, The Only Spell I Know Is Scan

After taking over the cooking duties from Corissa, Roko received a series of complaints around his cooking. While his cooking certainly wasn't as robust as Corissa's, there were enough complaints that hinted at their dissatisfaction over not being served by a cute girl anymore that Roko felt more than comfortable ignoring them. In the meantime, Roko continued to cook, continued to check up and help out with the renovations and continued to work on that speech that he had promised Rivera that he'd make. That last one was the least important of his duties as it all hinged on Corissa mastering sanctuary but it was also the most stressful, getting the words just right. Unlike previous dilemmas, time was something they had in spades so the days continued uneventfully. Almost peacefully.

"Bright side, you're making amazing progress." Kaguya said, "I didn't think you'd make it this far since we do tend to squabble or get distracted quite easily."

"I'm just as surprised as you." Roko replied, "I've been stuck here making meals all day. I didn't know it'd take this much preparation to make enough food to feed an entire construction crew. I've barely had time to check up on anyone."

"Now you know what Corissa's been going through."

"Well hopefully she's not like me and actually takes a break."

"Oh, so you're actually self-aware."

"Shut it." Roko scowled, "That said, I'm surprised you can cook too, Kaguya. Helena was talking about how no one around seems to know how to cook besides me and Corissa."

"Roko, you know my past." Kaguya said as she took a test sip of the soup she was making, "After my family died, I lived with Mikado all alone on a farm. Who else could've done the cooking?"

"I mean, it could have been Mikado."

"Mikado was trained from a young age to be a knight. He wasn't prepared to be a farmer much less a cook."

"That's fair I guess."

"That said, I wouldn't really call my cooking anything to write home about." Kaguya said as she returned to chopping up ingredients for the soup, "Between you and Corissa, I'd say my cooking is a distant third place."

"If you're so distant from second place then I must be lightyears away from first place."

"Oh? But what if I said you were first place?"

"I'd say you need a new tongue cause yours clearly isn't working."

"Well, let's just say I don't think your cooking is quite so bad compared to Corissa's."

"I don't know what any of my cooking has over Corissa's."

"You have milk tea."

"I told you that's not mine. And Corissa can make milk tea as well."

"But we all know it's not the same."

"So you all say." Roko sighed, "Anyway...where have you been?"

"Curious?"

"Naturally. You were gone for like four days."

"I was just collecting equipment for the field I'm planning on making. This is actually a good opportunity to try out some of the farming techniques I've picked up ever since coming here so I'm quite excited."

"..."

"..."

"...Is that all?"

"Hmm, that depends. Have you made any progress finding any noumenite?"

"Rivera's been dead silent on that front so I have to assume not."

"Mhmm. Do you feel like helping her quite yet?"

"Not yet. Let her suffer a bit until she feels like coming to me for help."

"I see you're just as petty as her."

"I respond like with like."

"Is that so?"

"I give...I give gifts? I give...life? No, that's not right either." Corissa frowned as she scribbled on her a small notebook, crossing out all the phrases and ideas she came up with for her incantations. She always felt like she was on the verge of something but the right words kept slipping away from her. She had quite a few pages of notes already and much of them were already crossed out. She only had a few phrases she was sure was part of the incantation. At least...she thinks they were part of it.

"Working hard huh?"

"Brook!" Corissa looked up as the elven princesses walked up to her, "You're visiting?"

"I bought some friends."

Brook raised her arms and two blink dogs appeared by her side, running up to Corissa to lick her in the face.

"Penny! Klaus!" Corissa grinned as she pet the dogs that were affectionately licking her, "Aw, you're such good doggos, yes you are!"

"You know, I don't think I've ever seen Klaus be as affectionate as that." Brook noted.

"You think? I think Klaus is a pretty affectionate doggo already. Yes, you are, aren't you?" Corissa rubbed a happy Klaus' head with her hands.

"No, he definitely isn't like that with anyone else." Brook said, a tad perturbed, "Not even Roko."

"You think so?"

"I know so." Brook sighed, "Anyway, how's progress on the incantation?"

"It's been spotty." Corissa sighed, dejected again, "I think I'm making progress but I'm not certain on anything."

"Well, a naturally learned spell should come back naturally to you. Incantation included."

"If you say so..." Corissa replied, "I'm not so certain myself."

"Well it's either that or the plan falls apart."

Corissa looked even more dejected, forcing the blink dogs to lick her even more affectionately.

"Sorry." Brook winced, "Didn't mean to put more pressure on you like that."

"It's fine." Corissa said, trying to look a little braver, "If there's anything I can help with, I'll happily do it."

"You humans sure are amicable." Brook said, "Back when I first met Gareth, his family weren't the most happy to see me."

"They didn't like you?"

"Well, having a queen live as long as I do would certainly throw off their royal line of succession quite a bit." Brook sighed, "Even if I retired with Gareth's death, I would know a lot about their government secrets and what not so I'm just a liability in their eyes."

"That's not right." Corissa frowned, "You should be family with them if you ever married Gareth."

"Well, it wasn't just their family that was against our relationship. Mom was pretty against about it too."

"Tell me how you both met." Corissa said, eagerly.

"Well..." Brook looked sheepish, "It's not the most exciting story."

"But I want to know! I'm really curious."

Brook sighed and sat down on the grass next to Corissa, "Gareth's family was seeking a way to elongate their lives. They wanted to rule for hundreds, if not thousands of years."

"So they came to the elves in order to try and figure it out?"

"Pretty much. Though not even we elves know why we live so long."

"You never wondered?"

"Do you ever wonder why you live so short lives? No, you just live the life you have. Though apparently this might have to do with that damn elf king now."

"...If Gareth...or Gareth's family was curious about long lives then wouldn't this information be incredibly useful to them?"

"Maybe if he was still in touch with him." Brook scoffed, "All of Gareth's immediate family has long died now. His lineage is still going on without him though. Apparently they haven't quite given up on the solution for long life. Gareth himself isn't sure if the current generation even remember him. Apparently he left in quite a disgruntled way when he refused to continue bothering us elves for answers. He was already a fully grown adult when he left too. Grown up from when I first saw him as a teen. Apparently he was nearly 90 years old when he finally decided to become a lich and reverse his aging."

"Okay but why did you two fall in love with each other?"

"Why you ask?" Brook grimaced, looking away to hide her ever growing embarrassment, "He...was certainly good looking. Even for a human, I could tell he was special. I mean, he still is now, though now he can kind of control his appearance."

"Is Gareth not immortal now?" Corissa asked, "Aren't lichs undead and therefore virtually immortal?"

"Well liches can be killed though they could ostensibly live forever. It all depends on their phylactery, which Gareth had taken specific measure to make sure that it would expire eventually."

"He didn't want to live forever?"

"No, he only wanted to live long enough to see me again."

"What was Gareth like as a person?" Corissa asked.

"What was he like? He's the same person as he is now. Kind and insightful. You never know if you're going to hear something actually intelligent or some sort of joke when you talk to him. He's strong, reliable and stubborn. He actually likes eating healthy though that's more of a habit from his time with his family since they believed healthy eating would lengthen their lives. Not that he needs to now, though he says he'll take anything I make for him, healthy or not..."

"But why did you two fall in love?!" Corissa pressed.

"What do you mean, why?!" Brook said, growing more flustered, "We met in the courtroom and just...spent a lot of time together! He was really sweet and interesting and...he stood up to both his family and to my mom."

"But how did you love for each other last for so many years?!"

"Look, he just really left an impression, okay?!" Brook began covering her face that was growing beet red, "You wouldn't get it!"

"I kind of get it."

"Do you?" Brook said doubtfully.

"I had a boy in my life that I was friends with for the longest time." Corissa recalled as she sat back, petting the dogs with a hand each as they rested their head on her lap, "He was almost always by my side despite being from a different family than me."

"I've heard of him." Brook nodded, "Alec right?"

"Eh?" Corissa blinked, "Oh. I uh...I guess he counts."

"Wow, girl. Really?"

"I didn't meant to forget him!" now it was Corissa turn to cover her face in embarrassment, "And I do like him, honestly! It's just..."

"Just?" Brook asked, more curious than Corissa ever was.

"He's...really nice and kind and he's always thinking about me...but...he's also always hiding secrets from me."

"Is he now?"

"Yeah..." Corissa sighed, "It's like...I know he's a good person who's trying to do good things but he'd never tell you what he's doing. He'd only ask that you trust him and...even if you don't, he'd get his way anyway."

"Sounds like a hard person to pin down." Brook nodded.

"I trust him, I really do." Corissa bit her lip, "I just wish he trusted me a little bit."

"Mhmm." Brook nodded again, "So who's this guy you were talking about if it wasn't Alec? Do I know him? Oh, is it Roko?!"

"No." Corissa smiled, "It's not Roko and you already know him."

"Who is it?" Brook asked, confused.

"Varis!"

Brook screamed in abject horror and surprise as the black knight emerged from the shadows behind the tree that Corissa was sitting against.

"Great Arbor! How long has he been there?!" Brook gasped.

"Hm? Varis is always with me." Corissa said as the woken up dogs began licking her fingers, "He just keeps to the side most of the time."

"So he heard everything?" Brook moaned, "Okay..."

"H-he won't tell anyone." Corissa tried to say encouragingly, "He doesn't really speak to begin with."

"I noticed." Brook sighed, "Whatever. We got way off topic anyway."

"But talking like this is fun!" Corissa grinned, "I don't get to have girl talks all that often!"

"Really?" Brook frowned, "Someone as popular as you?"

"Ahahaha..." Corissa looked away, her mood spoiled a bit, "Well...most people who come to talk to me are more interested in saying what they want to say and hearing what they want to hear instead of actually conversing with me."

"That can't be all that common could it?"

Corissa looked down, the weight of years of troubles showing through her normally cheerful veneer, "I...had to break off a lot of relationships before. Some people would pretend to be my friend for their own gain or to spread rumors about me. I honestly had more enemies than allies..."

"Yeah but...that's the princess life right?" Brook crossed her arms, "You constantly live on eggshells, in the sights of your people who could turn on you and from other royalty who could start a war with you if you're not careful with your words."

"The political break-ups were some of my easiest." Corissa smiled a soft, sad smile, "It's easier to hide behind the mask of a country rather than expressing your genuine problems with someone who should be your friend. And there were a lot more of the latter...than I would've liked. Each failure pushes you away from people...and pushes people away from you. The only ones who are willing to step over that gap are those with purpose. It becomes...really hard to trust anybody."

"..."

"I ran away from people for the longest time. And when I finally found the courage to look for friends again, everyone knew me as this unfriendly idol. Not meant to be interacted with. Just looked at. And...I know that's kind of my fault but..."

"It's okay." Brook patted Corissa on the back gently, "No matter how hard things were for you, what matters is that everything's better now right?"

"Yes!" Corissa smiled, the tears she had been trying to restrain still lingering at the edges of her eyes, "Everything's so much better now! I've met so many people and actually have people I can call my friends! I never thought this would ever happen!"

"There, see?" Brook grinned, "And you've gotten so far and done so much!"

"I don't think I've ever done much of anything." Corissa laughed gently, "I've never felt like I really contributed anything other than my cooking. If anything, Varis has been more of an asset than me. I'm more of a burden."

"Hey, don't talk like that. You made it this far with your own power and don't you forget it."

"I really haven't though!" Corissa giggled, "If anything I have to thank Roko and Helena."

"Roko and Helena?"

"Yes! If I hadn't ever met those two, I might never have gotten as far as I have. Roko's so strong and willful. He always knows what is the best thing to do and never backs down from doing it. Without his strong moral center, I don't know if we'd have held together as a group as well as we have. And Helena. She's never minded all the rumors around me and when we finally had the opportunity to talk to each other for the first time, she was so open and friendly. No matter what kind of troubles I caused for her, she'd just laugh it off and even told off some of the bullies for me. My image has been slowly rehabilitating because of her and I'm very thankful."

"..."

"But everyone is precious to me." Corissa said, "And I want to do everything I can for them."

"And that means finishing this incantation right?"

"Yes! I'll do my best!" Corissa said cheerfully, "I promise I'll do everything I can to make sure this plan succeeds!"

"Then I'll leave you to it!" Brook smiled as she stood up, "Penny. Klaus. Time to go!"

"Eh?! Can't you leave one with me?!' Corissa yelped as the dogs rose from her lap.

"Hey, we can't afford to let you get distracted now."

"I won't get distracted!" Corissa cried as she hugged Klaus, "Please let me keep Klaus at least! I've always wanted a pet but my dad's allergic to fur!"

"No!"

"Brook you meanie!"

"This spoiled human princess..." Brook scowled.