Lina, who intentionally selected buckwheat from the menu, was busy
dueling her chopsticks while trying to contain her frustration and
answer the occasional question. Of course, everyone was very
courteous and didn't ask any impolite questions. Just as everyone was
about to finish eating, Lina finally appeared to master her chopsticks.
Seeing this, the questions bubbling up from the Class E members were
finally voiced by their representative, Tatsuya.
"Speaking of which, is Lina a blood relative to Elder Kudou?"
The typical term among Japanese Magicians was "sensei", but Tatsuya
personally did not prefer this title. Instead, he used the general catchall
term "elder", which was an honored title for retired officers when
phrasing the question to Lina.
"I remember that the elder's younger brother went to America and
started a family there."
That was an age when Magicians were encouraged to marry across
international boundaries. At the time, the news that the younger
brother of Kudou Retsu, the "wiliest" among the world's Magicians,
had headed for America and started a family with an American
Magician was a topic of heated debate.
"Ara, I'm amazed you heard about that, Tatsuya. That's definitely news
from a long time ago."
Tatsuya's conjecture appeared to be right on the money.
Additionally, for an American Magician, saying that Kudou Retsu's
younger brother went to America "a long time ago" made sense.
"My mother's grandfather is Shogun Kudou's younger brother."
She used the word "Shogun" for General. Tatsuya didn't hear her
incorrectly.
That was the term the Magicians from Europe and America used when
referring to Kudou Retsu, who spent many years in a leadership
position among the Japanese Magicians. Even if she had a quarter of
the ancestry, no matter how fluently she spoke Japanese, she was still
an American Magician through and through.
"Thanks to that, I am able to come here to study abroad."
"So Lina didn't come here out of her own volition?"
Erika inadvertently asked.
The nervousness and anxiety that Lina revealed didn't appear to be
Tatsuya's misconception either.