The Empire of Reimia (3)

Naru was a refugee from Dreyeria, and she was graciously allowed to study at the Reima Military Academy; she even managed to swear allegiance to the country and the Empress and was ready to serve in the event of war.

"Naru. Hmm, I sympathize... Oh, what am I doing, getting distracted." -- Having seen what he wanted, Marei finally stopped gazing at the girl's hand and looked intently into the eyes of the newcomer. Something in her face, figure, and especially her speech reminded him of Eli with her quiet concentration. And, perhaps, of the graceful, incredibly talented Saphirros -- Marei watched the final stage of the Competitive, although he had ignored the previous ones. In general, the impression could even be called quite pleasant, if it weren't so alarming. She was too alien among all of them, the small and proud, the vicious and the pious, the strong and the weak, the dark and the intelligent, in a word, the living, simple, in one way or another mediocre people. If, looking at Shogo, despite all his talent, Marei felt the urge to laugh contemptuously, then here there was something... Something similar to the interest of a scientist or art historian who has the chance to observe something completely new, alien, but almost beautiful. Marei was a great lover of observing, capturing images and ideas from reality, accumulating them, breaking them down in his mind into components, arranging, sorting them. And this, frankly, was a magnificent object of observation.
But the sorcerer will rethink all this and formulate it for himself not then, not at that moment when he, catching himself again in a rather indelicate manner of looking, quickly averted his gaze from the Dreyerian, but much later. Marei got up from his seat and introduced himself in his usual unemotional manner.
-- Marei Mainz, very pleased to meet you.

"I wonder what made her leave paradise for superhumans?" -- that's all he thought then, leaving the auditorium. In the room, he was met with what he did not want, but to which he was obliged. The Code. A month had passed, and it was simply impossible to postpone the acquaintance any longer.