Lotus was filing through the plants when she heard Zhang Yong report to her regarding the situation.
"That man keeps trying to go back inside but always fails to get in the mirror with the heart and diamond pattern." Zhang Yong responded with a frown.
Stifling back as much laughter as she could, Zhang Li giggled, "You should've seen the look on his face, Master! It was as red as his own garment!"
"Is he still doing it?" Lotus questioned them curiously.
Hearing her master's words, Zhang Li nodded bluntly, "That's right. When morning comes, he camps out with a man in the white robe in the dorm with a snake figure. Then, comes back at night to try again."
Zhang Yong raised a brow curiously, "Master, what dorms do those mirrors lead to?"
Lotus set aside her plants and brought out a paper to explain to them as she drew all the emblems, "I've already told you the characteristics of each dorm. The one that man tried to enter was the Heartslabyul dorm. The dorm with the lion is the Savanaclaw dorm, The one with the tentacles and moray eels are the Octavinelle. The snake image is the Scarabia. The one with the skull apple is Pomefiore dorm. The three headed hound is the Ignihyde dorm. Finally, the dorm with the lizard-shaped dragon with wings belongs to Diasomnia."
"Diasomnia..." Zhang Yong frowned deeper, "I've heard that the majority of the students there are from the Valley of Thorns? Are they all demons?"
"They're not demons." Lotus clarified bluntly, "They are of the Fae. You could say they're similar to fairies in our world."
"Even the one with the horns?" Zhang Li said curiously, "The one that always stops by at this place?"
"Ah..." Lotus nodded as she realized who they were referring to, "You mean him... His name is Malleus Draconia. That's right. Technically, he's also a fairy. There are humans in the Diasomina dorm, so it's not just fae. Malleus Draconia is the heir to The Valley of Thorns, so his position is much like a crown prince, you can say. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if it was just that."
"Then, he's an important figure!" Zhang Li looked to her in surprise, "But why is he always here by himself?"
Lotus thought for a bit before shaking her head, "I heard he's part of the Gargoyle Research Society Club. Those strange creatures that you saw on the roof? Yeah, those are gargoyle. Till recently, the dorm here had been abandoned for a long time. Malleus comes by here often to observe the gargoyles at night. For some reason, he always sneaks away from his bodyguards to come here very often. However, he doesn't mean to harm anyone in the least. He just seems fascinated with gargoyles."
"That's strange..." Zhang Yong muttered nervously.
Lotus frowned, "Try not to judge others, Zhang Yong. Everyone in all worlds have their own peculiar interests. Don't we have things that we have interest in but are different from others?"
"I understand..." Zhang Yong grumbled, "I'll watch my own mouth..."
"But why is there two princes in this school?" Zhang Li responded curiously, "Even the lion guy from before didn't have any guards."
"Because the school protects their students." Lotus responded, "Schools that are unable to protect their students aren't as highly respected outside of educational fields. So, the student's family and guardian has a greater sense of security sending students to these schools."
"Then, study partner..."
"They don't have it here." Lotus responded bluntly, "Here, the students would need to learn how to take care of themselves. So, this world doesn't allow study partners."
"Oh..." Zhang Li looked to her in awe when she heard this.
"At least, that was the idea..." Lotus sighed, "But, there are some who continues to try to bring in the idea by having the two study together in the same school. One example of this would be the dorm leader and vice dorm leader of Scarabia dorm. They don't know the term of study buddy as we do, but Jamil, the vice dorm leader, entered this school on his own from day one. There's rumors that said his family serves the dorm leader's family who is a rich merchant."
Recalling eavesdropping on their conversation a few hours ago, Zhang Li spoke up, "You mean, the Kalim guy?"
Lotus nodded, "He transferred to this school a month after Jamil did. Apparently, it was from the backdoor. His family donated a lot of money to the school."
"Seriously?!" Zhang Yong looked to her in bewilderment.
Lotus sighed as she shook her head, "Even if that's true, don't let this make you think he's not capable of getting into this school. His position isn't given due to his background, but by his character. He's been very supportive of his residents from the day he entered the school. Many of Scarabia has said good things about him while I was walking around and in class."
"Then, this Jamil guy..." Zhang Yong raised a brow.
Lotus recalled the guy back in the cafeteria as she responded with a smirk, "He's... a tactician..."
"Huh?"
Lotus smiled, "If he had nothing holding him down... He would probably have been the one to get third place or even surpassed me, instead..."
Zhang Li raised a brow as she recalled the studying efforts she had placed into her school work, "But, Lotus hasn't studied for more than five hours a day..."
"Did you forget?" Lotus said bluntly as she filed through her plants again, "Even if we aren't magicians, that doesn't mean that others are the same. To them, their studies here are that of our studies in our world, but not as driven as us. Because we are cultivators, we do not need sleep or food, just to study and most of us study because our life depends on it to survive. That isn't always the case in this world, though. Even if they can't use magic properly, they still have other ways to stay alive. This world doesn't allow massacre or takes away lives so easily by law."
"So strict!" Zhang Li gasped before sighing in exasperation, "No wonder you said it would be harder for us to live here."
"Our world is also a hard place to live in too, you know." Lotus responded, "Survival of the fittest has taken the lives of so many from political disputes to senseless killing. Amongst those reasons, to live is the major goal all of us want to strive for. This world isn't as simple, but those who strive to be magicians study very hard from magic to divination and potions. That's why, if I didn't not come to this world, the order and events would've become different."
Zhang Yong nodded, "Master would not have taken third place and it would've been someone else. He would also not have attended this school."
Lotus nodded back, "That's right. That's why I believe if Jamil didn't have anything holding him back, he could've reached as far as third place. Then, Kalim wouldn't be too far from behind him."
"Master thinks so highly of the two?!" Zhang Li looked to her in bewilderment.
Lotus frowned, "It's not that I think highly of them, but that it's the truth. Jamil has a bright mind from my perspective. If he wasn't held back, he'd also have the chance to help Kalim as well. However, what he can display to what others can display are restricted by rules of society. Rather than saying that Kalim was the one dragging him down, it should be the expectations of others."
Lotus thought back to the opening ceremony and responded, "That's right... Because I believe, rather than not accepting that Jamil is better than him, he's actually very supportive of him for some reason."
But, for what reason could it be that Jamil doesn't get this?
Lotus could think of multiple possibilities, but she wasn't certain as she didn't have all the clues together. Finally, she sighed and said, "If Jamil isn't careful with his plans... He may be... the next to overblot..."
"That's... true..." Zhang Yong said with a frown, "Being suppressed would give them a more likely chance to develop negative feeling especially having to need to suppress their true capabilities."
His sister nodded with a sigh, "They would become more likely to explode from stress if they aren't careful. I'm surprised he hasn't done so yet."
Lotus didn't say anything as she finished organizing her herbs. Finally, she sighed, "What I'm more worried about now is not him at the moment."
"Hm?"
The two looked to her in confusion as she continued, "There's another person with a higher chance of overblotting right now."
"Who?" Zhang Yong looked to her in confusion.
.....
"Breakfast after a good workout is amazing, y'know! I crave meat more than usual." Grim cheered with a bright smile and a full mouth as he munched on his bacon.
Lotus sighed and flicked his forehead with a finger, "Don't speak with your mouth full, idiot..."
However, Grim was too hungry to listen as he continued munching away on his thick cut bacon.
"Oh yeah, that's right..." Leona who sat across from them spoke up leisurely with curiosity, "So why did y'all decide to do something as dumb as making a deal with that octopunk?"
It was morning the next day and it was also the first day they have to complete the task out of three days. Because the Prefect and Grim were staying at the Savanaclaw dorm, Yuu and Grim arrived in the cafeteria with Jack, Ruggie, and Leona. The moment, Ruggie saw Lotus join in, he gave her a thumbs up behind his back as he followed Leona into the cafeteria. Looks like he got the message and she got his permission. Well, the prefect and Grim would need to do something in exchange for staying at their place...
Especially Grim...
"Speaking of which," Lotus nodded curiously, "I heard from Azul that he would stay over at Ramshackle dorm as collateral for the contract, but he didn't tell me what it was for."
"Seriously?" Jack raised a brow in surprise.
He was told yesterday that Lotus would not be a part of the contract as she had nothing to do with the activities of the dorm leader and was too injured to take part in a lot of physical activities. So, the most she could do was support the prefect and Grim in their activities.
"Thanks to that my room shrank." Leona scowled at them.
"Well, you see..." Yuu began to explain about the sea anemone problem to them.
When he was done, Leona laughed, "Hah! You made a deal to free all those idiots that entered contracts for the final exams?!"
Leona laughed more so as he thought about it, "Hahaha! This is rich. Sends a chill down my spine."
"Well, there was that rumor about how amazing Azul's test notebooks were." Ruggie pointed out with a smirk, "I can totally understand why someone would want it."
"Speaking of which," Jack noted curiously, "does that mean you two didn't make a deal with Azul for the tests?"
He continued, "Leona-senpai seems like the one who'd wanna take it easy the most..."
He stopped himself quickly, "Ah, no, nevermind..."
"Idiot." Leona lightly scolded the wolf guy bluntly with a frown, "Who in their right mind would make a deal with that cheating bastard because they want to? I have made a deal before because the situation called for it but... The conditions weren't anything crazy."
"Yeah, he's not the kind of guy you wanna rely on casually." Ruggie agreed with an exasperated sigh, "But he is a skilled wizard that can make even the most outlandish wishes come true."
"When making a deal, the one who wants something has the disadvantage." Leona pointed out, "There's any number of ways to dupe herbivores that can't think on their feet and will sign a contract without considering it carefully."
"Now, I'm really nervous about this." Yuu hesitated with a grimace.
"Tell me about it." Leona responded, "What kind of condition did he give you?"