"Are you all right, Lotus?!"
The door burst open as Lotus looked up and saw Yuu and Grim rush in surprise. Lotus sighed, "Yeah... Looks like you guys ran all the way to the infirmary. Sorry for making you two panic. I slipped on the stairs and hit my head on it."
"Wah..." Grim gasped in bewilderment, "There's a bandage on your head, Lotus..."
"Is it bad?" Yuu asked with a frown, "I can always ask the Headmaster to call the nurse back."
Lotus shook her head, "One of the member from my club saw me and came to help. The ghosts said he stopped the bleeding and wrapped it up. I'll have to get a pair of boots next time if I ever want to leave the dorm..."
Subconsciously feeling as though Lotus had not learned her lesson in some unknown manner, Yuu sighed in dismay, "You should stay in the dorm. You're already hurt. Tomorrow, Grim and I will go get the meals."
"I see..." Lotus smiled as she realized her plans the next few days may be cancelled.
"But, Lotus has always been careful." Grim said in confusion, "There's no way someone would try to hurt him now like back in the magift tournament. There's just no reason to."
"This time was my fault." Lotus responded with a small smile, "I saw the snow and got distracted. According to what the student said, I slipped on the steps and hit my head there."
"Where is he now?" Yuu spoke up curiously.
"He said he was returning to the Mirror Chamber."
"We should thank the guy when he comes back from Winter Break, then!" Grim suggested with a wide smile.
"You should." The skinny ghost spoke up, "Lotus was outside the steps for who knows how long before the guy helped him out."
"We didn't even know he was there under the snow." The smaller ghost spoke up.
Lotus sighed, "My luck is really bad this year. I didn't think I'd be so clumsy..."
"Is your head still painful?" Yuu asked in concern.
"Not too much." Lotus responded bluntly, "I'm just feeling a little tired."
"You should stay indoors." Yuu said nervously with a frown, "We'll bring the meals back to the dorm instead. It's winter break. You should take a break too."
"...Yes." Lotus answered reluctantly as she thought of the desert of the Scarabia dorm she has heard about so often and the person hiding in there.
What terrible luck...
.....
"Master, why not let me go to the dorm in your place?" Zhang Li said with sparkly eyes of excitement.
"Zhang Li." Zhang Yong scolded, "This isn't a game. I'll go in master's place instead. Who knows what that other guy has in mind to deal with us."
"With your bulky figure, they'd be able to recognize that it isn't you instantly!" Zhang Li pointed out in exasperation.
"Master is disguising himself right now. If you go, they'd be able to tell that it isn't him." Zhang Yong said firmly.
Lotus listened to the two bicker from the side as she sat on the chair. If it were not for the array she's placed around the room, she was certain the entire dorm would've already heard their loud voices all the way to the cafeteria.
After getting the chance to enter another dorm, she ended up hurting herself to the point that she was now under supervision of the ghosts and the other two...
After some thoughts, Lotus spoke up, "It won't work."
"Huh?"
They looked towards her in confusion as she continued, "The two of you are strong, but the guy who is in charge of that area in the dorm is smart. Otherwise, he would not have survived in that mirror for so long."
"What do you mean?" Zhang Yong said in suspicion.
"Scarabia dorm is a dorm with the desert in its surroundings." Lotus explained, "Not only is the desert harsh in both morning and night, but people in Scarabia follow the motto 'Plan with deep anticipation'. The majority of them aren't oblivious to their surroundings or the people around them. And, the vice-dorm leader isn't someone you can easily fool. He's the sharpest of them all, especially since he has to keep the dorm leader safe from dangers since young."
"Ah, I remember." Zhang Li spoke up with a frown, "That the two have a master and servant relationship."
Lotus nodded, "From what I gathered, Jamil's family have served under Kalim's for generations. Even if Jamil has the skills, he can not display it around Kalim because of some risks, or else, he would've left the family from my perspective."
Zhang Yong frowned, "So, he's able to scheme and maintain a safe distance in relations."
"Since we often come across each other in the kitchen," Lotus added, "it can be assumed that he recognizes me pretty well by this point. I was also helping out around the kitchen today too. So the people in the dorm knows me a little bit."
"That's why..." Lotus concluded with a firm nod, "I'll need you're help, Zhang Li."
"Huh?" Zhang Li looked up in bewilderment.
.....
The next morning, Raaji was outside with his camp gear on his back as he looked around the entrance to the Hall of Mirrors impatiently.
It didn't take long for him to see her walk into the dorm with a wide smile.
"Morning, Raaji!" Lotus called out with a wide smile.
"There you are!" Raaji sighed in relief.
Lotus laughed, "Looks like I made you wait long enough to doubt if I'm actually going through with this or not!"
"Eh, not really." Raaji denied this immediately with a disturbed feeling in his chest.
He had always kept his real thoughts and feeling hiding from his face, so it was startling how she saw through him and even blurted it out! Not to mention, yesterday's performance from her and her ability to know he has connection to poisonous plants was astonishing! Did she have any hidden motives against him?
"Did you have any breakfast before coming?" She asked pretending to be oblivious to his thoughts as she readjusted the bag over her shoulder.
"Sort of." Raaji answered bluntly.
"Great! Then let's go!" Lotus said with eyes sparkling in excitement.
"Hold it."
Lotus looked back curiously and saw Jamil walk over to them with a familiar silver hair guy who seemed very ornate, with a dark red half-turban decorated with jewels and two parrot feathers tied around short and choppy white hair. He has dark skin, decorated with white, lacy tattoos.
He wears a black and gold open long vest, and a belt resembling safety tape wrapped around his waist, with the long end trailing down. The belt is imprinted with the name of his dorm, along with a snake insignia.
Under his vest, he wears a white shirt with a dark red cloth wrapped around his waist with a snake symbol on it as well. He wears black parachute pants with red flame designs and black sandals with a gold scarab design.
Most importantly, what made him stand out amongst the other students with similar uniform, he has many different articles of golden jewelry.
Basically put, a classical attire of a well-off background mixed with the simple designs of the Scarabia dorm uniform.
An idea came to mind as she looked to him curiously and the strange staff with the large purple glass dome wrapped with a gold cobra with ruby eyes over it. Lotus said curiously, "Jamil-senpai... Ah, this must be your dorm leader. A lot of the dorm leader have a staff or a scepter."
Jamil watched her with a huff before he continued respectfully unlike yesterday, "This is Kalim Al-Asim. He is the dorm leader of Scarabia Dorm."
A dorm leader was basically a Prefect, like Yuu, but Yuu holds a little more authority as he's also Grim's supervisor and is a very honest individual.
"I didn't think we'd be having a guest!" Kalim said with a wide smile, "Jamil already introduced me, so you now know who I am! Welcome!"
"Good morning, Kalim-senpai!" Lotus smiled, "I'm Lotus Xue. Thank you for letting me camp outside of your dorm! It's been a while since I last traveled."
"No problem! I heard from Jamil that you've really helped one of our freshmen. I should be the one thanking you! We heard the infirmary was closed during the break."
Lotus nodded, "Yes, that's right. I've handed the keys to the prefect temporarily. If you need to use the infirmary, just go to Ramshackle Dorm."
"Got it!" Kalim smiled confidently, "We'll be careful."
"Make sure you study carefully, Raaji." Jamil reminded the guy firmly.
"I understand, Vice-dorm leader." Raaji stated bluntly.
"It's too bad that I can't go along with you." Kalim sighed in dismay, "Welp, I need to go back and study with the other guys right now. Have fun!"
"Good luck!" Lotus said with a wide smile as he watched him walk away.
Jamil handed Raaji a strange machine and said, "Report to us right away if anything happens. Better yet, report to us every night. The nights in the desert is nothing to joke about, understand?"
"Understood!" Raaji responded resolutely.
However, she turned to Jamil and frowned, "Be careful."
"Hm?"