There was a strange rustling sound besides her as she calmly continued to feel her surroundings. She was back in the forest again. Everywhere around her was cold. However, she could still hear movement and how the wind was partly covered as her hair was flowing with the small breeze. Someone was there!
She waited calmly as she tried to recall what she had been doing and remembered that she was telling stories to Kalim for a while just to put the kid back to sleep, but who knew that she would have fallen asleep as well?! As she just that tired? She couldn't tell if it was a good of bad thing that she had that nightmare and ended up meeting Silver, but she definitely was aware of the danger she was in right now!
She could hear the sound of the grass crushed under the footsteps as she calculated mentally of the distance between them. They were so close, but she did not hear even a peep coming from Kalim much less being close to him...
She waited before noticing the presence standing right before her. There was a moment of pause when she noticed the size becoming smaller but bigger and launched her golden pendulum!
"WOAH!"
She opened her eyes as she looked down and found that it was Coach Vargas!
"C-Coach... Coach Vargas?" She stammered in bewilderment.
Coach Vargas laughed weakly when he heard her voice, "I was wondering if I should make you do push ups as well since you've become so relaxed that you're sleeping, but I didn't think that you had such a powerful sixth sense, Xue! HAHAHA!"
Lotus sighed in dismay as she helped the teacher up, "You can get mad if you want. Geez... For a second there, I thought something strange was happening because it was so quiet. I'm sorry I lashed out like that."
"Really? I found that very impressive!" Coach laughed before asking in earnest, "That move just now was clearly by intinct! Xue, did you train in martial arts?"
Seeing that he has a trained eye for details and strong enough instincts to dodge her strike, she admitted sheepishly, "That's right. Though I was not educated with other children, I taught myself how to fight by watching others. It was required that all children knew martial arts. However, I'm still not as good as them. Not since my skills are only attained by watching others. I'm just a copycat."
She quickly added those words hoping it would justify the reason she needed to learn them. However, Coach Vargas just grinned and praised her, "That was amazing! You have a keen eye for details, Xue! That's a trait to be proud of, so don't forget that!"
With that, he patted her head much to her surprise! Wasn't being a copycat a bad thing? Why was she suddenly praised?
"Looks like I don't need to worry after all." Vargas sighed in relief before untying Kalim.
Lotus looked to him in confusion as she spoke, "Looks like everything is completed?"
"That's right." Vargas nodded with a laugh as he noticed the furry scarf around her shoulders and laughed, "Thanks to my plan, everything worked out just fine!"
"That sounds like Professor Crewel finished the mission, then." Peony noted curiously.
"Of course! I've already contacted the Headmaster, so we are just preparing to return home now." Vargas smiled.
Seeing how cheerful the teacher was, Lotus could assume that it was as he said and followed him out of the forest. As they did so, she noticed the entrance to the mines as they were passing and stared at it cautiously.
"Xue? Is something the matter?" Vargas hummed curiously.
Lotus hesitated before she responded, "Actually I was wondering about this, but... The other day, Grim and Yuu had been talking about the monster from the mines. It was similar to the one that we came across when we came to get the magic stone. At that time, I was thinking it was weird how it came back when Grim and the others clearly defeated it. However, there was actually another one inside the mines. Coach Vargas... Was there perhaps an instance of overblot in the mines a long time ago? Yuu told me that overblot phantoms can continue to exist even after the magician overblots... So, maybe that monster they found was probably an overblot phantom, after all? But, how could there be two? Was there probably a discontent for the things that happened when the mines were closed? After all, the mines used to be really bustling back then..."
There was a moment of silence as Coach Vargas paused with a shocked expression. However, that was quickly vanished once she opened her mouth and smiled, "Then, again, Leona and the others did defeat them. Maybe those were the last ones. It's a surprise that those two did not get caught by the STYX. I thought they'd have sensed it and jumped at the moment to capture them. Let's just go back to school."
"I thought you'd agree with me!" Coach Vargas laughed as he carried the sleepy Kalim back to the portal where everyone was waiting for them. However, as he did so, he quietly gazed at Lotus's back with a look of concern. Words of the other professors replayed in his mind as he mentioned of this unusual and amazing student to the other professors.
"Ah, you're talking about Lotus Xue, right?" Trein responded with a nod, "That child is very smart and quick witted. Though he rarely participated in class, he has questioned me a few points in the textbook that does not match up after class. I have used that textbook for the past six years and it had never failed me before. To think that it would have such a conflict now is rather shocking."
"Ah, you mean that old textbook that you taught us so long ago?" Crewel huffed in disdain, "You already warned us that even you had a feeling that it would not be a good material for us to study from. To think, in the end, you needed a student to prove you right in the end. However, Lotus Xue was it? That pup is very unusual. Even though he showed great interest in the subject of alchemy, he displayed more knowledge on the subject than I do. I was so curious that I went to ask the headmaster myself on the history of that pup. However, even he was very vague on the matter. With his knowledge, he should be in college, not here. In the end, only rumors of his past was heard, but there aren't a lot of nomadic societies nowadays. So, how can those be true?"
"It would explain his knowledge in science and alchemy, but his talent is very blatantly clear. It's hard to believe that he could be shunned away by his own relatives." Sam spoke up from a random chair he dragged out as he ate his lunch with them.
"However, his height is rather concerning." Vargas hummed, "No matter how many raw eggs I had him eat, he could not build up muscles. This is different from my concern with Felmier."
Hearing this, the others quickly decided to ignore him as Crewel continued, "He is very bright though. The other day, I was having a difficult time with my research and I accidentally let it slip out of my mouth in the hallway. That pup was there at the time and heard it loud and clear. Then, you wouldn't even believe what happened next!"
"Is this that thing that made you purchase that item from me the other day?" Sam questioned with a look of surprise.
"That's right." Crewel muttered bitterly before he continued, "Anyway, he was able to figure out my thought process just by hearing my set up. I was only joking of course, but he took me so seriously and helped give me a breakthrough with my research! It's a small one, but I haven't had much trouble with dead ends after that."
"Seriously?!" Sam nearly spat out his water in shock upon hearing this, "Isn't your little research something that only those people above can understand?!"
"How peculiar." Trein noted in surprise as he spoke up, "Past few weeks, I've revisited the library to find a new textbook across the school website with the librarian when I noticed Mister Xue in the library. At first, I did not care for it and simply went back to discussing with the librarian, but after that I've noticed him there almost every day the library was opened. After that the school librarian told me that Mister Xue has read many books throughout the library ranging from history to mathematics. One time, I overheard how bored he was and he went to grab himself a dictionary that I used back in the first few years I started teaching here. He opened it up and read it like it was any other books!"
"It's probably just to show off. You know these little demons now usually likes to show off at this age." Sam laughed once he heard this.
"I thought so as well and asked him why he was reading a dictionary if he was so bored, but he stated that it was more entertaining than having nothing to read about." Trein sighed as the others struggled not to laugh, "So, I asked the librarian for assistance and we decided to do a quick session of reading comprehension. However, he managed to answer every questions we came up with and even managed to finish reading the entire book by the time the library was about to close. The two of us couldn't help but agree that the child was a little unusual and concerning. Normally, students, such as himself, are supposed to be interacting with other students and having fun. Even one of my best students this year are enjoying themselves when having their parties. However, Mister Xue doesn't seem to have such entertainment. I do not want to interfere with the matters of other students who did no wrong, but I am worried that Mister Xue would just go through his entire childhood without knowing how to have fun with other students. Compared to the current Ignihyde dormleader, this one is more serious."
"That's definitely unusual coming from you." Crewel huffed before he frowned as well, "However, I also agree with you on this one."
"If you're that concerned about him having fun, shouldn't he just join an event if one does happen?! That halloween event was rather fun, wasn't it?!" Vargas pointed out with a wide smile, "Let's ask the headmaster to have him try this out and see if he can act his age and have fun! Who knows, he may finally start to be able to grow muscles too!"
After hearing his booming voice, everyone looked to him disapprovingly before Sam sighed, "You know, that does not sound like a bad idea. The little demon can't go to every event, so why not have him attend those that he can? You know those counselors the headmaster brought in can sometimes do more harm than good or do no good at all. In the end, it's always up to us who have interacted with the little demons more often to give them advice instead. We should all have a raise."
As the others bickered over the management of the duties of staff, Vargas, who had been unusually silent during this time opened his mouth, "You know... It would also be nice if the kid was also just as oblivious as the other students. They're at an age where they are becoming big men in this new world. However, Xue knows too much... Sometimes knowing too much can be the greatest set back in developing muscles..."
Though he was just mentioning the word muscles again, everyone did not argue this time as though the presence of the elephant in the room had finally been brought up.
Looking at the child now, Vargas could not help but feel a little more worried that something was strange and strange in a bad way.