Megna rushed from the rural town back to the capital to feed Noele the Mana Suppressing Pills.
"Last night, he was already subconsciously producing a constant stream of air through his whole body. I need to get there as soon as possible."
She looked at her watch.
"11:10 A.M. It's already lunchtime, I need to hurry."
She closed her eyes and tried to sense mana... "Tsk, still nothing, huh?"
Megna looked out the bus with a solemn expression.
-----
Meanwhile, on the rooftop.
Vinny pushed open the door, while Noele reluctantly followed her out.
He looked at Vinny once more.
Her appearance during the past few days had thrown his first impression of her to the rails. Her gal look was nowhere to be seen. Instead, her blonde hair was straight and combed properly, her blouse was buttoned up, and her skirt reached beyond her knees. The thick makeup she usually wore was gone, replaced with a pair of thick, round-framed glasses.
Despite that, upon seeing Vinny's furrowed eyebrows, Noele could tell that it was the same Vinny that threw rocks at him last week.
Taking a deep breath, Vinny started to speak. "I..."
Noele suddenly flashed a thick stack of bills in front of her. "H- here you go."
Before she could respond, Noele threw the money towards her, hitting her in the face. With a distraught expression, Noele booked it.
Vinny pursed her lip before she raised a wall right in front of the door.
Noele's breathing became rapid.
"For crying out loud, calm down!"
After her shout, Vinny covered her mouth. "Ah, I didn't mean to shout..."
Noele turned around and met Vinny's gaze. "Just take the money and let me leave..."
Seeing Noele's desperate expression, Vinny's heart fell. She didn't expect that she had made that bad of an impression on him.
"Listen to me for a second, then you can go. Please."
Noele stayed silent.
Vinny took it as him agreeing. She picked the bills up from the ground.
"This... Isn't this the money I gave you a while back?"
"..."
Seeing the two grand that she worked so hard on being ignored by Noele made her furious. "You...! You should've used this already!"
"I'm using it. Right now." Noele blankly spoke.
"What? What are you using it for? Tell me!"
Vinny's raised voice made Noele flinch. "Y-you... Aren't you extorting money again? I'm using it for that! Why did you give me your money in the first place?"
"I'm not extorting you right now, or ever again!" Vinny handed the money back to Noele. "This... This is all the money I got from you! I'm just returning it..."
"What...? If you're just gonna return it anyway, why bother getting it from me in the first place?"
"I needed the money... I'm sorry..." Vinny's voice got softer.
"Needed the money...? For what?"
"..." Vinny was hesitant to answer. Unlike Carra and Felly, she was not close with Noele at all. Rather, she and Noele were the opposite of close.
Noele stayed silent as well, waiting for Vinny's answer. Although, by the expression on her face, he could already guess what the reason was.
He wanted to hear the reason come from Vinny herself.
"I... I'm really sorry... I needed the money to pay for electricity, water, and food... My part-time jobs weren't enough..."
Tears started streaming down Vinny's eyes. She took a deep breath to stop herself from crying.
"So, you mean to say that, you needed to extort me of my money...?"
"Ah! Not anymore! I'm not gonna do it again. I'm sorry..."
"Sheesh..." Seeing Vinny cry diminished his fear of her a lot. "Stop saying sorry. You've already said it a million times by now."
"..."
"Okay. I forgive you. Also, you can keep the money... You need it more than I do."
Hearing those words from Noele, Vinny felt a weight disappear from her chest. She took a deep, comfortable breath, and couldn't help but smile.
On the other hand, Noele felt short of breath. His eyes stared directly at Vinny's smiling face.
"Thanks but, I don't like owing people."
"Then, uh, you can treat it as a gift from me." Noele turned away shyly.
"Err..." Vinny didn't know what to do. 'Can I really just keep the money? I really need it. But, I would owe him... No, he said it himself, I can treat it as a gift.'
"Don't mind if I do then." Vinny pocketed the money. "Ah, by the way, keep everything I said here a secret."
"Why are you so desperately hiding your background?"
"...I don't want people to pity me. Especially you."
"Huh? Why me?"
"You're rich. I don't want rich people to pity me."
'Ahh, is that so...' Noele was kind of disappointed.
"But I won't pity you. Why would I? You're fighting the hardest you can!"
"..."
"In fact, I think you're worth admiring... Even though you really beat me up then, huh."
"Sorry." Vinny chuckled.
'Admiring me, huh. That's new...' Vinny lowered her head. She felt her heart beat a little quicker than before.
"Then, let's go back. I'm starving."
"Yeah, let's--!"
"Aaaahhh! Run!"
A sudden scream came from downstairs.
"What?" Both Vinny and Noele were alarmed.
After the scream, a cascade of noises echoed throughout the school.
Noele ran to the side of the rooftop. Before he could look down the edge, something flew by him.
Vinny widened her eyes as she hurriedly raised a slab and shielded Noele.
Tsss... The acid landed on the slab.
"Noele, back away from there!"
Noele rushed behind Vinny as he looked at what spat the acid towards him.
"A Lizern??"
The big-headed reptile flapped its wings as it swerved left and right.
"What is the pest of the forest doing here?" Vinny was equal parts confused and concerned.
"Maybe it came from the forest beside the school? But why?"
"Let's get rid of this one first." Vinny turned serious as she raised two spikes from the ground and shot it towards the lizern.
The lizern seemed completely unconcerned as it dodged both spikes and advanced towards them.
"Ha, you're pretty nimble." Vinny smirked.
The spikes that shot past the lizern reversed their trajectories and attacked it from behind!
This time, the lizern was pierced through.
"Tsk, that wasn't enough?" Vinny raised another spike.
"Vinny! Shoot it towards their acid sac! Ms. Shanirose said it's their weak spot!"
Vinny examined the lizern. There was a slight bulge under its jaw that had a lighter tone than the rest of its skin.
'I see it! I can see it, but...'
The lizern swayed left and right like a drunk driver.
"...How can I hit such a small spot on a moving target?!" Vinny bit her lip.
"Give me the spike." Noele walked in front of Vinny.
She gently put the spike on his hand. "Are you sure you can hit it?"
"Watch me."
Noele grasped the rough cement spike. He closed one eye and focused on the wildly swerving lizern. Suddenly, his arm spun as he released the spike from his hand!
The lizern swerved right to dodge the spike. However, it was pointless as the spike had also miraculously swerved right!
It pierced the acid sac, directly puncturing its heart. The lizern dropped dead right on the spot.
"See?" Noele smirked.
Vinny was bewildered.
'...I'm pretty sure that Noele just controlled the spike to go right. Did he? I think he did.' She glanced at Noele. 'No, no, he couldn't have. He has no compatibility with the earth element. I'm sure it's just physics... Aerodynamics, yeah...'