Fifty gold coins, this was already a lot of money for Adam.
His father was a noble who owned lands. His living conditions in Hodge Academy were quite good, but in his monthly allowance, he only received two gold coins on average.
Fifty gold coins was equivalent to two years of his allowance.
Adam thought that he would be excited when he received this sum of money, but to his surprise, he did not react at all.
As for this fortune, he did not feel any agitation, instead, he was unusually calm.
This reaction struck him as strange.
Perhaps after having experienced grander spectacles, at this moment, he did not feel much excitement looking at these gold coins.
After pondering this, Adam turned around and left.
Having acquired the money, his first reaction was to find his good friend Regan.
A few days ago, he had borrowed two gold coins from Regan.
Now that he had money, and enough ability to repay his debt, it was only natural that he should repay it.
Thus, he turned around and walked towards the other side of the academy.
The Hodge Academy campus was wide, but the accommodations were not all in the same area.
There was a significant difference in treatment between the nobles and the civilians, especially when it came to accommodations.
Nobles like Adam were often placed in the core area of the academy, and each one had their own room. They did not have to share a room with anyone else.
But civilian students like Regan, even if they had money, could only stay in simply appointed dormitories arranged by the academy, often sharing a room with many others; no exceptions were made.
Also, to prevent conflicts between the noble and civilian students, the living areas for civilian students were arranged on the edges of the campus, some distance away from the accommodation areas for noble students
This distance was naturally trivial to Adam.
However, when he arrived outside Regan's room, he was met with an unexpected development.
"Regan? He's not here."
The accommodation manager shook his head, looking at Adam with apparent surprise, "He left several days ago."
"Several days ago?"
Adam furrowed his brow.
Upon reflection, he realized that it had indeed been some time since he last saw Regan.
Not just during the time he was away, even before that, a significant amount of time had passed without him seeing Regan.
Previously, Adam had not paid much attention to this fact, as such a situation was quite common.
As the son of a merchant, Regan would often go out of the academy to help manage the business when he had some free time. His occasional disappearance was the norm.
However, this absence being so long was unusual.
Though Hodge Academy had a relaxed atmosphere, if a student was not present in the academy for a long period, unable to complete specific courses, they would still face disciplinary action.
Considering how Regan treasured his identity as a student at Hodge Academy, he should not have fallen behind this much.
"Where did he go?"
Adam continued to ask, hoping to know more details.
"Where did he go?"
The dormitory manager chuckled and said, "Who could know that?"
"Perhaps he has left for good, never to return..."
The manager said with a mocking laugh.
"Could you please tell me more?"
Adam did not take offense at his tone, he just sincerely desired to know recent developments regarding his friend.
Why should I tell you?
The manager subconsciously wanted to say this, but looking at Adam, he swallowed his words.
The soft sunlight shone down, in front of him stood Adam wearing a school robe, with his smooth, flowing hair cascading down. His face exceptionally delicate without a single flaw, looking like something out of a fairy tale; exquisite and beautiful, radiating an extraordinary charm.
Just by looking at Adam's appearance, the manager could not bring himself to utter his words, he swallowed them down.
It was inevitable.
People often say not to judge a person by their appearance, but this was unavoidable.
Moreover, from experience, exceptionally charismatic people like Adam were usually not easy to provoke, probably possessing distinguished backgrounds and identities.
Even if they weren't, just based on his looks – who knows when he might make an impression on whomever of importance?
Best to not provoke him.
The manager's patience suddenly improved and he told Adam about the events that had recently transpired.
In reality, he didn't know that much, he just gave Adam a rough idea.
But even this rough idea was enough to make Adam frown.
"His sister caught somebody's eye at the academy, and she's being harassed now."
The manager explained.
Adam immediately understood.
Regan indeed had a younger sister. Adam had met her; she was very cute and her name was Anna, if he remembered correctly.
But Regan's sister was barely fourteen years old now.
Even by the standards of their world, she was still considered to be young.
Such a young girl, and people wanted to lay their hands on her?
What was more crucial was that Regan would never allow such a thing to happen.
Adam understood Regan's temperament.
Regan might seem rational on the surface, but in fact, he treasured his friends and family deeply.
He loved his sister very much and spared no effort in protecting her.
Given his temperament, how could he hand over his sister to those so-called big shots to defile?
If he did not submit, the oppression would follow closely behind.
If things went wrong, he might actually face expulsion.
Adam furrowed his brow, a foreboding feeling washed over him.
He thanked the man and turned to leave.
In the following time, he walked around the campus, leisurely touring the various places.
Of course, that's only how it appeared.
In reality, he was continuously searching for Regan.
Unfortunately, he found no traces.
Embarrassingly, despite being friends with Regan, Adam didn't know much about Regan's daily habits.
He didn't even know where Regan liked to go, he only found out after asking several students.
Given such a situation, locating Regan was proving to be hard work.
After searching for half a day, he was left with nothing.
Of course, it was also possible that Regan had already left the academy.
If that was the case, Adam would feel more at ease.
Walking out of a meadow, Adam looked up at the sky.
It was approaching dusk and the colour of the sky was changing.
Drops of rain fell on the ground, bringing a wave of coolness.
It was raining on this day....
Drip... Drip...
It was drizzling.
The sound of rain echoed crisply.
Outside of the alley, a figure fell heavily, producing a painful noise.
"Mr. Eggers is waiting for your reply, do not make this esteemed man wait too long, understand?"
A voice echoed in the alley.