Ian and Vice continued to observe as Rory walked away from them without giving any explanation as to why, and this continued for the next few weeks.
They would attempt to question their friend on several occasions, but upon being repeatedly rebuffed or ignored, they slowly stopped pushing Rory for answers.
While they still cared about their friend, they decided to give him some space and no longer press him regarding the reasons behind his behavior.
In the meantime, Darek's group continued to bother them, with Rory receiving more of their attention.
From what the two had seen on a few occasions in these weeks, they could see that Rory was closer to such a group and was even serving them in various ways.
Ian was also slowly giving up on the situation of his friend, feeling that if Rory himself wasn't actively looking for their help, he and Vice also shouldn't keep running after him only to be ignored.
But when it came to Vice, he was still interested in what was happening with Rory. Unlike Ian, he had memories of his previous life. He suspected that Darek had something to threaten Rory with.
Hence, while continuing his studies at the Academy of Stars and learning about this world and at the same time learning about the merchant profession from his father, this boy dedicated his spare time to keeping an eye on Rory.
...
At the Academy of Stars...
The students were given a lunch break between the morning and afternoon classes.
At this time, many students were gathered around the living areas of the academy, eating, talking, and playing.
But in a less busy corner of the area, Vice hid behind a tree near a corridor leading to a dead end.
From there, he continued watching Darek's group eating in their usual hangout spot during their breaks.
The group of four boys were sitting on the ground, while a fifth of them held a tray with drinks and snacks.
This fifth member had his trousers down and some trash at his feet.
That was Rory.
As Vice observed in silence, someone suddenly appeared behind him without startling him.
It was his sister, Lauren.
"Vice, what are you doing?" Lauren asked, finding that her brother was once again watching those youngsters. "I already told you to stop doing this.
If you can't do anything, why keep bothering yourself by watching him? Sometimes, we have to let go of some things, little brother."
However, Vice disagreed with that and stated, "No. I need to know what they are using against Rory. Once I know that, I'll be able to do something."
Lauren sighed and asked. "Will knowing the reason really help you? How would it change anything?"
"Depending on what it is, I can approach Rory and let him know that it's no big deal. I can advise him that he shouldn't humiliate himself with these people no matter the secret they are using against him."
He replied, his eyes still fixed on the boys as they laughed and kicked his friend.
Vicente pressed one of his hands into the bark of the tree in front of him in frustration.
He was the strongest in class 2, but against class 3 students, he held very little advantage.
His martial arts technique even surpassed those of some class 4 students. To get an idea of how skilled he really was, Vicente trained twice a month with his sister and was usually not at a disadvantage.
His earthly martial arts, combined with the ones he had been learning in this world, gave him great advantages over the children. However, the weight disparity between himself and his opponents, along with their numbers, reduced his chances of securing a definitive victory no matter what he could do.
While he could potentially make one of those youngsters suffer at most, he would still have to face three more adversaries.
Ian might be able to make some difference if he were there.
Ian was the second most talented in class 2.
But his other friend had already told Vice that he wouldn't help Rory unless this boy asked for his help.
Unfortunately for Vicente, he was now dealing with children...
These youngsters had yet to grasp the true value of friendship, and their immense pride often got in the way.
Lauren sighed, shaking her head in disappointment as she thought to herself.
'Poor little brother... Finding out the truth may push you further away from him.'
But she couldn't help but ask, "What's your plan?"
"Find out the truth, make him realize it's no big deal, and bring him back into our group. If he doesn't want to be my friend after that, that's fine as well. I'd prefer it if he continued to be my friend, but if he doesn't want to after that, I'll be fine as long as he doesn't humiliate himself anymore." Vice said in a different tone, full of emotion. "I just can't allow that to continue."
Pow!
With an outburst of emotion, he punched the trunk of the tree.
Lauren looked at Vice's clenched hand, recognizing one of her brother's most prominent flaws.
Vice had a really hard time letting things go. Once he had made up his mind to do something, he went all the way, regardless of what the consequences might be.
Once, he had taken a situation so extreme that even though he knew his parents would beat him, he went all the way, and when he was beaten, he didn't shed even a single tear.
Lauren had observed him demonstrate this behavior in other situations, usually related to his friends or family.
She understood that he was an obsessed person who was hard to convince not to do something.
"Sigh... That's fine. But don't go overboard. If you spend every break watching Rory, you'll lose your friend Ian." She advised him while lightly tapping on his shoulder.
She could provide him with some assistance, but she felt letting her little brother work it out for himself would be much better.
That way, he wouldn't have any regrets about it!
"Big sister Lauren, can you ask Ian's sister to tell him you are teaching me at break time? I promise to sort things out quickly," Vice requested.
"OK, I'll do that, but it won't last for long."
"Thanks, big sister," He replied before he noticed those youngsters and moved on. He then returned to class 2.
Today, he still hadn't discovered the truth about Rory.
Nevertheless, Vicente did not doubt himself and was determined to find that out soon.
Amidst these concerns, he continued to learn about this world. So far, he had realized this world lacked technologies such as the Internet and electricity.
However, these were basically replaced by other technologies, making it possible for the existence of certain things that even existed on the modern Earth, albeit in a different way.
While there were no cars or televisions, people could still communicate with others who were hundreds of kilometers away, travel through the skies in flying boats, and so on.
However, while some advancements like this existed, this society in many other aspects was more like that of middle-aged Europe than the modern Earth that Vicente had left after dying.
The customs were somewhat similar, and the systematic manner in which those ordinary-level magicians here were was more similar to that of the servants of feudal lords of the Earth during that period. At the same time, agriculture depended on animal strength and low-level magicians.
In short, if you were poor and lacked magical talent, you would live in Polaris Realm just as any poor person on middle-aged Earth would.
But if you possessed magical talent, you could have access to advanced things or more than what was present in the place Vicente had left!
Another path to live prosperously in this world was to amass so many resources that one could even influence relevant magicians.
While he was worried about his friend, Vice was also learning about these possibilities and was becoming more interested in mastering his father's profession and achieving a good position in the future by elevating his status within the Seidel Kingdom.
His mafia-style family business model still needed a lot of work to align with his plans, but he aimed to use the knowledge he had learned on Earth to enhance his social position in the Seidel Kingdom.
With these ambitious plans in mind, Vice's routine would remain packed for the next six months until he finally strived to achieve one of his short-term goals!