Lucia Everlast yawned, rubbing her eyes, wearing her uniform on top and pajamas underneath.
A pillow was wedged against her side.
"Hey, have you heard about it this time?"
"What? Are you talking about the sorcerer again?"
"Yeah, I know."
"You should know, considering how noisy it has been about it lately. Just open your tablet, and it's all you'll see."
"But hey, isn't it impressive? I mean, just the fact that a sorcerer appeared is a big deal, and the academy students managed to capture them. Even if the teaching assistant helped, it's still amazing."
Walking toward the classroom, Lucia overheard a conversation between students walking the same path.
Curious, she interjected, even though she didn't know who they were.
"Uh, it was our senior who did it."
"Yes, yes?"
"Lucia Everlast?"
As Lucia suddenly appeared, two students from the Department of Magic froze, not knowing how to react.
However, Lucia continued walking as if nothing had happened.
But she didn't forget to say something along the way.
"Senior Adrias Cromwell from the Department of Magic captured the sorcerer."
Lucia's rare smile fluttered like cherry blossoms.
The students could only watch her in a daze.
.
.
.
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It had been about five days since my return to the academy.
During that time, I cooperated with the investigators, even on weekends.
As the incident involved a sorcerer, it caused quite a stir within the academy as well.
"Fortunately, I got a perfect score."
Despite two missing teammates, the evaluation was still flawless.
Ultimately, it was all thanks to capturing the sorcerer.
Suddenly, as I opened the classroom door and entered, the students who noticed my presence stopped talking and couldn't take their eyes off me.
And it irritated me somehow that they kept murmuring while looking at me.
"Well, if you have something to say, say it to my face."
After I said a few words, everyone fell silent and turned their gazes away.
"Senior."
However, only Lucia, lying on a pillow that I didn't know where she got it from, continued to stare at me.
She tapped her side with her palm, as if gesturing for me to sit next to her.
I couldn't ignore that...
In the end, I reluctantly approached her and took a seat, while Lucia, with sleepy eyes, let out a mischievous smile.
"Senior, did you do it again this time?"
"I did what I had to. I rose from the dead."
"But in the end, you're alive. You caught the sorcerer and the Imperial Investigation Corps is even giving you a commendation."
"That's true."
"I heard there's a reward too. Senior, could you buy me a meal?"
Huh, shameless.
Huh, shameless.
Since there's nothing much to take from me, go ahead and scrounge up the fleas' livers.
"I'm broke."
"Oh, really? I heard the reward is 30 million wil."
"Where did you hear that from? Anyway, it's not all mine. It'll be divided into thirds."
"Even if you split it, it's still 10 million, right? We didn't even have a celebration after successfully making the potion last time."
I really don't understand why she's like this.
Even though she comes from a wealthy family, why does she want to empty my pockets?
But well, considering the substantial reward, I decided to let it go.
Just one meal, I suppose.
"Fine, I lost. But I won't go to the place we went to last time."
"Hehe, got it. When should we go? How about today?"
"Well, the reward is..."
Before I could finish my sentence, Professor Bevan entered the classroom.
I focused on the lecture, saying that we would talk later.
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.
.
After class, contrary to our agreement to talk, Lucia kept telling me the story of the day when the incident happened.
And as the lecture ended, she followed me closely.
She had never followed me like this after class before, so I asked her.
"Don't you have anything else to do?"
"Why?"
"Well, you're following me."
"Hmm~ I don't have anything today."
Since Lucia was tagging along, making potions was out of the question for today.
Since I still had to keep the creation of the new potion a secret, we ended up going to the cafeteria for a meal.
"Where are we going?"
"To have a meal."
"I'll come with you!"
It was still a bit early for dinner, but I planned to eat quickly, digest, and then engage in some exercise.
After gaining talent from the recent incident and becoming more accustomed to controlling my body, exercising became enjoyable day by day.
As we entered the student cafeteria, we were met with the same gazes we experienced in the classroom.
"Oh, Senior, you're quite popular, huh?"
"Yeah, I guess. I'm really popular. Good, I like it."
As I murmured with a lifeless voice, Lucia burst into giggles for some reason.
Feeling too bothered to tackle her any further, I ordered cheese fondue and marinated pork ribs.
"Is that delicious?"
"Yeah, I like it."
"Then I'll have that too."
After receiving our food, we found any available seats and sat down.
Amidst the awkward stares, I quietly began my meal.
"Senior, how do you eat this?"
Lucia, who had been sitting silently despite having food in front of her, suddenly asked me.
Perhaps it's because she grew up in a wealthy household. She didn't even know how to eat pork ribs dipped in cheese.
"You dip the meat like this and eat it."
"Oh, this kind of food exists."
"Is this your first time eating it?"
"It's my first time having a meal in the cafeteria."
"What do you usually eat?"
"I just order today's menu through room service. I'm too lazy."
I see. How could you have the chance to eat in the cafeteria?
Still, even though I felt a bit awkward eating with someone after a long time, it wasn't too bad.
In fact, I even thought that occasionally eating like this was quite nice.
'Was it lonely?'
Looking back, not only in my past life but also in this current life, I always felt like I was running forward without looking back.
Sometimes, I thought it wouldn't be too bad to have meals and chat with these newfound friends once a month.
"Well, except for Lucia."
Could anyone have imagined becoming close with a playable character who might kill you?
Lucia, holding the pork ribs with cheese tightly, felt refreshingly different.
It was amusing to see her half-closed eyes that were always drowsy widen.
"It's delicious."
"Is it? Eat a lot."
"It feels like it'll make me gain a lot of weight. That's why you exercise, right, Senior?"
"That's right."
I casually brushed off Lucia's nonsense and continued with the meal.
Swish.
"Hmm?"
While I was busily tearing into the ribs, I felt someone sit down next to me.
Lucia also looked at the person who sat next to me, her face filled with question marks.
"Who...?"
Lucia asked, and I managed to swallow the meat in my throat before speaking.
"Vivianne?"
Nonchalantly sitting next to me with her green hair was none other than Vivianne.
She simply sat there next to me quietly, which made me wonder what was going on.
"Why did you come all the way from the Knight Department to here...?"
Thinking that she might have come because of the Boloric incident, I asked, and she turned her head to meet my gaze but remained silent.
What's going on? It's creepy when someone just stares without saying anything.
"Just because."
That was her only response.
With that answer, she turned her gaze back to the front and sat quietly.
Seeing her from this angle, she still looked perfectly fine.
If someone who didn't know her saw her, they would just think she was pretty with her green hair and delicate features.
Of course, objectively speaking, she was a beautiful woman with a pure appearance.
Am I going crazy?
"Who is she?"
"She was my team member during the evaluation. Vivianne Velocan, a third-year student from the Knight Department..."
Why did she come, really?
Vivianne seemed to have no intention of speaking.
"You're an unusual senior. Just like Senior Adrias."
"What's so unusual about me?"
As I replied, I subtly observed Vivianne's reaction.
Could it be because of what happened in the barrier?
Does she even realize that I'm a fairy?
But I couldn't bring myself to speak up first.
If I bring up the topic of fairies, it's as good as admitting that I am one.
With an uncomfortable atmosphere during the meal, as it came to an end, I headed back to the dormitory, with Lucia and Vivianne tagging along.
"Hey, ladies? I'm going back to the dormitory soon. Can you both go your own ways?"
"I'll see you off, Senior."
"Me too."
What on earth is happening?
It's giving me a headache.
"Hehe. You, there was a reason to create that potion, wasn't there?"
Suddenly, a voice from a third party startled all three of us, and we looked around.
"Here."
The voice came from the top of a tree.
Bahart was standing there, maintaining his balance on top of the tree, dressed in a white suit.
"Tower Master? What are you doing up there?"
I asked, bewildered, and Bahart clicked his tongue before swiftly coming down.
"Well, you have quite the way with women, Adrias Cromwell, playing around with two of them."
"Haha, well... But why are you dressed like that...?"
Bahart's mouth looked like it was sewn shut.
It wasn't a pleasant sight, and I wondered why he was behaving like this now.
"I'm in training."
"Yes, I see."
I didn't feel the need to delve deeper into it.
However, it seemed Bahart had no intention of letting it go.
"Aren't you curious?"
"Isn't it similar to the training where you covered your eyes last time?"
Eventually, I played along with his rhythm, and he clapped his hands.
"That's correct! A mage must be careful with their words. That's why I was practicing silence."
My lord, he's speaking perfectly fine right now.
I didn't want to complicate matters, so I decided not to tackle him.
"I heard you caught the Dark Mage this time?"
"Yes, I caught him with the help of my fellow students here. We were lucky."
He glanced at Vivianne, whom I pointed out, but seemed uninterested and looked back at me.
"Did he have any artifacts or anything like that?"
At the sudden question, I instinctively remained calm.
Could he have noticed something?
Honestly, I couldn't be certain that there were no traces of laziness left at the scene.
For now, I shook my head.
"He wore a mask, but other than that, I don't know."
"Hmm, is that so?"
His sharp gaze swept over me and moved on.
However, that was just a brief moment. Bahart, who couldn't contain his amusement, patted my head.
"You, there's no way you're that simple-minded. Forget it. Let's pretend I didn't hear anything. By the way, are you preparing for the wager?"
"Yes, I've been researching in the laboratory every day."
"I won't go easy on you just because you caught the Dark Mage. You need to be prepared before the year is over."
With those words, Bahart suddenly disappeared, just like when he appeared.
As if I didn't have enough to worry about with the Pages of Sloth recently, Bahart's presence made me more vigilant.
"Would I become as strange as the Tower Master if I become an Archmage?"
"You're already strange enough, so don't worry about unnecessary things."
Seeing Lucia puff up her cheeks in an adorable manner in response to my words, I couldn't help but think that there's someone who actually puffs up their cheeks.
After arriving at the dormitory where I stayed, we bid farewell.
Vivianne remained silent, only occasionally glancing at me until we parted ways. I couldn't figure out what she was thinking.
Rather, her behavior only made me uncomfortable for no reason, but I couldn't bring myself to chase her away, as it reminded me of the young Vivianne I saw in the Barrier.
Back in my room, I felt the need to dispose of the Pages of Sloth.
"No matter how I think about it, what I have is dangerous."
If only I had the freedom and skills that weren't tied to anything...
If I were acknowledged as the owner by the items...
No, even if I think that way, the items related to Great Sin were undeniably dangerous.
"What a predicament."
I couldn't summon Nickel, as he was holding on to it.
Thanks to that, I couldn't receive swordsmanship training for five days.
If I were to summon it, the Pages of Sloth would also come out, and the Black Mages in the academy would undoubtedly notice.
'Perhaps Bahart would notice as well.'
As a mage of that caliber, he would be able to sense it even without being a Black Mage.
After much contemplation, I came up with one possible use for it.
If things went well, I might even be able to improve my proficiency in Black Magic.
'Assuming things go well, although there are many variables.'
For the plan, it would be best to execute it on the Friday before the weekend.
'Although there are too many variables, there's no choice.'
I was always the one being used, but now it was my turn to make use of others.
I wondered how the face of that masterful teacher would change.