A girl watched from the shadows in the tree, her presence almost imperceptible among the leaves. She had been following Ren since early morning, this time more out of obligation than real interest.
Though she was already worrying about the start of classes.
Initially, she had considered following him into the mines.
After all, the headmaster's recent interest in the supposedly weakest student had piqued her already high curiosity too. But she had dismissed the impulse, reasoning that Ren was likely just another poor student desperate to recover his family's investment.
'Another case of economic desperation,' she had thought upon seeing him enter the mines. It wasn't unusual, many low-resource students spent extra hours digging, trying to recover something.
'The headmaster must be overreacting,' she had thought, settling into her observation post. 'What could possibly be special about a boy with a mere spore?'
