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Chapter 45: Not Quite As Planned
I can see the face of the dual-wielding boy visibly pale as he freezes at the unmistakable voice. I turn to see that the whole Student Council was walking towards us through a gap created by the students to make way.
Taking calm but hurried strides in the front was Tess, her doll-like face expressionless. Behind her, I spotted Lilia giving me a worried look.
My attacker immediately recalls his two blades into his dimension ring and gives a respectful bow towards them, sweat beading down his forehead.
“What is going on, Arthur?” Jarrod is the one that speaks up, making everyone in the crowd raise an eyebrow in surprise.
“Looks like the Scholar Mage knows someone from the Student Council.” “No wonder he was acting so c*cky just now.” “Pfft. Did you see him raise up his arm like he was going to stop the attack with his bare hands?” Whispers were heard from the crowd making me roll my eyes. The immaturity level of some of these brats continues to astound me. Even for 12-year-olds, you would think that children from such influential families would be taught some manners.
“Nah, nothing much happened, although you should go take a look at that dwarf student lying over there, Boznean I think that was his name.” I point over to the tree where the dwarf was still groaning while clutching his stomach.
Elijah walks towards me hoping to distill the situation. “Hi Lilia. Sorry, we ended up getting caught up in this little scuffle after the duel between them ended. No harm done!” He gives a slight wave at her as he starts talking while directing his words at Tessia, who still wore a mask of apathy.
“Still, this student was about to attack you when a duel wasn’t even issued. This is a serious offense.” Lilia stepped up, her gaze a bit sterner as she jotted something on a notebook she carried around.
While Lilia, Jarrod, and Elijah were talking about what exactly happened, I felt Tessia’s strong gaze piercing through me, as if she was expecting me to do something. Honestly, even with an extended life experience, I have no confidence in what to do when it comes to these situations.
Did she want me to treat her respectfully as the Student Council President? Did she want me to treat her as a childhood friend? Did she want to keep our past relationship a secret as a whole?
‘It’s Mama!’ Sylv ‘kyu’d’ on top of my head and I had to firmly tell her to stay on my head and not go to her.
Meanwhile, the crowd was getting more and more rowdy, the males doing the best they can to get a better look at Tessia, hoping to engrain her image into their memories to use in times of loneliness or longing.
“You. I believed I asked you a question. Do you dare?” She takes a step forward, her eyes boring down on the second year student. I was thinking that the student was technically a level higher than Tess, but when I took a look at the ribbon that was tied neatly underneath her collar, it had two stripes as well.
“N-no. Of course I would never dare break the rules like that. Please forgive my earlier actions. I think I was a bit too hotheaded.” He bowed even lower to the point that I felt like he was shrinking.
“Leave.” Her eyes continue to look down at him as he shuffles himself a good distance away before he turns around and runs out of sight, a few of the boys in the crowd following after him. Figures.
“And you! Why are you starting a fight with a senior on the first day of school? You should know your place! No matter how rowdy he may have been, he is still your senior and he did not break the rules when dueling with the other student. Furthermore, he is a Battle Mage student while you are a Scholar Mage student. Did you not pay attention to my speech about discrimination between the two sects of students here? Yet, you still chose to interfere, making these types of problems apparent on the first day?” She crosses her arms even tighter as she looks directly at me. Her face was a bit flushed in embarrassment but she took it too far with this.
“HAA?” I couldn’t help but let out an annoyed sound of surprise by her statement.
I take a step forward this time and I can see Elijah’s eyes widen as he realized I was going to go past the point of no return.
“You just got here without even knowing what was going on besides him charging at me with two weapons and you want to lecture me?” I take another step forward and I can see Tessia’s once haughty face starting to crumble.
“He was about to seriously injure or even kill that dwarf lying down right now after the duel system broke. If I hadn’t stopped that arrogant brat, you would’ve had to deal with a murder case, not an unregulated fight between two students.” I was within arms length distance of her and I was the one looking down on her at this time. What a lovely reunion.
“I SINCERELY apologize for the trouble I’ve caused. Good day!” I emphasize mockingly, even throwing in a sarcastic bow, stunning everyone, including Tessia.
So much for maturity… She was still just a thirteen-year-old little girl. What was I even expecting? I shake my head as I turn around in the direction of my dorms, Elijah following after, bowing to student council, all of whom were still dumbfounded.
“Hold it student. Were you raised in a cave? Are these the manners your mother taught you while growing up? Do you even know who she is?” It was Clive Graves who regained his senses first and ran towards me, grabbing me by the arm, trying to spin me back around.
Holding firm, I stop walking and turn my head towards him. He kind of pissed me off from the start and I knew he wasn’t the type I would get along with. Was I raised in a cave? Is he seriously talking trash about Alice right now?
“Let go.” The malice in my voice frightened even Elijah as he instinctively took a step back while Clive immediately let go of my arm and even guarded himself with mana.
I take a quick glance at Tessia and realize she fell down as her knees gave out. I just continued walking towards the dorm, Elijah following behind me as the both of us hears mutters explode behind us.
“Ahh! President Tessia, please get back up.”
“Who the hell was that? I think Treasurer Jarrod called him Arthur right?”
“Oh man he is so screwed. He just told off the Student President of the Academy.”
Elijah took a few hurried steps to catch up to me, eventually walking by my side. “You know what you just did right? Man, you sure love attracting trouble don’t you. First the dungeon and now this?” He shakes his head but continues to follow me as if assuring me nonverbally that he’d be by my side.
Pfft, if only they knew Tess and my relationship. Gah! Maybe I was a bit too harsh on her. She’s just a prepubescent girl. I shouldn’t get irritated because she just acted like one right? I guess I was expecting too much from her.
Well… I’ll just let nature take its course. School should at least be this exciting right? I wasn’t really mad at her, but I was just annoyed at that moment. I should reconcile with her before it gets too awkward but I get the feeling that the timing is going to be an issue.
Elijah and I manage to make it to our dorm building without further trouble. There were two male dorms and two female dorms within the Academy. The two male and female dorms were separated by underclassmen and upperclassmen. Underclassmen were students that were still taking their general education classes. Students are moved into the Upperclassmen dorms after they’ve finished their general education courses and have formally decided on what type of student they were going to be.
The underclassmen dorms were simple to say the least. It was clean and well kept but there were no fancy furniture or decorations on the wall. It was a warm beige colored interior with stairs that went all the way up to the top floor, where each floor had a hallway filled with rooms.
“Room 394. We’re here!” Elijah unlocks the door by placing his palm on a round stone above the handle. It looks like a simple artifact used to read basic mana signatures.
The room wasn’t nearly as fancy as the one in the Helstea Manor but it was still very homey. Walking in, to our right were two closets and two our left, a decent sized bathroom with two sinks a shower and a separate toilet room so I could still wash my face in the sink while Elijah takes a crap. The shower was made from stained glass so while the silhouette may be visible, you wouldn’t be able to see much.
A couple steps in were two beds side by side separated by a nightstand placed against the left side of the wall while on the right side was a long drawer for folded clothes. The sleeping area and the studying area was separated by a wall that came up to our waist, with three stairs leading to where the desks and couches were. The two desks were placed against opposite of each other so we would be seated facing away with a long couch positioned against the miniature wall separating the desks from the beds. The far side of the wall was made almost entirely of glass, which instantly attracted me towards it. The view encompassed a big portion of the campus, which was currently a canvas of fall colors. Looking at it from here, I would have no idea that this place was an institute of mages without being told that.
I took a seat on the couch, somewhat excited about the days to come, Sylv still leaning against the window, looking out at the view.
“Ahh! We didn’t even have dinner yet but I’m already pooped! I wonder whose fault that is?” Elijah jumps on the far bed that was right behind the couch, already claiming that as his own.
I shrink back into the couch, getting comfortable as I spotted the multiple luggage cases that were brought in by our driver beforehand.
TESSIA ERALITH’S POV:
GAAHHHHHH! I screwed up. I screwed up. I screwed up. I TOTALLY screwed up! I buried my head into my pillow and screamed my lungs out in frustration.
“MMMMMMMFFFFFFFFFPPPHHH!!” We were supposed to have an emotional, romantic reunion! Well… It was emotional, but in the complete opposite direction! Why did I even say all of that anyway? Why did I lash out at him? I know Art would never pick a fight without a reason but I just went and told him off on something I didn’t even see! Gah!! I’m so stupid!
I bet he hates me now…
Why did I say that!!! I even brought up my speech! Bahhh! I must’ve sounded so arrogant! But still, we were in a crowd like that and he did have some fault in the commotion. B-but…
I’m sure he hates me now…
If Art just greeted me or even just talked to me normally, I wouldn’t have said that! That’s right! It’s all Art’s fault! He even ignored me when I came all the way there to help settle the mess he was in! He didn’t even say hi! I wasn’t expecting a full-blown hug or even a k-k-kiss or something! Just a ‘long time no see Tess,’ would’ve been fine! Who was that black haired guy that reminds me of a raven anyway? Is he his friend? Best friend? It seemed like the both of them knew Lilia and Jarrod! Gahh!!!! This is so frustrating!!!
I scream into my pillow again in hopes to release some of my frustration. “MMMMMFFFFFF!!!!”
*Knock* *Knock*
“This is Clive… I’m here to check up on you. Are you feeling okay?” I hear the muffled voice through the door.
“Ahem.” I quietly clear my throat before I respond.
“I’m fine, thank you.” I use my ‘public’ voice, as I call it, which makes me sound much colder.
“Who was that brat anyway? I can’t believe he dared lecture you like that when you were trying to give him advice! Should I talk to the director about this? We could get him punished and…”
“It’s fine so leave. Don’t go to the Director either… that’s an order.” I speak harsher than I usually do to get the point across. How dare he badmouths Art. Only I can badmouth him.
I fall back unto my pillow after I hear the faint sound of his footsteps leaving. Dorms were separated by gender and class while before it was separated by the type of student you were. For the Student Councils though, we each had our own room in a building that was right next to the Director’s office. It’s uncomfortable living with guys in the same house but Lilia is here and the guys are generally okay so I don’t mind too much.
Stupid Arthur. Did you know how much I wanted to scream out your name and run to you when I saw you in the audience? Even if he was far away, how could I ever miss that bright auburn hair with a mana beast resting on top of his head! Sylv looks really different from when she first hatched but that didn’t surprise me. The fact that she was a dragon was something that should shock me but with Art, nothing he ever did could surprise me… he was just like that.
“Haaa….” I didn’t even have the energy to scream in frustration anymore. I wanted to blame Art for all of this but I know he wasn’t all at fault. He probably wanted to keep our relationship a secret for me since I’m a public figure here. But still… Art really doesn’t get the female mind very well. Dummy…
I hope he doesn’t hate me…
There were so many questions I wanted to ask him too. What has he been doing? How was his time as an Adventurer? Did he get hurt anywhere? Did he miss me? Did he think of me at all these past four years?
I wanted to brag to him how much stronger I’ve gotten too… After directly training under the Director, my skills as a Conjurer improved by leaps and bounds. Training under Grandpa wasn’t the best idea because he was an Augmenter, which limited what he could teach me. He taught me the basics of mana manipulation but as far as going into the route of a Conjurer, the Director knew a lot more. She was also familiar with the differences in elves and humans, which helped her train me.
Grandpa knew I had great potential because when I first awakened, I created an implosion that blew up my entire room and part of the downstairs kitchen. That was back when Art used to live with us. That was when I had to wake him up everyday too.
*Sniff*
Oh no. I shouldn’t start crying. Art wouldn’t hate me just for that would he? I should just clear things up with him and apologize. He wouldn’t ignore me right?
Ugh…I’m scared.
ARTHUR LEYWIN’S POV:
Sylv was taking a nap next to me on the couch, her tiny body heaving up and down with each breath.
“It’s not like you to explode like that all of a sudden though Art. You would more likely just ignore her and walk off right?” Elijah was still lying down in his bed, his hand supporting his head up as he was facing me.
“Well, I admit I shouldn’t have exploded but I couldn’t help…”
*Knock* *Knock*
We both turned our heads to the door after being interrupted.
“That’s strange, who would want to see us on the first day? Maybe our neighbors are just saying hello?” Elijah gets up to answer the door.
“Who is…” After a brief silence, I turn to see Elijah frozen still. Getting up to see what was going on, I see Director Goodsky nonchalantly at the door, smiling at me.
“Good evening Arthur. Elijah. May I come in?”
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