Ch.69Chapter 69. First Day of the Festival (2)

“Oh, here, here!”

“Ryu…”

Elaine was about to call out to Ryu walking in the distance when she suddenly stopped.

It was because Cynthia was already waving her hand cheerfully and calling out to Ryu in a loud voice.

“Were you all gathered here already?”

“Yeah. Because today is an important… no, a joyful day!”

“…Right. A joyful day.”

Elaine felt an inexplicable bitterness as she listened to the conversation between Cynthia and Ryu.

This bitterness wasn’t the first time she’d felt it today.

‘Certainly…’

Cynthia addressing Ryu with an excited expression and voice, and Ryu gazing at her intently.

She wasn’t sure when it had started.

But clearly, at some point, Cynthia and Ryu had become much closer.

As if they shared a secret that only the two of them knew.

And Elaine, deep down, envied that.

“How are you feeling today?”

“…Why are you suddenly asking that?”

After greeting everyone, Cynthia and Ryu naturally walked side by side at the front of the group.

The two of them walking together wasn’t strange at all.

But lately, this situation had definitely been repeating itself.

Whenever they all met up, Cynthia and Ryu were always together.

“Emily.”

“Hmm?”

“Those two. Don’t they seem suspicious?”

“Suspicious…?”

“Yes. Lately they’ve been sticking together a lot, and their way of speaking seems more intimate.”

“I guess so…”

Elaine watched as Emily stared at Cynthia and Ryu ahead with a blank expression.

“I suppose they do…”

Elaine felt her own enthusiasm waning at Emily’s apparent lack of interest.

Just as suspicious as Cynthia and Ryu’s relationship was, Emily had been acting strange lately too.

To be precise, rather than strange, she seemed constantly restless.

She also looked somewhat drained.

“They’re definitely different from usual, right? Cynthia seems excited too.”

“I think she’s always been like that…”

“No, she was always depressed after the Cain Hover incident, but she changed at some point.”

“R-really?”

Seeing Emily’s clueless reaction, Elaine realized there was no point in continuing the conversation with her.

Swish-

Her blonde hair swayed as Elaine turned her head back.

Her eyes met directly with Agnes and Marie who were following behind.

The two were looking at Elaine with sparkling eyes.

They had the look of people who would agree with anything she said.

‘Ugh.’

That actually made her more reluctant to speak.

Elaine flashed a smile at the two and then turned forward again to continue walking.

The conversation between Cynthia and Ryu was still ongoing.

‘Could those two…’

For once, girlish fantasies began to bloom in Elaine’s mind.

**

“Sigh. What a hassle this is.”

Nigel was openly complaining, not caring who might hear him.

To think that he had to personally handle such trivial matters.

It was truly an unpleasant situation, but he had no choice.

In a way, it was a situation he had brought upon himself.

‘Only two points left now.’

Nigel was in the middle of working within the academy, going around personally.

The reason Nigel was moving around himself was simple.

He had no subordinates to whom he could entrust the work.

It wasn’t something just anyone could do, and it required a black mage to handle it directly, but Nigel no longer had any black mage subordinates.

Instead, he did have an undead wyvern rider, but…

He couldn’t possibly assign such a task to a knight riding a wyvern made of bones.

‘If only tomorrow goes well.’

Nigel thought that all this trouble would be over if tomorrow’s plan ended successfully.

If tomorrow’s plan succeeded, he wouldn’t have to be so cautious about the incident he had completely botched last time.

“Ugh.”

Just thinking about it made him angry.

That black-haired guy who defeated the Green Flame Knight.

The Elder who had met him directly said he was nothing special.

It was contradictory that someone “nothing special” had taken down the Green Flame Knight, but he couldn’t question the Elder’s words.

Nigel was determined to personally slit that guy’s throat tomorrow.

‘No, if I slit his throat, I can’t use him as a test subject.’

“Hehehe.”

With a sinister, lewd laugh, Nigel slowly moved to the next location.

Nigel was walking boldly on the main road, but no one looked at him strangely despite his sinister laughter.

No one was paying attention to him in the first place.

It was only natural.

After all, there was a barrier around Nigel that the Elder himself had cast.

Thanks to that, Nigel wasn’t sneaking around as usual but was boldly striding through the academy.

It was also possible because it was festival season, and quite a few outsiders had entered.

‘Hehe, I wonder how everyone will react when the wyvern rider appears.’

Nigel gave a sinister smile as he watched the students passing by, laughing happily.

Would they still be able to laugh like that after seeing the wyvern tomorrow?

Nigel was convinced they wouldn’t as he continued walking.

The two remaining points he needed to visit were perhaps the most important points in this plan.

‘Oh!’

Nigel, who had been walking quickly, suddenly stopped when he saw someone.

He hadn’t expected to run into them so openly outside like this.

Thump-

Coming out of the building ahead was Binuar Christia, the chancellor of Crescen Academy.

Thump-

And behind him, Vice Chancellor Landgar was following.

‘I-I won’t be discovered, right?’

It was too late to turn back since they were too close.

Nigel tried to calm his pounding heart while acting as naturally as possible.

Bow-

Thinking that if something happened, the Elder behind him would somehow handle it.

“Hmm. Working hard, I see.”

‘Please…’

Nigel, who had bowed at a 90-degree angle, almost collapsed on the spot when he heard Chancellor Binuar’s voice right in front of him.

Step- Step- Tap-

With two footsteps and a tap on his shoulder, Nigel looked up.

The one who had touched his shoulder was Elder Landgar, who had been behind Chancellor Binuar.

Elder Landgar looked at him expressionlessly.

Nigel instinctively knew.

He hadn’t been discovered.

‘Phew.’

Nigel let out a deep sigh inwardly as he straightened up and looked back.

Chancellor Binuar and the Elder were getting further away.

“Haaah.”

Grin-

With a sigh of relief, Nigel headed toward the building the two had just exited.

Toward the vault building, where the chancellor’s and vice chancellor’s offices were located.

**

“You all have infinite potential. Don’t forget that, and if you keep moving forward, you’ll surely find your own star.”

Clap clap clap-

Though it didn’t really resonate with me, I still applauded enthusiastically.

As expected, Yuria was good at speaking in front of people.

There must be at least a few hundred people gathered here, yet she spoke without any nervousness.

Could it be because of the name “Phrysis”? Many people had flocked to Yuria’s lecture.

And Yuria delivered a lecture that met the students’ expectations.

Actually, it felt less like a lecture and more like she was just telling stories.

‘Is that what makes a good lecture…?’

“Any questions from students? Even trivial ones are welcome.”

Hands shot up-

As soon as Yuria said she would take questions, students all over the lecture hall raised their hands.

Everyone’s thirst for knowledge was overflowing.

“Do we have any questions… huh?”

I was about to ask the kids, “We don’t have any questions, right?” and then leave with everyone if they said no, but…

‘Oh?’

It was unexpected.

Emily, sitting two seats away from me, had her hand raised high.

“Hehe. So many questions. I’ll take them in order. First, the student sitting in the very front row, our model student?”

“Yes, second year…”

While another student was asking a question, I quietly asked Emily.

“Emily, do you have something to ask?”

“Yes. You can go ahead first.”

“I… see.”

I was going to persuade Emily to leave quickly before it got crowded, but I could hear the sincerity in her voice.

Anyone could tell she had no intention of leaving the lecture hall before asking her question.

‘She’s a great lecturer, truly great.’

Emily, who normally wouldn’t ask questions during class due to shyness even when she had them.

To think she could draw out such a serious side from Emily.

“No, no. Let’s wait and leave together.”

Normally, I would have said “see you later” and left first, but I had to be careful during the festival period.

Although the plan was scheduled for tomorrow, you never know when or where something might happen.

Nod-

Emily nodded slightly.

By then, one round of questions and answers had finished.

The Q&A session continued, and Yuria didn’t look in our direction at all.

You’d think she might glance over at least once if she knew I was here.

As a result, Emily’s question kept getting pushed back.

“Next question?”

“Over here!”

“…Huh?”

While everyone was quietly raising their hands, a determined voice rang out clearly.

It was Emily’s voice.

Thanks to that, Yuria’s gaze turned directly to Emily.

She finally saw us.

“…Yes, the student over there.”

“First year, Emily Franz.”

“Miss Franz. Yes.”

“Is Yuria Phrysis…”

‘What’s with this atmosphere?’

Even before Emily finished speaking, I could sense something wasn’t right.

It was already unusual that Emily didn’t care at all about everyone’s attention being focused on her.

“Why did you leave your family?”

As Emily’s question ended, all eyes in the lecture hall turned to Yuria.

At first glance, it seemed like an ordinary question, but for some reason, Emily’s voice carried various emotions.

Curiosity, resentment, longing, anger.

“…Hmm.”

I was watching Emily, who was staring at Yuria with a stiff face.

Emily’s expression was clearly rigid, but I could definitely see it.

Her lips trembling slightly, as if they might crumble at the slightest touch.

‘What’s going on?’