Cyril figured Myra wanted him to be careful around Leo, thinking his connections would prove troublesome.
“The Thorne family is way stronger!
Just for suggesting that she is disrespecting you!”
He ignored the impulse in the form of Rhamn’s sweet voice.
Though he did find Myra’s advice unnecessary.
Pretending nothing happened, they went back to the castle, to a particular auditorium on the second floor.
Even though one of their classmates had their hand turned crispy, it didn’t mean all of their lessons were canceled.
The next lesson was Demonology, a study on everything about the demons and how to defeat them.
Arguably, this was the most important subject for those aiming to join the Empire’s forces in the future.
The demons were an ancient enemy, always aiming to attack the city’s walls.
“I don’t know.
Who cares about demons?
Their glory days are in the past.”
However, with the rapid development of magic, gone were the days when the Empire feared demonic attacks.
Nowadays demons are destroyed long before they can reach the gates of the city.
Only the powerful archdemons remain a threat, but Knights exist to fight those beings.
This led to many people, especially younger ones, losing their reverence.
“Rightfully, I would say.”
…You told me you wouldn’t interfere.
“Sorry, sorry~”
Sitting in a random chair near the front rows, Cyril refocused on the professor of demonology.
It was a comparatively young woman with a strict demeanor.
Judging by the other students’ admiring eyes, she was considered beautiful.
After quickly introducing herself, she grabbed a pointer and motioned towards a whiteboard.
On its surface was an image frozen in time, seemingly projected from a peculiar box-shaped mechanism in the ceiling.
This was the doing of illusion magic, still a relatively new discipline.
Among other things, it allowed one to record an image in time.
One would think such a technology would allow for many wonders.
However, it was strictly controlled for certain reasons, and one wouldn’t see it used among civilians.
So such a thing was rare.
Even the nobles of this class stared at the whiteboard in wonder.
The projected image in front of them showed a group of creatures.
They were humanoids with rough reddish skin and sharp claws on their hands.
Some had feathers sticking out of their heads, and some had horns, tails, or other animal characteristics.
What they all shared was their repulsive appearance.
Their features were vaguely human yet distorted.
“This is a ghoul, the most common demon that can be seen on the battlefield.
Alone, they don’t pose much of a threat to a soldier of the Empire, but their kind always comes in great numbers.
They can be a tricky enemy to deal with.”
The professor waved her hand, and the image changed.
It now showed a close-up of a ghoul’s body on what looked like an operating table.
“Their claws are sharp enough to sever bone, and their skin’s capable of enduring much damage.
The best way of dealing with them is to use fire or ice elemental spells.”
“Despite their humanoid appearance, they behave more like beasts, and you must approach them as such.”
With a nonchalant face, she explained the ghouls’ biology, tactics they like to use, and their weaknesses.
Although the students didn’t share her stoic demeanor.
The ghouls’ bodies were quite ugly, and some of the more softhearted students struggled to look, their faces paling slightly.
The professor didn’t seem to care as she continued her lecture while the students slowly lost their appetite.
“Blegh… Do you really have to fight them…?” Rhamn looked at the whiteboard, sticking out her tongue in disgust.
If I want to become a Knight, then yes.
Knights, the special forces under the direct command of the Tower, were originally formed precisely to combat the demonic menace.
Everything, from their tactics to equipment, was perfectly tailored to fight demons.
They were admired by people as heroes.
They were the first and last line of defense against the dangerous archdemons.
Although their reputation nowadays wasn’t too good, joining the Knights was still a prestigious career path.
“Give up, please.”
“…”
“I am joking!
Don’t look at me like that.”
As he was glancing at Rhamn in complaint, Cyril happened to notice Myra.
This auburn-haired girl sat next to him this lesson, and her behavior was somewhat strange.
There were generally two types of students attending lectures: those who paid attention to the professor while occasionally taking breaks to slack off, and those who slacked off while occasionally taking breaks to pay attention to the professor.
Myra, however, seemed to choose an unorthodox path.
She would silently stare at him out of the corner of her eye while occasionally taking breaks to hatefully glare at the image of ghouls on the whiteboard.
The professor’s entire existence seemed to evade her perception.
“…Why won’t you tell her to get lost?”
I don’t care.
“It’s not because you enjoy it, right?”
No.
Rhamn stared at him with suspicion but in the end only ‘hmph’-ed and didn’t say anything else.
With his break done, Cyril refocused on the lecture, continuing his study.
Until the end of the lesson, the professor never reprimanded any lazy students.
Despite her strict appearance, she was surprisingly lax in maintaining discipline.
When the bell rang, Cyril calmly gathered his things and went towards the last remaining lesson.
Myra, as if it were the most natural thing to do, walked by his side.
…
The last lesson of the day was math.
A source of grief for any young human of this age, and surely of ages to come.
Their professor was an old man who looked like he was half a step into the grave already, with ghostly white hair and an extremely wrinkled face.
Despite that, he spoke energetically, almost marching back and forth between students.
‘How could someone be so enthusiastic about mathematics?’ was a question many students currently had in their minds.
Though it was quickly wiped away by the difficulty of the lecture.
Most stared with despair at the increasing number of letters on the whiteboard.
Some whispered, cursing whoever thought mages needed to learn this.
Cyril had a complex expression.
He never had problems with this before, but today he finally felt threatened.
His brain worked extra hard to make sense of it all, while his heart beat slightly faster.
“I can help you if you want.”
Rhamn was sitting on top of the desk in front of him, as seemed to be her habit already.
Owing to her being imperceptible to others, she never hesitated to do whatever she wanted during lessons.
Right now she had her legs crossed on the desk as she peered into his notebook, her red eyes shining bright.
You’ll help?
How?
Peek at others’ notebooks?
Rhamn chuckled and shook her head.
“Of course not.
I won’t be able to do that anyway.
I can only see what you see.”
Is that so?
“I think I can help you solve this using my personal genius.”
Rhamn narrowed her eyes as she pointed at the chaotic mass of letters in his notebook.
…Go ahead then.
Incredibly smugly, Rhamn began explaining her thought process.
It was somewhat hard to discern, but he discovered her ramblings had meaning.
He wrote down everything she said and looked at the result.
It does look correct.
So you are useful after all.
“Naturally!”
He nodded to himself and, getting a peculiar whim, turned to look at the side.
Of course, Myra continued to sit next to him this lesson.
But this time, her attention was taken by something else.
As her notebook lay there completely empty, she stared at the whiteboard like she was seeing horrors beyond human comprehension.
Then, he glanced at the other end of the auditorium.
There, surrounded by other students, sat Cedric.
He similarly had a dead expression on his face, shakily writing something down.
“Ha!”
As he was feeling momentarily amused, the professor’s aged voice called out his name, making him the center of attention.
It seems this professor, despite his kindly face, didn’t take too kindly to others not paying attention.
Though Cyril was prepared and told ‘his’ solution to the given equation.
The old man’s face quickly changed from disapproving to overjoyed.
“Good, good.
This was a hard one.
Very impressive you got that.
As you all have heard, this…”
In a visibly better mood, the old man continued with the lecture.
This time he began writing an even harder equation, making the students’ mood visibly worse.
Some of the students threw impressed glances his way, not expecting this young master to be a studious one.
Myra snapped from her stupor, staring at him with stars sparkling in her eyes.
“How stupid can you be to not understand this?
We might as well be a higher-order life form compared to you!”
With each impressed stare his way, Rhamn’s head was raised higher and higher.
As if poured on with cold water, Cyril immediately calmed down and let out an exhausted sigh.
Stop talking like this…
“…I thought you agreed with me?”
An even more exhausted sigh almost escaped his lips, but he recovered in time.
Again, he was troubled by the existence of such a nefarious ability, like mind reading.
He indeed got a peculiar sense of satisfaction from succeeding where others seemed to struggle, but was it really this bad?
Anyways, thank you.
I’ll be asking for your help in the future.
“No problem!
You can count on me.” Rhamn raised a fist in the air with a reliable smile.
By the time the bell rang, Myra had returned to her confused state.
When other students began gathering their things, she was still absentmindedly staring at her notebook.
Among the students present, none seemed to be in a similar state.
Even the other commoner, Cedric, seemed to handle it slightly better.
Myra vaguely glanced in Cyril’s direction, her lips parted, about to say something, but then she stopped herself.
As if thinking of some genius idea, her face lit up as she hastily looked in a particular direction.
On the other end of her gaze was a girl with brown hair and blue eyes, Rose Briar.
She was about to finish gathering her things, among which was her notebook.
Despite it being their first day, it seemed to be written half-full already.
Myra, without any hesitation, directly blocked the girl’s path, smiled, and pointed at her notebook.
As if interacting with a close friend, she begged for help.
Rose first reacted with confusion.
Who was this?
Then, she shot a brief glance at Cyril, who was observing them this whole time.
In her eyes something similar to competitive spirit showed through before going away.
Rose looked back at Myra and slowly nodded, her face completely calm.
Myra smiled wider and began asking a barrage of questions.
So many, in fact, Rose’s confident demeanor took a slight crack.
I guess she really plans on befriending her.
Cyril turned around and began walking away from the auditorium, no longer paying them any attention.
“There is something not right with Myra.
I can feel it.”
You feel that way about everyone.
He easily dismissed her suspicious stare and stopped thinking about the auburn-haired girl.
Without any hurry, he slowly went back to his dorm.
…
Back in his room, Cyril stored his things, then stood still.
He briefly looked around, listening to the silence of the dormitory.
His room wasn’t decorated in any way.
It was practically untouched since he arrived.
Only the fridge was full, and the table had books neatly stacked on top.
If a random person saw this room, they would marvel at its sheer blandness.
It was a perfect example of a generic dorm room, if a bit larger.
Cyril nodded with satisfaction at this order, finding comfort in it.
“Booooring!
Why don’t we go shopping to add something cool?”
Quiet.
Then, he frowned.
In his sight appeared a jacket from his uniform, hanging forgotten near the bed.
It’s the very same one he wore when he first arrived.
He seems to have neglected to take care of it in all that’s happened since then.
Determined to fix this blemish, Cyril went to grab it.
Conveniently, the dorm had good magical appliances, so cleaning this won’t be hard or long.
But, just as he held the jacket in his grasp, a quiet thud came from below, attracting his attention.
Something fell from the pocket of his jacket and onto the wooden floor.
“…?”
Cyril crouched down with confusion and noticed a small, circular object enclosed in paper.
Ah.
It was the object he sto- confiscated from a Lapis member back on the manarail.
Somehow, with all the chaos, he completely forgot about it.
That Knight…
probably doesn’t care about this.
Filled with curiosity, Cyril opened the paper, revealing the object in full.
It was a rough, pitch-black stone with a shimmering surface.
It almost looked like a crystal.
However, there were no black crystals, as far as he knew, at least.
Cyril stared at the small stone on his palm, transfixed.
Its pitch-black surface exuded a mesmerizing pull, capturing his attention completely.
The stone seemed prettier the more he studied it, as if it were the most valuable treasure in the world.
Then, Cyril blinked, and the stone was no longer in his hand.
What…?
His blue eyes wandering around, Cyril scanned the whole room for its presence yet failed to find it.
The stone completely disappeared right under his nose.
“I know what happened!” Rhamn suddenly exclaimed.
She appeared in front of him, wiping the drool from her mouth.
Cyril immediately turned to face her, focusing completely on her words.
“You ate it.”
“…”
He flatly stared at her like one would at a fool.
It was a rock, or maybe a crystal.
He would notice it if he ate one, or at the very least, his teeth would.
“No, I am serious!
Don’t you feel it?
The taste is absolutely incredible!”
With her reminder, Cyril finally noticed it.
How was it possible he didn’t before?
His mouth was filled with an almost numbing sensation.
A taste so heavenly it completely overturned his whole understanding of the word ‘pleasure.’ It was like eating a desert fit only for the table of the Gods themselves.
Though, the feeling has passed quickly.
That piece of stone was a small one, after all.
Cyril immediately stumbled, then hurried into the bathroom.
With haste, he turned on the faucet and washed his mouth with water, as if trying to clean it.
Was that a drug?
Why did I do such a thing?!
Lapis was a criminal organization.
It would be no surprise for him to learn that they dabbled in drug trading.
He heard of how destructive addiction was.
Not to mention it looked like that drug was also magical in some way.
He had a bright future ahead of him.
He couldn’t destroy it like this.
As Cyril stood there for some time, as if bracing for some side effect, nothing happened.
The taste vaguely lingered on his tongue, yet nothing unusual had happened to his body.
Perhaps that was too small a dosage…
Cyril sighed with relief, turning off the running water.
What’s wrong with me lately…?
He turned around, noticing Rhamn standing at the doorway with her arms crossed.
Her head was tilted, and on her face was a thoughtful expression.
In her red eyes, a hint of euphoria could still be seen.
“Actually, I think that was something beneficial.
I can’t explain why, but my gut is telling me that!
We should get more!”
…You are free to have your own opinion.
Cyril walked right through her immaterial form, ignoring her words entirely.
He picked up the discarded paper wrapper and threw it in the trash.
What’s done is done, but perhaps he’ll have to schedule another visit to the healer, just in case.
I need to ask that old woman about the letter anyway…
Time to do that.
Without wasting any time, Cyril went out.
How did I even eat that without realizing…?
…
However, there was a slight problem on the way.
Outside of his room, taking only a few steps, he found his path forward blocked by a student with blond hair and green eyes.
“Edmund?” Cyril called out the name of his old acquaintance.
He hadn’t seen him since the first day.
Admittedly, he somewhat forgot about him.
“Cyril!
There you are!
I was looking all over for you!” Edmund said, his eye bags even bigger than before.
With shaky eyes, he waved his hands around, forgetting almost all noble etiquette.
“I can’t do it anymore!
I need to relax!
You’ll help me!
Come, we’ll have a drink or two in the local park!
I’ve acquired a rare bottle just for this occasion!”
Edmund pointed towards a bottle sticking out of his jacket.
It had a luxurious label depicting a butterfly perched on a flower.
Cyril read the name ‘Magnolia’ on it, then blankly stared at Edmund.
“This won’t do.” He shook his head.
“Ah!
You are right!
Just two of us would be too bleak…” Edmund replied, misunderstanding or pretending to misunderstand his words.
“I understand asking this of you is ridiculous, but I haven’t talked to anyone myself, so by some miracle, do you have anyone you know we can invite as well?”
Cyril observed his friend’s deep eye bags, feeling somewhat frustrated.
He was quite busy right now and had no time for games.
“Although I am a bit curious about the drink, you are completely right.
How dare this guy seek support from us?
Does he honestly view you as his friend?
He’s not even in class I!”
“…”
Something about Rhamn’s merciless words made Cyril think twice.
“What…?”
He shook his head, throwing Edmund an impatient glance.
“Try asking Myra from my class.
She might still be in the mathematics auditorium on the first floor.”
“Ah!
Incredible!
You actually have a friend?!” Edmund exclaimed with genuine surprise, making Cyril regret his decision a little bit.
“Acquaintance.
Handle the rest on your own.
I’ll meet you at the park.”
With this, Cyril went past him.
He really was in a hurry.
Edmund didn’t pursue, still keeping a shocked expression.