🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 11
*
‘Small Rest in a Teacup’, a cozy cafe in downtown Genios famous for its excellent coffee taste and special carrot cake.
Three guests, an unlikely combination, sat in the corner of the sunny outdoor terrace, drawing people’s attention. A muscular man smiling broadly as if something was amusing, a man of extraordinary beauty radiating displeasure with his whole body, and finally, a woman with wheat-colored hair looking at them anxiously.
“Here are the drinks and desserts you ordered.”
The employee, carrying a tray with two black coffees, a lemonade, and a plate with three slices of carrot cake, glanced at the three of them—especially Senior Hayworth—while pretending not to, then left.
Rosia fiddled with the tall glass beaded with condensation and swallowed dry saliva. The curiosity-filled gazes fixed on her from earlier were quite burdensome.
“So.”
The man across from her, whose dark brown eyes were sparkling, finally spoke. He took a sip of the steaming coffee and cast a sly glance at the Senior.
“Who is this cute young lady? Aren’t you going to introduce us?”
“Did you drag a busy person out here just to spout bullshit?”
The man laughed heartily, not even flinching at the Senior’s low growl. Then he picked up a fork that looked exceptionally small in his hand and cut the cake. Half a slice disappeared into his large mouth in an instant. His reaction, which went beyond calm to carefree, was secretly impressive.
She glanced sideways at the crest embroidered on the man’s collar. A golden scale symbolizing the Meliode Merchant Guild.
“Right, you’re welcoming me, aren’t you? Seeing you really makes me feel like I’m back from my business trip. Honestly, it felt a bit empty without you.”
“What’s the important thing you had to say?”
“About Blunya… As expected of Orcheta’s largest port city, it’s lively and nice, but a bit chaotic. Compared to that, Genios is peaceful and good for mental health.”
“Don’t tell me this is the bullshit you wanted to say.”
Rosia, who somehow ended up stuck between the two, stirred her lemonade with a straw to soothe the awkwardness.
“Ah, just stay still for a bit. I did happen to see Lord Wade by chance last week. He asked how you were doing. Anyway, we can talk about that later. Right now, I’m more curious about this young lady you brought along.”
The Senior frowned with a displeased expression but kept his mouth shut. Who was this Lord Wade person that made him back down so easily? Somehow, she felt self-conscious, like she didn’t belong here.
“Now, since Noah has quieted down, shall we introduce ourselves? I’m Declan Meliode. What’s your name, miss? And can I ask how you know Noah?”
Rosia, who was checking the badge in her bag wondering if she should leave after filling up one hour, looked up in surprise at the barrage of questions. Declan was leaning towards her, smiling amiably. With his strong first impression, he was someone who reminded her of the midsummer sun.
However, it didn’t seem like he had a purely cheerful personality. Was it because of the sharp glint occasionally visible behind that friendly smile? Including his intense staring, she felt like she was being subtly observed, which made her skin tingle. She rubbed her arm with a reluctant feeling.
“Ah, my name is Rosia Willen. I’m in my graduating year at the Faculty of Magic. Senior Hayworth and I are partners for the ‘Understanding Others’ group project, so…”
She reflexively glanced to the side. The Senior wore his usual indifferent expression. Sitting crookedly against the backrest with his arms crossed, his posture read as a silent threat not to drag him into useless conversation.
As if noticing her gaze, his golden eyes, which looked paler under the dazzling midday sunlight, suddenly turned toward her. Eventually, his stubbornly closed mouth opened.
“What are you looking at?”
Rosia grumbled inwardly.
“Hey, Noah. What does that mean? You did ‘Understanding Others’ with me, didn’t you?”
Declan asked, raising his voice with his mouth half open, looking back and forth between her and the Senior. She also turned to look at the person next to her with a shred of anticipation.
Perhaps finding the pouring interest unwelcome, the Senior curled the corners of his mouth into a crooked smile. As soon as Rosia saw that face dripping with ill nature, she quickly gave up.
“Why do you need to know?”
“Why do I need to know?! Because I don’t understand. No, you already completed ‘Understanding Others’ and graduated, so how can you apply for it again? Did Professor Lorfin just accept you?”
She nodded unknowingly, agreeing fiercely. The explanation the Professor gave her was a bit strange too. Accepting a graduate just because they were short one person?
“And, even if it were possible, are you the type of human who would obediently retake an undergraduate course, wasting time inefficiently?”
Declan spoke in a highly exaggerated tone, picking cold words that the Senior would likely use.
“Shut up. Your constant chattering is annoying me to death.”
The Senior, who had consistently ignored him until now, slammed his coffee cup down with a clack. His voice had lowered further, perhaps sensing the limits of his patience. Rosia swallowed dry saliva and held her breath.
Whether she was nervous or not, Declan nonchalantly polished off his share of the cake. Not satisfied with that, he even pulled the plate in front of the Senior closer to himself.
“Speaking of which, did you tell Professor Sidfell that you’re taking that class? Still, as your advisor, he should know where you are and what you’re doing, right?”
A crack appeared on the face that had been frozen cold the entire time. The Senior glared at him with a fiercely distorted expression. Seeing that, Declan unexpectedly grinned. A strange light dwelled in his dark brown eyes.
“Aha, now I get it. So that’s how it is. Just like the Professor. He had an interesting idea.”
Confused, she stared blankly at him as he wore a meaningful smile. She hadn’t looked away, yet she felt like she missed a crucial part.
She wanted to ask outright to clear her mind, but there was no way the Senior would answer kindly. Also, she couldn’t bring herself to speak up in case it was related to personal circumstances. If that were the case, prying wouldn’t be polite.
There was someone watching Rosia’s expression change colorfully during her fierce internal conflict with interest: Declan, sitting right across from her.
It was because her thoughts were so transparently visible that he couldn’t take his eyes off her. Soon, unable to hold it back, he threw his head back and burst into laughter. It was loud enough to startle her out of her thoughts.
“Junior. I’ve never seen a kid as transparent as you. You hear that you’re bad at lying a lot, don’t you?”
Rosia blinked her wide eyes and quietly avoided his gaze. Immediately, the sound of giggling could be heard.
Just then, the Senior snatched her hand away. More precisely, the badge she had somehow been holding onto. The recorded time was just passing 1 hour and 13 minutes. As soon as she saw the blinking numbers, she instinctively knew what she would hear. In fact, she was secretly glad to be able to escape this spot.
Her energy had been drained from being stuck between the two, so her bed was calling her name. Alina had told her to come and report immediately upon returning to the dorms, but who cares. I’m going to sleep.
“You, get going now.”
“Ah, shall I?”
Seeing her answer immediately with a bright face, the Senior’s eyes narrowed. She pressed her lips together into a straight line and packed the badge into her bag.
“Before you go, hand over your timetable.”
“Why do you need my timetable?”
Feeling anxious, she asked with a wary look, and he laughed as if she was being ridiculous.
“Why do you think? It’s because of the potion. When one person is busy, the other has to go and check on it.”
The Senior retorted bluntly and took out a palm-sized notebook from his pocket. Unable to find a rebuttal, she pouted and picked up a pen.
All the potions they had to make from now on were high-difficulty ones, so taking at least a few weeks to brew was standard, and they had to be aged with care even after that. There were many things to pay attention to.
Above all, it was quite common to wake up in the middle of the night and go to the Practice Room because they had to frequently check the progress and judge when to add the next ingredient.
Of course, they basically followed the recipe, but for harder potions, the finer details depended on the maker’s own experience, so one could absolutely not let their guard down.
Even during the 4th-year final exams and promotion test she took last year, the ‘Invisibility Potion’, which had to be boiled for a whole week, appeared as a test question, causing students to be unable to leave the side of their cauldrons.
She herself had brought a folding chair and worked on it while taking catnaps towards the end, so that said it all. Even working that hard, there were students who failed.
Recalling the tension from back then, Rosia shuddered lightly and handed the notebook back to the Senior. Looking down at her round handwriting, he suddenly smiled ominously.
“So you have no classes on Wednesday?”
“That’s right, but…”
She swallowed dry saliva once and waited for his next words. She couldn’t predict what he would say at all, so her shoulders stiffened unconsciously.
