By Zephyria 
…An achiever of at least 8 stars.
Just saying an achiever of at least 8 stars, if Zeon’s Mana Detection, who is an 8-star, doesn’t work on him, that means he is at least… close to a 9-star.
I felt goosebumps down my spine.
It was an utterly unbelievable story.
‘Didn’t he say he’s just turning twenty?’
Even I, the owner of the Black Mana Heart, was twenty-seven when I achieved 8 stars as Mephisto. Zeon’s achievement of 8 stars was something he had built up over hundreds of years.
No, to be precise, he ‘failed to surpass’ 8 stars for hundreds of years.
This wasn’t because his skills were lacking.
To go from 8 stars to 9 stars, one needed ‘enlightenment’ to break through the wall. And achieving mastery was not easy even for me.
Therefore, it was impossible for an ordinary human to have achieved 8 stars… or perhaps even a higher realm, at the age of just turning twenty.
But I didn’t think Zeon would lie to me about something like that. The fact that I, of all people, felt intimidated by him and my body stiffened was also unusual. It was hard to accept, but it was right to see it as the truth, not a fabrication.
“What are you two whispering about so much?”
Then Tom poked his head out, wanting to join the conversation. Zeon and I quietly exchanged glances. It was an implicit agreement to keep Ardian’s achievement a secret between the two of us for now.
Afterward, instead of answering, I turned around and headed to the classroom, and Tom, whining for me to tell him what we were talking about, followed closely like a goldfish dropping.
Entering the classroom, I could see the children who had moved earlier. Not long after I sat down, a woman who seemed to be the professor entered.
Ardian hadn’t returned yet, but she, who introduced herself as Sophia, soon began the class.
“First of all, before teaching
Sophia used Telekinesis Magic to distribute textbooks to us. The book was filled with various explanations, such as the Magic Phrases and Magic Circle forms of Affinity Magic and Non-Affinity Magic.
She, who was walking slowly on the podium, continued while looking at the book she had opened.
“Conversely, ‘Non-Affinity Magic’ is Magic that exerts power regardless of Affinity. It’s a bit difficult to learn Magic of a different Affinity from your Primary Affinity, but Non-Affinity Magic doesn’t have that, so its versatility is very good.”
Then, she began to write the complex Magic Circle forms and Verbal Magic Phrases of the types of Affinity Magic that are particularly confusing on the blackboard, adding that they would be on the exam, so we should memorize them.
Around that time, Ardian, who was late, entered. He nodded to the professor as a greeting and then took the seat next to me as he had foretold.
Glancing at him, he smiled brightly.
Ignoring him, I turned back to the front… but not long after, Ardian poked my thigh with his finger.
When I glared at him quietly, he handed me a note that he had scribbled in the meantime.
[You’re from the Valentasia Dukedom, the representative of the North, right? I heard Duke Valentasia has several children, which number are you?]
I thought he had given up.
He couldn’t stand the silence and was doing this again.
“……”
I squinted and glared at the note.
‘…Is his goal to extract information about me and my family?’
I didn’t know what kind of understanding was intertwined between the Valentasia family and the Imperial family… but considering that humans often engage in power struggles, it was a reasonable suspicion.
When I didn’t answer the note, he handed me the next note first.
[Shall I guess first? The youngest? :)]
At that moment, I raised one eyebrow.
Did he really not know and just guessed it by chance? Or was he trying to probe me while ‘pretending to guess’? If he was probing, what exactly was he trying to find out? Even if he found out I was the youngest, it wouldn’t mean much.
After a while, I scribbled in the margin of the note that was handed to me.
[It seems you’ve been doing a thorough background check on me.]
The answer to that sarcasm came back quickly.
[Considering the age of Duke Valentasia and his wife, I just thought you might be the youngest. 🙂 I’m also the youngest. We’re both the youngest. Will you continue to be friends with me in the future?]
I wrote the two words ‘I refuse’ firmly in response to that, but as expected, the answer I had anticipated came back this time as well.
[Okay. I’ll take that as a yes. ;)]
He was a formidable fellow.
He didn’t look like it, but he was stubborn like this. It might be presumptuous of me to say, but I had never seen anyone as stubborn as me.
‘Ugh. I still don’t know.’
What was this guy thinking? Hoping he would reveal his true colors right away seemed like a desire to go too easy.
Not long after, the class ended and lunchtime arrived. As I stood up to go down to the cafeteria, Ardian also stood up with me.
“Raymond, let’s have lunch together.”
I was almost used to his recklessness now.
“You’re just going to insist again even if I refuse, aren’t you?”
“Yes.”
“…Do as you please.”
I sighed and turned around. As I went down to the cafeteria, got a tray, and sat down, Ardian, looking somehow delighted and smiling, quickly took the seat next to me. His burdensome attention was solely directed at me.
In other words, Ardian was blatantly ignoring everyone else around me except for me.
However, because it was only that, the retainers couldn’t say anything and were just watching.
“You need to eat a little more. You’re too skinny.”
Ardian, who had hardly taken his eyes off me even while eating, slyly reached his hand inside my waist. Then, I felt him wrap his arm around my waist.
This was another completely incomprehensible action.
“Rude fellow. Let go. And I’m average.”
Of course, I was a bit lacking in muscle compared to when I was Mephisto, but that was something I could gradually build up in the future.
When I slapped his hand away, Ardian obediently withdrew his hand. I glanced at him and then looked away again.
His eyes, looking at me, had such an upright and affectionate color that I somehow felt uncomfortable meeting them.
Around that time, Herman, who had been subtly watching, changed his face to a shit-eating expression. Eventually, Herman, twisting his lips, glared at Ardian and opened his mouth.
“We’re being treated like complete air. I guess you’re so high and mighty that you can’t even see the underlings. For a moment, I thought this was outside the Academy.”
When I was arguing with Melicsa, he told me not to do that, but he was starting a fight more seriously than anyone else.
I don’t know why, but is this a fight?
I ignored the two people’s argument and picked up my fork to continue eating.
“Haa.”
Ardian, who had been provoked, let out a light sigh and smiled. At that moment, the retainers in the opposite seats, who had made eye contact with him, stiffened as if they felt intimidated. Tom already had a face on the verge of collapsing.
I chewed on my bread and glanced sideways.
Just as the air was freezing over.
Ardian slowly opened his mouth.
“I’m sorry. I was so happy to meet Raymond that I was focusing more on the conversation, and it ended up being an act of ignoring you. Herman… was it? I’d like to make you feel better.”
His voice was calm, as if he had never shown any intimidation. Since he was apologizing first, Herman couldn’t argue any further, so he just frowned and turned his head.
It seemed the fight was over with that.
‘How boring.’
Well, considering the level of power Ardian was hiding, I had to consider it fortunate that he had quietly backed down.
I couldn’t stand by and watch if he crossed the line with my people….
If it escalated beyond a war of nerves and turned into a brawl, even I, who had to stop them, would be in trouble.
The meal continued in silence for a long time.
I liked the quiet, but Tom couldn’t stand the silence at all. He was carefully watching Herman and Ardian, but he bravely opened his mouth first.
“So… come to think of it, the next class is…
Thanks to that commendable effort, Zeon, who had regained his composure and was continuing his meal, responded as usual.
“Yes. It was assigned last week as well, but we couldn’t attend due to the funeral schedule, so today is the first time we’re actually taking the class.”
Thanks to that, Tom seemed less nervous than before.
“I don’t have any talent for using my body… will I be okay?”
“That depends on what you do.”
“How heartless! Just give me some encouragement!”
“The reality doesn’t change just because you receive encouragement.”
As I continued eating while listening to their conversation, the bottom of my tray was revealed before I knew it. As I was waiting for the other guys to finish eating, Ardian, who had finished eating at a similar pace, started talking to me again.
Whether the meal was okay or the quality of the lunch seemed not bad…. They were conversations without any nutritional value. I answered those advances vaguely or ignored them.
Zeon and Tom were also talking to each other, so it wasn’t as precarious as before, but Herman, who was occasionally glancing this way, still had a dissatisfied face.
‘Hmm.’
While Ardian was whispering and chattering next to me, I stared silently at Herman, who was eating.
What exactly was that retainer guy so displeased with?
I didn’t know if he was still suspicious of me because of yesterday’s incident or if he just didn’t like Ardian, but I couldn’t tell. I felt somehow bothered, but I didn’t know why I was paying attention to him.
…Come to think of it, I.
Why did I feel so bad yesterday? Was this also an emotion that I would eventually understand as time passed?
“……”
Understanding emotions is difficult now as it was in the past.
I can’t even understand what my current emotions are, so how can I understand other people’s emotions well?
And, it was an unnecessary effort because the target was a human. I think so. So, I decided not to dwell on it any further.