Chapter 114 Chapter 28.1 - Good natured
After I returned to the academy, the time was already reaching the nighttime almost. I wanted to rest, but the leave I got was only for a day, so I didn't have the time to do so.
In fact, I was not expecting this dungeon to take that huge amount of time, so this could be seen as unpreparedness.
In any case, the moment I reached my room, I immediately went to rest for a little while to get rid of this feeling of nausea.
After that, I woke up very early and started training to fill my empty time with training.
Since I was getting quite a lot of hostility from the people whenever they were present, and they were blatantly trying to make it hard for me, this was actually a good schedule.
After all, most students would be sleeping around 3 AM…..Especially those with little jobs putting their noses into other people's affairs.
My training went on until I got a message from the History and Art Club.
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Subject: Club Meeting
Since the academy had postponed the classes this time, we decided to conduct this week's meeting on the weekdays.
The decided time is Thursday at 1 p.m.
Please contact me if you have anything clashing with the meeting at that time. We will try to adjust accordingly.
Your President, Maya
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It was a message befitting of Senior Maya's character, and this act was something I respected about her.
She was diligent and organized, ensuring that the club's affairs ran smoothly even though she was a weird type of character who liked to babble about snacks quite a lot of times.
I replied simply, saying I would be able to join the meeting.
The meeting wouldn't be canceled in the game, and this would also be one of the times when the player would start observing the progress of Sylvie's quest.
'Mason will try to raise his favorability.'
Since the eyes are on demon followers, they can't make direct attempts on Sylvie for the time being; thus, they are trying to play it safe.
After that, as I continued my daily routine, the sun slowly approached the ground.
'125.'
THUD!
As I jumped down from the rope I had been climbing, I looked at my drenched body with sweat.
I had been training my body strength for the whole day, and now the fatigue was starting to kick in.
After taking a quick shower, I headed to the academy's cafeteria, my stomach grumbling in hunger after an intense training session.
As I entered, the usual buzz of students greeted me, though something was a little different.
I made my way to the food counter, ignoring the sidelong glances and hushed conversations that seemed to follow me.
A group of students, engrossed in their own conversation, suddenly fell silent as I passed by. Their eyes bore into me, filled with a mix of curiosity and disdain.
"Isn't that him?" I heard one of them whisper.
"Yeah, the one they say assaulted quite a number of women," another responded, not bothering to lower their voice.
Though, at this point, these types of acts became natural. In fact, since someone was purposefully instigating things like that to happen, I was already prepared for even second, maybe third years to know about this.
'And, this didn't disappoint me. Whoever this is, they can even influence seniors.'
This meant the said person was highly likely also belonged to senior year.
A senior influencing a freshman was a lot easier than a freshman influencing a senior.
In any case, as I sat at my table and started munching my food, I spotted someone I knew.
Yellow silky hair and a smile that makes me uncomfortable, reminding her.
Sylvie and her friends entered the cafeteria. They were chatting animatedly amongst themselves, seemingly caught up in their own conversations.
The two people besides were all people I was familiar with in the game. One of them was a good girl who wanted nothing but the best for her friend.
But the other one was not like that.
'Danielle.'
She was a girl whose true intentions never matched her face at all. After all, she had already made a contract with a demon way before the academy even started.
Her past was briefly mentioned, but it was easy to say that she was jealous of Sylvie. Not specifically Sylvie, but girls with beautiful figures and good talents.
She was also linked to the approaching incident that was about to start happening in two weeks.
'The disappearance of female cadets.'
She would be the main culprit of this incident, and this would also mark the start of the countless demon-related incidents inside the academy since, with this, the academy would start conducting more thorough tests related to demonic energy, and this would force the hands of the demons a lot more.
*****
As the three sat at their table, they immediately started talking.
Sylvie, the more innocent and reserved among her friends, just started munching her food as her companions animatedly discussed the latest romantic gossip circulating around the academy.
"Have you heard about Professor Alaric and Professor Lorraine? I swear, the chemistry between them is undeniable," one of her friends exclaimed, leaning in with excitement.
Sylvie widened her eyes in surprise. "Oh, really? I had no idea." She replied like that, but in fact, she didn't have any interest in such gossip at all.
She didn't like the idea of continuously discussing other people's love affairs.
"Absolutely! They were seen together at the Red Phoenix Inn last weekend. It's practically a date!" another friend chimed in, delighted to share the scoop.
"Wow, I had no clue," Sylvie replied, trying to keep up with the intrigue.
"And what about Thomas and Lily? It seems like they had a massive argument in the library," a different friend added, intrigued by the drama.
Danielle tilted her head, appearing a bit lost in the conversation. "Thomas and Lily? I didn't know they were having problems."
As the conversation flowed and meandered through the academy's romantic grapevine, the subject naturally turned to the most recent dungeon incident.
"Did you hear about Mark and Evelyn? Apparently, that dungeon incident brought them together," Danielle mentioned with a grin, her eyes glinting mischievously.
Sylvie, who had been quiet during the gossip session, blushed slightly at the mention of the incident.
Since she was reminded of the small memories of those times.
"I will cover you, Sylvie."
She remembered the way he protected her, and it happened over and over again in that dungeon. She also remembered his way of encouraging her.
"You can do it. I believe in you."
Her friends quickly caught the telltale sign of her bashfulness.
"Ooooh," Jasmine teased, leaning in with a playful nudge. "Is there something you're not telling us, Sylvie?"
Sylvie stammered, attempting to downplay the situation. "N-no, it's not like that. It was just a... challenging experience, that's all."
Danielle joined in the teasing, her eyes dancing with amusement. "Oh, come on, Sylvie. A challenging experience, or perhaps a budding romance in the depths of danger?"
Sylvie playfully swatted Danielle's arm, her cheeks now a deeper shade of pink. "Danielle, stop it! It's not like that."
Her friends laughed, the good-natured teasing creating a light-hearted atmosphere. However, in fact, Danielle slightly smiled underneath her face.
"Is it Mason? You said he was in the same team as yours, and you also attended the same club." She knew Sylvie wouldn't normally mention the name of an opposite gender unless that person was someone who caught her attention.
Thus, she deliberately pushed in, and the results were just as she expected.
Sylvie felt her blush deepen, desperately trying to come up with a response. "I-It's not about Mason. Really."
Danielle leaned back, her grin widening. "Oh, come on, Sylvie. You don't just mention someone's name casually like that. Spill the tea!"
Sylvie shook her head, giggling despite herself. "It's really not like that. I just... I thought we worked well together during the dungeon incident."
Jasmine chimed in, adding fuel to the teasing fire. "Working well together, huh? I didn't hear anything about that Mason guy; let me ask a bunch of people first."
Before Sylvie could respond, a voice interrupted their banter. "What's this about me?"
They turned to see a guy with brown hair and an easygoing expression standing behind them, a curious expression on his face.
Sylvie's cheeks flushed even deeper, her face getting crimson from the feeling of shame, and seeing this, Danielle immediately understood who this guy was.
'He is that Mason guy.'?((N1))
She had been trying to crack Sylvie's shell for a while, and she understood now might have been one of the chances.
Danielle winked at Sylvie, her mischievous smile unyielding. "Oh, Sylvie here was just sharing her thoughts on teamwork and dungeons. You know, typical school talk."
Sylvie felt her face heat up further, but Mason just chuckled, playing along. "Ah, I see. Well, teamwork is important in the dungeons, that's for sure. I also liked working with Sylvie quite a lot."
And then he grinned and turned his attention to Sylvie. "Mind if I join you all?"
Danielle, with a playful twinkle in her eye, extended her hand dramatically towards an empty chair. "Why, of course, Mister Protector. Please, be our guest."
Sylvie, despite her embarrassment, managed a shy smile. "Yeah, feel free to sit."
Mason pulled the chair back and sat down, leaning back casually. "Thanks. It was going to be really boring to sit alone." He said, however, he didn't forget to throw a small glance at the group of boys looking at him from a table behind, and they nodded their heads.
Just at the moment Sylvie sat on the table, suddenly she felt the gaze of someone coming from the sides.
'Hmm?'
Turning her head to the source of the gaze, she met with a pair of purple eyes boring through her face. They were the same pair of purple eyes she knew.
However, with her trait, she could see.
The hostile feelings inside the person's heart. And that hostileness was so severe that she could almost see it was hatred.
He immediately averted his gaze the moment she met with him, but even then, it was absurd.
'What?'
She asked herself. It was the first time he was showing such emotions, and Sylvie knew they were not normal.
'Why?'
She thought.
'Who is the subject of those emotions?'
Just as she was pondering about that, suddenly, Jasmine remarked.
She had already followed Sylvie's gaze and noticed the purple-haired guy, Astron, looking in their direction.
She frowned, her instincts tingling with unease. Astron was known for his edgy demeanor and the peculiar rumors that seemed to follow him, and she didn't like his attitude at all.
"What's his deal?" Jasmine muttered, shooting a suspicious glance at Astron.
"I don't know." Sylvie didn't want to talk about him here. After all, she still remembered the talk they had and how uncomfortable she was for the whole week after that.
However, Jasmine didn't want to. "Maybe he likes you. Didn't he also pick a fight with you at that time? Maybe he wanted to get your attention."
Sylvie's eyes widened, her face turning even redder. "Hey, it's not like that."
She could see with her trait, and she knew Astron didn't think about her like that.
Jasmine folded her arms, her wariness growing. "You never know. Guys like him can be unpredictable. And you are quite beautiful."
Hearing her words, Sylvie thought about the past and how he had shown that green color. It was not the love, but his feelings were twisted from the beginning.
For her, who knew how different reactions he gave, her friend's explanation sounded plausible.
'No, it can't be like that.'
She wanted to dismiss the idea, but in the end, a small seed of doubt had already been planted in her heart….
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N1: Not every person that is affiliated with demons belongs to the same group. There are different organizations that are affiliated with demons, thus, they may not necessarily know each other's identity.
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