Aurpiel stared at his daughter, Lila, curiously staring at Haera's cold figure from 2 feet away. She was sitting with her back hunched, supporting her small head alternately tilting from left and right.
"Papa, why do you think this beautiful sister is laying there on the bed and sleeping soundly? I haven't seen her like that while we were traveling a few days ago."
Her question was unanswerable from Aurpiel's perspective. He wasn't a wizard nor a knight so he was unsure of how to respond to his daughter.
Haera's cold aura was peculiar to Aurpiel's senses. There was no way someone would emit such coldness from their body as if they were ice.
"I-I don't know Lila. Maybe she is just asleep?", Aurpiel tried his best.
Lila raised her eyebrows, "But Papa, this big sister is colder. I feel like the coldness is seeping through her body. It doesn't feel right…"
The room became silent for a while before Lila sighed. She gave up thinking about Haera and shifted her thoughts.
"Papa, about that strange big brother and sister from before. Do you think I will be able to see them again?"
She was talking about Jinmu and Emi, with her interest glued to the latter.
Aurpiel understood his daughter's wishes. However, he shook his head.
"I don't know Lila. Maybe it was just a coincidence that day. You should know that those two are mages coming from a powerful background, alright?"
He immediately patted Lila who was starting to pout, "Okay, okay. I'll make sure that you'll see them again."
The devilish little girl grinned.
Just as the atmosphere turned bright, three figures appeared in the room.
It was Veron, Lucan, and Olivia.
The two students fell to the floor and grunted. Veron's teleportation buzzed their minds and almost made them faint.
Veron sucked a deep breath, "Take a rest for a while. We'll talk after you have recovered."
He turned around and thanked Aurpiel for looking out after Haera.
"Oh, uncle! How did you do that?!", Lila asked excitedly.
Aurpiel grabbed Lila's hands and reprimanded her for asking such questions to Veron.
"Ah, sorry about that, sir. It's nothing. We'll be taking our leave now."
The two left with Lila reluctantly staring at Haera.
Veron helped the two students sit and waited for a few minutes.
Lucan bowed to Veron, "Thank you, kind sir, for helping us earlier. Without you, we would have died under that demonic creature's hands."
Veron smiled, waving his hands to dismiss Lucan's gratefulness.
"Don't thank me. It's something a wizard like me is inclined to do for those from the Heavenly Magic Academy."
Hearing the academy's name, the two became solemn.
"I've told you before, and I'll tell you even now. I won't leak your identities to the outside world."
Seeing that they were still hesitant, Veron decided to speak out his name.
"I am Veron Zumfiel from the Zumfiel Secular Household. I assume you already know of my household?"
Lucan and Olivia nodded.
"Good, that makes things easier then. I won't take my time talking much with you."
Veron stood up, "Now, if you have somewhere else to be, I can guide you out of this place."
Shortening his time spent with these two was for the betterment of everybody.
Lucan politely declined his request.
"We'll be on our way on our own, sir Veron. You don't have to look out for us at this point."
"Also, know that the Heavenly Magic Academy will be grateful for your assistance in this matter. Goodbye."
Since Veron didn't want to make things hard for them, there was no need to bother him any longer.
Lucan quickly teleported out of the area, with Olivia hesitating for a moment before catching Veron's glare which made her make up her mind.
The fragments of the teleportation magic formation flashed through Veron's eyes.
"Ah, how long has it been since my ancestors interacted with the fabled magic academy?"
His voice drifted to the cold air of Norva Assili. He closed his eyes and rested.
…
Meanwhile, Lucan and Olivia returned to the academy grounds.
Jinmu and Emi were waiting for them in the main hall for a while now. The former became impatient and quickly approached them.
"What the hell happened out there? It took you a long time to return here."
Olivia turned her head away, annoyed that this cold brat has the nerve to interrogate them instead of worrying for them.
Lucan sighed in defeat, admitting half the truth of the matter.
"I was about to teleport after hearing the system's warning but Olivia was stuck inside the village and I had to help her out."
His answer intrigued Jinmu.
"Oh, helped her out?", he faced Olivia and pointed at her, "You should have known what to do when we are faced with that situation. Haven't the past days taught us more than enough about that?"
Olivia furrowed her eyebrows. Jinmu's tone felt like he was mocking her incompetence.
"I have no reason to tell you what happened out there. It's none of your business."
Jinmu stepped forward with a colder disposition, "As the leader appointed by senior brother Kai, I have the business to know what happened earlier."
"Tell me the truth, Lucan, Olivia. This concerns the Heavenly Magic Academy in every way."
Olivia's mind snapped.
Jinmu was ignoring the innocent lives she tried g to save and it seemed like he doesn't have the mood to give a damn about it.
However, her belongingness to Norva Assili and her soft heart persuaded her to confront Jinmu.
"Bullshit!"
The three students shockingly stared at Olivia who shouted out of nowhere.
Olivia continued venting out her frustrations.
"What do you mean this concerns the Heavenly Magic Academy, huh?! Have you not thought of the innocent lives lost because of that attack?"
"Is your loyalty to the Heavenly Magic Academy more important than helping the people who were powerless in defending themselves against the magical beasts?"
"Yeah, right. I forgot that you're a cold bastard. You're just a commoner. How can you ever know the difficulties that those people are facing every day?"
"I thought the Heavenly Magic Academy was supposed to help Aludia so why are we cowering out of the demonic creatures and their plans now?!"
Silence permeated the surroundings.
Lucan was cursing Olivia deep in his mind for showing such hostility and insubordination during this period when teamwork was what they needed the most.
What if the academy master heard her? Wasn't she asking to be expelled, and even implicate them at the same time?
Emi held the same thoughts as well.
Jinmu, out of the other three, simply laughed at Olivia's arguments.
His reaction made Olivia hate him even more.
"How devilish of you! You're even laughing at such a depressing moment like this? Have you got no empathy?"
"Are you just the type of person to follow whatever was told of you, huh, Jinmu Lin?!"
Jinmu coldly smiled at Olivia, not taking her arguments to heart.
"Yes, I am that type of person, Olivia Winterice. Tell me, what are you going to do about it?"
Olivia gritted her teeth. She found no words to continue reprimanding Jinmu, but the latter had more things to say at the tip of his tongue.
"I will be forever loyal to this academy, and just because we are concerned about Aludia, doesn't mean we have to always look out for them."
"And just because the demonic creatures are our number one enemy, doesn't mean we have to confront them in every encounter."
Jinmu started approaching Olivia, taking one step closer for every sentence he finishes.
"Have you ever measured your capabilities, Olivia?"
"Did you think that you can handle that attack on your own and save those innocent lives and helpless people you dearly want to save?"
Jinmu pointed at his head, "If you have used your head properly, you would have understood that you are no match to them."
"You were never a match to them."
"You'd die in vain. And it's the most stupid death because you will not be able to save anyone before or after your death."
"How can you continue upholding the Heavenly Magic Academy's responsibilities if you die such a stupid and early death?"
Jinmu shrugged at her, giving Olivia the chance to respond to him. However, she became speechless.
Jinmu's thoughts were logical and reasonable. How could she help them when she was just a measly adept wizard? Only a grandmaster magus can fight in that situation. Even then, their survival wasn't guaranteed.
Moreover, senior brother Kai explicitly told them to wait for High King Garron to arrive in a few days. He left them, trusting that they will listen to his words.
And Olivia disobeyed him.
Despite her understanding of her wrongdoings now, Jinmu didn't stop.
"You need to understand when and when not to fight, Olivia."
"I know that you northerners are brainless fools who like to fight too much, but that is not the case here in the academy."
"And it seems like you have forgotten the Fourth Tenet of the Heavenly Magic Academy, did you?"
"The heart sway's one's sentiments. The mind sways one's destiny."
Jinmu's cold words reminded Olivia of the dreading reality she was about to face.
"You have let your heart overtake your mind."
"And because of that, you have almost compromised the special task, and also almost killed yourself and Lucan."
Jinmu let out a smirk and turned around.
"However, it seems that the system might have given you a leeway this time. Or maybe the academy master used this to test us of what we have learned, as always, and he decided to free you of his grasp this time."
"Though I wonder what would happen next..."
He started moving to the library to study again, waving his hands in farewell.
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