The next day.
After applying for Advanced Spellcasting, Brandon's application was imdiately accepted.
Entering the lecture room, a burly man who seed to be the Professor in charge stood on the podium.
Currently, he thoroughly scanned the docunt he was holding.
Flicking his eyes up, he called out for each student's nas then looked down to check for the next na.
He was taking attendance.
This persisted until a particular na was called up.
"...Brandon Locke."
"Present."
As soon as his voice beca audible, all eyes tried to trace for the source of the voice.
Brandon had just entered the room. He currently stood at the back entrance.
And as soon he stepped forward to find a seat, all eyes were on him.
Brandon paid no heed to it and continued ascending the stairs.
He could feel all their gazes on him as he eventually sat down.
The lecture room was currently filled by second, third, and fourth year students.
But even the news about Brandon Locke's performance had reached their circles.
He was the talk of the entire Academy, and it seed like it wouldn't die down for a while. But Brandon was already used to this as he breathed out a sigh.
The Professor continued to take the attendance.
Shortly after, Brandon's attention was caught as the Professor called out for a familiar na.
"Claire Victoria?"
But there was no response.
"No way."
Brandon muttered in disbelief.
From what he rembered, Claire was supposed to choose a duelist type of elective.
Yet for so reason, her na was ntioned in the attendance list.
Could it have been a mistake?
"Claire Victoria...?"
The Professor called again, looking left, then right, trying to find the specific person. "...Claire Victo-"
"Present."
Before he could finish, a voice rang from the back entrance.
Everyone's attention was imdiately drawn towards the back where a figure stood.
With short purple hair and purple eyes, she stepped forward and ascended the stairs. All eyes fell on her as well, but not for the sa reason as Brandon.
Paying no heed to it, Claire continued to walk until she paused in front of Brandon. "...?"
Brandon cocked his head.
Tucking her lip under her teeth, Claire's voice reached his ears
"Good morning."
"...Good morning?"
Brandon was taken aback.
Nodding, Claire pulled the seat and sat beside Brandon.
"'...'
Yet it seed like the current situation was awkward, evident by the silent that ensued.
Claire seed reluctant to speak to him. Brandon broke the awkward silence first.
"...Why are you here?"
But to his surprise, Claire-who supported her head with her hand, replied imdiately.
"Because of you."
"Huh?"
"I heard what you did for Amy, and also for Rachel. If you didn't know, the two are like sisters
to . Thank you, and..."
She paused, biting her lip.
"Sorry."
"Sure, but sorry for what exactly?"
Brandon was taken aback once again.
The forr was no new information to him, he already knew that from the novels.
But the latter?
He had no idea why Claire was apologizing to him.
But his confusion was soon resolved as Claire opened her mouth.
"At first, I thought of you as an ant. But it turns out, you are a much bigger ant. A bigger ant
than ."
"I guess what I'm saying is, I was wrong about you."
"Ah, that doesn't really bother ."
Brandon just casually waved her off.
"Just accept the goddamn apology."
Claire frowned.
"Also, the reason I'm here is because Amy and Rachel put up to it."
"So it's not your own choice?"
"Technically, it is. In the end, I was the one who sent the application form."
At that, Brandon finally got the gist of what happened.
"This is good.'
From what he rembered, Claire wouldn't have this kind of developnt during the first
year.
Once again, his involvent had significantly influenced the main cast, and for the better.
The first was igniting a friendly rivalry with Raven, so Raven would push himself into
improving faster.
The second, though he was quite unsure, would be Amy.
He knew Amy wasn't a pushover. In fact, Amy was secretly more prideful than Claire.
Her pride wouldn't allow herself to let the incident weigh her down. Nor let the people around
her pity her.
If it ant that they would get this kind of developnt early on, then it was another step into changing the novel's ending.
Snapping him out of his thoughts was the Professor's voice who was still taking the
attendance.
It seed like he went back to the top of the list, to check if the student was actually late or
absent.
But the na that ca out of his mouth left Brandon stunned.
"Sarah Aurae?"
"Present."
Brandon's head imdiately flicked to the direction of the voice.
And as soon as he found her, their gazes t.
'I knew it. It is her.'
Brandon had actually forgotten about Sarah.
But now that he rembered, he was quite flabbergasted that Sarah decided to stay in the
Academy.
Not only that, but she took the sa elective as him.
An elective that wasn't quite popular with the first years, due to its sheer difficulty.
But now that he thought about it, it wasn't quite surprising at all.
"This girl...'
If she failed the elective, then she would be expelled.
But if she passes it, then it would an she had significantly improved in her magic.
In other words, she was betting her chances.
Sarah was currently seated a few rows below Brandon.
Realizing, Brandon abruptly stood up and descended the stairs.
Claire, who was taken aback, called out for him.
"Brandon? Where are you going?"
But Brandon didn't respond.
All eyes were on him as he descended the stairs. The familiar black ponytail ca into view.
Her lavender eyes instantly t Brandon's gaze, but she imdiately looked away.
And she seed to be...
Shuddering.
In fear?
'Ah.'
Right, the last ti she had t Brandon was when he wiped out her entire party, killing her
in the process.
It would make sense that Sarah was quite afraid of him.
But regardless, Brandon dismissed his thoughts.
To his convenience, the seat next to Sarah was unoccupied.
Thus, he decided to sit next to her.
He turned to look at her and opened his mouth.
"Sarah Aurae, huh?"
She didn't respond. In fact, she was looking to the side, avoiding Brandon's gaze.
"I know why you're here." Imdiately, Sarah's body twitched as those words left Brandon's mouth.
"Like I said back then. I'll co find you, and I did, which is why I'm here."
It sounded like a threat.
But for Brandon, he was rely teasing her.
Sarah's entire figure completely shuddered.
She then turned around to face him and stuttered.
"B-Brandon L-Locke, w-what a c-coincidence..."
Brandon waved her off and leaned back.
"Don't worry, I'll help you pass this class."
Sarah tilted her head at his words.
"?"
"Your talent would be a waste if you were expelled."
Sarah looked down and frowned.
There was a reason why Brandon was so fixated in sound magic.
There were countless affinities, and Brandon knew that.
But what made the sound affinity so intriguing to him was because of its intangibility.
For him, it was one of the most versatile affinities.
Of course, the wind affinity had so similarities.
After all, it was an evolved form of the wind affinity.
If he were to beco a seated mber in the future, he would certainly prefer having a
subordinate with a sound affinity.
Snapping him out of his thoughts was Claire, who had followed him down the stairs.
Alternating her gaze between the two, she sat down next to Brandon.
"Friend of yours?"
"Yeah."
"...No."
Brandon nodded, and Sarah frowned.
Claire pinched her chin and turned to look at Brandon.
"Hm? I've never seen this side of you before."
"...?"
Brandon tilted his head in confusion. Sarah's entire body shuddered in fear.
Claire thoroughly scanned Sarah's features, in which Sarah looked away.
"I see. So that's your type, huh?"
She leaned back and breathed out a sigh.
"Soone I know would be disappointed. But nothing I can do about that."
"...?" Brandon tilted his head again, unable to comprehend just what Claire was saying.
Shrugging, Brandon turned to look at Sarah.
And she was...
Completely trembling.
|| ||
Reviews
All reviews (0)