As the sun began its descent, four more youngsters left a certain workroom filled with hundreds of generously spaced wide tables, leaving only one person inside.
But this guy stayed behind every day. This was nothing new.
A tall, black-haired young man with a lean physique wiped his face in frustration after checking the quality of his arcane artifact.
It was rely a common-tier, standard-grade water-elental earring.
"Why? Why can’t I surpass standard grade?!" the young man cursed. "Phew... let’s try again..."
Two more hours passed, and the heavenly canvas had long turned dark.
Unfortunately...
"Damn it! Standard grade again!" he exclaid after placing his new water-elental earring on the appraisal device.
"Do I really need to enroll in a private academy to accomplish sothing as an arcanist...?"
**
*
"W-Wait, your dormitory room is 112?"
"Y-Yeah, this is your room?"
Staring at each other in surprise and slight bewildernt, Hal and Liora laughed soon after.
Who would’ve expected they were now neighbors?
"Where’s Little Gray? Loki’s inside," Hal asked with a smile, intending to let the two Dharmwolves play for a while.
"Ahh...that..." Liora scratched her cheek, a look of longing montarily appearing on her face. "He’s not with anymore."
Hal’s heart skipped a beat.
Did Little Gray already perish?
He didn’t want to reopen such a painful wound, but he simply didn’t know.
It was then that Liora giggled, noticing Hal’s expression and realizing what he was probably thinking.
"He’s not dead, you silly. I just left him in Harburg Town with my mother and little brother. It’s kinda hard for to leave them in a new environnt without any sort of protection, you know? Though Little Gray’s only as capable as an F-ranked beast..." the maiden patiently explained.
"Oh well, see you tomorrow at the Union Chamber, then, President Hal. I’ll visit Little Loki tomorrow," joked Liora as she entered her room.
Hal felt a fleeting disappointnt before heading into his suite to have dinner with his companion and rest.
The night grew deeper.
Inside his suite, Hal slept peacefully, a slight smile on his face as he mumbled inaudible words.
A high-quality bed truly works wonders in recovery.
Unfortunately, his serene and silent night didn’t last for long as, suddenly, soone knocked on his door.
The knocks were very light at first, pausing from ti to ti.
Then, it grew more intense—more desperate, even.
Hal was soon woken, furrowing his brows in displeasure at having his sleep disturbed.
He walked over to the door and peered through the peephole.
His eyes then widened at what he saw.
A white-haired maiden was outside, wearing adorable sleepwear and hugging a pillow with both hands.
She was about to knock again when Hal opened the door.
"L-Liora? What’s up?" he asked, puzzled as to why she was looking for him.
"H-Hal, s-s-sorry to disturb you in the middle of the night." Liora apologized with a bow. "C-C-Can you please sleep with tonight?"
Hal’s eyes widened, and his heart raced wildly, utterly bewildered by the request.
Do what with her now?!
"W-Wha... I-I appreciate your boldness, b-but this is a bit sudden and inappropriate, no? S-Shouldn’t there be other steps first..."
Liora blushed and grew flustered at his response, only realizing how her request could be misunderstood after it had already left her mouth.
"N-No! I-I-I didn’t an that..." she responded, mumbling soon after, "though that’s fine too, I guess..."
Hal didn’t catch the latter part; his heart was simply relieved by the first.
"W-Well, what I an is, c-c-can I sleep with you? I an, literally sleep. Just for tonight. T-This is my first ti in a while sleeping without Little Gray, and I just had a b-bad dream, so..."
Hal lightly scratched his head, torn whether to let her in.
He hadn’t experienced sleeping with a girl in the sa bed since he beca a teenager.
He feared that he might fail to control himself.
"I-It’s too much, huh? T-That’s alright! I-I really understand. I’m sorry for bothering you!"
Liora realized she was putting Hal in a tough spot, which she herself didn’t like, so she quickly retracted her request and was about to return to her suite when, suddenly, her wrist was gently gripped.
"Ah, no, no, it’s not that," Hal explained. "It’s just... are you really okay sleeping with ? I’m a man, you know?"
After a brief pause, the maiden answered in an unexpectedly bold tone:
"Yes, I-I’m fine with it..."
"Well...co on in, then."
Liora nodded and entered the room, briefly distracted by the approaching Loki, giving the pup a few rubs.
Once they had settled on the bed, however, ca the difficult part—for Hal, at least.
To his horror, the maiden didn’t put much distance between them, resulting in her scent caressing his olfactory senses.
’One sheep, two sheep, three sheep... damn it, she slls nice... four sheep, five sheep...’
Hal naturally couldn’t sleep, even more so when Liora sohow moved closer, seemingly having already fallen asleep.
Sht... how can she fall asleep so quickly?* he complained inwardly, a bit embarrassed that she had managed to relax while he, on the other hand, was still struggling.
Sleeping in a runeforest, forced to stay close for the sake of safety, was simply an entirely different matter compared to the two of them sharing a bed in a comfortable suite.
The current situation was sending his hormones into overdrive.
Minutes torturously passed, and just as Hal was finally regaining control of himself, he felt sothing soft touch his arm, followed by the sensation of arms wrapping around his and warm breathing against his neck, gently tickling him.
Liora had sohow ended up hugging his arm.
’Damn it... Gods, help!’ he cried inwardly, barely able to stay sane.
After an intense battle with his demons that felt like an eternity, the white-haired maiden beside him finally shifted positions, turning to face the other side and giving the young man so much-needed breathing room.
Unbeknownst to Hal, the lady beside him was slightly red in the face.
She seed to be truly asleep, but whether that was the case or not, only Liora herself knew.
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