An uneventful hour later, in the Academy's halls…

The ghost-hunting four are exploring the top floors of the Academy amidst the dying light. They illicitly check the male and female dormitories, and make their way down to the highest floor classrooms. So far, Damian can only sense ordinary and fluctuating presence, and nothing remarkable has occurred so far. The conversation between the four remains the same as the traffic of other students in the hallway at this hour… Sparse and random.

「So, wha'dya two talk about?」

Neela looks at Cycelia, while the three trail behind Damian.

「Hm?」

Cycelia's emerald eyes blink at her in confusion.

「With Straf.」

She clarifies with a light smile.

「She's asking if you had a fight with your boyfriend, Lia.」

Tisha chimes in with a smug, jesting smirk from Cycelia's other shoulder.

「Tisha! He's not-!」

She pouts at Tisha with an exasperated grimace, and turns her head forward towards Damian's back, and lets out a short frustrated sigh.

「…I told Straf I will be coming back to the room late, because I will be spending some time with you two, and told him not to worry. He told me to lock the door to the room when I get back, and to not wait for him.」

「Huh? Not to wait for him? So what's he gonna do when he comes back, and you're fast asleep?」

Tisha asks, furrowing her blonde brows with a tilt of her golden head.

「Yes, where will he sleep? Or is he a night person?… My court mage is almost like a vampire, he's always up at night.」

Neela says, quizzically looking up at the magic lamps levitating overhead.

「I don't think… I don't think Straf needs to sleep? I'm fairly sure he just chooses not to…」

Cycelia replies with her brows greatly furrowed, watching Damian's feet move in a steady rhythm.

「What? What do you mean?-」

Tisha asks, her confusion only growing.

「Wait!… Is Straf!?…」

「Huh?」

Tisha asks, and Cycelia tilts her head at her.

「…Is Straf a vampire!?」

As if she was reading her mind, Neela completes Tisha's sentence. Perhaps due to Neela's experiences with her court mage… Damian looks at the girls over his shoulders, mildly intrigued.

「No no no, no such thing!…」

With an amused grin, Cycelia chuckles while dismissively waving her hand. She looks at Damian ahead, and he turns his gaze away.

「…He's just… Weird. He sits on his bed in this weird pose with his eyes closed, almost as if sleeping, but when I move or ask him something, he immediately replies or opens his eyes, so that can't be the case.」

She adds as she shrugs her shoulders.

「Huh? Weird pose?」

Neela asks, tilting her head as well.

「Yes. It's hard to explain, but it looks… Dignified, I suppose? I think it's because he has this serene look on his face when he does it.」

「But he's not asleep?」

Tisha furrows her brows, and places her fingers on her chin in deep thought, visibly thinking hard on something.

「No. At least, I don't believe so…」

Cycelia replies with a shrug, and the four briefly fall silent again.

「Say, this Straf guy… What's the relationship between you two?」

Damian asks after a moment of silence, looking over his shoulder at Cycelia.

「Huh!? But we are not in a relationship!-」

She quickly blurts out in panic with her emerald eyes wide open, waving her hands in front of her reddening face.

「Tsk. That's not what I'm asking…」

He clicks his tongue and shakes his head, then lets out an exasperated sigh.

「I'm asking, what made you take him with you? Is there someone after your life? Did someone tell you to take him here? What's the deal with him? I couldn't care less if there's something between you…」

Damian asks, once again looking over his shoulder with calm and somewhat bored eyes, albeit visibly tinged with suspicion.

「There isn't!-」

Cycelia vehemently denies, clenching her girly fists.

「I said I don't care… I have my own, peaceful life, and I want to keep both my peace and my life, thank you very much… I don't care about the lives of other people-」

「Uwa!… Is your head okay, pants-shitter?」

Tisha abruptly chimes in, and asks with a mischievous grin, showily and barely covered by her fingers.

「Tsk. Stop-! Ngh…」

Damian lets out a series of frustrated sounds, only to scrunch his mouth into a corner, remaining silent for a few seconds.

「…What I mean is, I have my own life, I don't care about yours. I don't mean that I will walk past you and shrug my shoulders if you're drowning in a puddle of water, or just watch, if someone is bullying you…」

He sighs, gesturing with his hands as he continues.

「…I just don't care. I'm not some heartless maniac, I'm just not interested in what's going on in your life. I don't care if you have an affair or not, I don't care about your kids, and I don't care about your pets.」

He adds, and shrugs with his hands.

「I'm just an average student in an Academy of Magic. I don't want your problems, I have enough of mine as-is. That's all it is. With that out of the way… Can you not dodge the question, and just answer it?」

Damian asks, looking at Cycelia over his shoulder once again, looking a little mentally fatigued by the need to explain his mindset.

「I wasn't dodging it, I was just-」

「Answer it.」

He prods Cycelia, not allowing her to even explain herself. Tisha and Neela look on with curious faces.

「…I just thought it would be pretty lonely without him. I don't think anyone is after my life, but how am I meant to know? I just wanted him here, with me.」

She replies while fiddling with her medallion, looking a little gloomy with her eyes turned downwards at his feet.

「So he's a cure for loneliness? That's it?」

Damian asks, ever-so-slightly furrowing his brows in growing suspicion.

「Hmmmm… I kind of feel where Lia is coming from…」

Neela remarks, looking up at the magic lamps again.

「…Yeah, I'd be pretty lonely without Neela here as well.」

「Same.」

Tisha says with her arms behind her head, and both of them exchange a soft, knowing smile.

「Hmpf… Maybe I just don't understand girls…」

Damian dismissively huffs out of his nose as he shakes his head.

「Oh yeah! Come to think of it, you don't have a girlfriend, right?」

Tisha asks with a smug, mischievous grin.

「None of your business-」

The handsome student grumbles, without even as much as glancing at her.

「Knew it.」

The northern princess says, with an exceedingly smug tone, smirking.

「I said none of your-! What's it to you, anyway!? Do you want to date me, huh!?」

Damian shouts in her face, turning around on his heel, shaking his fist angrily.

「…Do you?」

Tisha asks, as she tilts her head and flutters her eyelashes in front of her. With her pale fingers, she sweeps some of her golden hair behind her ear, gently brushing the diagonal braid resting just above her eyebrow. Her previously smug expression is now gone off to somewhere, and her lips are gently upturned in inverted arcs, almost resembling a cat's mouth. Her ice-blue eye eyes look into Damian's, and his heart skips a beat as he's taken aback, visibly parsing the question. The two lock their gazes, while Neela and Cycelia are also a little surprised by the sudden development.

「…Stop making fun of me.」

He replies, turning around just as he realizes he might be beginning to blush a little, and continues walking with his mouth aslant.

「Gahahahahahaha! Damn it!」

Patpatpatpatpat!

Tisha throws her head back in unrestrained laughter, roughly patting Cycelia's shoulder blade.

「See, Lia!? I almost had him! Khahahahahaha!」

She exclaims with a massive grin on her face while pointing at Damian's head from behind, then throws her head back again in hyena-like cackling.

「Tisha, that's a little…」

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Cycelia gently, quietly nudges Tisha to not be so heartless, but she continues cackling. Though her laughter mostly calms down after half a minute or so, it takes another three for her to finally subdue the urge to burst right into it again. With Damian's mood now soured, the four continue onward in awkward silence.

「…Are you not interested why I'm asking about him?」

Damian asks, glancing at Cycelia over his shoulder.

「Huh?」

She tilts her head, rapidly blinking in puzzlement.

「I've heard he broke the dueling barrier…」

He adds, letting out an amused huff out of his nose.

「What?」「The barrier broke?」

Neela and Tisha ask with their eyes wide open in surprise, while Cycelia glances at both with a confused look on her face.

「What? You haven't heard yet?… I suppose it is just a rumor…」

「A rumor? You mean you don't know for sure?」

Tisha furrows her brows in frustration, crossing her arms.

「I don't know for sure if Straf did it… I know for sure that the barrier is broken.」

「How?」

Neela asks, tilting her head.

「I checked. I tried to activate it, and-」

He replies, still facing forward.

「You're not allowed to do that.」

She reminds Damian, and he rolls his eyes.

「Tsk… Who cares? It'd be active for a second at best, and if it was true, then it's not going up…」

「And?…」

Tisha asks with her arms still crossed.

「…And, it didn't. Someone broke it. I asked around, then asked around some more… Then asked around some more, and a handful of people all said it was Straf in a duel against that Adalor guy.」

Damian spreads his hands, and sighs.

「Aurelius Adalor? That guy?」

Neela asks, looking at Cycelia, who furrows her brows in response.

「Yeah… He apparently used some beam-based spell, and it was supposedly so strong, that it broke the barrier, melted through two walls, and then bored a hole in the wall around the Academy itself.」

「What? That can't be real. It must be just some tall tales because Straf beat Aria in class once-」

Tisha says, but Damian interrupts her.

「It's real. The damage has been repaired already, but there's signs of it, and the barrier is gone. They'll have to make a new one.」

He assures the northern princess, looking at her over his shoulder.

「Um…」

Cycelia chimes in. Their attention focuses on her.

「…Who's Aurelius Adalor?」

She hesitantly asks, tapping her fingers together. All three stop, boxing her in and forcing her to stop as well.

「You don't know?」「You don't know?」「You don't know?」

They ask, sounding almost like an off-tone choir.

「Um… No?… Should I?…」

Cycelia's confused emerald eyes jump between all of them in a rapid pace.

「Lia, House Adalor is extremely influential. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that they have connections all over the world. They hold very little land, but their trade partners are endless.」

Neela says, explaining with her index finger extended.

「Yeah. Even my father trades slaves and weapons with them. It's a really huge dynasty. Their retributions for messing with their family members are brutal, too.」

Tisha nods, and Cycelia's outraged gaze jumps to her.

「Hey, don't look at me like that, what are we supposed to do with the captured soldiers? Kill them?」

She adds, placing her fists on her hips, and staring right back at Cycelia's with a stern expression on her pale face. Cycelia's gaze softens, and she turns her eyes downward.

《…I suppose it's better than savagely slaughtering people.》

Cycelia thinks, and lets out a sigh. She looks at Damian, locking her gaze with him.

「But if they're so influential, why haven't I heard of them?」

She asks, gently furrowing her brows.

「Just because they're influential doesn't mean they want to be famous, you know? They mostly work from the shadows. Most everyone knows about them, it's just you are some kind of an outlier…」

Damian explains, shaking his head with his hands spread.

「…Anyhow, they said Straf beat him pretty bad. Humiliated him pretty bad, too. I heard he limped out of the arena, bawling his eyes out, clutching onto his two lackeys… But that's just rumors.」

He turns around and continues walking, sighing as he shrugs his hands.

「To tell you the truth…」

The handsome student sucks air through his teeth, and lets out another sigh, this time much larger.

「…I'm asking about Straf, but I actually want to know more about you.」

He says, looking over his shoulder at Cycelia into her emerald eyes.

「I'm not interested!」

She quickly blurts out, and her lips press together into a troubled grimace. Damian's handsome face instantly flicks into an expression of pained exasperation as he rolls his closed eyes away.

「Stop misunderstanding things already…」

He begs, rubbing his face with his palm.

「That was…」「…Kind of cold, Lia.」

Neela and Tisha say cooperatively, bearing a troubled look on their pretty faces.

「Er, no, I mean!-」

「Tsk… What I meant was… You put on quite a show during the entry exam. Even now, I'm not quite sure if all that ice melted, it's been pretty cold lately after all…」

He ignores Cycelia's flailing hands and panicked attempts at explaining herself, and clarifies his statement while looking at her again.

「But then comes Straf, casts some weird spell that looked like yours, and the effects are similar… But his is vastly inferior.」

「I- I wouldn't say inferior!」

Cycelia quickly attempts to defend Straf's honor, but Damian shakes his head, scoffing.

「…Doesn't that seem a little weird to you? Why is he your bodyguard, then? Surely with a power like yours, you could make Aria cower and beg for mercy… Why do you even need a bodyguard?」

He adds, looking straight into her emerald eyes with very apparent suspicion in them.

「I… I- I…」

「Spill it, don't keep us hanging.」

He sighs out, rolling his eyes.

「…I don't actually know how I did it. I just didn't want to disappoint Straf. I'm not actually very good at magic…」

She bashfully admits, and taps her fingers together with her head lowered.

「What? You're joking- No. Lying.」

The chalice of doubt overflows, and Damian outright accuses Cycelia, glaring at her.

「I'm not-!」

「If Lia is lying about being bad at magic, then she's pretty good at lying.」

With her brows pitifully furrowed, Cycelia attempts to deny, but Neela steps in before she can even properly begin.

「Yeah… When we were studying with her, we constantly needed to explain basic magic stuff. And even then, she doesn't remember anything half the time.」

Tisha chips in, nodding her head and backing Neela. Cycelia lets out a lengthy, quiet, discomforted groan, knowing that they are being honest.

「…Are you serious?」

Damian's accusatory glare softens, and he visibly becomes perplexed.

「Hey. Apologize to everyone who studied harder than you, only to get turned away.」

He says in a stern tone, glaring daggers at Cycelia again. She shrinks, and lowers her head further.

「Sorry… But I really need to graduate! I made a promise to someone…」

Cycelia apologizes with a little pout, tapping her fingers together. She then lifts her eyes up to meet his. When Damian sees how determined they are, he softens up, and lets out a defeated sigh.

「Whatever, it wasn't my choice to begin with. As long as you put real effort into improving once you're here, I guess…」

He throws his hands up in resignation, and shrugs his shoulders.

「So what was it that you wanted to know about me?…」

She asks, and Damian once again turns around on his heel, stopping. Neela and Tisha furrow their brows, and Cycelia is forced to stop once again.

「I believe you that you are clueless at magic. I believe you that you took Straf here so you're not lonely. But I've been racking my brain for a while now, and one thing wasn't letting me rest…」

The handsome student says, staring straight into her confused emerald eyes.

「…I could feel Straf is monstrously strong, and now I have proof. We have proof you are stronger than Straf since the exam, and yet…」

He continues, and begins rubbing his chin, looking intently at Cycelia while she silently listens.

「…I can't feel a thing from you. Are you hiding your bloodlust, or power?」

「Huh?」

Damian asks, pointing at Cycelia. She tilts her head, blinking at him with her brows greatly furrowed…