A few minutes later, in the cafeteria…

「…Then I noticed the paper was gone. I complained about it out loud, and then he appeared.」

Damian continue his story, and the three girls listen. Neela nods attentively every few words, Cycelia appears almost frightened, and Tisha has her face locked in a disdainful grin the whole time.

「The ghost?」

Neela asks, tilting her head.

「Yes. He appeared again, this time in red robes. He was on top of the stalls. He looked at me, and he said in this deathly voice…」

Damian nods, and leans in further over the table with a serious face.

「Red… Or blue?… Red… Or blue?…」

He holds his empty hands up, fingers clutching at something wide and invisible.

「…He kept asking me, holding two rolls of paper. One red, and one blue. I told him I don't understand, but he just kept repeating himself-」

「Hold on hold on hold on… Are you saying it's the same guy as from before? But his cloak is red now?」

Tisha interrupts Damian, and asks with a snide grin on the verge of laughter.

「He's a ghost, not a guy… And he had red robes, not a green cloak. But yes. He had the same dark, metal wolf mask on, which leads me to believe…」

He extends his index finger, looking at the three with a dead-serious face.

「…There are actually two ghosts. The daylight one in the green cloak, and the nocturnal one in the red robes.」

Damian says, and Tisha starts chortling.

「Gahahahaha!」

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Though initially she tries to suppress her laughter, she ends up slapping the table while she guffaws.

「…What's so funny?」

The handsome student asks, in an audibly annoyed tone. Tisha wipes away a single tear with her finger, grinning ear to ear, and she waves her hand.

「No no, go on…」

She says, and a brief chuckle slips out through her pale rose lips.

「What happened next?」

Neela asks while blinking at him, genuinely interested and focused.

「He died Neela, you're talking to a ghost!- Khahahaha!」

Thudthudthud.

「Tsk… Anyhow, I pulled my pants up and ran away. I don't know what happened to it afterwards, but I don't think the ghost gave chase. I think I might have heard it laugh…」

Damian ignores Tisha's hyena-like cackling, and finishes his story.

「Is that why everyone calls you pants-shitter?」

However, with a massive grin on her face, Tisha continues verbally poking him.

Thud!

「That's!… I didn't shit my pants! That's a made-up lie created to humiliate me, by people who get off on being mean!」

He slaps the table as well, shouting angrily at Tisha.

「Pffft. You shat your pants?」

A student at the table behind him sputters loudly, and asks Damian while looking over his shoulder.

「No! I'm saying I didn't!」

Damian glares at him. The student turns back around to his own table, chuckling.

「…So if you didn't, why is everyone calling you that?」

Neela asks, tilting her head.

「Can we return to the topic of the ghost, please?」

He asks, rubbing his forehead with his palm in frustration.

「I understand if you don't want to talk about it, it must have been pretty scary. I think anyone would have-」

「But I didn't!…」

Damian interrupts Neela, shouting into his hands out of exasperation. He sighs, rubs his temple while considering his options, and then glances at the three with a frustrated, tight-lipped expression.

「…Okay. Look. Here's what happened… So, there was no paper, right?」

He says, and looks at the girls, waiting for them to acknowledge him.

「Right?…」

Neela replies, sounding almost unconvinced. Cycelia nods along, and Tisha rolls her blue eyes with a light, toothy grin.

「Right. And there was a ghost that could kill me, right there on top of the stall. And there was no paper, except in his ghastly hands. So…」

Damian continues explaining. He takes a deep breath, and sighs, pausing for a few seconds with his mouth scrunched into a corner.

「…So I didn't wipe, and ran to escape the ghost.」「Ugh…」

He concludes in a hushed voice, and an involuntary grunt of disgust escapes Neela's lips. All of the three girls look at Damian with revulsion on their faces.

《Gross.》《Gross…》《Gross!》

The three look at each other with their brows furrowed and teeth bared, faces twisted in disgust. They briefly establish a peer to peer connection, sharing their feelings, and turn their eyes back to Damian.

「Don't look at me like that! I went to the baths immediately after! Can we now return to the ghost!?」

Exasperated, he explains himself, and spreads his arms. The girls quickly exchange glances again, and look back at him, slowly masking their disgust.

「…Anyhow. I believe the daytime ghost only threatens you. It's dangerous to assume this, but it's likely he's harmless. The nocturnal ghost is likely very dangerous.」

Damian sighs, and explains as he looks at the three with a sour expression on his face.

「And why is that?」

Tisha asks with a derisive grin, propping her head up on her hand.

「Tsk… Do you even read anything? Immaterial creatures may become material under the right conditions, like at night. Wisps, wraiths, eternal battlefields… So on.」

He clicks his tongue in response, glaring at her now-bored eyes with his mouth scrunched heavily to the side.

「So… If the ghost is real, he'll only be able to do things at night?」

Cycelia chimes in, tilting her head.

「Correct… However, like I said, this is a large assumption. The worst he can do during the day is scare you, hence, he only threatened me. That's what I think, at least…」

Damian nods his head, looking into her emerald eyes with a serious face.

「I have a plan to find, and if possible, research the ghost. Perhaps banish it, but primarily research it…」

「And that is?」

Neela asks, blinking at him with curious eyes.

「Nhhhnnn… I can share it with you, but…」

Damian lets out a troubled groan, hesitating as he places his cheek on his fist. He ponders something for a few quiet seconds.

「I have a secret, and I need you three to keep it a secret-」

He shrugs, and clicks his tongue. He looks at Neela, then glances at Cycelia. His eyes jump to Tisha's blue ones.

「Don't tell me it's something gross again-」

She interrupts him, grinning.

Thud!

Damian interrupts her in turn, glaring at her with an angry, tight-lipped grimace. The girls glance at each other, then return their eyes to back to him.

「…I have a blessing that lets me sense danger.」

He lets out a resigned sigh, and explains.

「How does that work?」

Cycelia asks, tilting her head.

「I'm not sure how I can explain it, but I'll try… I can sense someone's presence, I suppose. For example, that tall guy who usually sits with you… He feels extremely dangerous.」

He briefly rubs his chin, pondering with his eyes lowered at the table, then raises them back up to meet Cycelia's gaze when he names Straf.

「Hm? But Straf is a good guy, he wouldn't hurt you. He's a little rough, and gets upset about minor stuff easily, and is violent sometimes… Er, I mean, not to me…」

Cycelia defends Straf, looking at all three, extolling his virtues.

「Lia…」

Tisha raises her furrowed brows at her.

「…Are you sure Straf is a good guy?」

Neela asks the question on Tisha's mind, and the two exchange a knowing look before turning their eyes to Cycelia.

「Huh? W- Well, yes, he wouldn't hurt Damian… For no reason…」

She replies, adding a disclaimer quietly. Damian shakes his head, and sighs.

「That's beyond the point. The point is, even without any bloodlust, I can tell he's bad news. Bloodlust only intensifies the sense of danger. Hmmm…」

He explains, and begins rubbing his chin thinking intently.

「Ah. Perfect. I have two good examples of how it works… As a child, we were going shopping with my mother in some city… I don't remember. But what I do remember is…」

He extends his index finger, and continues his explanation.

「…I suddenly felt a massive urge to jump back, like something terrible is going to happen if I don't. So I did it.」

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Damian says, and two of the three attentively listen. Tisha is nominally paying attention, and mostly waiting for a good moment to throw another jab again.

Slap.

「And then crash. A brick came crashing down onto the ground, and shattered to pieces. Right where I would be. It slipped out of the grasp of the construction worker above, and he didn't even have the time to warn us.」

He punches his palm in a downward motion for emphasis. Neela's brows rise, and Cycelia covers her mouth in shock with her dainty fingers.

「That's so scaryyy!」

She exclaims, looking at Damian with huge emerald eyes, and Tisha seems to be paying more attention now.

「Yeah. My mother almost died on the spot from fear.」

He nods, briefly glancing at Tisha, and turns his eyes to Neela.

「I didn't quite understand at the time. I thought I maybe saw it coming, or I heard someone warn me… But as I grew older, I realized none of that was the case. Here's another example…」

Spreading his hands, he grimaces heavily while he elaborates. He then extends his finger again.

「I was collecting firewood for my parents, and I came across a bear. I thought I was done for. But then, I realized the bear didn't actually feel dangerous…」

Damian begins another story. Tisha leans in, appearing a little less bored.

「…And the less afraid I was, the less dangerous it felt. So I figured it if I just scare it, it'll leave me alone. I ran at it, and the bear just ran off in panic. Walked away without a scratch.」

「So you can feel how good of a warrior someone is?」

Tisha asks, tilting her braided bang with her brows furrowed at him.

「I suppose so. It's a sum of the parts, rather than a singular, defined element.」

「Wooooow… You are living every northerner's dream… Except mine, I guess. I don't really care about all this fighting stuff. I'd rather watch someone fight, than do it myself.」

Tisha shrugs, reluctantly complimenting Damian.

「You should visit Kreisfeld and see the tournament when it's back! It's fun!… Mostly.」

Cycelia chimes in, excitedly clenching her dainty fists as she warmly smiles at her.

「Hmmm? Ah. The big arena martial thingy… I wanted to go, but I'd be late if there was a blizzard on my way out, so I decided not to.」

Resigned, Tisha shrugs her hands, grimacing a little.

「You missed out on great fights! The final fight was Straf, and this mysterious Sturm person!… And Straf somehow lost! I wonder where Sturm is right-!」

Cycelia says, shaking her fists with excitement, and shining her emerald eyes at Tisha's. Suddenly, she goes silent mid-sentence, and her brows furrow.

「Hmmm?…」

Looking up and aside, Cycelia rubs her chin, thinking intensely.

《What was it?…》

「Hmmmm…」

She humms, closing her eyes.

《It's something I should know, but what was it?… Something that's really relevant…》

「Hmmmmmm…」

Her humms intensify while Tisha stares at her deeply thinking pretty face.

「What's up, Lia? You look like you're about to say something enlightening.」

Tisha asks, and Cycelia opens her emerald eyes again.

「I thought I just remembered something really important, but I don't know what it is…」

「I don't think it's that important if you forgot…」

Neela chimes in, and forks some of her food into her mouth.

「Yeah, it's probably nothing-」

「Ah… The food is cold…」

Tisha concurs, but then Neela lets out a disappointed sigh.

「Huh? Damn it!」

Damian realizes that they barely touched their food since the conversation began, and rapidly begins shoveling all of it into his mouth, as long as the faint embers of warmth still remain

「Yes… You're right, it probably is isn't… But this is a really uncomfortable feeling.」

Cycelia agrees with the girls, nodding her head, then shrugs in defeat.

「Well, in any case… I can even sense danger through the walls, and such. So my plan was… I would go around the school, and see if I sense something dangerous, when I normally shouldn't.」

With his mouth full, Damian continues explaining his plan.

「You're being disgusting again. Eat or talk.」

Tisha berates Damian, looking at him with her mouth scrunched to the side.

「Well excuse me, princess. I'm not a noble, but a regular, city-peripheral village boy.」

He swallows, and immediately scoffs.

「Hmpf. Peasant.」

She scoffs as well, huffing out of her little nose, as he turns her cold ice-blue eyes away.

「Tisha, that's not nice…」

Cycelia softly chides the blonde daughter of the north.

「…Do you not sense all sorts of stuff during the day in the halls? How can you even hope to find anything when there's so many people?」

Neela asks, curiously tilting her head as she looks at him.

「You're spot on, it is a problem. When there's so many people around, it's very hard to use my blessing. So…」

Damian nods, and pauses just short of finishing his sentence, keeping the girls in suspense.

「…Do you understand what I'm getting at?」

He asks with a serious face, looking at each of them for a brief moment.

「…If you want to find the ghost, you'd have to do it at night, when nobody is out in the halls?」

Cycelia asks, furrowing her brows, looking at him with worried eyes.

「Correct. If I go alone and end up running into the ghost, what then?… Suppose the four of us would come across it, we could potentially fight it off, should it turn out to be aggressive.」

「Hmpf. So you want us to hold your hand looking for a non-existent ghost because you're too scared to do it alone?」

Tisha huffs again, returning a smug grin right back at Damian.

「Tsk… It's real. It exists. I can prove it to you. Probably before the term ends, too.」

Meanwhile, Damian scoffs at Tisha's skepticism. The two stare down at each other.

「Hoooh? Do you want to bet?」

She asks with a mischievous tone in her voice, and her grin grows wider.

「Sure. How much?」「Pft.」

Damian nods, and asks back. Tisha immediately sputters, momentarily glancing aside.

「What?」

「Money? Really? It wouldn't be worth bending my back to pick up the worth of your entire household off the floor.」

She replies, disdainfully crossing her arms, glaring with her cold eyes at Damian. He clicks his tongue.

「…So what do you suggest?」

「Hmmm… I have a better idea.」

Tisha humms, briefly turning her eyes up at the ceiling to think.

「And that is?」

Damian asks, glaring back at her smug face.

「You'll be my slave for five years. How does that sound?」

She nonchalantly asks, and the two girls snap their eyes full of disbelief to her.

「Tisha!…」「Tisha…」

Neela and Cycelia say, furrowing their brows at her, visibly outraged.

「There's nothing I can get out of you to make it equivalent to being a slave-」

He scoffs, shaking his head.

「Ohhhh, you southerners are so delicate. The weak deserve to be slaves. Since this is a bet, I'd treat you well, and release you after five years. Pinkie promise… But if you misbehave, you'll be punished like a normal slave.」

Tisha glances at Damian's, Neela's, and Cycelia's upset faces, then dismissively waves her hand. She remains smug despite the outrage.

「I still don't know what I could possibly get out of you.」

Damian sighs, looking aside while the girls finish their meals.

「Think of something.」

Tisha encourages him with a little nod of her braided bang, and waits while he intently stares off into space.

「…Three wishes.」

He replies, after a prolonged pause.

「Huh?」

She tilts her golden head, narrowing her eyes.

「If we do find the ghost, you'll grant me three wishes. Anything. Classic, isn't it?」

Damian returns a smug smirk of his own, and the two glare at each other.

「Hmpf. Fine. If you think being called names is bad, you are not prepared for the humiliation of a slave.」

She grins, picturing him in chains already.

「I think my first wish will be teaching you some humility.」

He turns his handsome face away, and quietly ponders something for a few moments before replying.

「We will begin tomorrow, during the free study days. Are you all three alright with that?…」

Damian asks, side-glancing at the girls.

「I- I don't know if I want to hunt a ghost…」

Cycelia attempts to bow out, meekly tapping her fingers together with a little pout.

「Lia, don't be a coward.」「Come on Lia, it won't be scary if it's us four.」

Tisha and Neela instantly lean in, and begin encouraging her.

Gonnnnnggggg… Donnnnnggg… Gonnnnnnnnnggg…

The heavy bell above the Academy tolls again. Damian gets up from the table.

「Think about what you want to do. If you want to come, then let's meet in front of the Cursefire Brazier tomorrow evening. And if you don't… I'll do what I have to do…」

He stops after walking away a few steps, and instructs the girls as he speaks over his shoulder. He abruptly walks off in the middle of his last sentence.

「Okay! Don't worry, we'll convince her to join us, pants-shitter!」

Tisha bids Damian farewell, waving at his back with a snide grin on her face. His face snaps over his shoulder at the girls with a terribly betrayed, and indignant look on his face…