The gathering hall erupts into a loud rumble. Before the students can fully discuss the implications amongst themselves, Corvus raises both of his hands and points his palms at the audience. It takes a prolonged while for them to quiet down again, but he patiently waits for them to do so. When the last of the whispering finally stops, he puts his hands behind his back once more.

「I know you have many questions… Why so soon? What of the other two exams? Does this mean the next term will also begin sooner?…」

He slowly says, looking at seemingly random students in the crowd. His eyes briefly also turn to Cycelia, before jumping elsewhere.

「Your subject teachers will answer any questions you might have. They are all incredibly helpful people.」

The headmaster points his hand to the men and women standing behind him, swiveling his upper body around as he presents them to the students, before once again joining his hands behind his back.

「There's also the assistant teachers aiding them, or one of the many Academy professors we have on our retainer. They will gladly help you, or answer questions that you may have.」

Corvus explains, then pauses briefly.

「Supposing that the teachers do not have an answer for your question, you may come to me. Always. While I am rather busy, the students' welfare is always my priority…」

He nods his long-haired head, smiling softly at the students below.

「…And if you bring me a question that I do not have an answer to… Well, that would be a good question indeed! Perhaps you should answer it yourself!」

The headmaster shrugs his shoulders, briefly turning his smile to the teachers behind him.

「But moving on, and to finally touch upon the main subject of the announcement… That wasn't it, believe it or not…」

Corvus momentarily hangs his head down in silence, looking at his feet. He lifts it back up, and once again stares at the crowd without a word for a prolonged duration.

「For the duration of the term… All students, professors, workers, or any other persons are barred from leaving, effective immediately.」

He announces with a surprisingly stern tone, clashing with the one warm and casual one from just a moment before. The hall explodes into a large rumbling again. The students make no effort to be quiet as they talk, and Corvus silently watches on for a moment.

「I know…」

He says loudly with emphasis, and waits for the hall to grow silent again over the next few seconds.

「…That you have questions. Unfortunately, I will only reveal the reason for this rule after the term is over. There is a good reason for it, and I am asking you to simply believe me for the time being.」

Corvus says, and bows his head.

「For that, and finally, I would like to apologize to all of you. I know believe me may not appear like the soundest of arguments, but I have not attained my position here by acting out my capricious whims…」

The headmaster speaks with his head lowered, only raising it after apologizing. He continues, gauging the students reactions with his bespectacled eyes, and momentarily glancing at Straf, too.

「…Of which I have many, I may add.」

He adds, and beams an exaggerated smile at the audience.

「I must warn you against attempting to ignore my edict, and trying to sneak out. We will know. Students will be permanently, irrevocably and immediately expelled, while workers and professors will be terminated.」

Corvus cautions, once again taking on a stern and serious tone. He looks at Straf's bored eyes and slanted mouth once again, before glancing elsewhere. His voice continues booming, sounding almost ominous.

「Some of you may have already found out, the rule is in effect since midnight of today… Anyone attempting to leave before noon was briskly turned away. Again, I apologize… But again, good reason.」

The headmaster shrugs with his hands, and rejoins them behind himself. His eyes turn to the two mages at the side of the hall, who were guarding the gate in the morning, before returning back to the audience.

「I know this complicates things for a lot of you. Being unable to leave for the city is greatly inconvenient, and I'm sure many of you have letters to send out. We will do our best to accommodate you in the meantime.」

He continues, gesturing with his hand in a circle, before slowly brushing through his beard with his fingers, keeping his other hand behind his back still.

「I hope the situation necessitating this resolves quickly, and we are hard at work to that end. Until then, I ask for your unquestioning compliance. We'd rather not lose bright students.」

Corvus explains, and glances at the teachers over his shoulder before making an ominous statement with a matching tone, and a troubled expression on his wrinkled face.

「With that out of the way… I have two more announcements. Well, one announcement, and one small request…」

He spreads his hands, and rejoins them behind himself once more, smiling at the uneased crowd.

「The announcement is… We are temporarily suspending redemption of the Academy's gems for other kingdoms' currencies. The reason for that being…」

The headmaster says with a troubled tone, albeit of the embarrassed variant, as he pinches the side of his glasses and adjusts them.

「Ahem… Someone has exchanged a large amount of drakes in return for all of the gold in our stores. As embarrassing as it is, we are simply unable to exchange your gems for anything except drakes…」

Corvus explains, staring at Straf the entire time. He nonchalantly shrugs in return

「…That being said, we expect the situation to be resolved before the term is over. This will effectively not concern you at all, and things should return to normal soon enough.」

The headmaster explains, helplessly spreading his hands, shrugging his shoulders as well.

「Finally, a little request… Not too long ago, a student left the water rune in one of the men's room active. This resulted in a large drain on the Academy's storage crystals. We are working on fixing the underlying issue…」

He glances at Straf once more, before looking at the rest of the audience.

「…Until then, I'd like to ask all students, workers and professors alike to always remember to deactivate the runes when no longer needed. For sake of everyone in the Academy.」

Corvus smiles softly at the students, and gently nods his head as he makes his request. A brief silence begins once again.

「That is all, really, but I have one more thing to add. The schedules for classes will be outside of each of the dormitories. Find your name in the schedule, then proceed to class in the morning…」

The headmaster says, gesturing with his hand once again.

「…And please take care not to oversleep. Being tardy quickly snowballs into terrible consequences for your ability to learn. Skipping even one class will put you at a large disadvantage. That is all. Thank you.」

Corvus nods, looks at the teachers with a smile, and gingerly heads down the stairs with his hands held behind his back, disappearing in the thick forest of heads and pointy hats.

The gathered students stand up, and a chatter begins as everyone slowly shuffles to the exit. Straf casually bulldozes his way to the door, clearing a path for Cycelia in his wake. The toppled students mutter out curses as they pick their stomped, flattened hats back up.

「Well, consider me surprised. I was wondering how I am going to live through those two weeks without dying to death of boredom.」

Straf says over his shoulder to Cycelia as soon as they exit into the mostly-empty hallways.

「I'm kind of nervous now… I thought two weeks was plenty of time to prepare, but this is kind of sudden…」

She replies, fidgeting with her medallion.

「Well, Lia, at least you now have a good reason to learn stuff. Even if everyone outside is currently being eaten by zombies.」

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「Straf! Don't even say that! Didn't you say that's the least probable reason!?」

Cycelia exclaims, clenching her dainty pale fists.

「Yeah, but what if?…」

Straf asks with an amused grin while Cycelia pouts back. They head back to their room, unobstructed as the bulk of the students likely is still stuck in the gathering hall…

…

A few hours later, in Cycelia's room…

「Ahhh… This is so tedious…」

Cycelia sighs as her shoulders slump. She lifts her tired emerald eyes off her magic tome, looking at Straf while he sits in his meditative pose on his bed.

「Straf, are you sleeping?」

She asks, and his eyes snap open.

「Nope. Magic systems are tedious by design, Lia. It's called world building. Be glad you don't have to solve the n-body problem just to burn someone's face off with a fireball. Or do calculus in your head.」

He scoffs, smirking at her.

「…Huh?」

「Anyway, how's it going? Did you learn something new yet?」

Straf asks, still in his pose suited for [Cultivation].

「I don't know… It's really hard. Even going over the basics again makes my head spin. I was a little worried before, and now I'm just plain anxious…」

She replies, staring glumly down at the floor.

「As long as you can do the bare minimum to have the teachers leave you alone, Lia…」

He shrugs, and closes his eyes again.

「But I don't want to be mediocre! I want to be a mage that would make Albus proud!」

Cycelia exclaims, greatly furrowing her brows with a frown on her face.

「It's your choice, Lia. Being above average requires above average effort, and surfing the mediocrity prevents burnout while being comfortable. Cowabunga.」

Straf sighs out, scrunching his mouth to the side.

「Nnhhhnnn…」

She lets out a groan, and continues reading her magic tome written in tiny script, full of intricate runes.

「…No matter what you pick, you won't be mediocre to me, so it doesn't matter much as far as I'm concerned.」

He nonchalantly adds, shrugging his shoulders.

「Straf… S- Stop saying distracting stuff like that, good grief!…」

Cycelia blinks at his serene face, before angrily pouting at her tome in her lap. She quietly flips the page with her face heavily flushed, and her ear tips red…

…

A few hours later, well into the night…

Cycelia continues reading her tome by the oil lamp's soft orange glow from its steady flame.

「Nhhhaaaaahhhh… Mhh…」

Covering her mouth with her palm, she lets out a tired yawn, then a soft groan. She flips another page, looking at one of the very last pages with weary green eyes.

「Lia, if you're tired, you might as well call it a night. Don't burn the literal midnight oil. You have classes tomorrow, after all.」

Straf opens one eye, looking at her fatigued face.

「I know, but- Nnhaaaahhh… I'm close to finishing this.」

She replies, but is then interrupted by another sudden yawn. She drowsily clicks her tongue in her mouth a few times, and finishes her sentence.

「Hm… Well, if you insist, but sleeping during classes is reserved for the smart, but lazy ones.」

He shrugs, shutting his eye. He continues, and so does Cycelia for a few hours longer. After reaching the final page, she noisily shuts the tome with a clap, sets it aside in her baggage, and blows the flame out.

Cycelia lies down on her bed, and curls up without even pulling the blanket over herself…

…

The following morning…

Straf opens his eyes, and looks at Cycelia.

「Lia, don't you think it's about time?…」

He asks, and she continues sleeping. Her unbothered, sleeping face resembles a late Renaissance painting with her gently parted lips, rosy cheeks, long eyelashes at her closed eyes, and chestnut hair flowing on her bed. Straf sighs.

「Alright, then.」

Straf quietly declares, and stands up from his bed. He slips her boots on her feet, without bothering to tie them, and scoops her up into his arms. He exits the room, carrying her as if she were a princess again.

《…Whatever. If someone takes her shit, he'll sign his own death warrant.》

He shrugs, after briefly mulling over locking the door with Cycelia's key. He heads down the stairs, taking great care not to disturb her sleep. When the students at the ground floor see him coming, they rush out of the way in panic, and wait for him to pass by them before they resume on their way. He navigates the twisting, winding halls, while her head is resting on his chest. She continues breathing softly and slowly, not even as much as shifting into a more comfortable position. Straf arrives at a classroom, lifts his leg, and presses down on the handle with his foot.

Thud!

The door roughly slams on the wall when he gives it a light shove with his boot. He enters, taking care not to bump Cycelia's legs or head into the doorframe. Men and women at the long desks are staring at them with their brows furrowed, glancing at each other in confusion while Straf looks for two empty seats. He notices a partially empty desk in the back, elevated above most of them. He heads up one of the two stairs to the back, and shuffles into the desk. He then pulls the chair out with his foot, and gently sits Cycelia down on it, resting her on the desk as she slumps down.

「Humpf!」

He grunts loudly as he takes a seat next to her himself. The students around them begin to mutter and mumble to themselves.

「…Are they a couple, or something?」「What were they doing all night?」「It's that crazy handsome guy!…」

A few hushed voices utter out, and are quickly silenced by Straf's cold glare over his shoulder. Cycelia lets out a soft moan, and clicks her tongue in her mouth a few times.

「Hnnh… Hm? Huh!?」

Her emerald-green eyes snap wide open, and her head snaps all around herself in shocked surprise while Straf looks on with a bored face.

「Straf!? What am I doing here!? Is this a dream!?」

Cycelia asks, mildly panicked. Straf takes a moment to look around as well, before returning his eyes back to her.

「Dunno. To be honest, it doesn't feel very real to me either. Be glad you have your clothes on.」

He nonchalantly replies with a quick shrug. The very next moment, a gigantic hat pops into the class with a grunt.

「Hnngh! Okay! Apologies for being late, everyone! Happens to the best of us!…」

Aria exclaims with her hand raised, and directed towards the class as she approaches the teacher's desk with a thick tome in her other arm.

Thump!

She throws it down onto the desk, causing it to it emit a cloud of dust, forcing her to turn away and cough a few times.

「Khakh!… Akh!… Ahem. Okay. Is everyone here?…」

Aria asks, lifting the brim of her enormous hat a little to get a better look at her students. At the same time, two young girls rush into the classroom, gasping for air.

「Tisha… Neela… At this rate, you'll be passing the entry exam with flying colors again.」

She declares with her fists on her hips, staring at the late students while they frantically look for a free seat. They rush up the stairs, and take a seat beside Straf and Cycelia.

「Sorry Ms. Aria!」

One of them shouts back, and continues gasping for air.

「Tsk… Always miss when they are late…」

Aria grumbles, shaking her hatted head with a tight-lipped grimace on her disapproving face…