Moments later, at the bottom of the girls' dormitories…

Tisha and Neela are waiting for Cycelia while reading through a scoreboard attached to the dormitory noticeboard on the wall. It's a cryptic list of names that only states Professor Aria at the top, then the names of the students with numbers right beside them, and no further explanation.

「Do you see it?」

Tisha asks, and her blue eyes dart up and down the list.

「No… Did we flunk again?- Ah, Lia…」

Neela glances at her with a worried gaze, then notices Straf and Cycelia approach with the corner of her vision when it returns to the noticeboard.

「Tisha, Neela, good morning. Did we pass?」

Cycelia greets them as she approaches, then stands right behind them, peeking at the list over their shoulders.

「We're trying to figure that out…」

Tisha replies, still staring at the list of names.

「Ah.」

Neela suddenly utters out, blinking at one certain position upon it.

「What's up?」

Tisha turns her eyes to her, then to the spot on the list.

「Ah. You're at the very bottom…」

Tisha remarks, and her gaze slowly crawl back up the names.

「…I- I'm o- One p- Point above failing…」

Neela stutters, turning her wide-open stare at Tisha and Cycelia, shaking a little with a tight-lipped grimace.

「So what? Someone has to be at the bottom- Ha! I'm ten points above you!」

Tisha proudly declares with a smug grin.

「…But you're still second to last, Tisha. It's just a lot of the students have the same score… You were just placed on top of them.」

Cycelia chimes in with her brows lightly furrowed, and slowly reads through the list as well.

「Tsk… Details. More importantly, where are you? Don't tell me you managed to flunk the term while Neela and I passed.」

With her fists on her hips, Tisha clicks her tongue, then turns her eyes to Cycelia as she's looking at the list with an intensely focused gaze.

「I'm looking…」

She replies, and bites her lower lip, fidgeting with her medallion. While Cycelia is reading through the names, Tisha gets distracted by her fingers on the medallion, gently tilting her head.

Her blue eyes drift past Cycelia up to Straf's bored eyes and his scrunched mouth, then down to his chest. An exact copy of the medallion hangs off his neck, although mirrored.

「Wha-?」

Tisha's jaw drops from shock. She manages to only catch a quick glance of the ruby gem set in Straf's medallion, before his eyes below his furrowed brows snap to her.

She quickly turns her head away, pretending to help Cycelia look for her name, but then she glances at her medallion as well. She notes the sapphire gem, then grimaces heavily.

《What is this!? What is this, what is this, what is this!? Why did it take me so long to notice!? She plays with that thing all the time in class!》

Tisha thinks, staring at the scoreboard with wide-eyes in shock.

《Did he give it to Lia?- No no no, he's a married man, no way he'd do that and the queen wouldn't have noticed!》

She places her fingers on her chin, deeply confounded and thinking heavily.

《…Then, was it Lia? Did she just buy matching necklaces and casually gave one of them to Straf?》

Tisha steals a quick glance of Straf's face while he's busy reading through the list with the two.

《Did he not notice!? Is he one of those dumb idiots who need a girl to scream her feelings in their face for them to get it!?》

Her tight-lipped grimace grows wider as her gaze darts around the names in an attempt to look nonchalant.

「Tisha, did you find it?」

Neela asks, turning her somewhat concerned face to her. Cycelia is outright jittery now, and her emerald eyes chaotically jump all over the noticeboard.

「Uh- Um, I uh…」

Tisha is completely taken aback by the fact her attempt to not draw attention did exactly the opposite. Grinning nervously, she quickly looks at the list.

「Ah. Found it.」

Her head recoils back a little in surprise, staring roughly at the midpoint of the list.

「What? Really? Where?-」

Cycelia's eyes widen, and she follows Tisha's pointing finger to the scoreboard.

「…Right in the center, almost perfectly so. You're like 25 points above me.」

Tisha declares with a massively perplexed expression, and blinks at her as Cycelia lets out a large sigh of relief.

「How did you do that, Lia? I was getting worried that you failed the term.」

Neela asks, likewise confused.

「Honestly, I have no idea… I suppose studying with Damian and you two paid off.」

Greatly relieved and smiling gently, she shrugs her shoulders, then glances at them with a now serene expression on her face.

「Right… I guess he earned a treat. Let's go then, or we'll be late and flunk in the dumbest way possible.」

Tisha nods and turns towards the main hallway, speeding off in a rapid step. The girls are quick to hurry after her. Straf takes leisurely, but wide steps…

…

In the evening, outside one of the classrooms…

Donnnngggg… Gonnnnnnnngggggg… Donnnnnnnnggggg…

The bell tolls again, and a brief moment later, the door to the classroom swings open. Students pour out into the hallway in an orderly and an almost practiced manner.

「Hmpfffffhnghhhh!…」

Tisha stretches, groaning and grunting loudly, making almost inappropriate-sounding noises while the rest follows her out of the classroom.

「…Ahhhh. Now what happens, happens. If we have a reason to worry, then it's already too late to worry about it.」

Lowering her arms, she lets out a contented sigh and turns to face everyone else, fists on hips.

「Right… I hope it will turn out well.」

Cycelia nods as Straf and Damian join them as well.

「So… How about it, pants-shitter? Coming with us?」

Tisha asks, grinning at Damian with her blue eyes narrowed.

「Tsk… I already said… I don't want to eat on a girl's coin…」

He replies, taking a few steps away with his hands in his pockets, but he stops and visibly hesitates.

「But you're already doing that, aren't you? Your sister is paying for your time here, isn't she?」

She says, quizzically spreading her hands.

「Tsk…」

Damian clicks his tongue, rubs the back of his neck, and lets out a large sigh as he thinks.

「…That's my sister. I don't really know you.」

「Now that's rude! We've practically spent two months together!…」

Tisha exclaims, grimacing angrily at his back.

「So what?」

「…You know life is short up north, right? Commoners usually marry after that long-」

She asks, tilting her golden head with her fists on her hips. Damian sputters loudly.

「W- What does that have to do with anything!?」

He shouts, staring at her over his shoulder wide-eyed with a tight-lipped grimace on his face.

「He he…」

Tisha lets out a brief, quiet, mischievous chuckle, grinning massively.

「…Anyway, what's the harm? Lia credits passing Professor Aria's exam to you, and there might be some truth to that. You know I'm rich, so don't ruin the mood.」

She nonchalantly adds, spreading her arms, then points her hand towards Cycelia with a shrug of her shoulders and an inquisitively raised brow.

Damian look at the girls and Straf's bored face, still rubbing the back of his neck. He thinks, and thinks, and thinks. Every few seconds he lets out a sigh or a groan, thinking harder.

「Tsk… Fine. I'll come along, if only to keep you company. I'm not going to get anything, though.」

Relenting, he shrugs and slowly starts making his way back in the direction of the foyer, walking past the group with his hands in his pockets. Tisha lets out an amused huff, and follows.

The group follows Damian in its usual formation against the flow of the students heading to the meeting hall for the headmaster's announcement, eliciting a few confused looks out of them.

He slows down when he reaches the corner down the hallway. Seven mages in blue robes emerge the next second, almost colliding, swerving to avoid him.

「Ah, what a coincidence…」

The youngest mage leads the battlemage group this time, while the oldest one trails behind them.

「…Straf Katastrof Vindict. Are you not going to attend the headmaster's-?」

The young man asks, smiling at Straf while he shoves past Damian and the girls towards the mage.

「Eh? Straf!?」

Thwap.

His blue robes let out a loud clothy flutter, and Cycelia blinks in confusion at the scene before her. Straf is holding the mage up and off his feet, his robes twisted in his tight grip.

《…Vindict?》《Vindict?》《Vindict?…》

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Damian, Neela, and Tisha furrow their brows, glancing at the two while Cycelia is frozen in shock.

Fwapfwapfwapfwap!…

More robes flutter noisily as all the battlemages point their palms towards Straf's face while he glares at the young man in his grasp, ignoring the rest of them.

「…I don't think it's wise to put your hands on a Federation's battlemage.」

The mage calmly remarks, glaring right back at Straf while his smile turns further upward. His arms hang limp down at his sides, and he appears unbothered by his current position.

「I don't care if you're not the one who personally did it, your face is fucking pissing me off.」

Straf says, scowling at the battlemage in his grasp. The rest of them remain silent, watching Straf closely for his next move with their palms pointed towards him.

「My… Is that an accusation? Did what? What are you accusing us of, exactly?…」

The smiling battlemage asks, gently tilting his head.

「You little shit. You know what I'm talking about. You do it again, and you'll wish I only put my hands on you.」

「That's enough. Let him go.」

The woman in the rear of the battlemages speaks in a demanding tone, still glaring at Straf with her palm outstretched. The young man casually raises his hand to signal her to be silent.

「…I don't believe I do. You'll have to tell us what you are talking about, or else we'll just not get it.」

The young man says with a smile, glaring at Straf with sharply focused gaze through his narrowed eyes.

「I don't have to play your stupid fucking game…」

Straf replies, and lightly throws the young man back towards the battlemages. He stumbles briefly before being caught by the front row. Slowly, one by one the mages lower their arms.

「…You know what I'm talking about, pretending otherwise doesn't mean shit to me. Pull something like that again, and I don't guarantee you'll live to regret it.」

With a quick glare at each of their faces, Straf places his hand back in his pocket, then shoves right past their center with his shoulder, forcibly splitting their group in half.

「Let's go, Lia…」

Straf glances at Cycelia over his shoulder, and she quickly hops to follow him, navigating around the battlemages on the outside of their now split formation.

Tisha and Neela glance at each other, then turn their furrowed brows and confused looks to Damian. He returns more of the same, and the two hurry to follow them. Damian shivers.

《…He really meant it.》

He thinks, and slinks past the blue-robed mages while they look at him with frigid gazes…

…

An hour later, down the hill, in the town at the foot of the Academy of Magic…

Tisha leads the way as she and the rest enter a fancy restaurant, stomping forward proudly with her golden head raised high. Aside from a few robed diners with pointy hats on their heads, the establishment is mostly empty, and up to this point, the tuxedo-wearing waiters were idly chatting by the kitchen pass. When they spot them, they immediately swarm the entire group like hornets, or perhaps worker bees.

「Ah, Academy students! Good evening! We haven't seen any of you the entire term! Two groups were turned away, so we've heard! What happened?」

One of the waiters exclaims, speaking with his head lowered and brows raised in surprise.

「Please follow me to your seats…」

Another one bows, and points his arm deeper into the restaurant. Tisha smirks and follows the man, while Damian looks at the waiters wide-eyed and disconcerted.

「…Why are they like this? In an inn, they're usually like-」

「Tsk. This isn't an inn, you hick!…」

Tisha angrily cuts Damian off, glaring at him over her shoulder. He quiets down, looking around in complete shock.

「…Ahem. The headmaster decided to lock us in for the term, in an effort to try and increase student performance.」

She nonchalantly explains, shrugging her hands.

「Ahhh… I see, I see…」

The waiter who asked the question nods in understanding, following right beside the group to their table in an out of the way spot.

「…We were quite concerned something was wrong up there. Our profits are just not the same without the students.」

He adds, shrugging his shoulders.

「Is this table to your liking?」

The man leading them asks, pointing at the round table with just enough seats for all of them.

「It's good enough.」

Tisha replies, and waits for the man to slide the chair out for her. She steps ahead, and the man slides the chair back in so she can take a seat.

The other waiters do the same, first taking care of the seats for the girls. Straf nonchalantly takes a seat on his own, causing one of the waiters to gain a troubled grimace on his face. Damian stares at the men with his brows heavily furrowed, utterly confused. One of the waiters slides a chair out for him, and bows his head lightly as he presents it with his hand, waiting. Damian steps in front of it like Tisha, then bends his knees and slides himself in, causing the waiter's head to jump up in surprise and throw his white-gloved hands up. Tisha visibly winces at the sight.

「An appetizer, esteemed mages?」

One of the waiters asks, bowing towards the table as his eyes search for the person calling the shots.

「Sure. I'm a little too peckish…」

Tisha shrugs, spreading her hands with a smug smile.

「Understood…」

The man nods his head and hurries towards the kitchen pass, leans into it, and says something to someone within.

「Drinks?」

Another one asks, looking at Tisha with a similarly deferential mannerism.

「Hmmmm…」

She crosses her arms, looking upwards at the fancy crystal chandelier hanging in the center of the room.

「…Lia, anything you'd like? Straf?」

Tisha asks, turning her blue eyes to the two sitting across the table. Cycelia waves her hands aside and shakes her chestnut head, smiling awkwardly.

「No, I don't really mind anything… Feel free to pick something.」

She replies, and turns her emerald-green eyes to Straf's unimpressed face.

「Straf?…」

Tisha tilts her golden head while looking straight at him

「I don't really drink. Just pick anything that goes well enough with the food for Lia.」

He says as he rests his elbow on the pristinely snow-white tablecloth, and his cheek on his hand.

「Fair enough… Get us a good wine, something that goes well with meat.」

She turns her blue eyes to the waiter waiting for an answer. He bows as well, then heads for the kitchen area.

「And the main dishes? Any preferences?」

Another one asks, looking at each of them for a brief moment.

「For me… Chef's choice of a meat dish, let him have free reign. Surprise me.」

Tisha shrugs her shoulders, smirking at the waiter.

「Very good… And you, esteemed mages?」

The man asks, sweeping his gaze across the table before his eyes stop on Cycelia's face.

「Uh- Um… Is there a menu?…」

She asks, blinking at the man with a tight-lipped grimace. He tilts his head, lightly furrowing his brows.

「…No, but the chefs can serve anything that lady can think of.」

He replies after a short pause, appearing almost taken aback by the question.

「Well… Then… A sausage?…」

Cycelia says, briefly glancing aside at Tisha before returning her emerald eyes back to the man's tilted face while he nods and begins leaning in closer.

「…And cheese?… I suppose?…」

She adds, and her face gains an awkward tight-lipped grimace.

「…A meat and cheese platter to go with the wine?」

The man asks, seemingly grasping that Cycelia is at a loss. She quickly returns a rapid nod.

「Yes! Yes, that's exactly it!」

She points her dainty finger at him, still nodding.

「Excellent choice… And the gentlemen?…」

The man nods back, and his eyes dart between Straf and Damian…

…

Ten minutes later…

The group has finished placing their orders, glasses of wine were filled, and Tisha is now licking her fingers after eating the appetizers consisting of tiny colorful sandwiches.

「Ahh… That hit the spot…」

She remarks, and wipes her fingers on the cloth napkin in front of her.

「…How can you just order stuff and not ask for the price?」

Damian asks, looking at her with his brows greatly furrowed. She lets out an amused huff out of her nose, and turns her blue eyes to him with a large smug smirk on her face.

「…If you need to ask, you can't afford it.」

Tisha proudly replies with her head lightly cocked to the side, crossing her arms.

「I thought as much…」

He lets out a pained groan as he turns his face away, cringing.

「How can you come here and order pasta? Seriously?」

With his arms likewise crossed, Straf asks as he's casually leaning back in his chair.

「Tsk… What's wrong with pasta? Huh!?」

Damian asks, raising his voice in the quiet restaurant as he clenches his fist in anger.

《It's the first cheap thing that came to my mind…》

He thinks, turning his pained gaze away.

《…Hopefully I can pay her back for this.》

Damian looks at Tisha while she's staring towards the kitchen pass with her arms still crossed. Suddenly, her eyes snap to his, and he immediately breaks the eye contact.

「So…」

She says as her gaze darts between Cycelia and Straf.

「…Why did that guy call him Straf Katastrof Vindict?」

Tisha asks, and her stare is piercingly inquisitive. Both Neela and Damian turn their gently narrowed eyes to the two as well, while Cycelia almost chokes, waving her arms in panic.

Straf's face remains unimpressed, he maintains the boredom-filled eye contact with Tisha as he only lightly scrunched his mouth to the side…