Naell had immediately slept upon returning to his dorm, as he could not reject the comfort of his bed. Far unlike the streets that were rowdy and energetic, only the soft sound of HOOT’s could be heard in his room.
Yet the peaceful morning did not last long, as loud HOOTs and a warm ball of fat repeatedly bounced atop his stomach.
"Hey wake up! It's time to feast, HOOT!"
"...Is food the only thing on your mind?" Asked Naell as he yawned.
Owly often knew how to refute Naell, but mockery that portrayed hints of truth such as that were his weakness. So with a cough and a petty excuse, he replied.
"Since I'm sealing your mana, I need food to replenish my strength, HOOT."
"Is that so?" Said Naell who was smiling cheekily from winning.
Owly could only pretend not to hear Naell, while already scheming his revenge.
"But aren't you going with Rizaul?" Naell asked listlessly.
"Yeah, but if I left you here, I'm sure you wouldn’t leave the position where I left you, so make haste, HOOT!"
"..."
“And you have a meeting, HOOT.”
Naell sighed as he was unable to refute, and slowly forced himself to get up from the loving embrace of his bed.
In just a few minutes, he had finished preparing, and was now changed into a presentable state. Yet unlike the eager owl who had already laid atop his head, Naell was sluggish at best and already felt the need to return to his sheets.
"Let's go, HOOT!"
"It's still early…"
"We’ll be meeting early, HOOT!"
.
.
.
The meeting place was just at the entrance of the main building, that was why upon arriving, Naell and Owly were met with students busily preparing for the festival, and students looking at the bulletin board.
‘Such a drag.’ Naell thought. It wasn't that long until they saw Rizaul with the others that promptly made Naell want to leave.
Yet because of Owly's telepathy and planned revenge, he declared where he was faster than Naell's idea.
"Owly, Young--- Naell good day." Rizaul was the one who greeted them first, as he approached them with Note and Namiku, while Andrew and the rest awkwardly followed.
It had already been a normal occurrence for them to see Naell, as Owly and Rizaul became good friends. Still, Andrew, Viola, and Rinca still felt awkward meeting him.
What surprised them the most, even if it was Naell's wish, was Rizaul's way of greeting him without honorifics.
"Good day as well." Replied Naell awkwardly as he bowed down.
They as well greeted him back with a nod, except Rinca who chose to feign ignorance. To say that she wasn't uncomfortable was not true, but at the very least, she didn’t hold irritation towards Naell anymore.
As the introductions were all done, Naell was already planning on his retreat, yet before he could even do so, he was out of nowhere held by his shoulder, halting his escape.
"Naell, you're early. Everyone, Princess Namiku, good day." Said Casper enthusiastically, followed by Wendy who was smiling and bowing politely.
"Hello, little owl."
Wendy knew that Andrew and his friends were popular due to their connections to the royal family of Asuna. Not to mention, they were also friends with the daughter of the duke of Arigare and the son of the eastern marquis, Raal.
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There were even rumors of them being connected to Sarah Star, and even favored by the royal children of Taglagas. To say in the least that Wendy wasn't interested in building a relationship with them was not true, yet because she knew Casper didn’t want to be involved in politics, she refrained from doing so.
"You---bro, Young miss…" Said the startled Naell. He could only think how he was already tired upon his departure from his room.
"Good day as well, Young master Casper, Young miss Wendy." Replied Andrew and the rest, who were all acquainted with each other.
All of them were once invited into a party held by the royal family of Taglagas.
There they got introduced to the royal family’s princes and princesses of Taglagas in which they have spoken even in school. Even Naell was invited, as the nephew of Marquis Star, yet “coincidentally” he was on a mission.
Going back, Naell's smile was faltering as the conversation between all of them was difficult to cut into. All he wanted to do was read in the library, sleep in his room and sleep more throughout the preparations and the whole cultural festival.
Yet the grasp of a martial artist was proven to be more powerful than a lazy mage. As he was thinking of how to escape from that predicament, Naell was surprised to see all of them looking at him.
He wasn't aware that he was the main topic already, so Wendy teasingly said,
"Ahem! We didn't know you were quite the intelligent man, Naell."
"Eh???" Naell was not quite sure of what happened, all he knew of were the awkward stares he was getting.
Due to that, his smile of confusion, like his other emotions, produced an intimidating face far from what he intended to make.
They, as people who were familiar with him, sort of thought Naell was easily angered by anything due to his expression.
Which was why they were all startled when Casper, with a heavy pull and a hearty laugh, debunked it as he said,
"You know Naell, if I didn't spend years in Beryldot, I would have thought you're irritated underneath that confused face you're making---"
Naell could only smile awkwardly, it was true that Wendy's words confused him, but at that moment, he was infuriated with himself for being weak, and how Casper could really see through him.
"----hahaha, now you're irritated."
"..."
Andrew and the rest were quiet. Naell, for them, looked sinister for most of the time. That was why, they never thought that Rizaul might have been correct in saying,
"Young master Naell, just has an intimidating face."
Yet what made them all silent was the fact that Naell had been surprising them more often.
As all of them were silently staring at each other. Wendy with a smile spoke once more, breaking the silence, and once again bringing attention to Naell.
"Top 8 in the first year’s ranking, that's a big achievement master Naell."
"..."
All of them knew besides Owly and Naell that he got 8th place on the bulletin board.
It was impressive as the whole population of first-years consisted of classes of martial artists, one class of mages, and classes of general studies.
Most students, especially Naell's classmates excelled on their magic test with the lowest score being 88.
While Naell scored 90 for his magic exams (placing him also on 8 but out of 12 students) which was on the lower side. His score with the general exams was also 90, yet that managed to put him in 5th place of the freshmen general exams.
That itself was impressive, as the average score of martial artists and mages in the general examination was only 85.
Naell was shocked and regretful. If he wanted to, he could aim higher but because he didn’t really want to stand out, he decided not to.
He thought getting 90 on both exams was average making it not that outstanding nor was it low enough to be mocked by other nobles.
Yet due to his complacency, his grade was actually on the top of the bulletin board, and almost all the students of EDSD knew him
Most were impressed with Naell. Especially upon learning the rumor that he was often absent in class. Not to mention, the duel he drew against Lesjon Star, a famed magic knight brought forth unnecessary attention towards him.
Little did he know, Rinca, the daughter of the Duke of Arigare who was the leader of the northern part of the Autumn Kingdom, was actually protecting him and the rest of her people from being pulled into a power struggle involving nobles.
That was why, even though they knew that the engagement of Rinca and Naell was cancelled due to his bad deeds, they were not able to openly mock him.
As all of their stares were making him tired, Naell with a fake cough, immediately said,
"Ahhh… I'm sorry I need to go now."
Casper could only laugh, and let go upon hearing and seeing Naell's awful acting.
"Are you going back already?" Asked Rizaul while petting Owly who flew atop his head.
"Ahhh yes… I'll be resting for a while--- I mean reading in the library."
Casper and Wendy were nodding at his response. It could be said that all of the classes were on-hold as to prepare for the cultural festival, so it wasn't weird for Naell to rest.
"..."
Yet for Andrew and the others who knew that he had been cooped up in his room doing nothing but sleeping, they were dumbfounded and could not even speak.
Owly's deep HOOTs of disappointment were heard from Naell's back as they telepathically argued back and forth.