"Hey, stop shaking your leg," Ethan whispered.

Leon snapped out of his thoughts, realizing his right leg had been bouncing non-stop under the desk.

"…Yeah, sorry," Leon muttered.

His attention was still fixed on the desk in front of him.

Alice Nightson.

She was sitting there alone, taking notes. On the surface, she looked calm and focused like any other student. But the way her fingers gripped the pen… it was like she was ready to stab someone with it.

'No way in hell she'll stab me to death… right?' Leon sighed internally.

In the game, Alice had no murder charges. Statistically, he was safe. Probably.

Still, his survival instincts were screaming. The moment the bell rang and the professor left, he'd make a break for it.

"By the way," Ethan whispered again, "are you free this weekend?"

"Hm?" Leon turned to him.

"I guess… what for?"

"Ah, that's perfect. There's something I wanted to show you."

Leon paused. Then it clicked.

'Right… his reward from the Astral Library quest.'

In the game, Ethan had never shared this with anyone, but Leon knew there was a good chance he might tell him this time.

"Alright," Leon nodded.

"Perfect," Ethan said with a bright smile.

'Damn, he's too good for a protagonist,' Leon thought with a grimace. 'I regret making him like this.'

It was almost time. A new arc was about to start. Leon clenched his fist under the desk. 'This is going to be a huge blow to his psychology,' he thought, glancing at Ethan.

"Alright class," Professor Theo finally said, closing his book, "go through what we discussed today, and if you have any questions, don't come to me. I'm busy. Annoy my assistant standing over there."

And with that, he walked toward the door.

Leon's eyes locked on Alice. She suddenly started packing her things.

It was Lunch break.

'Time for me to go.'

Leon pushed back his chair, but instead of bolting immediately, he walked casually toward the front. Everyone would assume he was just leaving like normal.

As soon as he reached the door handle, he muttered under his breath, "Yeah, I'm not wasting my time."

And then he dashed.

One student passing Leon almost hit him.

"Hey, what the–?"

Before anyone could process what happened, there was a loud BAM behind them.

Alice's chair screeched against the floor as she shot up and sprinted out the door like a beast let loose.

"Hey, wha—?!" the same student yelped as she nearly crashed into him too.

The entire class turned their heads toward the hallway.

"What was that?"

In the hallway.

'Ah, fuck this bitch,' Leon thought as he picked up speed.

"WAIT THE FUCK!! I JUST WANT TO TALK!!" Alice's voice echoed from behind.

Leon didn't look back. "Yeah, no thanks. I value my life."

Students in the hallway jumped out of the way as the Rank 2 student ran for his life, chased by a girl wielding a pen like a dagger.

"She's insane," he muttered.

First, there were rumours about Rose flowers, and then Alice doing that will make it worse.

He glanced behind.

"Huh—?!"

She wasn't behind him anymore.

"Looking for me?" Alice's voice came from his right.

Leon almost tripped. "How the hell are you this fast?! That's cheating!"

S ranked stamina, Leon was naive, thinking she wouldn't catch him.

Alice extended her hand toward his collar. "Wait, I really wanna talk."

"Not happening."

"It's about the—" She grabbed his collar.

"Let go, you psycho."

"What? You got some balls calling me that," she shot back at him half-seriously.

Leon twisted free, using a short blink teleport to make distance.

'If the Headmaster asks why I used my skill, I'll just say it was self-defence.'

This hallway wasn't crowded, thankfully, not many saw them together.

"Alice, you're making this worse. Think with your head, not your ass."

"You're the ass here! I just wanna talk! Why are you even running?"

"Then why are you still gripping a pen?!"

"… It's my instinct."

"That's not helping."

"I swear on my mother's name, I just wanna talk!"

'Yeah, and I swear I'm not buying that,' Leon thought.

She chased again. And Leon averted her.

"Alright, I swear on my grandpa's name then!" she shouted.

Leon's face twisted.

"Alice, what? He's ancient. Don't curse the man's last few days!"

"What? You're cracked," she growled.

And then she cornered him.

Leon's back hit the wall at the end of the corridor. Alice stood in front of him, as the sunlight cut through the window behind her, making her appear like a final boss.

"Heh." She smirked, spinning the pen between her fingers. "Now try running."

"..."

Leon raised both hands slowly. "Woman, if I die here, I'm haunting you."

"Oh, fuck off!" Alice said, slipping the pen into her pocket with an annoyed huff. "Just listen, and don't run."

"…Alright."

Seeing her put away the stabbing weapon, Leon relaxed a little. But his guard was still up.

"What?" he asked flatly.

Alice sighed. "I've been meaning to ask… did Professor Esther invite you to join the club just now?"

Leon narrowed his eyes. "How did you know that?"

"Because I'm part of that club," she said proudly, puffing out her chest a little.

Leon glanced down for a brief moment, then looked at her face again.

She continued.

"Esthe— I mean, Professor Esther's been saying from the very beginning that she wants you under her. She told me personally."

"Uh-huh… and?"

"And what? She asked you, right? And knowing you, you probably accepted."

Leon raised a brow. "How are you so certain?"

"Oh, come on, it only makes sense for you to join. Call it instinct."

Leon thought back to Esther's words: "There will be other members…"

"Hey, Alice," he said, "are you one of those other members?"

"No way." She shook her head immediately. "Sure, I love mana and spellcrafting, but my field is Weapon EnD."

"Oh, that's an interesting field."

Weapon EnD, or Weapon Encoding and Deconstruction it's a specialized branch of magic theory.

Leon already knew that, but he played dumb.

"So?" Leon tilted his head. "You chased me all the way here just to say this?"

"What? I was being polite." Alice retorted. "I even invited you to sit next to me in that boring lecture to talk about it. You are the one who ignored me."

"…Oh."

'So that's what that was for,' Leon thought, feeling a little stupid.

He sighed. "Well, blame yourself for acting all bratty. Of course, anyone would misunderstand."

"…"

Alice narrowed her eyes at him, puffing her right cheek slightly. The look was… annoyingly cute.

"You deserve a beating." She said.

"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, if you've got nothing else to say, let me go before someone sees me with you. I'm hungry."

"Well excuse me for sending those stupid roses," Alice muttered.

"Ahh… right. I still have to deal with that," Leon said.

"Exactly! Blame yourself," she shot back.

"It's not a big deal. The rumors will die within a week."

Alice scoffed.

"What if your mom makes an announcement publicly?"

"Nah, she won't." Leon grinned. "You've got your perks, but not the kind she's after."

Stepping away from the wall, Leon walked past Alice and glanced out the window, where students were eating lunch in groups.

"Status is what matters to that woman. That's what everyone thinks…" He smirked. "But she's the kind of woman who'd even look down on her own son if it didn't fit her standards."

Alice crossed her arms. "What exactly are you up to?"

"Hm? Me?" Leon glanced at her again, still smiling. "Something unpredictable."

Alice snorted. "Your mom's a bitch."

"No," Leon corrected casually. "She's a fox."

Stretching his arms, he added, "Next time my mother makes one of those marriage jokes, try saying 'I accept' and watch her face change."

"What?" Alice blinked, stunned.

Leon started walking toward the stairs.

"Wait." She hurried after him. "What will that even do?"

"Change your image of her," he replied.

"Like hell I'd say that," she muttered, falling into step beside him.

Leon sighed. "Please don't walk next to me."

"Why? Does it bother you?"

"Very much."

"Huh. Great to hear it. I'll do it more often."

"Haah…"

A voice came from the front.

"Look who it is."

Leon and Alice glanced ahead without stopping.

Three students were walking toward them, two boys and one girl. All three were wearing the Eclipse uniform, and by the badge on their chest, they were third years.

"If it isn't my baby brother," the boy in the middle said.

He had black hair and golden eyes.

Leon narrowed his eyes slightly but kept his mouth shut.

He didn't need to look at Alice. She already understood what to do.

Neither of them planned to stop.

But the three stepped forward together and blocked their way. The two boys stood in front of Leon, and the girl stopped in front of Alice.

Rowan looked at Leon from top to bottom.

"Fuuu." He whistled, dragging out the sound. "Rank 2, huh. I heard Mother was pretty proud of you. You even had dinner with her and big sis. Without me."

Leon stayed silent.

"Hey Rowan, look at this piece," the girl who was blocking Alice said.

Rowan turned his head to Alice. "Ah, if it isn't my rumored sister-in-law. How have you been?"

He glanced at the corner of the hallway where Leon and Alice had been standing earlier. A lazy grin spread across his face.

"Hmm." He tilted his head a little. "Couldn't wait till after lunch, huh? Doing it in the corner already?"

The girl snorted, and the boy next to Rowan chuckled.

Alice's smile disappeared in an instant.

Her eyes narrowed.

Leon stayed quiet, staring straight at Rowan.

He wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of reacting, no… he made such a kind of joke at Alice, and that too in front of her face.

Leon inwardly grinned.

He wondered what new creative words he would hear from Alice today.

.

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[AN: support with PS and GT]

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