Nigel reached out his arm without hesitation.

“Yeah, good idea… Huh?”

The place Nigel’s hand landed was not Oliver’s hand.

It was none other than the stack of papers Oliver was holding at his side.

With Nigel’s momentary grip strength, the papers easily slipped out of Oliver’s arms and into Nigel’s grasp.

“I’ve been curious since earlier. What you’ve been staring at, it was indeed documents related to the Magic Sword Tournament.”

Rustle rustle.

Nigel quickly flipped through the papers.

“Academy academic calendar, class schedules by grade… These are all normal things. …1st semester faculty duty roster? How did you even get this?”

“That was easier than eating cold soup.”

Oliver said smugly.

“Nigel. Do you want to know how I got it?”

“No.”

Nigel answered without leaving a moment’s gap.

“…This isn’t working. What a waste, it was a golden opportunity. Okay, then just listen! Because I want to tell you.”

‘…What’s with this person?’

The more time he spent with Oliver, the harder it became to understand him.

Ordinary people would only give if they received something in return, but he didn’t seem very interested in such exchanges.

Fun, only fun seemed to be his standard.

‘…In a way, he might be the most pure-hearted person in the academy.’

With eyes full of liveliness, Oliver boldly revealed to Nigel how he managed to divert the attention of the 3rd year Political Department professor in charge and obtain the duty roster.

“…Then a perfect idea came to me, the perfect one. The esteemed professors of our great Sienia Academy grit their teeth when they see students participating in the Magic Sword Tournament and getting injured, but when they see students taking their studies seriously, they sincerely love them.”

Oliver took out a familiar-shaped object from his pocket.

“Familiar, right? Mr. Perfect Score on the entrance exam?”

Oliver lightly tossed the object that fit in one hand and caught it with his palm.

It was none other than a teleport stone.

While Nigel’s was blue, the one in Oliver’s hand glowed a soft green.

“Surely you were the top…”

“Whoa, stop right there, shh.”

Oliver brought his index finger close to Nigel’s mouth.

“Of course it’s not mine. I don’t have much interest in studying.”

Oliver continued with a sneer.

“This belongs to a classmate in the Swordsmanship Department. I borrowed it for a bit.”

“Swordsmanship… Department? Not the Political Department?”

“Well… I was in the Political Department when I enrolled, then transferred to the Swordsmanship Department in the second semester of 1st year… So most of what you said is correct.

Anyway, that’s not what’s important. You may not know since you’re still a freshman, but when you become a 3rd year, everyone falls into worries about how to make a living. Except for the eldest sons and daughters, of course. They can just inherit the family and think about what they want to do slowly.”

Nigel silently listened to Oliver’s story, unexpectedly intrigued by the idea that even those born wealthy and noble worry about making a living.

“Of course, I was born as the eldest son, but I gave up my inheritance long ago and entrusted the family to my more capable younger sibling.”

“…That’s unusual. Other families fight and fret over who gets the position.”

There were many children at the orphanage who ended up there as victims of adults’ power struggles.

“Haha, that kid is a bookworm that appears in our family once every three centuries at best. I hate being tied down. Thanks to that, all the 3rd year professors are very interested in my and this teleport stone’s real owner’s career paths. Not just me, but that kid is also really weird. Especially the Political Department professors show the most interest in us. I dug into that point. And it got resolved.”

Oliver raised both arms and shrugged.

“It’s obvious. You two probably said something like wanting the duty professor’s permission to study past lights out, and needing the professors’ help. To use facilities past lights out, you have to inform the duty professor in advance, and duty only comes out the day before weekends.”

“Correct! As expected of a student in our department.”

Oliver made a circle with his thumb and index finger and flicked it at Nigel.

“In conclusion, you took full advantage of the professor’s goodwill.”

“You could say that.”

Nigel looked at Oliver, who didn’t blink an eye, and revised his thoughts.

Perhaps he was the most pure-hearted, but at the same time the most calculating person.

“For now… I’ll reserve judgment until midterms.”

Nigel held out the stack of papers to Oliver.

“Okay, okay. There’s still plenty of time left, so think about it comfortably. Preferably in a positive way.”

Oliver took the papers with a grin and held out his hand to Nigel.

Thump.

With the negotiation over, Nigel sat back down and started studying.

Without seeing the name engraved on the preliminaries table right behind the duty roster.

Monday morning.

Nigel, whose face was even more haggard than yesterday, ate breakfast with Allen and Noah as usual.

The only difference was that before Nigel could take the lead, Allen actively squeezed in between Nigel and Noah.

Noah, who was about to sit in front of Nigel but was beaten to it by Allen, sat next to Allen with an awkward smile.

“……”

“……”

“……”

Normally, on Monday mornings, Allen would talk about how fun and short the weekend was, along with lamenting about not wanting to attend classes. Nigel would then provide a logical basis for Allen’s lamentations.

For example, that it was because Allen didn’t prepare for the pop quiz.

When Noah subtly raised Nigel’s hand, Nigel and Noah would offer their backs to Allen’s cotton ball fists.

But today, no one spoke a word until they finished their meal and went to the classroom. Thanks to that, mealtime ended faster than usual.

Rustle.

When the three opened the classroom door, the noisy classroom suddenly became quiet as if a silence spell had been cast.

The only seats left in the classroom were two seats next to each other and one seat right next to them.

The three exchanged glances at the awkward seating arrangement, and Noah was the first to move to the separate seat.

Swish.

“I’ll sit here. You two sit over there.”

However, Noah immediately lost his will and stopped in his tracks at Nigel’s single utterance.

“Is that okay?”

“Uh, huh? Yeah…”

“…It’s fine.”

Allen and Noah answered awkwardly. With faces that clearly didn’t look fine to anyone.

Seated, Noah and Allen exchanged glances and whispered in a small voice.

“Noah, what do we do! At this rate, we’ll keep getting distant from Nigel, won’t we?”

“Then why don’t you try approaching Nigel first and talking to him, Allen?”

“…I can’t do that.”

Allen said, turning his head slightly.

“Allen, don’t tell me… you had a falling out with Nigel over the weekend? Because of me?”

“……”

Allen’s silence implied that Noah’s words were correct.

“I thought something was off since yesterday… You two shouldn’t have a rift because of me. I’ll be fine, so approach Nigel, Allen.”

“No, Nigel, he…!”

Allen trailed off in the middle of his sentence.

He wanted to rush over to Nigel right away and pour out everything that happened over the weekend, but he couldn’t do that after learning that Nigel didn’t even consider Noah a friend.

Even if Nigel was his first friend!

‘But… Nigel looked really unwell that day.’

Allen thought as he stole a glance at Nigel, who was sitting alone.

Nigel’s dark expression that day stayed with him.

He was also worried that he might have hastily distorted Nigel’s words ahead of his emotions. As Sebastian said, he tended to be left with only emotions when excited.

‘…I don’t know how to reconcile. I’m afraid of hurting Nigel if I speak first. I’m scared that Nigel will hate me and our relationship will grow distant…’

Allen bit his lip, feeling sorrow and frustration as he looked at Nigel, who never once turned his way.

‘…This is driving me crazy. I can’t face Allen and Noah.’

On the other hand, Nigel was also lost in thoughts similar to Allen’s.

Although Nigel reconciled the orphanage kids every other day when he was in Tillin, he could count on one hand the number of times he found himself in a situation where he had to reconcile, both in his previous life and now.

‘Even if I enjoy spending time with Noah and Allen, I only have a negative influence and am calculative… What benefit would there be for Noah and Allen to be close with someone like me? It would be better for those two if I kept my distance like this…’

Clack clack.

At that moment, the cheerful sound of heels stopped at Nigel’s seat.

Splendid golden hair that resembled sunlight, soft curved lips that never lost their smile, and sparkling ruby-red eyes that even the finest rubies couldn’t match.

Put all these together and you got Charlotte Primrose of the Magic Department.

Who was she? She was a freshman who had been receiving a lot of attention from both men and women since the beginning of the semester until now, owing to the fact that everything from her name to her appearance was beautiful.

“Hi, Nigel?”

That Charlotte Primrose sat next to Nigel and greeted him with beautifully curved eyes.