As the temperature of day and night became similar in mid-June, the season of summer solstice arrived, just a few days before the final exams.

As the weather grew humid and hot, something else was also heating up – the academic enthusiasm of the Sienia Academy students. The most notable among them were Nigel and Noah.

It was a well-known fact that Nigel was the top bookworm at Sienia, but his intensity had further increased.

The library was only open in the mornings and evenings during the exam period.

Nigel would remain there in perfect posture until closing time, then change into his uniform at the crack of dawn and go to class.

Among the students, there were even strange rumors circulating about when Nigel woke up and when he slept. But they all concluded the same thing – he was truly a workaholic.

Nigel wasn’t the only one who went crazy studying. Noah also devoted all his free time to studying while not reducing his morning and evening training, then would pass out like he fainted from exhaustion.

The two began studying as if competing with each other. If Nigel memorized vocabulary during meal times, the next day Noah would bring his notes.

If Noah asked questions to Professor Cledian after class, Nigel would bring a bunch of his own questions to the next class as if not to be outdone.

The one suffering from Noah and Nigel’s escalating passion was Allen, who had zero interest in studying.

He held back his desire to hang out with them hoping they would get along, but not only did they not come to him, they only studied all day long like people possessed.

It was driving him crazy with frustration.

“You two… Are you doing nothing but studying except for eating and sleeping?”

“No? I’m studying even cutting into my sleep time.”

Nigel, who had been staring intently at his vocabulary book, raised his head slightly and answered Allen.

“…Then I should also reduce my sleep time a bit starting now.”

Not to be outdone, Noah, who had been reading his notes, responded in a serious voice.

Clap, clap, clap.

“Bravo, bravo. This is indeed the attitude befitting the top students of our academy!”

Fed up with their academic enthusiasm, Allen clapped and exclaimed sarcastically.

“Did you two eat something wrong in the headmaster’s office? Ever since then, you’ve been studying all day and have really gotten strange.”

With his two best friends engrossed in studying, Allen had no choice but to sit obediently next to them.

“What, Allen, you didn’t know the reason?”

“What is it? What reason? It wasn’t because of scholarships or Sid?”

Hearing this for the first time, Allen’s eyes widened like a rabbit’s as he roughly confronted Nigel.

“Beselion, you didn’t tell Allen?”

“I thought it was a secret since you didn’t say anything, Nigel, so I kept quiet… But I guess not.”

Nigel and Noah looked at each other quizzically.

“Ah! So frustrating! Anyone is fine, just don’t only move your head, hurry up and tell me right now!”

Allen shouted loudly as if he would tear his hair out.

After exchanging glances, Noah lost to Nigel’s gaze as usual and revealed what had happened.

The more the story unfolded, the more the corners of Allen’s mouth lifted.

“Hmm… So that’s what happened? Not bad.”

Although Allen’s words lacked a subject, Nigel interpreted it as praise for himself for obtaining the wish, while Noah interpreted it as praise for himself for obtaining the nomination.

“If that was the situation, I wouldn’t have interfered if you had told me earlier. Now I feel bad for no reason.”

His excitement fading, Allen looked back and forth between the two with embarrassment.

“It’s okay. Even if you knew the reason, Allen, you still would have been restless watching Beselion and I study, so nothing would have changed.”

“That’s true.”

As if rehearsed, Nigel and Noah nodded simultaneously, and Allen’s face began to heat up again.

“Hey! That’s not it!”

Dodging half and intentionally taking the other half of Allen’s indiscriminately flying fists, the commotion came to an end.

Before they knew it, it was time to return to the dormitory.

“Nigel.”

Allen called Nigel secretively in a low voice.

When he called like this, it was usually about Noah’s secret treatment with a high probability.

“It’s all thanks to you. Noah used to wake up frequently and have many nightmares before, but these days he’s peaceful!”

“…That’s a relief.”

“And also thanks to you instilling academic enthusiasm in Noah, he might fall asleep late today, so you should also come later than usual. Got it?”

Nigel lightly nodded to Allen who was teasingly glaring at him.

At that moment, a dark shadow loomed over the two.

“Oh? Aren’t these our department’s freshmen? What were you doing here?”

It was none other than Oliver Wellider. He looked at Nigel and Allen with a smiling face that clearly hid an ulterior motive.

“From the looks of it, our Nigel seems to be hiding something. A secret story? Include this senior too.”

Oliver draped his arms over Nigel and Allen’s shoulders and smiled with an expression that clearly hid an ulterior motive.

“We’re fine, so senior, hurry up and go study. If you fail this test, you can’t graduate, you know.”

“Ooh, touching on this senior’s weakness, are we? But freshmen, shall I tell you a secret?”

“What is it?”

Before Nigel could stop him, Allen took the bait Oliver threw.

Oliver whispered quietly as if revealing a great secret, grinning.

“…No matter how badly I do on the tests, I’ll never fail and be held back.”

As question marks appeared on Nigel and Allen’s faces, Oliver, satisfied with their reaction, continued.

“I mean, would the professors want to keep a troublesome student around for another year? They’ll make sure I barely avoid failing so they can quickly get rid of me.”

Haha, finishing his words, Oliver laughed brightly as if he had told a fun joke.

Indeed, as if his name ‘Wellider’ wasn’t for nothing, Oliver knew his place very well.

“Well, since I explained why I don’t need to study, now it’s the freshmen’s turn! What interesting story were you hiding?”

Of course, of course.

Just as the impression of Oliver was about to change, Oliver asked with twinkling eyes.

“Did you fight again by any chance? Wow, I can’t resist listening when it comes to fight stories.”

“Yes, you seem very curious about that. We’ll be going now.”

Swish.

Nigel, slipping out of Oliver’s arm, grabbed Allen’s hand and pulled.

“Oh my, so cold. Thanks to you, I won’t need a cold compress tonight, junior.”

Oliver exaggeratedly rubbed his arms up and down, pretending to be cold.

Seeing this, Nigel’s face soured, and Oliver finally laughed with satisfaction.

“Don’t mind that person and let’s hurry, Allen.”

Nigel urged, pulling Allen’s hand to quickly move.

“Junior.”

A low voice made Nigel turn his head.

“You remember what I told you before, right? Remember it well.”

Oliver tapped his own head with his index finger.

How could he forget.

Even if he tried to avoid the situation by turning away, there would come a time to face it head-on, as per Oliver’s words that had such an effect.

“…I got it.”

Nigel meekly nodded, forcibly pushing down the anxiety creeping up.

Now, there were only about 10 days left.

If he could endure this time, it would be over. He could escape the damn lies and guilt, and return to Tillin.

A bitter taste was felt on Nigel’s tightly bitten lips.

That night, when the bell faintly rang midnight in the distance.

Later than usual, receiving Allen’s signal, Nigel used an invisibility magic tool to sneak into the boys’ dormitory.

Knock knock.

Now they were so in sync that no words were needed. As the invisible Nigel knocked, Allen smoothly opened the door and stepped aside to let him enter comfortably.

In the beginning, when secretly healing Noah, Allen had been very worried, insisting he should go see the priest at the infirmary no matter what. But noticing Noah’s rapidly improving condition, he showed infinite trust in Nigel.

‘Nigel, do well and go.’

Nigel, easily reading Allen’s mouth shape, smiled softly.

Click.

Allen closed the door and left.

Now only Nigel and Noah remained alone in the dark room with moonlight as the only light.

Hearing the steady, wheezing breathing, Nigel approached Noah with relief.

Noah’s silver hair reflected in the moonlight had a bluer tint.

Perhaps due to the weeks of treatment, Noah’s face, which had always been deathly pale, was softly flushed with a light pink color.

Although it was difficult to completely improve his condition due to the short treatment period, it was a good result for pouring a cup of water into a huge well each day.

The tension in his stiff facial muscles loosened and a curve naturally formed on his lips.

At times like this, he wondered why Oliver’s words came to mind.

Even while using the invisibility magic tool, his presence wasn’t concealed, so Nigel moved his feet as carefully as possible.

Then he gently removed his ring and brought his hand close to Noah’s arm.

Closing his eyes tightly and focusing on the sensation at his fingertips, he felt a rich concentration of divine power leaving his body.

Just a bit more, just a bit more.

Nigel got a little greedy in the limited time given to him, regretting its shortness.

‘This much should be enough.’

It was when Nigel opened his eyes.

…Grab.

Noah, who had woken up at some point, grasped Nigel’s hand.