‘Indeed, even Widrun who has lived for so long cannot win against the wit of a pure fun-filled late teenager.’

Nigel smiled victoriously.

Regardless, Widrun was staring intently at Nigel’s magic flame.

‘I don’t want to resemble the original that much, but my talent for teasing people is on par with Oliver’s. Should I deliver the final blow?’

“……Sage, you’ve become boring now.”

This line ‘you’ve become boring now’ was a staple phrase that the original Nigel would use whenever he got tired of mischief after gleefully causing trouble.

Especially, it was a line that had quite an effect in front of Widrun.

Nigel had no intention of following the original’s fate in the future, but since Widrun always tormented him, he thought this level of light teasing should be fine.

As expected, Widrun’s face turned pale white, exactly as described in the original.

On the tea table were a confidentiality agreement and a quill pen that Widrun had not yet mentioned.

The agreement, gleaming with the imperial emblem of a golden dragon, contained the true purpose of never divulging the sighting of the engagement gift for Yenika at the Lumen auction house, hidden among sentences stating that the imperial family would not forget the efforts of the Siena students who bravely stood up against injustice.

‘……He’ll probably overlook that I told Oliver before seeing this agreement.’

Nigel quickly rationalized as he picked up the quill pen.

He would have preferred to avoid being bound by documents if possible, but seeing a future where he wouldn’t be able to set foot on imperial land if he didn’t sign this document, Nigel quickly signed his name.

“Then, I’ll be taking my leave.”

With the task finished, Nigel rose from his seat leisurely.

There shouldn’t be any more harassment for a while now.

Nigel, leaving the dean’s office with a smile for the first time, took out a teleport stone from his bosom.

“Teleport, cafeteria.”

When he opened his eyes, he instantly saw the blue sky.

“……There he is!!”

“Found him! It’s the first-year Nigel Ars!!”

“Everyone surround him! Don’t let him escape!”

What… is this situation?

Before Nigel could grasp the situation, students formed a circle around him.

Fortunately, whether out of loyalty or not, the faces of first-year magic department students like Nigel were not seen among the crowd.

No, now was not the time to be touched by loyalty.

The circle, which was quite wide at first, gradually began to close in.

That’s when it happened.

A hand suddenly shot out from the circle, and an incredible force instantly pulled Nigel out of the circle.

And at the same time, Nigel’s magic drained away.

“Noah…?”

When the blue-silver hair hidden under the deeply pulled-down robe was slightly revealed as he turned his head, a familiar gentle smile greeted Nigel.

Nigel, not knowing what was happening, just followed Noah and ran.

The place where Noah’s steps briefly stopped was behind a deserted faculty building.

“Nigel! I want to explain, but there’s no time, so for now…!”

“Wait a moment!”

Nigel grabbed Noah’s shoulder as he was about to dash off.

Once again, magic drained away.

To Noah, who tilted his head in confusion, Nigel pulled out a blue glowing stone.

“For now… let’s go somewhere I know.”

Seeing the teleport stone, Noah regained his composure and nodded.

“Found them! Beselion and Ars are together over there!”

A student had suddenly discovered the two.

At that voice, people swarmed like ants.

“Here, here! They’re here… Huh?”

When he turned back, calling his companions in a loud voice, Nigel and Noah had already vanished somewhere.

“……Oh? We’re seeing each other often today, freshman. And hello, uninvited guest?”

Oliver waved alternately at Nigel and Noah, who were catching their breath after barely escaping.

“This is……”

“The magic department’s student council room.”

Nigel said, rummaging through the student council room familiarly.

Whoosh.

And he threw a transparent water container full of cold water that he had found to Noah as if it were his own.

“Drink.”

“More importantly, is it alright for me, from the swordsmanship department, to be in another department’s student council room……”

“Lord Beselion. Want some cookies?!”

Oliver’s eyes lit up as he spotted a new prey.

“……It should be fine. Thank you for the offer, but I’ll decline.”

“Ah, I’ll have some. Senior.”

“Yes, yes.”

Snap!

As Oliver snapped his fingers, a plate full of cookies popped out of thin air and slowly floated down to the desk.

Crunch crunch.

Nigel settled comfortably in his seat and spoke while munching on cookies.

“Noah. So, what’s this commotion about?”

“Well……”

“It’s just that our dear Siena students have found an interesting prey.”

Oliver said with a grin.

“I didn’t ask you, senior.”

Nigel replied coldly and looked at Noah.

“Actually, when I was returning from the dean’s office with Allen and Sid, we briefly talked about the auction house……”

“And that got into the ears of the other kids!”

“I told you, I didn’t ask you, senior.”

Regardless of whether Nigel was getting heated or not, Oliver, who was excited, started chattering non-stop.

“Our freshmen have already lived more than 1/6 of their time at Siena, but how can they still not be adapted? What do you think is the greatest interest of our Siena fellow students?”

“……Academic achievement?”

“Ah, wouldn’t it be graduation? I often see seniors struggling with graduation requirements.”

Tsk tsk.

Oliver clicked his tongue.

“Our grade’s top student, the department’s top student, is indeed still untainted, huh?”

“Isn’t it that you’re the one who’s been tainted, senior?”

Oliver lightly ignored Nigel’s words and opened his mouth.

“That’s obviously fun, kids.”

“……Fun?”

“Noah, don’t listen to the senior too earnestly. More than half of those words are nonsensical babble.”

“Haha! I’ve raised one junior well, right, Lord Beselion?”

Regardless, Noah smiled gently at Nigel, who was looking at him disapprovingly.

And seeing this, Oliver’s eyes sparkled for a moment.

“……Aha!”

“What’s ‘Aha!’?”

“Nigel, you don’t need to know. The less you know, the more fun it is for me.”

Oliver continued speaking with a strange smile, as if sympathizing with Noah.

“Anyway, back to the main point, our freshmen are still having fun cuddling with friends, everything is new and exciting, but that’s coming to an end soon, you know.”

“Pardon?”

Noah, who had never fallen victim to Oliver’s rhetoric before, reacted diligently.

Nigel looked discontentedly at Oliver, who was excited by this rare response.

“The good times are over. You guys should start preparing for the advancement exams soon. The politics department has to write advancement papers, the magic department has to get lower mage certifications, and the swordsmanship department, well… it’s tough dealing with the monsters, I mean, professors.

Everyone’s busy all day with assignments, pop quizzes, practical training. Plus, the same old boring faces you see every day. There’s no more heart-fluttering excitement in daily life now.”

“……What about rumors?”

“As expected of our department’s student. Well, there’s one more correct answer besides that.”

Oliver glanced at Noah.

“Department… points.”

“Correct! Everyone did so well.”

Oliver patted Nigel and Noah’s heads as if praising little children.

And he sneakily observed Noah’s reaction.

……That’s right. The reaction came immediately.

The gentle and fair face clearly frowned, albeit slightly, the moment it saw the black hair touched by Oliver’s hand.

Now that he’s had his fun, should he stop teasing the junior’s pure heart? Oliver marveled at his own generosity as he lowered his hand.

“So, the reason you were acting like you were going to devour me was just to hear a few words about the rumors?”

While Oliver and Noah were teasing and being teased with one hand, Nigel had finished grasping the situation.

“I told you, Nigel. You’re popular. No, how could your popularity cool down? From the first class, you destroyed Professor Heres’ design that he had worked on for many years, and when you get bored, you occasionally have big fights with your famous friends, and you achieved runner-up with overwhelming skills in the magic sword competition.”

Nigel was still panting, unable to believe his shattered illusion.

Although Siena was known for its fast-spreading rumors and excessive enthusiasm for department points, and had an odd person like Oliver as the student council president, he believed that the majority would be serious and passionate when it came to academics.

“Besides, if you think about it, this incident is your fault too? Just when you were about to be forgotten in the kids’ minds, you were right in the middle of Count Lumen’s auction house, hidden behind His Majesty the Emperor’s veil.”

“The students called the future of the empire are interested in such trivial matters……”

Oliver nodded.

“You should have realized during the magic sword competition. It’s too late now, Nigel. Accept it. This is the reality of the empire’s top academy. We’re all locked up together, going crazy studying, obsessed with rumors and department points.”

“……Then how can we suppress this madness? ……No, wait! What about Sid and Allen? Are they okay?”

“Well, I don’t know either? Even if I’m an amazing senior, I don’t know everything.”

I didn’t expect much anyway, Nigel turned his head.

“Noah, do you know where they are?”

“Yes, we should go rescue them soon.”

Nod.

The two moved their heads simultaneously.

And they entered into a strategy meeting.

“……This year’s freshmen have a knack for unnecessarily blowing up issues that would end if they just laid low for a few days. Well, I’m having fun, so it’s all good for me!”

Oliver looked at Nigel and Noah with a pleased smile.