400 Return to Haven [3]

Click—

I opened the familiar door. A room I had spent the better part of the year appeared before my eyes as I closed my eyes and caught a whiff of the scent that lingered in the air. "Hm?" I frowned slightly. The smell felt a little off. '....I guess the maids came early knowing that I'd be back today.' Thump! I dropped my luggage to the side and headed for the bed. It had been a while since I had been here, and while everything felt familiar, it also felt slightly unfamiliar. 'It's been a year since I've been in this world...'

It was a lot of time, and things had changed quite a bit. ...Unlike before, it no longer felt as though the entire world was against me. I could finally feel relaxed in this room. "Huam." Massaging my face, I unconsciously let out a yawn. 'I guess I'm tired.' It was late into the night and the trip to the Academy had been a long one. The Evenus Household was unfortunately too poor to send us through teleportation. ...We had no choice but to come with a carriage. "Hm?" I had just moved to the bed when I stopped. "....?" Looking down, I stared blankly at the floor as my mind went completely blank. I stood in a daze for several moments before snapping out of it and picking up the object lying on the ground.

"...." I stared at the object in silence before mumbling, "Chocolate...?" It was hardly eaten, and the sight of it confused me. "Is this mine? Did I leave it behind before going?" Considering how small the amount that had been eaten was, it was a logical conclusion. I wasn't that much of a fan of chocolates. "No, it would've melted by now if it was mine. A maid...?" Perhaps one of the maids had dropped the chocolate bar by accident while they were cleaning. That sounded like the most logical conclusion. "Yeah, it's probably that." I looked at the floor and cleaned up the small stain it left on the wooden floor. 'I guess it's not that big of a deal.' The maids had been consistently cleaning my room without making any mistakes. I could forgive this much. Thud. I tossed the chocolate into the trash and slumped onto the bed. ....There was another possibility that crossed my mind when I slumped over the bed. The possibility was that the chocolate belonged to Delilah. However, I was quick to dispel such a notion. "Delilah wouldn't drop chocolate on the ground." Let alone a hardly-eaten one... *

The next day. To Tok! To Tok—

I woke up to heavy knocking. "Huhh..." Groggily opening my eyes, I sat up and looked at the door. To Tooook—

"It's you, isn't it?" "Wake up." Leon's indifferent voice echoed from behind the door. I ruffled my hair in annoyance. He wasn't like this before... To Toooooook—

"Wake up. Class starts soon." "Oh." I quickly sobered up after hearing his words. 'Shit, I almost forgot.' It had been such a long time since I had last gone to class that I had gotten used to waking up a little later than usual. Shaa! I threw the blankets aside and dashed to the bathroom, quickly washing up before slipping into my uniform.

The process took no longer than ten minutes. To Tok! To Tok—

The entire time, Leon wouldn't stop knocking. "Hurry u—" Clank! I opened the door before he could finish his sentence and glared at him. "What are you doing?" "....Fulfilling my duties as your knight." 17:21

He then lowered his head and bit his lips.

He almost looked pitiful. "As you said, I'm weaker than you. What use do you have for a weaker knight than you? And since I wanted to be helpful to you, my master, I figured I'd do this. Am I doing a bad job? If so..." "Oh?" I had the sudden urge to smack him on the head. I could feel the sarcasm dripping from his voice. '...I guess he's still salty about what I previously told him.' "Haa." I let out a long breath and patted him on the shoulder. "Alright, I'm sorry." "....?" Leon raised his head, his eyes filled with bafflement. He probably didn't expect me to react in the way that I did. "You're right, I shouldn't have said what I said. You're a great knight." "....?" "Amazing knight." "...You can stop." "My source of life." Leon's face started to wince. He quickly shook his head. 'S-stop.' Shake, shake. "You're my precious knight, and I wouldn't know what I'd do without you." 'S-stop...!' Shake, shake, shake. "You're the light that shines in the darkness. You're—" "....!" Leon pressed his hand against the nearby wall, hunching over as he tried his best to keep his face straight. "Uh? Are you ok—" "S-stop..." Leon's face winced at the sight of me. I stopped after seeing the state that he was in. He had probably had enough. I finally let go of his shoulder. "....Are you still going to wake me up like this in the morning?" "No." Leon weakly shook his head. "Alright." I smiled in satisfaction and moved away from him. I had just taken one stop when Leon suddenly raised his head and wiped the saliva from his mouth. My face changed all of a sudden. "You..." I suddenly had a bad feeling about the situation. Before I even had the time to get my words out, Leon opened his mouth to say.

"Twin sta—!" "!" We both turned away at the same time. This damn nickname... *** "Good morning." "...Good morning." Amell greeted his fellow classmates as he entered the classroom. It had been a month now that he had entered Haven, and he was able to settle down rather quickly. 'It's a little different from our Empire, but it's not too bad.'

Their educational system was worth learning from. It gave Amell a whole new perspective on how things worked around here. Of course, his main goal wasn't to learn from this place. ....His goal was to get closer to his brother and slowly let him learn about his past. It was a decent plan. A plan he planned on following until the end of the year, but... 'He's not here again ' Amell was left disappointed by Leon's absence. It didn't take much digging to understand why he wasn't present. Still, it made things a little more troublesome for him. "Over here." A soft voice snapped him out of his thoughts. Lifting his head, Amell locked eyes with Agatha, her silver hair swaying gently as she waved at him from her seat.

"I saved your seat." "...." Amell smiled and sat down next to her. "Hello." He greeted Aoife on his way. She sat right behind them as she returned their greeting with a nod. ....Amell sat down and waited for the class to start. Today's class was [Magic Theory and Spell Unification]. The Professor in charge was Myers Claymond. A Tier 6 Mage. The higher one went in the years the more powerful the Professor. "We'll start off where we left off last lecture. Magic Theory is all about the unification of the runes that are present within the magic circle. If you pay close attention..." Amell took notes of the lecture while paying close attention to what was being said. 17:22

Scribble~ Scribble~ The classroom was eerily quiet, with only the Professor's voice and the faint sound of scribbling breaking the stillness.

Such was the norm in the classroom until...

Creeeak! A gentle creak shattered the silence as all heads raised. 'That...!'

Amell's heart skipped a beat as a figure he had been longing to see for so long appeared before his eyes. He stood beside Julien, whose hazel eyes held a depth that seemed to draw one in. Julien's posture was straight, and the indifference on his face mirrored the same expressions Amell had often seen at the Summit.

...It felt a little intimidating. "...." The moment the two appeared, all scribbling stopped as all eyes fell on the two. The faces of a few changed their appearance, a pair of light yellow eyes in particular as they fluctuated briefly before becoming still again. A noticeable tension lingered in the classroom at the appearance of the two. However, they weren't the only ones shocked by the situation. Leon and Julien looked around, their expression stiffening at the sight of several familiar figures. How in the... Their shock was only suppressed by the Professor's stern voice. "Please take your seats. The classroom has already started." "I apologize." "....Thank you." Julien and Leon calmly walked up the flight of stairs before settling down on the empty spots left in the classroom. Julien sat right next to Aoife while Leon sat next to the empty spot to Amell's right. "Hello." Leon greeted Amell who hastily greeted back. "Hello." "...Hi~" Agatha also waved. Leon blinked his eyes, slightly taken aback by their enthusiasm but just nodded. "Hoo." In the meantime, Amell took a deep breath. He was nervous. 'How should I approach him? Should I do it after class...? If so how sh—' "What's happening?' 17:25

Amell's thoughts were broken by a soft whisper behind him. It appeared to come from Julien who looked at Aoife with a frown. His gaze was intense. To the point where Amell almost felt like he would attack Aoife at any second. ...And yet, Aoife appeared completely unfazed. "Out of my control. My father's orders, I couldn't refuse." "You couldn't at all?" "Yes." "Couldn't you at least have told me? Since when did they join us?" "With what? I don't have your contacts." "Uh..."

Julien's frown deepened as he mumbled, 'Now that you mention it...' "It's not a big deal anyway. Focus on the class." "...It is a big deal." Listening to the conversation, Amell was slightly surprised. He hadn't expected Julien to be this talkative. From what he had heard, Julien was somewhat of a loner who hardly spoke. What he was seeing was quite different from what he had heard. "Hey, please be quiet over there." All of a sudden, the Professor's voice rang and Aoife stiffened on the spot. Julien remained calm, but his face twitched a little. "Pay attention to class." "Sorry." "...I apologize." Aoife and Julien both apologized at the same time. The Professor nodded and went ahead and started teaching again. As he did, Aoife lowered her tone. "You, get away from me." "...Uh?" "You got me in trouble." "For what? I was just asking you a few things." "Do that later." Flick. Flick. "Hm?" Suddenly sensing something from Leon, Amell turned to face his direction. That was when Amell noticed Leon alternating his gaze between the Professor and Julien. Then... Right when the Professor's eyes were facing the board, he scrunched up the paper in his hand and threw it directly at Julien's head. "Quiet down." Swoosh! "Ukeh....!" A weird sound came out of Julien's mouth as the paper struck him directly in the head. Leon's timing and precision were impeccable. The instant Julien made a noise and the Professor turned his head, all he saw was a piece of paper bouncing atop Leon's head, who had deliberately turned to glare at Julien.

"Stop that, I'm trying to study." "U-Uh?" "Julien Dacre Evenus." The Professor's loud voice echoed loudly within the classroom, startling everyone out of their sessions. Julien's eyes widened at the situation as he flicked his head between the Professor and Leon who had his back turned against the Professor and was laughing in silence. "Kakaka." Kiera wasn't laughing in silence. Having witnessed the entire situation from the start, she slapped her thigh and laughed.

"That... Professor." Julien tried to explain himself, but the Professor wanted none of it. "....This will be your last warning Julien. The next time I see you disturbing the classroom again, I will have you kicked out." "But—" "Are you talking back?" "I...." Julien bit his lips as his eyes turned bloodshot. Leon on the other hand struggled to breathe as his face was entirely red. "Good." The Professor turned around and started the lecture once more once he realized Julien was no longer speaking. "...." Having witnessed the entire situation from the start to the end, Amell had lost all words. He... Didn't know how to react. The elite image he had built of Haven completely crumbled in just a few minutes of Leon and Julien returning. "This..."