"Are you looking for something?"

11

Delilah had known for quite a while about my presence. I didn't think someone like her wouldn't notice my sudden appearance.

But despite being aware, she was too preoccupied with something else.

I narrowed my eyes and set my rewards aside.

'Where...? Maybe here?'

Overhearing Delilah's mumbles, I moved closer to her. She looked quite desperate for whatever she was looking for.

That...

"Did you forget something here? If you did then the maids probably took it away?" "....!"

Realization dawned on Delilah after she heard my words.

Though her face didn't change very much, it grew a little pale.

What exactly did she forget?...And wait, why was she even looking at it in my room?

A thought struck me as I recalled the chocolate bar from the previous night and my face turned strange.

"You, did you lea-"

"It wasn't me."

"I didn—"

"No."

I pursed my lips and chose to remain quiet.

It was definitely her.

Delilah wasn't the greatest of liars. Still, I decided to drop the topic. It was also then that Delilah took notice of the manual in my hand and her interest piqued.

"Red ranked?"

"....Yes."

"It's good."

She extended her hand and I handed her the manual.

Flip, flip-

With a few casual flips of the pages, her brows rose.

"....This is very good. Suits you well."

"Is that so? Atlas gave it to me."

Delilah stopped for a moment before handing the manual back to me.

"Okay. You can practice it."

Shortly after that, she sat down and crossed her legs.

11

I stood for a moment, unable to understand.

"What...?"

"Practice. I'll help you."

"Eh?"

"The manual isn't easy to learn. Go. I'll teach you until you can use it by yourself."

11

Blinking my eyes, it didn't take long for me to understand her intentions. Taking off my blazer, I sat down on the ground and opened the manual.

A hand pressed against my back shortly after.

"Take a deep breath."

Delilah's cool voice whispered from behind.

I concentrated on her words and opened the manual while taking a deep breath.

"Place your hand over the manual and channel your mana."

I did as told.

Flip! Flip-

The book opened abruptly, the pages flipping over repeatedly. I stayed still while information flooded my mind.

"Ukh...!"

It hurt quite a lot and almost shattered my concentration.

"Guide the mana just like how it's being shown in your mind."

Delilah's voice served as a flagpole that kept me grounded.

"It will hurt a little but don't mind the pain. It's supposed to hurt you."

It didn't really hurt.

"Better."

I focused on her voice.

It was all I could hear as my surroundings turned quiet.

"Keep the flow smooth. You're starting to get better."

Her voice was soft and crisp.

...Softly guiding me as I adapted to the new manual.

It felt reassuring.

"Like that."

I started to pick up more things.

"Yes."

From the sound of her breath.

"...It's smoother. Keep it like that."

To the soft touch of her hand.

"Focus."

A warm current ran through my body.

"Nearly there."

The energy enveloped every inch of my body, surging through me like a torrent of warm and

peaceful energy.

My head began to feel light, almost weightless under its overwhelming presence.

"Ah."

And that was when I saw it.

■ Exp EXP + 0.1%

The all too familiar notification.

...Followed by another one I quickly discarded while being slightly taken aback.

'Why did...'

***

'No one seems to recognize me.'

Leon sat on one of the benches scattered throughout the campus and looked around. He could

see many new faces walking around the Academy.

Many of whom were first years.

They looked rather lively, talking with one another without a care for the world.

It made Leon envious.

...They didn't have a tyrant of a boss like him.

"May I sit here?" Suddenly, Leon heard a familiar voice coming from beside him.

He turned his head and was surprised to see that it was indeed someone that he knew.

11

He kept his expression firm and faintly nodded his head.

"Thank you."

'He's grown quite a lot from the last time that I've seen him.'

The cadet in question was Linus, the second young master. Leon thought about revealing his

identity to him but after a little thought, decided to keep quiet.

His relationship with Linus was not bad but it wasn't close either.

He always kept to himself.

...He wasn't very talented in combat, but he was quite smart.

He took after his father in that regard.

"Judging from your uniform, you must be a second-year, right?"

"....I am."

Leon answered after a little thought.

"I see. You must have it rough."

"Rough?"

"Hm, yes. With all the work that you have and all the incidents that happened last year."

Incidents...?

Leon thought about it for a few seconds before nodding his head. There had been quite a lot of

accidents last year.

"It must be rough on you. I heard that it happened a lot to you guys. Do you think that you

were being targeted?"

"I'm..."

"Or maybe someone purposely set up the incidents against you?"

Leon frowned.

Where was the conversation going?

All of a sudden, Linus stopped and turned his head, looking directly at Leon. His expression

was calm and so were his eyes.

It was almost as if he could see through his disguise.

"It's been a while, Leon. How have you been doing?"

No, he had seen right through his disguise.

Leon's expression remained stoic as he stared back at the second young master.

He was only a little surprised by the fact that he had been caught. Linus was smart after all.

Something like this wasn't unexpected from him.

"You haven't answered me."

"....I'm doing well."

"I'm glad you are, Leon."

Linus showed a smile as he leaned back on the bench.

"I've been meaning to talk to you for quite some time, Leon. It's just that I never really got

the time to do so. I've been quite busy myself."

"....I see."

Leon kept his words short.

He didn't know where the conversation was going.

No, he knew.

"For how long are you going to play dumb?"

"...."

"You and I know it. Julien is the one responsible for all the incidents that have happened. You

of all people should know this. I don't understand why you're protecting him."

Because he's not the same Julien.

And... He's someone worth following.

Leon answered in his mind.

"...Is it because you owe it to the family for rescuing you in the past? If that's the case you

don't have to do that. You've already brought great honor to the family. You can consider you

debt repaid."

"That's also not it? Then is it because you're scared of Julien?"

""

"Still not speaking?"

Linus massaged his face.

"Well, alright."

He didn't pressure Leon any longer. This was a dead conversation anyway.

"Since you don't want to talk, I'll take my leave. However, before I do, I want you to

reconsider your thoughts on being Julien's knight. He's not worthy of your talents. He'll only

lead our family to ruin if you don't keep him in check."

'I've seen it myself...'

Linus mumbled quietly in a voice that Leon just barely managed to get.

"?"

But before Leon could ask for any clarification about what he meant by his words, Linus had

already turned around and left.

Leon could only stare at his departing back from the bench as his brows tightly knit together.

'He's figured something out or knows something...'

But what...?

What exactly did he know?

***

The days continued to pass by.

There was no big event following my return to Haven. Things were rather normal for the next

few days.

I woke up, tried to catch up with the world that I had missed, and trained.

It was a fairly uneventful week.

...The only thing I couldn't get used to were the new additions to the class.

Bang-!

An enormous dummy, about twice my size flew across the training room before shattering

against the nearest wall.

The entire class grew quiet as all eyes fell toward the figure responsible for all of this.

With two piercing yellow eyes, Caius stood with a cold look as he held his hand facing the direction of where the training dummy had been thrown.

The Professor in charge stood with a blank look before recovering.

"T-that... Time, twenty seconds. Caius Aetheria first place!"

Nobody said a word the moment the result of the session was announced.

How could they when everyone struggled so much to leave a single dent on the training

dummy while Caius downright shattered it?

Even I only left a single dent on the dummy.

And that was with me using my domain.

'Has he gotten even stronger than before?'

...He was already strong before, but now? He felt even stronger than before.

And as if sensing my gaze, he turned his head to face my direction. Our eyes met for a brief

moment. It was then that I noticed a subtle fluctuation in his eyes.

However, it was only brief as he looked away from me.

I felt no emotions in his eyes at that moment.

He held no resentment against me. No fear. No... nothing.

...He felt like a robot, almost. 'What in the...'

"Everyone may have your attention please."

Bringing me out of my thoughts was the Professor who clapped twice to get our attention. He

was a tall man with short brown hair and blue eyes. His looks were neither great nor bad.

About average.

In spite of his average looks, his body radiated with power as he held up a sheet in his hand.

"I've been told to give you guys the piece of news before the class ends."

He leaned his head back while squinting his eyes.

"...It's to inform you guys about the upcoming 'Gathering of the Seven Churches'."

"Hm?"

I suddenly paid close attention to the Professor's words.

"It will be held next week at the Academy, and attendance is compulsory. The Seven Cardinals from the Seven Churches will be arriving to lead the event. It'll be a closed event, meaning that there will be no outsiders. If any of you have any affiliations with any churches, please let

me know in advance. It'll help for the arrangement." The surroundings grew loud upon the announcement. Everyone started whispering to one another, talking about the event. Almost everyone in the

Academy was affiliated with one of the seven gods.

A lot of the noble families followed a certain god, hence why they had certain followings.

I didn't quite know what God the Evenus family followed, but I knew exactly what god I

followed.

I didn't wait for the Professor to head to me as I directly walked up to him.

"Hm? Ah, Julien."

He recognized me immediately as he held the paper in his hand.

"Are you affiliated with any of the churches? If so-"

"Oracleus."

I mumbled, the words spilling out in a hushed tone.

"...I'm affiliated with the church of Oracleus."