"Whoo~"

The whistle pierced the air, and every hair at the back of my neck stood on end.

My head snapped back to where the noise came from, but to my shock and horror, there was no one standing behind me.

And yet,

"Whoo~"

The whistle persisted, echoing in the air, seeping into the depths of my mind as my breathing grew rougher.

"Haa... Haa..."

Each breath felt harder than the last.

"What are you doing...?"

Suddenly, something pressed against my shoulder, and my heart almost leaped out of my chest. I barely kept myself from flipping out due to the familiarity of the voice.

It was Owl-Mighty.

"There's nothing."

"....Nothing?"

Confused, I looked into its two red eyes.

"What do you mean nothing? Can't you hear the whistling?"

"Whistling?"

Owl-Mighty's head tilted.

"There is no whistling, human. You have been acting strange for quite a while. Judging from the paler shade of your skin, your dilated pupils, and rough breathing, you must be experiencing fear."

"I..."

Indeed, I was.

There was no denying it.

The notifications popping up in my vision served as proof.

But that wasn't important at the moment.

"Are you sure that there's no one?"

".....Yes."

Flapping its wings, Owl-Mighty lifted into the air and looked around before returning.

"There is nothing. I don't feel anything either."

It was strange, but the moment Owl-Mighty appeared, the whistle stopped.

So did the strange feeling that engulfed me.

Despite that, I didn't relax for a second.

Knowing very well just how strong 'that' person was, I knew it was likely Owl-Mighty couldn't sense him.

....But what did it even matter if he could?

That person...

He wasn't someone we could fight.

Knowing that, my steps felt heavy as I walked the familiar path to the hotel. I didn't rush; it would be pointless.

If it was really him, then...

"Hoo."

I took a deep breath and stared at the night sky.

'.....This is messed up.'

The entire situation was.

"Heh."

Unknowingly, I found myself laughing as I headed for the hotel entrance.

"As expected, I really need to stay at the Academy."

Nothing 'major' may have happened at the ceremony, but I would've rather had that than what I had experienced.

Any day...

*

Thankfully, no new situation arose following the strange whistle that I heard last night. With that being said, I was hardly able to get any sleep.

Every little noise startled me out of my sleeping state.

"Please don't forget about what we've talked about."

"Yes, I understand."

We stood at the entrance of the train station.

Olga, the scriptwriter, continued to talk to me about our previous discussion, requiring several nods of confirmation to finally get her to leave me alone.

"Don't forget! I will make sure to contact you!"

Her lively demeanor seemed out of place to me, but I could understand her excitement. The Four Empire Summit was a prestigious event, and I was meant to participate in it as well.

While I wasn't exactly sure about the event's details, I knew the Empire placed particular importance on it. The reason I knew this was because of the reward they offered for my participation.

The Dragon Bone.

It was all that occupied my thoughts on the way back to the Academy.

Or at least, until someone took my attention away.

"Hmm~ Dum~"

Looking ahead, my lips twitched.

Holding onto the trophy that I had given her last night, Aoife nonchalantly wiped it with a tissue while she hugged it in her hands.

"Hmm~ Ba... Ting!"

That was fine.

It was weird but still manageable.

But the singing was not.

It felt as though my eardrums were being ruptured.

She was lucky that there was no one else in the cabin with us.

"Ukh."

My pain tolerance was high, but there were limits to torture.

Clank!

"Hiip!"

"....!"

The door of the cabin opened abruptly, the attendant entering with a worried expression. Looking around, she scanned the place before tilting her head.

"Strange..."

Narrowing her eyes, she covered her mouth.

".....I thought I heard the sound of glass breaking here. Looks like it was just me."

She looked at us apologetically.

"I do apologize for that. I received several reports from people about someone trying to break the window from this room. It looks like the reports were false."

Clank!

The door closed shortly after and silence ensued.

"...."

"...."

Aoife looked at me.

Her face was entirely red. To the point where it perfectly matched her hair.

"You..."

She was the first one to break the silence as a complicated look marred her face.

"....It wasn't that bad right?"

"What?"

"My singing. It wasn't that bad, right?"

"What?"

Aoife blinked her eyes and repeated.

"My singing"

I cut her off while pointing at my ears.

"....Sorry, I can't hear."

"...."

Aoife looked at me with a face that seemed as though she had eaten shit.

Click!

A strange clicking sound echoed within the room startling Aoife who looked at me with widened eyes.

"You...!"

Not minding her, I looked at the object in my hand which bore an uncanny resemblance to an old camera.

The difference was that it operated on mana, and a picture soon appeared.

I grabbed onto the picture before flapping it in the air.

I did that twice before the image became clear.

"This is good."

As expected.

This was a good purchase.

It cost me a whopping 200 Rend.

Worth it.

I couldn't count the amount of times I regretted not being able to take pictures of the faces Leon and the others made.

This was a must-purchase accessory.

....And it was already living up to the money that I had spent.

"That... Give me that."

"Aoife tried to reach for it, but I didn't let her and moved the picture away."

"Hey!"

I shook my head.

"Whatever you say, I can't hear you."

"....!!"

Her face scrunched up further.

Click!

"Ahhhh!!"

*

From that point forward, the ride back was a quiet one. Aoife tried to wrestle the picture out of my hands, even going as far as using her powers, but I wasn't the same person as the past me.

I could now handle that much and was able to keep the pictures safely secured.

Aoife eventually gave up and the ride turned quiet. So quiet that it was kind of awkward. The entire time, Aoife didn't say a thing as she chewed on her hair while staring at the ever-

changing scenery outside of the train.

Upon arrival, she picked up her lagguage and directly left without saying a single word.

'Was I too harsh?'

Staring at her back, I felt a little guilty.

But only slightly.

I was the true victim here.

My ears...

Did I even have ears at this point?

"Welcome back."

Greeting me at the entrace of the Academy was an unusual person.

Atlas.

".....You're the last one to arrive."

He was by himself, with no one else in sight. In his hands was a small wooden box, and the moment my eyes laid on it, I felt my heart skip a bit.

It couldn't be...

"Yes, it's exactly what you're thinking."

"....!"

Atlas laughed while handing over the box to me.

"This is the reward. I was quick, wasn't I?"

He was.

Delilah had told me I'd have to wait a bit, but this was a lot faster than I expected. It was a pleasant surprise.

"Can I...?"

"Take it."

Reaching out, I took the wooden box. It felt cool to the touch, and its coarse texture rubbed against my fingertips as I held it tightly in my grasp, afraid of letting it fall.

"Don't open it here. We don't want anyone to see what you're receiving, and the pressure... In general, I would say that it's not a good idea."

"....I understand."

Holding back on my temptation, I took a deep breath and put the box away.

I thought that would be it when Atlas handed me a couple of other things.

"Here, take this as well."

"This is...?"

I looked to see several pills in his hands.

"You might never know what happens when you absorb a bone of this degree. You may be strong mentally, but that doesn't mean nothing wrong will happen. Take these as precautions. They should be able to give you a little boost."

"Thank you."

I took the pills and gratefully looked at Atlas.

For someone who was supposed to belong to an evil organization, he was sure nice to me.

'Well, that's probably because I'm capable.'

If not, then he was probably not going to act like this with me.

It was just how things were.

....And I was fully using this advantage for myself.

"Well, off you go. It's still the weekend, so you should absorb the bone while you have time. We wouldn't want you skipping classes."

With a light, Atlas said a few other things. Mainly about what I should do, and not do before eventually leaving.

"I expect to hear good news soon."

He left as fast as he came.

Standing by the entrance of the Academy, I took a deep breath to calm my nerves.

Finally...

Finally I had received the Dragon Bone.

It had been weighing down on my mind for quite some time. To the point where I remembered going a couple of times without sleep.

I was having a hard time containing my excitement.

"Don't absorb the bone."

All of a sudden, Owl-Mighty appeared in front of me.

He was staring in the direction of where I had put the wooden box.

".....I can sense a very powerful aura hiding within the bone. It is a lot more powerful than me. What sort of creature does this bone belong to?"

Owl-Mighty seemed genuinely curious about the bone.

I was just about to answer when it spoke again.

"Never mind that, you should go back to your apartment first. I need to tell you something about the bone before you absorb it."

".....Okay."

Despite my confusion, I decided to comply with Owl-Mighty's words.

It definitely knew more about the bone than me. I didn't see what harm there was for me to listen to what it had to say.

And thus,

Making sure that the bone was safely secured.

I headed back to the dorms.