It was after two days that I was finally allowed out of the infirmary.

Though I was released, my body was still in pain. I hurt all over, and every single movement made me flinch.

"Huaaam...."

I was also rather sleepy. The pain made it hard for me to sleep. I was the type of person that moved a lot during their sleep, so...

".....What a pain."

The current time was 5:30 P.M.

It was currently Monday, and the week had already started. Because it was already so late, I had pretty much skipped all the lessons that I was set to attend.

It was a bit of a pity considering that I was already lagging behind compared to the others, but what could I do?

'At least, I can use magic now...'

This wasn't exactly the most ideal situation for me.

Thankfully, all hope wasn't lost. The Extracurricular activities were set to start today. My choice was already set.

I was going to accept Delilah's offer to be her 'assistant'.

Whether her goal was to keep a close watch on me or something else, I didn't care.

If it was going to benefit me, then so be it.

I...

Will do anything to get stronger.

***

"I'm glad you decided to take my offer."

Delilah stood waiting for me at the entrance of the Rottingham Hall. I thought her appearance would attract the attention of all those around us, but...

'How weird.'

Nobody was glancing our way. It was almost as if we didn't exist.

Why...

That was when Delilah's voice reached my ears.

"I've cast a spell that makes it hard for others to notice our presence."

"Ah..."

To think that there was such a spell.

Impressive.

"Come, follow me."

Tak

Her heels gently clicked against the marble floor as she walked into the hall. I followed her from behind.

'Wow...'

As we walked, I couldn't help but admire the interior structure.

The building had a square shape, featuring a large opening at the top for sunlight. In the middle of the hall, there was a spacious garden with neatly arranged flowers, trees, and benches. Adjacent to the garden, small pillars separated it from the corridor where we were walking.

It was a breathtaking sight.

One that I didn't want to take my eyes away from.

"It's nice isn't it?"

Delilah continued to lead me forward, her eyes never once looking at the garden to our left.

"You might as well get used to it since you'll be working with me from now on."

"Right..."

We continued to walk for a bit before going up a flight of stairs leading up to the second floor where we finally stopped in front of a large wooden door.

"....."

Delilah stood in front of the door for a couple of seconds without saying a word. Just when I thought something was wrong, she twisted the door and opened it revealing her office space.

I stopped dead in my tracks and looked up.

"....."

"....."

We both stood at the entrance without saying a word.

That was until I felt compelled to speak.

"Quit... I'm allowed to quit, right?"

"No."

A flat-out refusal.

Expressionless, Delilah surveyed her surroundings before making her way to her desk positioned at the room's far end. The desk was situated right behind a large window that flooded the entire space with natural light.

As she headed for her desk, Delilah carefully walked around the stacks of papers and wrappers that littered the ground.

How would I even begin to describe this place...?

A dump? A mess?

It was...

"I'm a very busy person."

Delilah went on to say.

"....I don't have time to clean up."

She sat down on her desk and reached out for her drawer where even more wrappers spilled. As her hand dug into the drawer, her brows knit together before finally relaxing as she took out a chocolate bar.

Unwrapping it, she tossed the wrapper to the side before placing the bar in her mouth.

Her eyes squinted the moment the bar entered her mouth.

But...

All I could do was stare at the wrapper that fell to the ground.

'Don't have time to clean up...?'

What sort of nonsense...

"What?"

As if noticing my expression, Delilah turned to look at me. I didn't say anything and just stared at the wrapper on the ground.

"Ah..."

And then, as if realizing, her head turned.

".....Force of habit."

At least she was honest...

I honestly didn't know how to feel about the situation. On one hand, I started to think that maybe I had fallen for a trap.

That her goal in having me become her assistant was so that I could help her clean up. But I knew this was ridiculous.

Someone of her stature could surely hire someone to clean up her mess.

On the other hand, I was stumped.

One of the Seven Monarchs.

The one closest to the Zenith.

....Was this her real personality?

This...

I wasn't sure how to feel.

"So..."

Delilah's voice reached my ears. I turned to look at her. Staring at me with an expression of utmost seriousness, she glanced around. She didn't say a word, but her meaning was clear.

Only that...

I pointed toward my mouth.

"You've got..."

***

There were over a hundred different extracurricular activities that were offered to the first-year cadets.

Amongst them, the most popular were [Magic Theory and Expertise], and [Sword Unification and Mana Composition].

Because the two clubs shared similar elements, today the classes were unified.

A group of four stood at the end of the training room.

"What happened to you? Why did you skip today's lessons?"

Each of them was dressed in robes, and their appearances and demenour attracted the attention of all those present. It couldn't be helped. They were the top four rankers of the first year. Leon, Aoife, Evelyn, and Luxon.

"Can't you see from his hand that he got injured?"

These were the words of Luxon, a young man with brown hair and deep blue eyes. He was ranked fifth amongst the first years, and just like Leon, he was a knight.

"Uh, yeah... I noticed."

Evelyn, who was staring at Leon's hand, tilted her head.

"How did yo"

She stopped herself mid-sentence and her eyes opened.

"Ah."

There was someone else that had been missing today.

Could it be...

She looked at Leon who was blankly staring into the distance, his thoughts unknown.

"It's probably not what you're thinking."

Aoife, who had been quiet the entire time, finally spoke.

"No. I"

"If the two of them really fought, I don't think the situation would be as quiet as this. The two of them would be in the disciplinary hall."

"Right..."

Fighting among cadets was prohibited. If cadets were caught fighting against each other, they'd be severely punished by the school board.

Still, such rules couldn't stop Evelyn from overthinking.

'But what if they fought without the institute knowing?'

Would the institute interfere then?...And if they really had fought, who won between the two of them?

"Never mind that..."

Luxon switched up the conversation.

"The situation is getting rather troublesome, right?...I thought things would calm down after a while, but it seems like they're hell-bent on pushing us down."

"Right... It's getting quite annoying."

Factions were already starting to form between the first years. Primarily, it was the commoners banding up together against the nobles. The situation wasn't hard to handle, however, there were already a few conflicts between the lower-end nobles and commoners.

The worst part of it all was that Aoife had indirectly become the face of the situation when she interfered with an emerging conflict where she ended up defending the lower-end nobles.

Cooly looking into the distance, she said,

"Two sides were fighting so I just stopped the fight. I interfered without knowing the situation. Because of it... I'm now dragged into this situation. I already warned them that I want no part in this, but they refuse to listen."

While the Megrail name held a lot of weight, within the institute, it was a meaningless title.

The only title that actually mattered was that of the Black Star. Such situations were not common as the cadets usually banded with the Black Star.

It was the Black Star's role to stop such meaningless conflict.

But things were different this year with the Black Star not caring at all about creating factions and banding the first years together.

He was the primary reason why a situation like this had happened.

Had she been the Black Star, then...

Aoife quietly bit her lips and looked at Leon.

"Do you think you can get him to do something?"

Leon looked down and met Aoife's eyes. He stared at her for a while before shaking his head.

"No."

A flat-out refusal.

"Even if you force him, he won't do it. He hates these kinds of things."

"Are you sure?"

When Luxon asked, Leon nodded.

"Very sure."

"Shit."

With a curse, Luxon ruffled his hair.

"....Why did the institute choose someone like him to be the Black Star? If he can't even fulfill his own role, then what's the point in keeping him there? At the rate the situation is going, the first years will be split into different factions. That has never happened before. We'll become the laughingstock of the second and third years."

At that, nobody answered. His words held some truth.

With Julien not fulfilling his role as the Black Star, the first years were in a mess.

At the rate they were going, the conflicts would get to the point where they would start interfering with everyone's studies.

The grim reality made Evelyn frown as she asked,

"What do we do?"

Aoife, who had been frowning the entire time, suddenly relaxed her brows.

"There's one thing we can do."

Everyone looked at her.

But just as she spoke, Evelyn's eyes widened. So did Luxon's. A figure appeared in their sight.

Gulp

Evelyn felt a lump in her throat.

With calm and even steps, he neared them.

A perfect face.

With an aura distinct from the others, and cold eyes befitting his visage, he seemed to be the center of attention wherever he went.

And...

Finally, his expression...

It was extremely cold. Especially his eyes which shone like well-polished jewels.

"During the mid-terms..."

He stopped right behind Aoife who finished her sentence.

"... I'll take the title away from him."