Chapter 34
"How annoying," Celine glared at Acel while grumbling.
Not only was she caught reading a book she had "accidentally" found, but she was also mocked for it.
It seemed she had clearly been misunderstood, so she tried to explain, but was met with a glib attitude as if soothing a child. Although it was ridiculous to give similar explanations today as well as yesterday, Celine still tried to correct Acel's misunderstanding.
So when she persistently followed him, he responded by saying they should just read books together since he understood. It was a suggestion Acel made to build a friendship with Celine, who belonged to a magic tower, but from Celine's perspective, unaware of his intentions, it seemed like an out-of-the-blue proposal.
However, there was no particular reason to refuse, so she nodded with a skeptical expression. She was also quite interested in a reading group with a mage from the Witch Association.
"So what are you studying? Magical power academic theory, fusion, dual attributes, dual manifestation... Are you reading all these unusual books?" Celine asked while tapping Acel's leg with her toes.
Acel answered while opening a new book, "I'm researching something recently. I'm mainly looking for things related to that."
"Hmm, is that so?"
In the society of mages, it was taboo to ask what research others were doing. So Celine forcibly suppressed her curiosity and opened a book on pure magic to read. Before long, her mind sank deep into the book. Acel glanced at her briefly, then fixed his gaze on the magic book.
Time passed like that. People gradually filled the library, then ebbed out like a tide when lunchtime came. The noise from this process broke Celine's concentration as she had been engrossed in the book. She stretched her stiff body while watching the backs of students leaving the library.
"Ugh... Huah."
Stretching made her feel a bit more clear-headed. Celine propped her chin on both hands and tapped Acel's foot with her shoe.
"Hey, Acel."
"..."
"Hey, don't ignore me. I know you can hear me."
"What?"
Acel sighed deeply and closed the book he was reading. Celine looked at his face and pouted her lips.
"I'm hungry. Let's go eat lunch."
"Go by yourself. I'm not that hungry."
"Are you going to be stingy like this? If you've seduced someone once, you should take responsibility to the end. Don't abandon me."
"...Is it because you read strange books? Your expressions are very peculiar."
"W-what are you saying?"
Celine blushed unnecessarily and kicked Acel's leg lightly. Acel smiled slightly and returned all the books he had brought to their places. The magic books flew through the air on their own to find their places.
"Is there anything you want to eat?" Acel asked as he got up from his seat.
Celine answered readily, "Let's go to the cafeteria. I heard they have almost everything there. I went yesterday, too."
"We haven't even started classes yet, is it okay to use it?"
"The academy cafeteria opens a week before class starts. They say it's for students who've moved into the dormitories and staying students."
Acel nodded. As soon as she got Acel's agreement, Celine immediately left the library and started heading towards the cafeteria. The reason was that they needed to go quickly before all the seats disappeared. However, with her miserable physical abilities, she couldn't even walk for long properly.
"Haa... haa..."
Celine was panting heavily even though they hadn't gone far. Acel looked down at her with a laugh.
"You should exercise more."
"What exercise... huff... does a mage need...? Just using your head well is enough."
"I think it will definitely be a hindrance in actual combat."
"Stop, stop. Stop with the old-fashioned remarks and let's go quickly."
"Haa... stay still," Acel muttered, then placed his hand on Celine's shoulder as she wiped the sweat from her forehead.
At the sudden touch, Celine tilted her head, then opened her mouth in surprise as she felt her body become much lighter than before.
"What's this? Physical enhancement magic?"
"It's magic that increases the effect in exchange for a short duration. If you're going to run, do it in that state."
"Oh... So you can handle pure magic too? I heard it's difficult to use pure magic from the 6th rank onwards because the nature of magical power changes fundamentally."
Instead of answering, Acel ran slightly ahead of Celine. Celine smiled at her much easier to move body and ran after him.
But even with the enhancement, her basic physical abilities were terrible, so Celine started panting and grabbed Acel's sleeve not long after she started running.
"Haah... let's go together..."
"..."
Acel looked down at Celine with cold eyes. Celine desperately avoided his gaze.
Contrary to their hurry, there were plenty of seats in the cafeteria. Empty spaces were everywhere, and even among the students present, hardly any new students were visible. Only returning students who hadn't left the dormitories or had returned early could be seen sparsely.
If they had known this, there was no need to run.
Acel thought this as he looked at Celine, and Celine cleared her throat and entered the cafeteria. He followed behind her.
Orders in the cafeteria were made by writing the desired food on paper and handing it to the counter.
Celine ordered a set meal with suitable bread and soup. Acel thought for a moment, then ordered a steak and waited.
The food came out not long after.
The two brought their ordered food and sat by the window. Just as they were about to eat, someone approached Acel and called out in a friendly voice, "Oh, Acel!"
It was a familiar voice. Acel put down the knife he was about to use to cut the meat and turned his head to see the owner of the voice. A girl with snow-white hair, red eyes, and impressively long ears growing sideways was smiling, showing her sharp canine teeth.
Acel smiled at the face he hadn't seen in a long time and called her name, "Elena."
"It's been a while!"
Elena sat down next to Acel with a bright smile. Acel frowned at the unexpectedly close distance, but she didn't mind and gently leaned her upper body on Acel's shoulder. It wasn't with any other intention, just a simple sign of familiarity.
"Have you been well? I've been doing great! I was assigned to the Weizel dormitory, and my body is fine now!"
"...That's good. But could you move away a bit?"
"Ah, okay!"
Elena slightly moved her upper body away from Acel as he said. It was still close, but Acel was satisfied with this much. He continued cutting the meat he had been cutting and opened his mouth.
"You came to eat lunch, right?"
"Yes! I came with Ellen!"
"Ellen? Where is she?"
"Over there!"
Elena pointed her hand at the food counter. Following her gesture, Acel saw Ellen wearing the academy uniform. She met Acel's eyes, smiled slightly, and waved her hand. Not long after, she returned with food for herself and Elena.
"It's been a while, Acel. I thought you hadn't moved in yet since I couldn't see you when I went to the dormitory, but it seems that wasn't the case."
"I'm always out except when sleeping."
"Is that so?" Ellen answered, then rolled her eyes to look at Celine.
Celine, who had been dipping bread in soup and eating without much thought, felt her gaze and met Ellen's eyes.
Ellen spoke first, "I've seen your face at the entrance exam site. Your name was certainly..."
"Celine from Aurora Magic Tower. I don't have a surname, Lady Hargelin."
"I see. Feel free to speak casually. We're both new students after all."
"Then I'll do that."
Celine dropped formalities without any hesitation.
A typical mage's attitude showing no reverence or loyalty towards nobility. Only a mage confident in their own abilities can act like that. Ellen liked her attitude and smiled as she put the food she was holding on the table.
"Then Celine, is it alright if we join you?"
"I'd be glad to be acquainted with the second-place in the knight department."
"You're talking as if it's already confirmed," she muttered as she sat down in the empty seat next to Celine.
Celine glanced at Ellen with a chuckle.
"Who else could be second place besides you? Grace will have taken first place, and you're the only one left."
"To be honest, I wasn't that satisfied with the entrance exam. Strictly speaking, I just rode on Acel's back. I didn't do enough to deserve second place."
"Is that so? Well, I don't know the details, anyway," Celine answered, then looked at Elena who was munching on bread noisily and rested her chin on her hand.
"Then are you going to give up second place?"
"I'm telling you it's not confirmed yet. But if I do get second place... I have no intention of giving it up. I'm quite greedy by nature. Even if it came into my hands by chance, I won't let it go."
"Then you'll have to work hard not to lose the second place position in the future."
"That's not it. I'll give up second place and aim for first."
Ellen grinned as she cut her steak.
"As I said, I'm quite greedy. Once I set my eyes on something, I'm not satisfied until I get it, no matter what."
"That's a tiring personality."
"I agree. But I don't dislike it,” Ellen said and rolled her eyes towards Celine.
"What about you? Are you not aiming for first place in the magical studies department?"
"First place?"
Celine let out a hollow laugh as if she had heard something ridiculous. She pointed at Acel with her chin.
"First place against that?"
"...You're right about that."
Ellen nodded, recalling the magic Acel had shown during the entrance exam. Acel chewed his steak while receiving strange looks from the two.
The meal ended quickly.
Acel and Ellen ate all the food they brought, but Celine and Elena left some. Celine usually ate lightly, and Elena didn't need to consume much food because the energy she could get from food was less than what she could get from blood-drinking. It was enough if she could get minimal nutrients.
After finishing the meal, they took a short walk around the academy grounds. Then they sat on a suitable bench to catch their breath. As soon as she sat down, Elena took out a blood pack from her chest and sipped it while swinging her legs back and forth.
"Phew! Rapid Magic Tower's blood packs are really the tastiest! But not as tasty as Acel's blood!"
"...Rapid Magic Tower sells blood packs, too? I thought they only dealt with scrolls and magical tools, but they're more money-crazy than I thought."
Celine shook her head with a disgusted expression. To think they would even extract and sell blood beyond selling magic tools. No wonder they were the richest among magic towers. It was the first time she had heard of them doing blood business targeting vampires.
She had no intention of criticizing. Mages' blood and flesh have long been considered excellent ingredients for elixirs, and there were quite a few mages who sold their own blood. Rapid Magic just expanded that as part of their business.
"Come to think of it, have you seen the academic schedule? There's a midterm exam not long after classes start," Ellen suddenly seemed to remember and said, looking at the three.
Celine sighed deeply and nodded.
"It was about 6 weeks later, I think. It starts quite early. There's also a first assignment before that."
"What kind of assignment?"
"I don't know. I heard it's given as a group assignment."
Group assignment.
Acel frowned deeply at those words.
It was because memories from his past life surfaced. He couldn't know exactly what had happened in his past life, but he could clearly tell that he had experienced extreme stress from group assignments. He sighed deeply and leaned back against the backrest.
"Do you know how the groups are selected?"
"From what I heard from a graduated knight, they decide by drawing lots."
In the end, it meant leaving it entirely to luck. Acel closed his eyes tightly, feeling as if he could already see the future. The darkened vision seemed like how it would be when solving the assignment.
Ellen looked strangely at Acel sitting quietly with his eyes closed and opened her mouth.
"If any of us end up in the same group, let's try our best to get the highest grade possible, and if we're in different teams..." she trailed off.
Naturally, the eyes of the three turned towards Acel. Acel felt their gazes and opened his eyes.
"...Why are you looking at me like that?"
"...I hope you'll go easy on us. Preferably, I hope we meet in the same group."
The two nodded at Ellen's words.