The man cut in quickly.

“Ah, you were an educator. Nice to meet you. My name is Silvar Cosine. My father is a deputy director of Creas. With all due respect, I fell in love at first sight. I would be very honored to have a chance to court you.”

Shirone, along with his friends, were bewildered.

‘That is the worst kind of self introduction I have ever heard. Who’s going to fall for that?’

However, it probably was a natural procedure in the aristocratic society.

Siena didn’t respond much. She just rested her forehead on her hand and sighed.

Although she didn’t show on the outside, Siena’s heart felt like it was burning in hell’s fire.

Her heart sank every time she imagined Keira’s gaze.

‘She must hate me. I shouldn’t have gone there. No, I shouldn’t have contacted him from the beginning.’

Of course, the memories she had were those of when they were children, so she didn’t feel a sense of betrayal from Armin even when he appeared with Keira.

However, it would be a lie to say that she didn’t have any hope. The feeling of what it would be like when they met again.

The feeling of her heart racing and the thought of wanting to go back in time never left her.

‘But… Is this love? I haven’t wanted anyone since the incident that day.’magic

Silvar continued.

“Excuse me, I introduced myself too grandly. I’m sorry. I guess I had a strong desire to look good because I met a woman I didn’t want to let go. Please, forgive me for my rudeness.”

“It’s fine. I’m tired, so please go away.”

Siena was actually really tired.

Of course, for a certified Grade 6 mage to forcibility break out from their drunken state wasn’t anything difficult, but Siena still needed the effects of the alcohol right now. She wanted it.

She wanted to forget everything. If she could, Siena wanted to wash away her memories with even more alcohol.

“Mmm.”

When Siena, who had entrusted her mind to intoxication, faltered, Silvar hurriedly supported her.

“Leaving a woman alone is not chivalry. I will guide you to the carriage.”

Nade glared.

“What are you doing right now? Don’t you dare touch our teacher without permission.”

“There must be some kind of misunderstandingI’m trying to help her. You guys can go your merry ways now. I’ll call a carriage.”

Despite Nade’s dissuasion, when Silvar moved to stand Siena up, Shirone grabbed him by the wrist.

Silvar’s face distorted. He decided to deal with the situation the fastest way.

“Who told you you can just grasp an adult’s wrist like that? You better let go while I’m telling you nicely.”

Shirone didn’t back down.

“She said she’s fine. Please leave. We will take our teacher.”

“You take a person’s word for a joke, don’t you? I saw earlier that you guys were the ones making her drink that whole bottle. Will you come to your senses after all three of you are expelled from whatever academy you hail from?”

Yiruki scoffed.

“You are the one who needs to come to their senses the most out of everyone here. Since your father’s a deputy director, you should be more careful with keeping up your appearance. If you continue to act like this, who will lose more out of this situation if it gets spread. You or us?”

Silvar hardened his eyes.

“…What did you just say? ”

“Ah, your title! I’m pretty sure there was a formal title for the son of a deputy director.”

“You mannerless bastard!”

Silvar turned his drunkenness into anger and grabbed Yiruki by the collar. However, as a tingling shock spread through his side, his hand lost its strength.

He gasped, cradling his wounded side. He stepped back.

“Wh-What was that?”

Nade was holding electricity

“You’re going too far. We’re only holding back because we’re outside of the academy. If you want, we can also go somewhere where there are no people.”

Silvar’s companion spoke out.

“Hey… Those guys… They’re magic academy students.”

“Magic academy? Alpheas Magic Academy?”

Silvar’s expression grew dark.The magic academy itself was different from a normal aristocratic academy. Furthermore, the Alpheas Magic Academy was one of the five most prestigious academies where only the best aristocrats gathered.

‘Damn it! For them to be students of that academy. It’s an academy run and sanctioned by the nation, so even my father can’t pull his strings.’

Seeing the wheels turning inside Silvar’s head, Yiruki read his thoughts. He rolled his eyes and approached him with a snort.

“So, you’re going to kick us out of the academy?”

“Ah, no. The thing is…”

“I’m Yiruki Mercodine. I don’t care what you do, but come to the academy if you have a problem. You can find me there.”

“M-Mercodine…”

Silvar snapped out from his drunken state. It didn’t matter if Creas was a province or a capital. This was because among the nobles of the kingdom of Thromia, there was no one who did not know of the surname Mercodine.

They were the most intelligent and educated family in the kingdom, a first-class aristocratic House. Their place as the head of the ‘King’s Commission’, an advisory body to the king, had never once been taken away for hundreds of years.

* * *

* * *

Yiruki looked bitter as he saw Silvar’s flustered state.

One’s family was everything to aristocrats.

Nevertheless, the reason for threatening Silvar using a method he hated was to protect Siena.

He didn’t hold a position high enough to pull strings, but he could deal some damage by using the fact that Siena was an instructor.

Though, there was no way that a mere noble could match her, a past student of the Olifer Academy.

The handsome guy’s companion tugged Silvar by his sleeve.

“Let’s go, Silvar. Hey, Silvar.”

Silvar wanted to retaliate, but he left the restaurant with his mouth shut.

Even after they disappeared from their sight, Nade couldn’t calm his anger.

“Gosh, the atmosphere is ruined. You know what they say, you don’t know anything just by looking at the restaurant signs. Let’s not come back ever again.”

Shirone spoke.

“Yeah. Anyway, let’s get out of here. It’s getting dark. Teacher, are you alright? Let’s head back now.”

“Mm.”

Siena, who was still drunk, stood up with the help of her students.

Though she was lighty annoyed by the ruined atmosphere, she was already in a terrible mood before then. Seeing how her students stood by her firmly to protect her, she thought that she had made a good choice in becoming an instructor.

Siena paid for the meal without hesitation and left through the while still unsteady on her feet.

Moonlight was pouring down from the sky devoid of clouds.

“Haah.”

Siena let out a breath. She felt strangely good.

It was probably because of the alcohol, but maybe she took a new leap today? She felt that she would be able to live her life not under the shadow and influence of Armin, but on her own.

But it was most likely the alcohol doing the thinking for her.

“Ah, I feel good. Today is nice.”

As if possessed by the moonlight, Siena looked up at the sky and gave a tiny twirl.

The jaws of the three leaving the restaurant dropped.

Under the moonlight, she was so beautiful. The way her trench coat made a circle like an umbrella enhanced her beauty.

Shirone and the other two stared with interest.

“She dances when she’s drunk. So that's how she’s like. How unexpected.”

“Yo… Can’t this be a scoop?”

Yiruki stroked his chin at Nade’s words.

“Hmm, you mean we should make a trade with this? A card to prevent the dispersion of our research group.”

Siena, who had been in conflict with their Research Group for many years, wouldn’t be able to dismiss it with a sneer.

“I think it can be done if we put it together properly. And although it’s kind of foul, it’s not like it’s a huge secret… But won’t she be embarrassed if she recalls the moment? I want to live the rest of my life, you know.”

Shirone was lost in thought when the sight in front of him gave him a near heart attack.

“Hey, guys! Look!”

Siena was stumbling around in the same place when her foot got tangled. Her center balance was about to tilt.The three jumped into action at the sight of their teacher about to fall flat on the floor.

“Go! GO! Grab her!”

Shirone quickly supported her back while Nade and Yiruki grabbed onto her arms from both sides.

“Teacher, wake up. You have to be sober so that we can go back to the academy.”

“Mmm. Dizzy.”

She had emptied a bottle of cognac in an hour and twirled at least a dozen times.

“This isn't going to work. Hey Shirone, piggyback her”

“What? Why me?”

Shirone complained.

“Cause you’re the strongest among us.”

“Haa…”

Shirone couldn’t deny it.

All three were low on energy because they could not sleep and eat the day before because of magic training.

At least Shirone was better than his friends because he used to climb trees and mountains when he was young.

“Guess I have no choice. Okay, then put Ms. Siena on my back.”

“Don’t make it so obvious that you hate this. Do you think the opportunity to piggyback our teacher comes everyday? I’m rather jealous.”

When Shirone looked at Nade, he saw him giving him a big smile that was far from envious.

“Tsk. Can’t make it any more obvious.”

The group left the aristocratic district and the number of people they came across decreased noticeably.

“I just noticed, but Ms. Siena is surprisingly small. She feels quite petite on my back. I thought she had a similar height as me.”

“That’s a psychological factor. Teachers usually look bigger than they actually are.”

“Really? But at the same time, she’s also surprisingly heavy. It’s slowly becoming harder.”

Yiruki cackled.

“Of course. She is a human being. Women are all made up of bones, muscle, and flesh, too. You didn’t seriously think she’d weigh as light as a feather, right?”

Although he never thought that, he had somewhat expected her to be light.

However, he had never held a woman’s hand, let alone carried them on his back, so Shirone was a bit nervous.

“Hmph, I know that much. But I’m seriously tired. I won’t be able to reach the academy at this point.”

“What about using magic? You know, Air magic.”

“She’s still our teacher, isn’t that a little…”

Shirone, who couldn’t even accomplish this seemingly simple task, complained.

“What the heck is this? There’s three men, but the other two can’t even carry a single woman. I should’ve just learned swordsmanship. My friend would have been able to carry her on his back.”

The friend Shirone mentioned was none other than Rian.

Nade and Yiruki didn’t know who the ‘friend’ was, but they looked ashamed of their poor physicality.

However, Siena was really heavier than they thought, and for those who only knew how to read books, they didn’t have much muscle mass.

“What can we do? The only exercise I do is breathing, but I’m confident in using my brain.”

Yiruki snapped his finger.

“Then we should use our brain. Swordsmen have Schema. We should learn that right now. Shirone, what do you say?”

“How does that make any sense? How will we do that all of a sudden?”

“But we can try. In my case, I succeeded in the Spirit Zone in one try. You guys didn’t?”

Nade spoke.

“Me too. After I got the hang of it, I got it to work right away. What about you, Shirone?”

Shirone, who was still struggling with Siena, raised his head.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I succeeded in a single try, too. Actually, I didn’t even know it was the Spirit Zone at the time.”

It sounded absurd to the other two.

“You entered the Spirit Zone without knowing it was the Spirit Zone?”

Yiruki cackled.

“Kekeke. That’s so like you. Anyhow, nothing is impossible. Isn’t the basic principle the same for both anyway? Schema.”

After a minute of thought, Yiruki’s word made sense. It would be their loss to assume without even trying.

“Then shall we? Should we seriously try it? In fact, my arms are stiff and are ready to fall off.”