The air grew silent as everybody stared at her.

Some stared at her with a scandalous expression, while others began murmuring with each other in excitement.

The student council simply stared at her.

"What?" she folded her arms defiantly. "There are no rules against visiting another student's dorm room before curfew, are there?"

"…No." President Mileila directed a mirthless gaze at Cæ with a dubious expression.

"That's not what she meant." Cæ tried to defend himself.

"Then what did she mean?" President Mileila asked with a not-so-friendly tone.

Cæ winced.

He didn't want to reveal that he was trying to get intelligence on his opponents before the fight began so that he could be more prepared. After all, that would tip them off and increase the chances that they would be able to counter whatever he prepared for them.

"I see…"

Mileila's tone was low.

Unpleasant.

"Regardless, enough of your ruckus and do what you will elsewhere." Mileila's voice grew a little frosty as she turned away, walking quickly.

Cæ felt the strange need to try and stop her, but it felt like the wrong time and place to do that.

Virlyd's heavy gaze bore on Cæ.

"I look forward to fighting you tomorrow, Cæ."

The gossiping students began growing even more entertained and amused by what they saw, before Cæ threw them a dirty glare with a fierce expression.

"Get the fuck out of here."

They stiffened before scrambling.

"Tsk…" he massaged his forehead, turning to Serulia. "You…"

"What is the matter?" she folded her arms with a defiant expression. "I did not utter a single falsehood."

He stared at her with an expression of disbelief. 'Is she serious?'

He didn't realize that she was such an airhead.

Perhaps it was because the Elendir language was not her first language, causing her to be less receptive to what she was saying sounded like. Regardless, it was not what he expected from the intelligent strategist he fought against.

Now, everybody thought that they were in a relationship.

"You…" Cæ stared at her, speechless.

"Have you lost your ability to speak now?" She huffed petulantly.

Cæ simply heaved an exasperated sigh as he turned away, only to remember that he wasn't alone.

Kelton grinned widely and mischievously, flicking a thumbs-up to Cæ. "You caught yourself a good fish, big brother! To think that you were such a smooth playboy, truly impressive!"

Natana looked distraught, staring at him like he had betrayed her, while Melia simply glowered at him silently.

"It's not what you think," Cæ insisted, heaving a tired sigh. "...Never mind, I have more important things to worry about than this juvenile nonsense."

He turned to Serulia with a serious expression.

"Get to my room as soon as you have everything ready."

"Very well, Cæ." She nodded seriously. "I look forward to our session together today."

"Wha—" Natana choked while Kelton laughed, slapping Cæ on the back.

"I will hear all about this tomorrow!"

"Y-You mustn't get distracted by such things before an important battle tomorrow!" Melia squelched as she blushed, averting her gaze from Cæ.

"Now now," Kelton pulled both Melia and Natana away from Cæ. "You mustn't get in man's way when the time comes."

He directed a serious expression towards Cæ and a knowing glance.

"Good luck, my brother."

"I will actually kill you," Cæ promised. "I will strangle you alive."

Kelton simply dragged the complaining girls away, who tried reaching out to Cæ from afar as though they were about to lose him forever.

"Don't do it, big brother!" Natana cried.

"This is inappropriate!" Melia complained.

"My…" Serulia remarked with a carefree, intrigued tone as she raised an eyebrow. "You sure have some lively friends. I wonder what they are getting into a fuss about."

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In that moment, Cæ wished he had beaten her up a little harder during their fight.

He heaved a tired sigh. "Just get going already."

They parted ways as Cæ departed from the empty combat facility, heading towards his dorm room to get some well-needed rest. The first thing that he did was immediately take a shower to wash off the sweat that he had built up in the long and tiring selection process.

His thoughts drifted back to the selection process as he looked back at the battles that he had fought.

"I overestimated my strength a bit."

Indeed, he was strong. But his strength was very flawed and imbalanced compared to the students of the Senior Program.

The tougher opponents among those who fought were capable combatants and had access to magic that he didn't. Magic that he had never fought against. In particular, the fundamental form of automation allowed them to maintain magic without needing their conscious attention. This was a powerful advantage that came close to compensating for his high magic processing speed.

He hadn't expected to be pressured by the students to such a degree because of his experiences in the Colohen Slums. He had fought against the apprentices in the slums and did extremely well against them.

Of course, he had always known that they were far from elite, but nonetheless, his dominance against them had given him great confidence and certainty in his power; it had also given him experience, making his combat even smoother and more fluid.

But fighting against the stronger students of the Senior Program showed him that he wasn't in a position of power to get conceited about his own strength. He had just barely managed to make it to the final round tomorrow that would decide the tentative candidate for the winner.

"I'll need whatever Serulia can give me."

He still didn't entirely trust her.

But it was worth hearing her out.

Eventually, he heard a knock at his door.

CLACK

He opened it as his eyes lit up.

"As promised, I have come, Cæ."

She had donned a villit, the ethnic attire of the Durmen Principality, comprising a short upper garment that exposed her midriff and back, covering only the upper half of her abdomen with a cloth gently wrapping around her upper chest and neck in a special bind.

Her lower garment was comprised of a long, baggy cotton garment that reached her ankles.

Cæ liked to think that he comported himself with flawless self-control, but his eyes couldn't help but be drawn to her smooth, supple, dark skin, stunned into silence. He took a deep breath as her sweet fragrance brushed past him.

Her cheeks flushed as she suddenly grew self-conscious.

And then, as if her self-awareness was an hour late, the realization of what she had said and what her words meant.

"I-I probably should not be here." She averted her gaze with a hint of embarrassment.

"Wait."

Cæ's tone grew serious as he shook his head, as if trying to break himself out of his reverie with force.

His gaze shifted to what she carried in her hands.

A briefcase that contained what she had come for.

"I need your help."

"…Perhaps we should meet in a public place then," she remarked with a more subdued tone. "In the library?"

Cæ shook his head. "Although it likely won't matter, it is better if we don't go over this in public. Not to mention…"

He glared at her.

"This whole venture was your idea. I didn't bother trying to speak with other people to get my hands on information because of your insistence. You don't get to walk away after wasting my time. Not to mention…"

He paused, shaking his head and heaving a sigh.

"Forget it. Let's just get this over with."

He moved aside, letting her come in.

She paused for a moment before heaving a deep breath and entering.

The moment she entered. However, her eyes lit up with a hint of interest and curiosity as she studied Cæ's dorm room.

"You…" she began with a stunned tone, "…do not have any belongings?"

CLACK

Cæ closed the door behind her, turning to her with a curious gaze. "What kind of question is that? Of course, I do."

"Then… do people in Elendir just not decorate their places of residence with personal belongings?" She grew even more incredulous. "This room is so empty!"

Cæ directed a sweeping gaze across the living room of his dorm unit.

Indeed, it was exactly how it had been when he first got here.

She sniffed the air. "It smells like soap… and sweat."

"Hm, I don't really smell anything," Cæ replied nonchalantly. "Would you like something to drink? Water?"

"I shall partake in some water then."

"Have a seat," Cæ replied as he poured her a glass.

"Very well then."

He threw a peculiar look. "You don't have to be that formal. I appreciate the information you're providing me."

"No, I am also doing this for my own self-interest," she replied, shaking her head. "This is purely a strategic decision in my own interests."

CLACK

Cæ placed a glass of water before her as he sat opposite her with a scrutinizing gaze. "Now then, we don't have too much time before curfew hits."

He directed a glance through the glass sliding doors at the far end of the living room as the light of the evening Sun illuminated the room.

"Very well then," she took a sip of the water. "Now then, let us get started."

The air cleared quickly as both of them immediately became serious about what they had agreed to do.

She opened the bag, drawing up a bunch of documents. "As requested, I brought a file of the intelligence that I have on you to help you gauge the accuracy of the information that I possess."

She handed him a relatively thin file. "Gaining intelligence on you was easy because all the intel on your combat magic amounts to a year's worth of information, starting with your magic aptitude test scores. I can assure you that your opponents all likely have gotten their hands on knowledge about you."

Cæ's expression grew severe at those words.

That was not good news.

Among the six finalists, at least three came from affluent backgrounds. Cæ knew that these people likely already had the information that she seemed to have. He quickly began skimming through the information contained in the documents that she had brought along.

His expression only grew even direr.

"Damn, they know me inside-out."

It wasn't just information from his only year in the Apprentice Program; she even had information about his exploits in the slums, with even video footage, which he found stunning. It was very clear that his feats in the slums weren't merely passed around with hearsay. Which felt obvious when he thought about it, but he intuitively felt that the slums were more isolated for some reason.

They even documented his abnormally high magic processing speed and his hexaelemental affinity, which were among his greatest strengths, as well as his dual casting and the spells that he used most frequently in combat.

He was alarmed about whether they knew about his pure magic, but thankfully, that was not the case. He wouldn't even be allowed to remain in the Elendir Institute of Magic if that were the case.

"Dammit…" Cæ's tone hardened. "This is rough. Being exposed to such a degree makes me even shocked that I lost to you."

"Hmph, do not let it get to your head," she huffed lightly. "Next time, should we have the opportunity, I will defeat you in combat and restore the honor of my house."

Cæ raised an eyebrow before returning to the data that she had collected on him, shaking his head.

If her information on him was this detailed, he was sure that she had even more information on the others, considering that they had been practicing magic for much longer than he had. In particular, Virlyd was sure to have lots of data, considering that he had been working on magic for a whole decade at that point.

He directed a serious gaze towards her.

"Show me everything that you have on Virlyd and the other five."

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