Gara ignored Rea’s indignant chirping. He slowly shrank the water dome, forcing Rea’s tiny body to slide closer.

Once the dome was small enough to fit just her size, he lowered it. And finally caught the runaway squirrel.

"Rea, this academy is not a place you can wander around however you like!" Gara scolded.

Rea crossed her arms and turned her head away dramatically, the perfect picture of someone sulking.

But to Gara, she just looked too adorable.

Gara chuckled. "Let’s go back to my room first. We’ll talk about this, okay?"

Rea still refused to look at him.

Carrying her, Gara turned around to look for Langga who had been unusually quiet.

’Is he still nervous because I pinched his cheek earlier?’ Gara wondered.

Langga was facing away, shoulders stiff. A voice crackled from his crystal ring, one Gara didn’t recognize.

"Has this news been confirmed?" Langga asked. His voice was deep... but trembling.

Just from his tone, Gara knew something was wrong, terribly wrong. He felt his stomach twist.

The voice from the ring answered, "Yes, Professor Langga. Headmaster Asta Elfutih is confirmed to be dead."

Thud.

It felt like Gara’s breath was cut short.

The headmaster... died? How? He was hundreds of years old... What could kill an elf as powerful as him?

Even with only one personal interaction with the elder elf, Gara had always felt warmth and peace from Asta.

Langga turned around, his body shaking slightly, his eyes red with suppressed tears.

"Gara, I have to go," he said.

Without wating for Gara’s answered, he pulled out a small dagger, stepped onto it, and shot into the air. He stood on it with perfect balance. Gara was grateful he didn’t have to ride that thing before.

Leaving alone, Gara walked back to the training field, legs unsteady.

If Gara felt this devastated, Langga’s pain had to be much worse.

And... "Fian!" He just remembered him.

Gara quickened his pace. He feared Fian would be crushed by the news. The elderly elf had only mentored him for a few months, yet he was sure Fian had grown attached.

In this Class Duel, Asta was not the one who opened the duel with his usual speech. Since the semester started, the headmaster hadn’t opened any Class S Duel. Fian had said he was busy.

No one expected that busy meant his life was nearing its end.

At the training field, the Duel continued, but the professors were gone. Only a few staff members remained as judges.

It seemed like the news had reached them.

However, the students were still chatting casually, watching the current match: Vania’s.

Madha noticed Gara approaching with Rea and hurried toward him. He looked like he wanted to talk, but Gara seemed distracted by something he didn’t know. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Gara slowly walked past him.

Madha froze in place.

Gara didn’t notice a thing. He didn’t ask about Madha’s match. He didn’t congratulate him. His mind was drowning somewhere else entirely.

He simply stood beside Fian in silence, unsure what to say.

Then Miki came running, Jett close behind.

"I... huhh... heard something... huhhh..." Miki panted.

"Breathe first, Miki," Revan scolded.

Miki shook his head frantically. "The headmaster... huhhh... died."

"The headmaster what?" Andine asked, not hearing clearly.

"Don’t say things like that carelessly!" Revan snapped, already feeling uneasy.

The others looked at the rat boy like they would swallow him if he made another bad joke.

Miki finally steadied his breath.

"The headmaster is dead, not a normal death. According to the elf who was with him... he fought a mistwight and a mistwalker. The mistwight killed him... then he turned into a mistfiend."

Everyone froze in horror.

Death was tragic enough, but becoming a mistfiend was beyond tragic.

A body that could not be buried.

A corpse consumed and repurposed by monsters.

Instantly, gloom fell over Class S students. They turned toward Fian, the one who looked the most devastated.

Gara felt his chest tighten painfully.

He had never seen Fian’s expression like this.

Not even when he was beaten by nobles at the slave party two years ago. Back then, Fian had shown no expression at all.

Without thinking, Gara moved and wrapped his arms around him.

Fian said nothing, as always.

But his eyes were unmistakably shattered.

Jett, only as tall as Gara’s chest, hugged them as well.

Miki who was secretly crying, joined in.

Andine and Revan followed, embracing the group.

Hidden in the middle of their huddle, Gara quietly cried.

He wished Fian would cry too, that he would release even a fraction of his sorrow.

Lysa and Madha didn’t join, but their eyes reflected sadness.

Xerath, the newest student of Class S, also looked grief-stricken.

...

The headmaster’s death was officially announced that evening.

There was no explanation of how one of the strongest beings in the Bhumi Kingdom had died.

The academy mourned deeply.

Gyakarta Academy had lost its star, its guiding light.

Gara returned to the dimensional home.

Fian locked himself inside his dorm room. Madha said he would train tonight.

The empty spaces beside Gara made the night feel even heavier.

Even Rea, who caused chaos earlier, remained quiet. She seemed to sense the grief lingering in the air.

Upstairs, all the residents were gathered, even triplets, baby Bel, and Rea’s children joined in.

Agus had already been sent out from the dimensional home.

Even though he often shirked his duties, he was still the academy’s vice-headmaster. And now he held the highest authority.

From everyone’s expressions, they already knew what happened.

Gara didn’t know the full story yet, so he stayed silent.

He hugged the triplets one by one, letting their pure, innocent energy soothe his heart.

After a while, he felt stable enough to finally address another matter at hand.

He watched silently as Rea, the guilty squirrel mother, being scolded by her children, letting Rea face her own consequences.

Becky, Pandy, and Taly scolded her from all sides.

Despite the nagging tones, Gara knew it was all worry and love.

Crossing his arms, Gara fixed his gaze on Rea. "Rea, I’ll let you walk around the academy, like I promised before."

...