The mana field behind the academy was noticeably quieter than before.

The earlier noise of groans and complaints had dwindled to scattered conversations. Most students had already left, either to return to the dorms or to respond to the various post-exam gatherings hosted by the visiting guilds.

Lake stepped through the barrier, feeling the dense mana in the atmosphere quickly revitalizing his own drained source. At the end of the battle, he—like everyone else—had run out of mana, but thanks to his stronger physique, he was able to overcome the negative effects of mana exhaustion.

He quickly found Kate and the rest sitting beneath an oak tree and made his way over.

Iris, who had been anxiously pacing around, was the first to notice him. She flew over with surprising speed.

"You! Where is Sylph?!"

"In her room."

Lake replied casually as Iris took off almost immediately. However, before she got far, she turned around and shouted, "You better not run away! I’ll be back to have my revenge!"

Watching her fly off, Lake only shook his head before his eyes returned to the others. There was a brief silence between them before Landur decided to speak up.

"...So the Demon King has descended to the mortal world after all."

"Indeed. I’m somewhat sad I’ll never be able to see my cute junior again..."

"...What are you guys even talking about?"

Lake frowned as his eyes scanned over everyone before eventually landing on Bradford. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

"I didn’t expect anyone to be able to outclass me in terms of skill."

Bradford smiled wryly. "Doesn’t change the fact that I still lost."

"Still, it was an impressive display. The same can be said for all of you."

His gaze swept over everyone as he smiled. "Congratulations on passing the exam."

"...?"

"...Pass?"

Everyone’s gaze grew wide with confusion, unsure what Lake meant.

"We didn’t manage to defeat you, though. What do you mean we passed?" Zeke was the one to voice their confusion. Out of everyone here, he was the least acquainted with Lake, having met him only once—and on bad terms at that making his response rather blunt.

"No, you did manage to defeat the Demon King. I didn’t manage to defeat Sylph in the end, so by technicality, you all passed the exam."

At his words, everyone was surprised.

"Wait... if we passed the final assessment, doesn’t that mean..." Hana’s excited voice beamed as she shook Landur beside her.

As if realization had struck them, the group of third years suddenly shouted out, "WE’RE FREE!!"

Their shout seemed to startle everyone.

"What are you talking about, seniors?" Zeke asked, eyes wide with curiosity.

"It means we are no longer bound by the academy since we now have enough points to graduate," Gwen answered, a small smile on her lips.

"We can finally take it easy..." Tears seemed to well up in their eyes as an almost nostalgic look appeared on their faces.

"Wait, does that mean Sylph... defeated you?" Bramble’s voice, filled with disbelief, snapped everyone back.

He quickly got up from the ground as a shocked expression covered his face. As someone who grew up beside Sylph from a young age, he knew for a fact that Sylph was unable to hurt even a fly, let alone land a decisive blow on a monster like Lake.

The other first years, who were somewhat familiar with Sylph, also had similar expressions.

Lake remained silent for a moment, a slightly awkward expression appearing on his face.

"...You must’ve really upset her, Mr. Lake."

"I already apologized..."

Lake’s voice trailed off as a notification rang out from his wristwatch.

Pulling it up, Lake took a glance and saw it was from Lilia.

"Looks like I’ll have to go see my sister off."

Everyone nodded in understanding as Lake turned around to leave.

"Wait. I’ll come with you."

Kate suddenly stood up and caught up to him.

Lake only gave a brief nod before both of them walked away.

Zeke squinted his eyes at the sight before sighing.

Standing next to him, Bramble placed a hand on his shoulder as he shook his head with a look of pity.

"???" Zeke stared, feeling slightly wronged but not knowing why. "What are you doing?"

"My condolences, Mr. Zeke."

Hearing the strange fairy’s words of pity, Zeke’s expression became even more confused.

****

The academy’s paths were abuzz with life after the exam ended. Students who hadn’t participated in the final battle were bunched up in groups, all of them discussing the contents of the exam.

When they noticed Lake and Kate passing by, all eyes were drawn to them. Their voices softening slightly as they continued to chat with each other.

Lake ignored their chatter and continued to walk forward.

"Why did you decide to come with me?"

He turned to ask Kate, who frowned at his question.

"Can’t I just take a walk with you without any special reason?"

"...Whatever you say."

Lake didn’t bother to pry, as he already had an idea why she decided to follow him.

As the two continued walking the path toward the stadium, more and more people began to appear, quickly crowding the streets.

Luckily, most of them were quick to recognize Lake and Kate, giving them a wide berth to walk undisturbed.

Unfortunately, because of this, it meant that everyone around them had to squeeze together on the already narrow path.

Because of this, Lake wasn’t surprised when he saw someone get pushed out of the crowd and into the open space between them.

"Kya!"

A soft feminine scream erupted as someone bumped directly into him.

"Ah—I’m sorry—"

The person’s voice stopped abruptly as their eyes met Lake’s.

"...."

Lake’s expression trembled slightly upon seeing the person who had bumped into him, but he quickly masked it before anyone noticed.

"E-Evelyn! Are you okay?!"

A concerned voice came from the crowd as a small figure burst out of it.

"I-I’m fine, Leah."

Evelyn barely responded as she quickly pushed herself up from Lake, taking a step back. An awkward smile appeared on her face.

"Honestly, this is why I said we should’ve just waited in the stadium until the crowd left—"

Leah’s words were cut short the moment her eyes landed on Lake.

"Bastard!"

Leah pointed a finger and shouted loud enough to catch everyone’s attention.

Lake’s lip twitched. "...It’s nice to see you too, Leah."

He watched as Leah quickly approached Evelyn and pulled her behind herself as she stepped forward to face him. It was an act that looked almost comical thanks to her short stature.

"You..."

Leah sounded like she wanted to say something but quickly closed her mouth.

While Leah was eyeing Lake cautiously, his gaze landed on the dull golden fate floating above her head. Unlike last time, all of the white and green had been completely replaced by gold.

It wasn’t as bright as a true golden fate holder like Harper’s or Romero’s, but it seemed like it was in the process of transforming.

’Looks like all she needs is one final push to fully awaken...’

Lake stared for a moment before he felt someone nudge his side. Turning, he saw Kate looking back and forth between him and the two girls.

With a sigh, Lake turned back to face them.

"It’s been a while, hasn’t it?"

"...Indeed." An awkward smile appeared on Evelyn’s face. "You were quite impressive during the exam."

"Thank you for the compliment."

"Hmph! Just because you’re strong doesn’t mean you can suddenly come up and talk to us."

Lake’s gaze shifted from Evelyn to Leah, a somewhat soft smile appearing on his face. "...Indeed. I hope you two enjoy the rest of the festival."

As Lake finished speaking, he walked around them.

"Goodbye."

Kate gave both of them a quick glance before following after Lake.

Watching the two of them leave, Leah narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"Crazy bastard..."

Hearing her friend’s words, Evelyn could only smile wryly in response.

"Come on, Evey, let’s go before that bastard comes back."

Evelyn let herself get dragged away by Leah in the opposite direction of Lake, but she couldn’t help but take a look back. A soft murmur escaped her lips.

"He seemed a bit different..."

"Did you say something?"

"No. It’s nothing. Do you want to continue exploring the academy?"

"Yep! If possible, I want the chance to meet the male fairy from the exam!"

****

After leaving Evelyn and Leah, Lake and Kate continued to walk, eventually reaching the stadium’s entrance.

"Who were those girls back there?"

"Old classmates."

Lake replied casually as he scanned the surroundings for his sister.

"Really?" Kate raised a brow. "Why did the smaller one seem to hate you so much?"

"Because the bigger one is my ex."

"Hah?"

Kate’s eyes widened in shock at the words Lake had just spoken. She moved her finger between Lake and the direction they came from.

"You. Her. A thing?"

Her brain struggled to adapt to this new information, unable to comprehend how anyone could have fallen for Lake before.

"It’s a long story, and it’s all in the past."

As Lake finished speaking, he finally found his sister.