"Play something?" he asked, confused.

"Oh, I mean, it’s okay if you don’t want to," Alice said, her voice trailing off. "I just thought that maybe we should get to know each other a little bit better—you know, since we’ll be staying together here for a long time."

Crap... He really didn’t want to, but neither did he intend to be mean. It was already hard enough for him to manage on his own, and having friends would certainly help in the long run.

He stared into her sparkling eyes for a few moments, her bangs swaying in front of her face.

Sigh.

"Alright then, any ideas?" he said.

Alice raised a finger to her chin and hesitated, looking somewhat like a frightened little animal. "I’m not sure... Oh, I got it! How about we start by asking each other questions?"

That sounds terrible... Eh, now that I think about it, weren’t you the one to propose a game first? What were you ’not sure’ about?!

"A-Alright, sounds good." His smile faltered.

"Hmm? You don’t sound convinced, though... I-It’s fine if you don’t want to," Alice said with a hint of awkwardness.

Why do I feel like a piece of shit?

"N-no! Really! It’s fine, it sounds fun! I-In fact, let’s do it right now!" he said in a panic, waving his hands frantically.

She looked up at him, her eyes shining even brighter. "O-Okay, then! I’ll go first." She flashed a radiant smile, her mood swiftly shifting once more.

They sat on the carpet in front of each other and remained silent for a few seconds. Then, her melodic voice broke the quiet. "Hmm, well. First things first—what’s your fragment type?"

A chill ran down his spine as he heard those words; painful memories struck him with ruthless force. Needless to say, he didn’t let it show. Although that question was dangerously close to forbidden in his heart, it was safe enough to answer. However, before he did, a different question came up in response. "Eh? What do you mean? It’s a Time Fragment, of course. Why else would I be here?"

"Hmm? Don’t you know, Aldrus? It is not only us Time Holders who are trained here in the academy."

He squinted at her, confused. It was only natural for him not to know certain things about how everything worked in the academy; he had only been in possession of his fragment for six months, while most of the other students had held theirs for at least ten years now.

"What? Are you telling me they take kids from the other nations here? I thought they were only allowed to come for the tournament."

She frowned and tilted her head. "Most do. However, there are exceptions. In our own nation, we lock Wild Holders behind bars and execute those who have committed more serious crimes. As for the ones in the north and the east—they are either executed under the same conditions, or exiled if we are talking about young and not particularly devious individuals."

He sighed. Well... this is exactly the sort of thing they don’t teach in school.

"So, I’m guessing those are the ones who end up here, am I right?" he asked.

"Exactly."

Aldrus thought for a moment, then asked again, "Isn’t that dangerous, though? And how does that even make sense? Are we even qualified to teach them anything?"

"Well, I’m sure it could seem dangerous from your perspective, but there are two main reasons why it isn’t. First—as I explained before, the only type of person to be accepted here is someone who has proven they won’t cause trouble.

"In fact, even though we might seem harsh as a nation, the truth is our approach to Wild Holders is much more flexible. It ensures dangerous people aren’t left to wander around, while keeping innocent ones from being harmed."

Alice leaned back a bit and continued, "In comparison, the other two nations are prone to leave harmless Holders on their own just because they lack the means to attend their own academies. So naturally, most of the ones who end up here in the south do not represent any danger whatsoever."

She fixed her hair with a graceful movement and added, "The second reason is due to the nature of their power as opposed to ours. You know that much, don’t you? Even if they were to lose their minds, Space and Matter Holders could never hope to cause much damage—especially here, under the gaze of Sir Ludwig and the teachers.

"Not to mention, the tier of those fragments is classified as level 1. Even a high-ranked Space Holder cannot compete against a Time Holder of the same rank. Furthermore, their powers rely mostly on us to be used efficiently. That is why the government allows them to stay here. It also helps to strengthen our nation’s political position."

Aldrus listened thoughtfully as she explained, making a mental note of everything in case it wasn’t covered later in class. He figured this knowledge might come in handy to establish good relationships with foreigners in the future.

But that didn’t answer his last question.

"I see, I get it now. However, you still haven’t told me how the academy is qualified to teach them. I mean, their powers may come from the same source, but they work completely differently from ours."

Everything made perfect sense in theory, but it didn’t quite work out if the whole point was to teach and train them here in the nation of the south—the place with a complete monopoly over Time fragments.

Alice listened in silence, then said, "Yeah, you’re right. Well, all I know about it is that the academy has two foreign teachers, each from a different nation. Given that there aren’t many students from the north and the east, a single teacher for each group must be enough. However, I don’t know who they are or what they look like; I don’t even know their names."

That makes sense. With a teacher of each type, the academy would have more than enough to train the foreign students and make them feel—at least somewhat—at home. They were very young people forced to leave their land and families, after all.

Thinking about it like that, Aldrus couldn’t help but feel a bit like them, and at the same time, a hint of disgust at himself for daring to compare his own situation with theirs, which was much, much worse. With everything a little clearer, he leaned back too, getting comfortable.

"Well, that answers your question," she said. "It’s my turn now."

Aldrus nodded and closed his eyes, then suddenly snapped them open and protested, "Hey! What do you mean ’your turn’? I just answered yours!"

Alice let out a cheerful laugh. "You did. However, you’ve already asked enough. Twice, even."

He froze in place for a moment, then spoke again, "T-Those don’t count! I only asked them due to the nature of your question... It’s not my fault I’m not well-versed in academy subjects..."

She laughed once more. "Too bad! I think you asked plenty."

Resting her head on one knee, she looked at him for a second and then added, as if she remembered something, "Oh, yeah. About what you just said... uh, mind if I ask why it is that you know so little about the academy? I mean, a student with no knowledge of this stuff isn’t unheard of, but still rather uncommon."

Here it is...

He sighed. It was only a matter of time until a question like that came up, but he still wished it wouldn’t. Well, it could also be a chance. He could use this game to draw a line; one clear enough for Alice to notice, and thus avoid crossing it.

"Because I became a Holder only six months ago," he said flatly.

Alice’s beautiful eyes seemed to widen with surprise, then instantly went back to normal. "I-I see... So I guess your family isn’t from the nobility, then."

That’s right. Most Holders came from the nobility, or at least from the upper class. It was no surprise that only a few hundred people became Holders every year.

Obtaining a fragment without it being handed directly was basically suicide, considering most were controlled by the government and only entrusted to those who were already in a privileged situation. After all, it was safer to keep watch over someone remarkable and well-known than a commoner you knew nothing about.

Furthermore, the only other way to get one was to find it near a World Domain... which meant potentially running into a Guardian.

Remembering that day, Aldrus shivered. Although there was no wound now, his lungs still hurt like hell.

Noticing his face growing gloomier, Alice seemed to come to a realization."Don’t tell me..." She paled. "Y-You ran into a—"

"I don’t want to talk about it," he cut her off.

Alice froze for a moment, then lowered her head. "I-I’m sorry... I didn’t know."

He looked at her with a bit of regret in his eyes. "Hey, it’s okay." He grimaced. "It’s just that I don’t feel comfortable talking about that right now. Don’t feel bad about it. I’ll tell you... eventually."

He really meant that. It was clear he needed to talk about it, but the mere thought of his mother’s face if she were to hear it... That terrified him. And the longer he carried that worry, the heavier it became.

In a way, Alice had helped him a lot during this short exchange. Her casual attitude reminded him once again that he couldn’t just keep holding it in forever. Eventually, he would have to spill it out...

He just had to make sure she wouldn’t be in danger when that happened.

After that, they kept playing for a while. Aldrus got to know Alice better, and she got to know him. It was nothing fancy, but it was enough for him.

Having someone to chat with felt a lot better than he had expected. He used to think it was good enough to spend some time alone, but this subtle change in his life threatened to take that away from him. Whether it was for the best or not... Well, he’d have to wait and see.

***

Soon, night fell over the world—prompting the ceiling lights to glow.

Aldrus stared at his reflection while leaning over one of the many sinks inside the academy’s large public restroom. His face was slightly pale, his cheeks a little pinker than usual.

He glanced over his shoulder, meeting a line of other boys doing the exact same thing. Some of them were calm or bored; others, sleepy. The rest, however...

A bunch of guys washed their faces repeatedly, hoping the cold water would drive their thoughts away. Tomorrow was their first day in training, and although that alone was nerve-wracking, there was a bigger problem right now.

It was bedtime.