Find myself a team? Participate in the tournament?

No chance.

All my life, I had avoided direct conflict whenever possible. Now suddenly I was expected to fight in front of half the academy because the Queen found me interesting? What kind of insane reason was that?

I turned around without saying anything else and left the office, closing the door behind me a little harder than intended.

God, this was ridiculous. Why was the Queen so interested in me in the first place?

I descended the stairs and eventually stepped outside the academy building. The evening air felt cool against my face as students poured out through the front gates.

"Fuck..." I muttered quietly.

People gave me strange looks while passing by, mostly because my school uniform still looked rough after the earlier chaos. Some whispered to each other as they walked past.

A little farther ahead, Ken sat on a bench near a decorative mirror built into the stone wall. He had one leg crossed over the other while reading a book completely casually like the world around him didn’t exist.

The moment he noticed me approaching, he closed the book halfway. "Finally," he said. "I’ve been waiting forever, man. We couldn’t even catch each other during breaks."

"Yeah, sorry."

We started walking together toward the dormitories.

The academy grounds were slowly emptying now, though students still crowded the walkways in groups. Honestly, I was glad the dorms were close to the school itself because mentally, I felt exhausted. Ever since meeting the Queen, it felt like invisible pressure had been hanging over my head nonstop.

I never imagined one person could hold that much influence.

"So," Ken began, sliding the book under his arm, "did you watch the fight? Null versus Eselin?"

"Yeah," I replied. "Too bad the headmaster stopped it."

"For real." Ken groaned dramatically. "I wanted to see the whole thing. Null was definitely going to destroy her."

I shrugged slightly.

"I don’t know about that. Eselin looked strong too. She’s S-rank for a reason."

"Maybe," he replied. "But Null looked way more relaxed."

We continued down the curved stone path leading toward the dormitory district. The boys’ dorm building stood to the left while the girls’ building sat farther off to the right. The entire area buzzed with activity since classes had ended only minutes ago.

Students stood around chatting, laughing, or arguing about tomorrow’s tournament.

"I, uh..." I began. "I need to find a team by tomorrow."

Ken immediately looked at me.

"For the tournament?"

"Yeah."

His eyes widened. "No way. You actually changed your mind?"

I sighed. "I... guess?"

Ken laughed. "That sounds about right around here."

"Can you help me find people?"

"Sure," he replied instantly. "That makes two of us already. We just need three more."

"How are we supposed to find three people in one day?"

He scratched his cheek thoughtfully while we entered the dormitory building. "I honestly have no clue."

"Great."

We climbed the stairs toward our floor. "Do you know anyone else who’d want to join?" I asked.

Ken shook his head. "Nope. What about you?"

"Only Mio."

"Mio?" He glanced at me curiously.

"Just someone I know."

"Mysterious," he muttered dramatically.

When we finally reached our hallway, we slowed down near our room.

Ken looked at me again with a grin. "So what changed? Yesterday you wanted nothing to do with this tournament."

I hesitated for a second before answering. "I just figured... maybe experiencing it wouldn’t be that bad."

Ken laughed and smacked my shoulder. "So you’re not completely boring after all."

"Yeah... not at all."

ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎

After dinner, Ken headed toward the showers while I went outside to look for Mio. The evening air was cool, carrying the smell of damp stone and cooked food drifting from nearby taverns outside the academy district. Lanterns had already been lit along the circular street between the dormitories, their warm orange glow reflecting faintly against the cobblestone road.

The girls’ dormitory was quieter than usual tonight.

Not empty, though.

Groups of girls stood near the entrance talking among themselves, while others sat on the benches beneath the lantern posts. A few guards lingered nearby as well, hands resting near the hilts of their weapons while they watched the area carefully. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Ever since the attack on Jelda, security had tightened hard. And judging from the looks some of the girls gave me as I approached, I was not exactly a welcome sight over here. Especially not from Jelda’s friends.

They did not glare at me with outright hatred anymore, but there was still discomfort in their eyes. Like they tolerated my existence only because Professor Kroua vouched for me.

I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly and walked toward one of the benches near the entrance where a girl sat reading a notebook beneath the lantern light.

"Hey," I said carefully. "Do you know someone named Mio?"

The girl looked up at me immediately, her expression guarded. "No," she answered shortly. "And you probably shouldn’t be hanging around the girls’ dormitory."

She gestured vaguely behind me. "The boys’ building is over there."

"I know," I replied with a tired sigh. "I just needed to ask someone something."

"Go. Please."

Before I could respond, a familiar voice called out from behind me.

"Ace!"

I turned around and saw Jelda hurrying toward me.

She was dressed casually this time instead of wearing her uniform. A crimson tunic hugged her figure comfortably, while dark trousers disappeared into knee-high brown boots. Her blue hair had been tied loosely behind her head, though several strands had escaped and framed her face.

Compared to the terrified girl from a few days ago, she looked much better. Still tired. Still shaken around the edges.

But better.

"Hey," I greeted her. "Jelda."

The girl on the bench looked between us with visible confusion. "You know him?" she asked Jelda quietly.

Jelda slowed to a stop beside me and nodded. "Y-Yes," she replied. "We’re friends... I think."

She glanced at me uncertainly near the end.

I gave a small shrug. "Sure. Friends works."

Jelda smiled faintly at that.

"Actually," I said, "I wanted to ask you a favor."

"Okay."

"Do you know someone named Mio?"

"Mio..." Jelda repeated while thinking. "There’s a woman named Mio working at a tavern near the market district."

"No, not her. She’s a student."

"Oh."

"She’s in C-Class," I explained. "Ranger. Red hair. Scars on her face."

Recognition immediately crossed Jelda’s expression. "Ohhh. Her."

"So you know her?"

"A little." Jelda nodded slowly. "She keeps to herself most of the time. Honestly, I didn’t even know her name until now."

"She’s kind of hard to approach," I admitted.

Jelda crossed her arms lightly. "She’s a bit of a lone wolf, Ace."

"Yeah, I noticed."

"What do you need her for?" she asked curiously. "Wait... is she your girlfriend?"

"What? No." I laughed awkwardly. "Nothing like that. I just wanted to ask if she’d join our team for the tournament."

At that, Jelda’s expression brightened slightly. "You’re participating too?"

"Unfortunately."

"That’s good." She smiled warmly. "I joined as well."

"Well," I said with a grin, "I hope we don’t end up fighting each other. I’m not emotionally prepared to get my ass kicked in front of an audience."

That earned a genuine laugh from her. Not loud but real.

"Gods," she muttered while shaking her head. "You’re weird sometimes."

"I’ve heard worse."

"I’ll go call her for you," she said. "Wait here."

"Thanks, Jelda. I appreciate it."