The next day I woke up a littlete. I didn''t have this problem before but during the time I was home I was sleeping rather soundly thus Ized out in the morning.


    Though it wasn''t much trouble. I was able to take a bath, change into the academy uniform, and left for the sses before the time was up. I''d checked the clock before leaving the room and since there were still ten minutes left I decided to grab a quick breakfast from the cafeteria.


    But in the end I only took a coffee as the cafeteria was already bustling withte students. I ordered it in a paper cup and left after paying rather than sitting there and taking my time to drink it leisurely.


    With the ss of coffee in hand I walked inside the main building and hurried to the ss white I finished my coffee.


    Entering, I saw that I wasn''t the only e. In fact, three other students stepped inside the ssroom at the same time as me. I went and took my usual seat since I was lucky enough to find it empty—otherwise this would''ve been the third time I''d had to swap seats.


    I sat and waited, soon the clock marked the start of the ss and after a span of a few seconds Ryfin entered the ssroom. Surprisingly, it looked like he hade here running too since his forehead was covered in sweat.


    He stood before the podium and looked at us, clearing his throat he said.


    "The sses for today are suspended, and you all have to assemble in the academy grounds. So don''t waste anymore time and get going," hemanded.


    Most of the students had already guessed about the school fest, and that this was something rted to it. Thus no questions were asked. The students got out of there seats and walked out of the room—I was one of them.


    Going through the corridor''s we met with the students of other sses at the grounds, and from the looks of it they were probably arriving at the same time as us too.


    ? Soon all of the sses were in the academy, and the view looked like a small city had gathered here. It was because we were not talking about only the four sses from the first year, but all the four years were assembled here. That made a total of sixteen sses; the student strength was incredible.


    The grounds were decorated as well. There were a lot of new poles added and I could see magic lights attached on top of them. There was a stage in front of us that was decorated with curtains.


    When all of the students seemed to have gathered, someone climbed on the stage and checked the mic. From where I stood I couldn''t see who that person was but my best guess was Mr Halls since he was one who made most of the announcement.


    "As the most of you would have probably guessed, the academy is holding a fest for you all tonight. The academy has arranged for everything, from the production cost to the employees. You will see all kinds of stalls and we hired the best men for each of them," he said, and from his voice I was now sure that it was Mr. Halls.


    "That''s all I''d to say. The sses for today are suspended thus you can leave the grounds and enjoy yourself. The fest will officially began at eight pm tonight so you have a lot of time at hands to make ns for yourself," with those parting words Mr. Halls stepped off the stage.<novelnext></novelnext>


    We were then dismissed and the rows of students that had been aligned scattered into hundreds of small pieces as if someone had stepped between a cluster of ants.


    I had nothing in particr to do so along with every other student I also turned around and started to walk toward the cafeteria. I had missed on the breakfast so I was nning on doing that first.


    Though things didn''t quite went as nned and in the middle of my way I saw someone approaching me. Seeing them made my mood dull.


    "Back from the vacations, I see," da said as she approached me. "Did you enjoyed the holidays or were you busy taking care of a secret mission somewhere out in the wild?" she asked.


    "That''s none of your business," I replied.


    "Come on, don''t be like that. I said that we should work together, didn''t I? We shouldn''t ignore each other like this then," she said.


    "Yeah, and let me rephrase that correctly. You said that we should work together, and I DECLINED."


    "I know, that''s why I''m here to ask again," da said. Until now she was walking on my side to match my pace but now she took two wide steps and stood in front of me.


    "Will you take me in as your partner? I know you use people for your own good and I''m totally fine with that. In fact, I think I can be pretty useful to you. And in more than one way I''d say…" as thosest words left her mouth she slid her skirt up, revealing a porting of her thighs.


    "Seduction? That is thest thing you can win me over with," I sighed. At first I was irritated by her attempts but now I was just straight up disappointed.


    "Well, there was no harm in trying. You learn everything new I guess," she said idly.


    "But don''t think this is over yet. I''ve sworn that I''ll work by your side so that I can get to Leon with your help, and I''m not going to give up on that anytime soon. You won''t be getting rid of me anytime soon," she said, and then left in her own direction.


    ''Actually, I can get rid of you quite easily if I want to. But I needn''t go that way unless I have a solid reason.''


    I left and headed for the cafeteria to get a breakfast, after that I went back to my room since I had nothing much going on.