"Arvell, I brought them!"


    Zen cheerfully ran up to Arvell with his parents in tow behind him.


    "See, Arvell got in! Not just that, but he scored the highest among all the other examinees!"


    Wilfried gave a bright smile when he heard Zen''s words.


    "After seeing that disy yesterday, I expected no less."


    Lienna rushed up and gave Arvell a tight bearhug, reminiscent of Ang.


    ''I guess they are mother and daughter.'' So Arvell thought to himself while being smothered between her twin mounds.


    "Good job Arvell! We''ll throw a celebration tonight!"


    "Mhffff"


    "Mom, you''re doing it again."


    Zen walked over to Arvell and pried him free of his mother''s clutches.


    "By the way, Arvell, I couldn''t find Ang. I think we lost her somewhere in the crowd."


    Zen pointed to therge crowd behind him.


    "Actually, I just met her."


    James looked around Arvell with a confused look.


    "You did? Where is she then?"


    "An academy professor came to talk to her about some student council-rted matters."


    "It must have been Professor Orfina, Wilfried added."


    Arvell nodded his head.


    "She, it was actually her," Arvell pointed to the building he saw the two enter, "she should be in her office about now."


    ***


    "You wanted to talk to me, professor?"


    Ang sat down on the red velvety couch and asked the woman sitting in front of her.


    Nodding to validate Ang''s question, Professor Orfina picked up a document lying face down on the table.


    "But… Before we start, I''d like to ask you. What do you think of that boy?"


    Professor Orfina''s sudden question threw Ang off.


    "Wait, do you mean Arvell?"


    "What other boy could I be talking about?"


    "What do you want to know about Arvell?"


    "You see… I took a fancy to the boy and was curious about your thoughts on him."


    "Hmm…" Ang paused as she thought long and hard about Professor Orfina''s question.


    She tried to think of exactly how she felt about Arvell, recalling every encounter they had over the past little while.


    "... I''d say he''s one of the most earnest and hardworking people I can name."


    Hearing Ang''s praise for Arvell, Professor Orfina raised an eyebrow.


    "Ho? Would you mind borating for me?"


    Ang nodded her head, "His desire to get stronger and better himself is among the greatest I''ve ever seen. Arvell uses any chance to train himself, even challenging people far stronger than him, just to get stronger."


    Ang smiled softly as she remembered Arvell dragging her to go train with him at least once a day.


    "He also beat James in a fight yesterday, given James didn''t use projectile-based attacks."


    Professor Orfina''s eyes widened in surprise.


    "He''s that strong? Even if James isn''t using his projectile magic, he''s still quite strong. To beat him… I thought this kid was an anomaly, just like that other boy Titus."


    "Titus? You mean the boy who was with Arvell during the exam?"


    "Yes, him. That boy is quite strong as well."<novelnext></novelnext>


    "I''ll keep an eye open for him then, but from what I heard from Arvell, he seems to be a good-natured kid."


    "That he is."


    Looking at the document in Professor Orfina''s hands, Ang decided to finally cut to the chase and address the main topic.


    "So, Professor Orfina, what did you want to discuss? Because if you of all people came out personally to fetch me, it must be something quite urgent."


    Professor Orfina grimly nodded before handing Ang the document in her hand.


    "It''s faster if you check it out for yourself."


    Ang skimmed over the contents by taking the paper from Professor Orfina''s outstretched hand.


    The more she read, the more her face scrunched up until it resembled a pickled prune.


    Finally, she mmed the paper onto the Yirnwood table.


    "What the hell is this?" She shouted with visible anger.


    Professor Orfina nodded, seemingly sharing Ang''s sentiments regarding the nature of the newly received information.


    "This was decided by my superiors… Those thick-headed geezers won''t do anything about it, no matter how much we argue orin."


    "What''s the headmaster''s opinion on this?"


    "He''s the only one who is looking at this rationally."


    Ang picked the paper back up and handed it back to the professor.


    "Sorry about that outburst; it was unsightly of me."


    Professor Orfina smiled lightly.


    "There''s no need to apologize. I had a simr reaction when I saw that."


    Professor Orfina pointed behind her to a cab with a noticeable hole right through one of the drawers.


    A hole shaped that was eerily shaped like a fist.


    "I see…"


    Ang made a mental note to never Professor Orfina, lest she be on the end of one of those punches.


    "Professor, how many people know about this so far?"


    "Other than you, I only told the 4th-year members. They all reacted simrly, each showing anger and confusion when they read through this. Wait… Scratch that. Cyprian was the only one who didn''t have an outburst but only calmly nodded."


    "He''s as cool and collected as ever I see."


    "If I didn''t know of his calm demeanour from spending years working with him, I would have thought he had already known about this."


    "Well, that nature of his serves as a powerful ma for countless girls in the academy. Even though he has a fiance, the amount of love letters he gets on a daily base is mind-boggling."


    Professor Orfina nodded.


    A significant portion of the school''s female body was even in his fan club, to the point where almost everyone in the academy heard about them.


    The teaching staff was no exception.


    "I wonder how things will get once his fiance begins to attend the academy. This year will be a hectic one, to say the least."


    Ang audibly sighed.


    "After finding out about ''that'' just now, thest thing I need is more work…."


    The life of a student council member wasn''t an easy one.


    "If you would like, I can ry this information to James."


    Professor Orfina smiled.


    "Thank you, that''ll save me some time. Anyways, you came here with your family, correct? I shouldn''t keep you here for too long then. It''s not fair for them."


    "Thank you, I''ll excuse myself then" Ang got up and headed to the door, and after giving Professor Orfina onest nce, closed the door behind her.


    Being the only one left in the room, Professor Orfina fell back in her seat and let out a long and exasperated sigh.


    "It''s just one thing after another... I need a vacation."