Aetin quickened his pace and pushed through the crowd.
In the center, Seres was surrounded by a group of people, while an Old Lady sat on the ground, face twisted in pain, clutching her leg and wailing loudly.
“It hurts so much…”
Aetin’s brow involuntarily furrowed.
Why did this scene look so familiar?
He leaned closer to Seres and asked quietly,
“What happened?”
“I was just passing by and saw this Old Lady fall. I wanted to help her up, but she suddenly grabbed my hand, said I knocked her down, and insisted I pay for her medical expenses…”
Seres looked at Aetin like she had found a lifeline and hurriedly explained.
Aetin’s mouth twitched slightly.
How could such a ridiculous thing happen even in this other world?
“It was you who bumped into me! Don’t even think about denying it!”
Hearing Seres’ denial, the Old Lady on the ground immediately became agitated.
“It really wasn’t me…”
Seres flailed her hands anxiously, her face extremely tense.
The surrounding onlookers started whispering and pointing fingers in response to Seres’ explanation.
“If it wasn’t you, then why did you try to help her up?”
“The young girl looks pretty enough, why would she do something she won’t admit to?”
“Has the quality of students at Saint Dias Magic Academy really fallen so low?”
These comments made Seres even more helpless.
She had never encountered such a situation before—she meant to help but was instead falsely accused.
Now she had no evidence to prove her innocence and didn’t know how to respond.
Instinctively, she looked to Aetin, her face full of despair.
Aetin smiled faintly and gave Seres a reassuring glance.
This world didn’t have surveillance cameras everywhere like his original one, nor were there witnesses, so it was indeed hard to prove one’s innocence.
But why prove innocence at all?
It was just like the troublemaker at the school gate this morning—trying to trap someone into confessing.
Remember, never fall into such a trap.
“Old Lady, you said it was Seres who bumped into you. Could you describe exactly how she did it?”
Aetin squatted down and asked the Old Lady gently, smiling warmly.
“She was looking down, tidying her things, not paying attention, and just knocked me over!”
The Old Lady immediately gave a vivid, detailed account, clearly a rehearsed story.
“Was Seres running or walking at the time?”
Aetin nodded thoughtfully and posed another question.
“Running!”
The Old Lady answered without hesitation.
To her, running would cause a worse impact.
“So if Seres was running and didn’t actually knock you down, then it must be because she was looking down and didn’t watch where she was going.”
Aetin continued probing.
“Did she bump you head-on or did her body brush past you, knocking you over with her shoulder?”
“Head-on!”
The Old Lady hesitated briefly, not understanding why Aetin asked, but quickly answered.
“After being bumped, you didn’t move at all?”
“My leg is probably broken! That girl didn’t help me, so I just had to sit here and wait for justice!”
The Old Lady nodded repeatedly, clutching her leg and groaning.
“I didn’t bump into you at all…”
At that moment, Seres couldn’t help but speak up.
“Oh my, the world’s really gone downhill! Young people don’t know how to respect elders anymore!”
The Old Lady immediately raised her volume and wailed even louder.
The crowd around them began pointing fingers and blaming Seres.
“I…”
Seres clenched her fists involuntarily, and the air around her began to condense into tiny ice crystals.
She was clearly about to lose control and use magic, but saw Aetin shake his head at her.
She forced herself to suppress the impulse.
“The injury does look serious. But I have a question…”
Aetin turned to the Old Lady, his tone still gentle.
His refined East Asian features gave off a refreshing, spring-like warmth.
“If you say Seres knocked you down head-on, then why are you lying on the side of the road? A head-on collision should leave you falling straight back. This clearly looks like she brushed past you.”
“Yes, yes, yes, she brushed me!”
The Old Lady was taken aback, hurriedly correcting herself.
She didn’t really care how it happened—as long as it ended the same way, the details didn’t matter.
Aetin smiled at this.
“Can’t even remember how you were knocked down?”
“I’m old. Is it so bad if I forget?”
The Old Lady stubbornly replied.
“But you clearly remember who knocked you down.”
Aetin stood up calmly and continued.
“I’m sure you prepared many lines for this little scam, enough to respond smoothly, but digging deep into a detail will reveal the flaw.”
The crowd’s opinion began to shift.
Some onlookers started sensing something was off, though most still sided with the Old Lady.
Faced with this, the Old Lady threw a tantrum, firmly insisting she couldn’t remember details clearly but that Seres definitely knocked her down and must pay compensation.
“You’re a student of Saint Dias Academy too, right? Are you in cahoots with this girl to bully an old lady?”
Someone in the crowd redirected their accusations at Aetin.
He didn’t even bother to respond—clearly those people had been planted.
But Seres grew anxious.
These people not only wrongly accused her but also dragged Aetin into this mess.
She hurriedly defended,
“This has nothing to do with Aetin! I’ll pay whatever is needed.”
She didn’t want Aetin to be implicated and was ready to take the blame herself.
“Money? Of course, compensation is necessary. I happen to know a bit about Healing Spells. Let me check your injury and assess the damage first, so we know how much to pay, alright?”
Aetin wasn’t bothered. Instead, he played along.
“My leg hurts so much I can’t move it. It’s definitely broken!”
The Old Lady saw Aetin suddenly siding with her and exaggerated her groans, making the injury seem worse.
She glanced at Aetin, thinking this young man was quite savvy.
Aetin pretended to bend over and examine the injury.
As he leaned down, a glass bottle containing liquid slipped out from his bag “accidentally” and shattered on the ground with a loud crack.
Instantly, a green liquid spilled everywhere, bubbling and fizzing.
“Oh no, I’m so clumsy, I made a mess everywhere.”
Aetin immediately put on a panicked expression, stood up, and pulled Seres back repeatedly, looking remorseful.
Then he shouted at the crowd,
“This is my experimental Magical Solution! It’ll explode quickly when exposed to air, everyone, move away!”
The crowd scattered immediately.
Since Aetin was a student of Saint Dias Magic Academy, everyone assumed he carried magical items, so they believed him and backed off, wary of the supposed explosion.
“Who will help the Old Lady to a safe place? It’s about to blow!”
Aetin pointed at the Old Lady from a distance.
“Why don’t you go?”
The so-called helpful onlookers didn’t dare approach and instead questioned Aetin.
“I’m scared too! I can’t help the Old Lady. If anything happens to her, I’ll definitely compensate her family.”
Aetin feigned cowardice, clasped his hands together as if praying.
Seeing Aetin wasn’t joking, the Old Lady suddenly sprang up like a fish flipping, ran faster than a young person, shouting,
“Don’t blow me up!”
and quickly disappeared around the corner.
“Clown.”
Aetin watched the Old Lady’s retreating back, his expression returning to normal as he muttered.
Only then did the crowd realize the Old Lady had staged the entire scam and wasn’t injured at all.
They sheepishly dispersed, paying no mind to the impact of their earlier accusations.
“Sorry, I got carried away.”
Aetin finally realized he was still holding Seres’ hand tightly, so he quickly let go and awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck.
“I should be the one thanking you, Aetin.”
Seres shook her head and lightly moved her wrist.
“It was nothing. People like her are despicable, always picking on honest folks.”
Aetin smiled.
“What about that?”
Seres pointed to the green liquid on the ground, her tone filled with concern.
She began gathering ice-blue magical light at her fingertips, ready to freeze the liquid to prevent an explosion, but Aetin reached out and stopped her.
“That’s just a functional drink I bought inside the academy. These people have never seen it before. I used it to scare that Old Lady.”
Aetin couldn’t help but laugh and waved his hand dismissively.
“Aetin, you really are something.”
Seres was momentarily stunned but then couldn’t help bursting out laughing.
She covered her mouth with the back of her hand, her eyes forming a beautiful arc.
“I honestly didn’t know what to do just now. Thank you so much.”
“To deal with people like that, you have to fight fire with fire, not follow the rules.”
Aetin shrugged casually.
“This is already the second time you’ve helped me. I want to thank you properly.”
Seres recalled Aetin’s help in class and this time’s rescue, speaking softly.
Her hands hung down, clasped in front of her, giving her a serious air.
“Hm… then just buy me a drink tomorrow. Consider it paying for this bottle.”
Aetin tilted his head thoughtfully.
He hadn’t helped Seres out of gratitude but to complete his system tasks.
Still, seeing her sincere expression, he gestured to the green liquid on the ground.
“Huh?”
Seres was momentarily surprised, then smiled gently.
“No problem.”
Watching Aetin wave goodbye and walk away, Seres stood still, lost in thought.
Though Aetin had transferred here over a week ago, they had only truly become close in the past two days.
Being with him gave Seres a kind of indescribable ease.
No need to keep a distance or worry about being offended—it was as natural as spending time with a longtime friend.
This comfortable, relaxed feeling was something she had never experienced with any other man.
Seres’ fingertips involuntarily brushed the wrist Aetin had just held, where a faint warmth still seemed to linger.
This feeling… really was quite nice.