Yize frowned slightly, his gaze calmly sweeping over the group of uninvited guests before him.
They were all dressed in the uniforms of Lymond Academy, their expressions arrogant—it was obvious they hadn’t come with good intentions.
The man and woman at the head of the group were striking in their own distinct ways.
The man stood tall and straight, with refined features and a pair of gold-rimmed glasses. His entire presence exuded a classical, composed aura, the kind belonging to a scholar or a researcher.
At his side, the young woman looked petite and delicate, appearing no more than fifteen or sixteen. Her skin was almost translucent in its fairness, and her two golden pigtails bounced playfully. At this moment, her big sapphire eyes were practically blazing as she fixed a death stare on Luke.
“Senior Rogue!” The twin-tailed girl—Eloise—suddenly raised her hand, her finger nearly poking Luke on the nose. “It’s him! This red-haired guy! He pretended to be a student of our Lymond Academy and boasted shamelessly in the commercial district, making our academy’s potions out to be worthless!”
Her voice was crisp but edged with sharp anger. After speaking, her gaze shot like an arrow toward Emma.
“And her! She’s the one selling those so-called potions at Serenity Moon Wharf, even boasting that they’re better than anything from Lymond Academy!”
Luke: “???”
Emma: “???”
Yize: “……”
Yize quietly let out a sigh of relief.
It seemed, for now, this had nothing to do with him…
The system hadn’t sent any alerts yet. Maybe he could slip away now and think of a way to help his seniors later?
His mind rapidly calculated the risks and benefits.
That man called Rogue…the name rang a bell. Yize quickly searched his memory—one of Dean Yukino of Lymond Academy’s direct disciples, a fourth-rank mage.
Just as Yize was about to quietly shift his weight and make a “strategic retreat,” a figure he absolutely didn’t want to see at this moment slipped out from behind the Lymond students.
It was the tavern attendant!
His face was plastered with a fawning smile as he brought over a cup of hot tea, respectfully offering it to Rogue. Then he lifted his hand to point at Yize, his voice loud as he exposed him: “Lord Rogue! Please see clearly! The mastermind behind all this is him! He forced me to recruit five adventurers to pose as plants and spread rumors in the commercial district, and he also made me get uniforms from the Serenity Moon Chamber of Commerce! I was coerced!”
As he spoke, he bowed his head, feigning the pitiful air of a wronged victim, but as he retreated behind Rogue, he didn’t forget to shoot Yize a triumphant and provocative glance.
Yize’s mouth twitched almost imperceptibly. Good grief, so much for getting out unscathed.
He looked at the tavern attendant: “So bold? Don’t want the antidote anymore?”
At these words, the attendant showed no fear. Instead, he twisted his burly body shyly and, with a deliberately frail and trembling tone that made one’s scalp crawl, said, “Lord Rogue’s medical skills are divine—he saw long ago that I wasn’t poisoned. You despicable scoundrel, don’t even think of controlling me with such dirty tricks again…You almost, almost succeeded. My innocence was nearly lost…”
Yize: “……”
Rogue: “……”
Even Rogue, who had seen much in his day, was left speechless by the attendant’s exaggerated act. Without a word, he shifted his chair back half a foot, trying to put some safe distance between them.
At that moment, Emma suddenly stepped forward, spreading her arms to shield Yize and Luke behind her.
She raised her head high—though her face was a little pale, her voice was unwaveringly firm: “This all happened because of me! I was the one who asked them to do it! All responsibility is mine alone. If you want to arrest or punish someone, take me! Leave my juniors out of it!”
Rogue adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses and let out a contemptuous snort. “Miss… I can tell you’re of noble birth. Do you really think I don’t know that you were forced to sell potions on the street to raise ransom money because you were blackmailed?”
His gaze was sharp, as if he saw through everything. “Instructed them? With your brain?”
Emma’s face flushed bright red in an instant. She bit her lip hard, nails nearly digging into her palm, yet she couldn’t utter a single word in protest.
Rogue turned away from her, his demeanor calm as he looked to Yize, his tone brooking no argument: “You all impersonated students of my academy and maliciously smeared our reputation. This matter demands an explanation to Lymond Academy.”
Emma stubbornly lifted her head. “What kind of explanation do you want?”
“It’s simple,” Rogue said slowly. “Please come with me to Lymond Academy and explain everything in person to my teacher, Dean Yukino.”
Though he said “please,” the Lymond Academy students around him were already closing in, forming a tight encirclement—clearly ready to use force.
Yize was a little dumbfounded. That was way too quick to get physical.
Couldn’t they at least talk a bit more, brag, exchange a few threats, and drag it out a little?
At least give them some time!
“Senior Yize,” Luke had already slipped on his modified [Magic Power Amplifying Gloves], his body tensed as he lowered his voice. “Senior Yize, things are looking bad. Should we…fight our way out?”
“Fight what!” Yize almost couldn’t hold back from smacking him.
If he really fought his way out, by tomorrow the news “Stellar Academy’s good-for-nothing student Yize is actually a hidden master, single-handedly crushing Lymond’s elite” would be all over the Empire!
After that, there wouldn’t be a single human city left where Yize could show his face.
Emma clearly misunderstood Yize and Luke’s whispered exchange, thinking they were scared.
She took a deep breath, a hint of grim resolve in her eyes, and whispered to the two, “Don’t be afraid, juniors. Stick close to me later. I’ll use magic to clear a path—we’ll break out together!”
Yize and Luke fell silent at her words.
Yize was almost at his wit’s end: Senior, where on earth is your confidence coming from?
You’re a third-rank support specializing in healing and buffs. The other side has a fourth-rank and a bunch of third-rankers, plus martial artists. That’s not breaking out—that’s walking straight into a slaughter!
He only hoped now that Emma would keep quiet and stop escalating things.
At this moment, Yize felt it would be safest to come clean about his identity.
Since Claire was their teacher, wasn’t it only right for her to clean up after them?
Holding onto pride at this point was just asking for trouble.
“Whoosh—!”
Without warning, a strong yet not violent whirlwind whipped up inside the tavern, neatly forcing back the Lymond students who were about to seize them and shielding Yize and the other two at its eye.
Immediately after, a clear and melodious female voice sounded from the doorway, tinged with a lazy smile but unyielding in its words:
“Rogue, trying to ‘invite’ my juniors right in front of me—isn’t that…a bit too disrespectful to Stellar Academy?”
Everyone looked to the source and saw a woman step leisurely into the tavern.
She wore the black Distinguished Student uniform, the highest honor of Stellar Academy. Her figure was tall and graceful.
Her long golden hair shone like sunlight, draping smoothly over her shoulders. Her emerald green eyes sparkled like the finest jade—clear and deep.
Her features were exquisitely beautiful, as if carved by a master craftsman. Her skin was fairer than snow, lips curved in a faint, enigmatic smile.
Just by standing there, she seemed to radiate an aura that brightened the previously dim and noisy tavern, making everyone else seem dull and pale beside her.
This was the absolute leader among Stellar Academy’s students, Yize and Emma’s direct senior disciple, and the young generation’s acknowledged genius of the Empire—Sara!
“Sara!” Luke cried out in delight.
Emma stiffened slightly, instinctively avoiding Sara’s gaze as a complicated mix of emotions flickered in her eyes.
As for Yize, after his initial shock and relief at being saved, he was almost moved to tears.
Since crossing over, it was the first time he had so genuinely welcomed the “protagonist’s” arrival! The timing was perfect!
However, the smile on his lips froze before it could fully bloom.
Because Sara hadn’t come alone. The light at the tavern door was blocked as a crowd of figures streamed in behind her.
These people were varied in appearance, each dressed in the uniforms of different academies—clearly, they were elite students from every academy sent to investigate the Lymond territory.
Yize’s gaze swept rapidly over the crowd like a scanner, his heart suddenly tightening as a chill shot from his toes to the top of his head!
In that crowd, he saw the last person he wanted to see—the one who embodied his earliest, most foolish, and painful memories since crossing over.
The one he had once mistaken for the protagonist: short-haired, commanding, a queenly voice, with the madwoman Angelica standing behind her—Arsède Rhea!
Why was she here too?!