Noah nearly choked.

"You’re admitting that so casually?!"

"I never hid it."

"That somehow makes it worse."

Aria continued observing him quietly.

"Why?"

"Because attention is annoying," Asher replied. "The stronger people think you are, the more problems appear."

"That didn’t stop the Headmaster from exposing you."

"...Yeah."

For the first time, Noah noticed a faint trace of disappointment in Asher’s voice.

Not anger.

Just mild disappointment.

Like someone whose peaceful plans had been ruined.

A brief silence followed.

Then Asher finished the last of his juice and stood up.

"I’m leaving."

"Class hasn’t started yet," Noah said.

"I know."

"Then where are you going?"

"The garden."

"...To cultivate?"

"No."

"Then?"

"To sleep."

Noah looked at him with dead eyes.

"You really treat the academy like your personal vacation spot."

"Yes."

And with that—

Asher casually walked out of the cafeteria, leaving Noah and Aria behind.

Noah watched him leave before sighing deeply.

"...How is someone like that even real?"

Aria quietly looked toward the cafeteria entrance where Asher had disappeared.

Then she answered softly,

"I don’t know."

Asher reached the garden and, as always, lay down on the grass.

Then he thought,

So who’s the one pulling the strings behind the scenes? Celestine? Leon? Or does that guy just have a crush on Aria or something?

Whatever. It doesn’t matter as long as they don’t get in my way.

And as for their insults... why would they matter to me?

"I don’t care about anyone other than myself, or about what others think."

Asher closed his eyes after that thought

.

The cool breeze passed through the garden, rustling the trees softly. Sunlight filtered through the leaves, creating shifting patterns across the grass.

Peaceful.

Exactly how he liked it.

Students occasionally passed by the garden paths, but none approached him. Most recognized him by now.

The strange first-year who could casually defeat Rank 10 while looking half-asleep.

Some feared him.

Some admired him.

Some found him irritating.

Asher, however, cared about none of it.

While lying there, he lazily opened his subspace and pulled out another juice packet.

Apple flavor this time.

Then—

"Found you."

Asher slowly opened one eye.

Professor Elisa stood nearby, arms crossed.

"...Why?"

Elisa’s brow twitched faintly.

"Is that how you greet your professor?"

"Yes."

A brief silence followed.

Then Elisa sighed softly.

"At least stand up when speaking to me."

"Too much effort."

"...Asher."

Hearing the warning in her voice, Asher finally sat up reluctantly.

"What do you want, Professor?"

Elisa looked at him quietly for a moment before speaking.

"Why are you hiding your real abilities?"

Asher answered immediately.

"Because I want peace."

"That isn’t a proper reason."

"It is for me."

Elisa narrowed her eyes slightly.

"You realize people will keep targeting you if you continue acting strangely, right?"

Ignore them."

"That doesn’t work for everyone."

"It works for me."

Again—

A simple answer.

And annoyingly enough, she couldn’t even say he was wrong.

Asher genuinely seemed unaffected by other people’s opinions.

Elisa sat down on the bench nearby.

"You know," she said calmly, "most students your age crave recognition."

"Sounds exhausting."

"They want to prove themselves."

"To who?"

"The world."

"Why?"

Elisa stared at him.

That wasn’t sarcasm.

He was genuinely asking.

After a moment, she replied,

"Because people fear being insignificant."

Asher thought about it for a second.

Then shrugged.

"I don’t."

The answer came so naturally that Elisa went silent briefly.

There was no hesitation in his voice.

No insecurity.

No false confidence.

He truly didn’t care.

And somehow—

That mindset was more abnormal than his talent.

Then Elisa suddenly asked,

"Do you know what most professors think about you?"

"No."

"And you don’t care to know?"

"No."

Elisa rubbed her forehead lightly.

Talking to this child was mentally exhausting.

Still—

A faint smile appeared on her face.

"You’re lucky you’re talented."

Asher looked confused.

"Would you dislike me otherwise?"

"Yes."

"I see."

A short silence followed.

Then Asher suddenly asked,

"Professor."

"What?"

"Do you know how to make health potions taste better?"

Elisa stared at him for several seconds.

"...That is what you’re thinking about right now?"

"Yes."

"...Why?"

"Because they taste horrible."

For the first time in a while—

Elisa laughed softly.

A genuine laugh.

Then she shook her head.

"You really are hopeless."

"I’ve heard that a lot too."

After Elisa left, Asher slept there for a while before eventually returning to his room.

After having dinner with Noah and Aria—while completely ignoring the other students talking about him—he went back to his room and slept until morning.

The next day, he got ready for class.

After eating breakfast, he headed toward the classroom.

The first class of the day was Professor Elisa’s.

Asher entered the classroom a few minutes before the lecture began.

As usual, most of the students were already there.

The moment he stepped inside, several gazes immediately turned toward him.

Some curious.

Some wary. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Some irritated.

Asher ignored all of them and walked toward his seat near the window before sitting down lazily.

A few students nearby lowered their voices and began whispering again.

"That’s him..."

"The one who beat Rank 10."

Asher rested his chin on his hand and looked out the window.

Annoying.

A moment later, Noah entered the classroom and sat beside him.

A few moments later, Aria entered the classroom as well.

As always, several students instinctively made space for her.

She calmly walked to her seat without paying attention to anyone.

Then—

The classroom door opened once more.

Professor Elisa entered.

The room immediately quieted down.

Her sharp gaze swept across the class briefly before stopping on Asher for half a second.

Then she looked away naturally and placed several books onto the desk.

"Open your textbooks," she said calmly.

"We’ll continue learning mana circulation theory today."

A few students immediately looked disappointed.

Most combat-oriented students disliked theoretical lessons.

Elisa had barely started explaining the lesson before Asher slowly leaned against the wall beside the window and closed his eyes.

Noah noticed immediately.

"...You’re sleeping already?"

"Listening with my eyes closed," Asher replied calmly.

Noah looked unconvinced.

Meanwhile, Elisa continued teaching while writing several mana flow diagrams on the board.

"Mana circulation efficiency depends heavily on control," she explained. "The more stable the flow, the less energy is wasted during spellcasting."

Asher listened absentmindedly while half-asleep.

Most of this was basic knowledge to him anyway.

Then Elisa suddenly asked a question.

"If mana is disrupted during circulation, what happens to the spell structure?"

Several students avoided eye contact immediately.

A few looked uncertain.

Then—

"It destabilizes and collapses," Aria answered calmly.

Elisa nodded once.

"Correct."

She continued the lecture for a few more minutes before suddenly speaking again.

"Asher."

No response.

A vein faintly appeared on Noah’s forehead.

"You’re dead," he whispered.

Elisa’s smile looked unusually gentle.

"Asher Astrean."

Still no response.

The classroom became completely silent.

Then—

Without opening his eyes, Asher spoke lazily.

"The mana structure becomes unstable, the output decreases, and depending on the spell complexity, it may either collapse harmlessly or explode."

The class blinked.

Elisa stared at him for a moment.

"...Then why are you sleeping?"

Asher finally opened one eye.

"Because I already know it."

Several students twitched visibly at the shameless answer.

Elisa narrowed her eyes slightly.

"Then perhaps you’d like to explain advanced dual-layer circulation theory to the class."

Noah immediately looked at Asher with pity.

But Asher simply replied,

"No."

The classroom froze.

Even Elisa looked surprised for a second.

"...No?"

"Too troublesome."

A few students nearly choked trying not to laugh.

Elisa slowly placed the chalk down.

Then she smiled.

That smile instantly made several students nervous.

"I see," she said calmly.

"Then you’ll stay after class."

Asher stared at her for two seconds.

"...Why?"

"Because I said so."

"...This feels unfair."

"And sleeping during my lecture wasn’t?"

Asher thought about it briefly.

"...Fair point."

Noah covered his face.

Somehow, against all logic, this idiot was actually arguing normally with Professor Elisa.