Beast Gacha System: All Mine-Chapter 225: Absence

Under the stars pulsed in rhythm with the building’s own mana flow, and comets traced arcs that corresponded to the movement of powerful mages through the crowd below, Arkai walked.

Demonstration booths lined every available space.

Here, a team from the Crystal Coast showed off their latest breakthrough in scrying technology. Orbs that could locate any registered individual within a kingdom’s borders, for a fee.

There, a group of rune-scribes from the mountain clans offered personalized enchantments, their needles tracing glowing patterns onto parchment and skin alike.

Arkai moved through them, not at all seeming aimless. But he was.

Well, not that aimless, just... searching.

In the center of it all, a raised platform hosted continuous demonstrations.

A fire-eater who genuinely demonstrated combustion theory. An illusionist who created entire landscapes that attendees could walk through. A young woman whose magic moved colors, pulling rainbows from prisms and reshaping them into art.

Residual spells crackled at the edges of perception. The scent of ozone, incense, and something that might have been crystallized mana hung in every breath. Occasionally, a cheer would rise from some corner where a demonstration had succeeded spectacularly, or failed in an entertaining way.

Arkai kept walking, scanning.

Professors from a dozen academies circulated through the crowds, recognizable by their more subdued robes and the watchful looks in their eyes. They evaluated, recruited, and occasionally intervened when youthful enthusiasm outpaced youthful caution.

Some of them even greeted the Dawnoro’s Family heir, making small talks with him, before realizing he had ’better’ things to do.

Arkai looked around.

The conference swirled around him. Any other day, he would have been in his element. Working the crowd. Building connections. Representing the Dawnoro name with the subtle confidence that came from generations of power.

But today...

Cecilia Araceli wasn’t there.

Wasn’t she supposed to be helping with the conference? The organizing committee had assigned roles days ago. Surely the top student of the Unique Magic Department would have been given something important.

But if he asked anyone, it would just bring attention to her. To them.

He scanned the demonstration booths again. The clusters of students. The raised platform where a group from the eastern steppes was currently making flowers bloom from bare stone, their magic painting color across the winter-gray hall.

Nothing.

He checked the refreshment tables. The quieter corners where attendees gathered to debate theory in hushed, intense voices. The edges of the crowd where those who preferred observation to participation tended to linger, watching the chaos.

Nothing.

She should be here. The top student of the Unique Magic Department. The woman who had aced her certification while completing a remote initiation. The nerd who supposedly lived for this kind of academic gathering—where else would she be? 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Unless—

Arkai’s jaw tightened.

Unless she was with him. With Oathran. Visiting that mysterious transfer student, ignoring the conference entirely, choosing whatever connection they shared over the most significant magical event of the year.

Well... not like Eastiel Edengold was here either.

His information network had reported that the Edengold matriarch had sent her son on a task far, far south. Something important enough to keep him away from an event that would normally have drawn his attention.

Perhaps it made sense, then. Why Cecilia Araceli wouldn’t be here.

He told himself it didn’t matter.

He told himself he was just curious.

He told himself a lot of things, standing there in the crowd, scanning faces that weren’t hers.

Screw it.

Let’s just ask.

He turned, determined to find the event’s organizing committee and get a straight answer—

And found the committee leader himself.

"Oh, President, you’re here." Nikolas Delanivis greeted with polished politeness, his smile carefully calibrated to be neither too familiar nor too distant.

Standing beside him was the top student of the Vision Department. Ruby Vaiva.

Arkai’s gaze flickered between them, cataloguing automatically. The Athenaeum had three departments, and often, the three peaks were occupied by three girls. They were called, in the flowery language of student gossip, the three flowers of the peaks.

But only two were famous for their beauty. Angela Iondora, the princess, whose sharp features and sharper tongue had earned her the nickname La Vixenette Princesse. And Ruby Vaiva, whose delicate, endearing beauty fit her reputation perfectly.

Cecilia... for the longest time, no one had actually realized how beautiful she was. Arkai never understood why. The glasses she wore didn’t obscure her features that much. Surely people could see what was right in front of them? Apparently not.

The Princess was the most famous of the three flowers. She was the top student of the Force Department, and more often than not, Angela’s scores would equal his.

Though they didn’t match in every class or exam, the averages would even them out over the semester. Thus, they tied again and again over the years. Either she would fail to reach the top in one class while he succeeded, or vice versa.

And closely behind in the Force Department was his distant relative, Arzhen.

Ruby too often tied her ranks with Nikolas in the Vision Department. But she would be just slightly above him every time when the final calculations were made at the end of each semester.

So it could be said that the Force Department had two tops. Angela and himself. While the Vision Department had only one top who had almost never been dethroned.

But the Unique Magic Department had never come close to dethroning Cecilia Araceli.

She always had the perfect score. For all possible classes. All possible exams. The perfect, 100%, unquestionable score. To tie with her would require someone to do the same, to achieve absolute perfection across every subject.

If anyone wished to try and dethrone her, they would need to impress the professors more than she impressed them. Which was almost impossible.

"Good work." Arkai nodded at the two, his voice measured and professional. He turned to Ruby, who was carrying a stack of papers, her uniform stylish and pristine despite the conference chaos. "I didn’t know you were helping out. Your name wasn’t in the list of organizing committee members."

Ruby chuckled, a soft, self-deprecating sound. She looked down, lashes fluttering. "I-I’m not busy, Mr. Dawnoro. So, might as well... After all, everyone seemed so busy and needed help..."

Nikolas sighed, the sound heavy with meaning. "She’s here because someone else left." His lip curled slightly. "How inconsiderate... that girl..."

"Nik, come on." Ruby’s voice was gentle, reproachful. "Don’t speak about Miss Araceli like that. She must have something urgent to do..."

"Why are you still defending her," Nikolas’s voice sharpened, "when she clearly left knowing everyone still has work to do?"

"And what about her assigned work?"

Both Nikolas and Ruby flinched.

The question came from Arkai himself. He hadn’t planned to intervene, hadn’t planned to speak at all, but something about their interaction, their easy dismissal of Cecilia’s absence, had grated against a nerve he didn’t know he had.

"What about her assigned work?" Arkai repeated, his voice calm but edged. "Has she finished it?"

Nikolas recovered after a breath, his composure slipping back into place. "Well... she had finished her assigned work, but... everyone else hadn’t. So, at a time like this, wouldn’t it be best to help everyone else so everything gets done faster?"

Arkai scoffed.

The sound was light, almost amused, but his smile was cold. Stern. The kind of expression that made lesser men remember their place.

"Aren’t you the Committee Leader?" He tilted his head, considering. "Seeing her finish her assigned work faster than everybody else, why don’t you tell everyone else to follow her lead? Take her as an example?" His eyebrow arched. "It would help everyone else work faster too."

Why would this guy want to add to her burden? Arkai could even bet that Cecilia’s assigned work had been the hardest from the start, given to her precisely because she was the most experienced, the most naturally efficient.

And instead of using her as a benchmark, this fool wanted to drag her down to everyone else’s level.

"And since you’re the Committee Leader," Arkai continued, his voice dropping slightly, "why don’t you help with everyone’s work?" His gaze flickered to Ruby, then back to Nikolas. "Having fun walking around the conference with your girlfriend instead?"

Ruby’s face flushed crimson with shame. Nikolas looked down, a subtle panic flickering behind his eyes.

In the north, his family couldn’t compare to the Dawnoro. Everyone knew it. And right now, standing before the heir of that house, Nikolas Delanivis was being dismantled with nothing more than words.

Why... why would Arkai Dawnoro suddenly try to find faults in him? Was he... in a bad mood?

"Did she tell you where she left?"

Nikolas and Ruby raised their faces, flinching again at the sudden shift. "Yes?"

Arkai’s eyes narrowed. "Should I repeat myself?"

"N-no. Uhh... sh-she... she said she was leaving for her childhood town." Nikolas’s voice stumbled over the words. "S-so we thought... we thought she was eager to just... take a break early."

"Did you ever hear of Cecilia Araceli taking a winter break?" Arkai’s tone was flat, almost pitying. "She always had her initiation in winter instead of having a break."

He shook his head slightly.

"Nevermind. Just continue your work. I don’t expect subtle observation from you."

He dismissed them with a wave, and they bowed before retreating, their forms disappearing into the crowd.

Arkai watched them go, his expression one of disdain.

Morons.

The Vision Department was doomed this generation.

Cecilia Araceli was taking a break?

The girl who always had her initiation at winter breaks... suddenly left for her childhood town?

He better leave now before it was too late.