Professor Vance spent the remainder of the lecture elaborating on the sheer scale of the upcoming Spring Festival.

He detailed how prominent figures from across the kingdom, royal court advisors, high-ranking military officers, and wealthy guild masters and many more would be wandering the campus grounds, actively scouting for future talent.

"Registration forms for vendor booths, combat exhibitions, and magical displays will be available at the central administrative building immediately after classes conclude today," Vance announced as the final bell began to toll.

"Dismissed."

I slung my heavy leather bag over my shoulder, letting out a quiet, incredibly long-suffering sigh.

What an absolute pain in the ass. A massive, public festival with hundreds of unpredictable variables walking the grounds was the exact opposite of the quiet, low-profile existence I was trying to maintain.

I turned my head to see if Kyle was ready to leave.

But he was staring at the professor’s empty podium, his eyes practically sparkling. A massive, ear-to-ear grin slowly spread across his face, radiating an aura of pure, unadulterated chaos.

Why do I suddenly sense a massive amount of trouble coming my way? I thought, my stomach sinking slightly. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

---

Ten minutes later, my instincts were proven absolutely correct.

We were standing in front of the towering white marble columns of the administrative building.

The courtyard was already swarming with eager students, but Kyle’s booming voice easily cut through the noise.

"A culinary exhibition!" Kyle declared proudly, planting his hands on his hips. "Specifically, a high-heat, mana-infused Flame-Boar stall! It’s brilliant! People will be starving after watching the duels, and we’ll make a killing in silver!"

"I am absolutely not participating in a glorified peasant kitchen," Tobias deadpanned, adjusting his wire-rimmed glasses with a look of profound aristocratic disgust.

"I am a scholar. I will submit a theoretical paper on mana-density to the exhibition hall like a civilized person."

"Oh, come on, Toby!" Sira practically yelled, slapping the bespectacled mage forcefully on the back.

"A paper is boring! Meat is money! Plus, we need your fire affinity to keep the grills hot without wasting expensive runic stones."

"My name is Tobias," he gritted out, stumbling slightly from the sheer force of her strike. "And my affinity is not a substitute for cheap firewood—"

"Perfect! It’s settled!" Kyle cheered. He grabbed my sleeve with one hand and Tobias’s perfectly pressed jacket with the other. "Let’s go get the forms before the good courtyard spots are taken!"

I pinched the bridge of my nose, feeling a dull headache beginning to form behind my eyes as Kyle physically dragged us up the marble steps.

Tobias muttered a string of highly sophisticated curses under his breath, thoroughly calculating exactly how far his academic dignity was about to plummet, but neither of us actually fought back.

We navigated the chaotic, crowded interior of the administrative hall, eventually making our way to the Student Council registration desks.

A thoroughly exhausted second-year girl was manning our line. Her hair was frizzy, and she looked like she had already processed a hundred identical forms today.

"Exhibition or vendor?" she asked dryly, not looking up from her inkwell.

"Vendor!" Kyle said brightly, slamming his hands down on the desk. "Team Flame-Boar!"

What the heck is that name?

Sira and Kyle eagerly leaned over the desk, aggressively scribbling their names and the stall’s logistical requirements onto the heavy parchment. When they were finished, Kyle slid the form over to us.

"Sign on the dotted line, boys," Sira ordered with a smug grin. "Welcome to the labor force."

Tobias looked at the parchment as if it were coated in poison, but he elegantly signed his name anyway. I just offered a quiet sigh and scrawled Jin Raith at the bottom of the registry.

The second-year girl stamped the form with the official Academy seal, and just like that, we were legally bound to three days of manual labor.

We filtered back out into the afternoon sun, the day quickly passing into a comfortable, lighthearted rhythm as we sat around a stone table in the courtyard to plan the logistics.

"I’m not hauling the cast-iron grills from the storage sheds," Kyle immediately declared, leaning back on the wooden bench. "My ribs are still bruised. Jin has to do the heavy lifting."

"You literally volunteered us for this, you lazy bastard," Sira shot back, throwing a crumpled piece of scrap parchment at his head.

Kyle easily dodged it.

"And Jin is paying for the initial ingredient supply. Which reminds me..." Sira turned to me, holding out her hand expectantly.

"Your treat for the planning snacks. Go buy us sweet buns. This creative process is starving me."

"You ate a massive lunch two hours ago," Tobias pointed out, though he immediately began sketching a thermal-retention runic array on a piece of scrap paper.

"If you are going to extort Jin, at least ask for coffee. We have to design a ventilation spell so we don’t suffocate our own customers in grease smoke."

I sighed, tossing Sira a few copper coins from my dimensional ring so she could go raid the campus bakery.

And just sat there at the stone table, nodding along as Kyle and Tobias fell into a heated argument. I offered a few suggestions on spice rubs, seamlessly blending into the relaxed, chaotic banter of my friends.

But behind my stoic, faintly amused expression, I was checking the position of the afternoon sun dipping toward the western horizon.

Five hours, I calculated internally, the lighthearted banter fading into background noise.

Mira and her squad should have the high-yield charges fully rigged to the bridge’s load-bearing pillars by now. The Syndicate’s southern caravan will hit the canyon pass precisely at dusk.

Kyle laughed loudly at something Sira yelled from across the courtyard. I offered a small smile in return, tapping my fingers idly against the stone table.

Tick tock, Marcus, I thought, my eyes staring completely through the academic blueprints in front of me.

Let’s see how arrogant you are when your family’s empire collapses into the river.