Cassien stood still for a moment, awkwardly scratching the back of his head before slowly turning around.

"Well... well," he smiled lightly, "if it isn’t the one and only Ms. Moon."

"Don’t give me that crap!" Aiysha shoved the note he had left behind directly into his face. "You see this? Yeah, now that I’ve found you, explain what exactly you did back there."

Cassien smiled, though internally he was already calculating his next move.

’Jeez... it didn’t even take her a full day to find me.’

His eyes drifted around the area casually.

’Guess Adam really did cause some sort of commotion. Hmm... what do I do now?’

He paused for a brief second.

’Oh. There it is.’

His gaze landed on Victoria just as she stepped into their conversation.

"Aiysha?" Victoria blinked.

"Vicky?"

Almost instantly, Aiysha’s anger seemed to dissolve. She rushed forward and wrapped Victoria in a hug.

"Oh my gosh! This academy is so boring. Do you know how much I missed talking to my friend?"

Victoria gently patted Aiysha on the head as if soothing an overly energetic pet.

"No worries. I’m here now."

For a moment, Cassien simply stood there and watched the interaction unfold.

’I guess the novel really wasn’t exaggerating how close these two were.’

As the two girls continued chatting, Aiysha’s murderous aura from earlier somehow completely disappeared after seeing the so-called Purple Darkness in person.

"Hshsh..."

Cassien glanced to the side.

"Hshshsh... huuuhhh... hoooooh."

The strange breathing continued for a moment longer.

"Well, well," Cassien looked down at the figure hunched over with his hands on his knees, gasping for life itself. "If it isn’t Ren Castor in the flesh. What exactly are you doing here?"

Ren continued breathing heavily before finally standing upright and adjusting his glasses.

"Well... okay, so apparently... yes, apparently we are..." He paused awkwardly. "How do I explain this?"

"Just tell him the actual story, oddball," Aiysha interrupted while walking over. "He’s my servant."

Ren immediately turned red.

Cassien blinked.

"Is that true?"

"N-no!" Ren practically yelled. "We’re friends... for now."

He smiled awkwardly.

Cassien stared at him for a second.

’Damn, Ren.’

’I wasn’t aware of your game.’

Back in the conversation, Aiysha’s attention shifted back toward Cassien.

"I still don’t know what you did, and frankly, I won’t question it right now." Her expression returned to that same dangerously calm stare as before. "For now, I’ll let this slide. Mostly because I don’t feel like upsetting Victoria, who has very clearly taken a liking to you."

Cassien smiled and nodded lightly.

’It’s always the ones with doom practically looming over their heads that act the coldest.’

’I guess it suits them.’

As that thought settled, Victoria approached the group once more.

"Aiysha, and... your name was Ren, correct?"

Both nodded attentively.

"Perfect." She smiled. "Now that I have both of your attention, I wanted to offer a quest we can all take together."

She took the mission sheet from Cassien, who allowed it without resistance.

"For now, only the two of us are confirmed to go, but we’re in need of both a swordsman and..." She glanced at Ren. "Well, a Ren."

Ren blinked.

Victoria continued as if that explanation was sufficient.

"We’ll split the rewards equally, with the exception of one person receiving a slightly larger cut."

Aiysha didn’t even bother reading the contents of the mission.

"If you’re going, then I don’t mind joining either."

Ren nervously wiped the fog forming on his glasses.

"O-oh... well, you see, I may have already committed myself to another quest—"

"You’re going too."

Aiysha grabbed the edge of Ren’s academy uniform and physically dragged him closer into the group.

"Seriously, how did you even make it past the trials?" she muttered. "I heard they valued action just as much as intelligence, so how exactly did your sorry self get admitted?"

She shrugged.

"Doesn’t matter now. You’re coming with us."

Her tone left absolutely no room for negotiation.

Ren sighed in defeat.

And with that, the group headed over to officially sign off on the quest.

...

Before everyone parted ways, Victoria instructed the entire group to meet in her office by morning at exactly 9:00 AM.

The purpose was simple.

To go over the mission plan, travel route, and any other necessary details.

Everyone agreed, mostly because none of them had anything particularly better to do.

Afterward, they all went their separate ways.

Time passed quickly.

It was already 2:00 PM.

Cassien asked Ren whether he wanted to head to the cafeteria together.

Ren agreed almost immediately, his stomach audibly protesting from starvation.

The two made their way there.

...

2:15 PM.

After finally ordering their food, both of them sat down.

The cafeteria itself was massive, filled with countless tables and seating arrangements spread across spotless marble flooring.

Students filled nearly every available seat, their immature chatter and irrational yelling blending together into one giant wave of noise.

Cassien looked down at his tray.

’Academy food... serve me well.’

With that thought, both of them dug in.

As they continued eating their aggressively average-tasting meals, someone suddenly slammed their tray directly onto the table in front of them before taking a seat opposite both Ren and Cassien.

"Well," she said, leaning forward slightly. "You really proved me wrong."

Cassien slowly looked up.

It was Amelia.

The same girl who had doubted him earlier, before his fight with Jameson.

Now seated directly across from both him and the protagonist.

"I mean, seriously," Amelia continued, shoving a spoon into her mouth, "who even are you? What exactly did you do back there?"

Cassien tilted his head.

"Me?" he asked aloud. "Nothing special. He was just weak."

Amelia narrowed her eyes.

"A liar."

She pointed her spoon toward him accusingly.

"You won’t even tell me? How annoying."

Cassien smiled.

"I thought you were the one who told me you had no friends. What happened?"

Amelia rolled her eyes.

"I do. They just didn’t feel like eating right now."

"I see..."

Amelia squinted.

"Was that sarcasm?"

"Maybe." Cassien shrugged. "Maybe not. Who knows?"

"Ehh, whatever."

Ren continued eating, completely unbothered by any of it.

Eventually, he glanced upward.

"Friend of yours?"

Cassien tapped lightly against his jaw.

"Not really. I don’t even know her."

Ren laughed.

"I know those types. Trust me." He adjusted his glasses. "Fangirls, am I right? What I’d do in life to acquire one of those..."

Cassien looked down at him, mildly surprised by the sudden shift in language.

’Was he this bold this early in the story?’

’Interesting.’

Stomp!

A loud sound suddenly echoed across the cafeteria, instantly silencing the surrounding noise.

Cassien’s attention shifted forward.

A single young man had stepped onto one of the cafeteria tables, completely unfazed by the hundreds of eyes now fixed on him.

He looked around calmly.

"Well," he said, his voice quiet but sharp enough to carry throughout the room.

"I’ll get straight to the point."

A brief pause followed.

Then his eyes sharpened.

"Who in here is part of the [Transmigration Games]?!"