"Hmm... a rare Albino Lizard came on its own, giving you this A-rank artifact?"

Professor Lysandra spoke while looking at the pristine white lizard in front of her with a curious gaze.

As a healer, she, of course, could easily see the lizard was somehow injured in its soul.

Although she was curious how Soren managed to heal it already, it did make his story credible.

After all, only a necromancer generally had the ability to injure someone’s soul, and it made sense for Curcible to try to kill it when it snatched such a precious compass from them.

’Then again, isn’t this guy... too lucky?’

Lysandra thought, looking at Soren intently, making him uncomfortable while Sylvia pouted more and more beside him.

For a moment, the tent was enveloped in a strange silence until Lysandra spoke.

"Okay... I understand your concern and why you want to contact Lyra. I will help you then."

This was a serious matter involving a possible invasion, after all. Even if she didn’t want to, she had to do it.

"As for this Albino lizard..."

Lysandra lightly threw a dark potion at Soren, which he caught reflexively.

"Just give it this to drink, and it will wake up soon. This potion can temporarily weaken its power, too. So, if you can, make a beast contract. Otherwise, just throw it into the forest before it goes wild in our camp."

She gave the directions before getting ready to leave.

However, before she did so, she didn’t forget to invite Soren, this time by herself rather than through Sylvia.

"By the way, go join my club when you have time...unless you’re planning to just sit back and lose that little girl completely."

But her ways of invitation seemed a bit casual.

"I’ve heard a certain ’cool’ senior has been getting pretty close to her lately, you know."

She gave a meaningful look to Soren before abruptly turning around and leaving the tent in a hurry.

"What? Hey, Professor, what the heck do you mean by ’close’?"

It was as if she were afraid that Sylvia would point at her for lying.

But to satisfy her curiosity about this guy, she didn’t mind using her student. She would compensate her later by helping her anyway.

Lysandra hoped that Sylvia would understand.

No, she was sure of it.

***

"That bitch... how dare she..."

Sylvia cursed for the nth time, kicking the pebble under her foot strongly, her face filled with fury.

Currently, she was returning to her tent with Soren, her mood completely ruined.

"What the heck does she mean by ’sit back and lose that girl’? Am I a loose girl who will go with anyone?"

She couldn’t help but mumble, clenching her fist so hard that her knuckles turned white.

If before she disliked Lysandra slightly, now she hated that vixen.

How could she not understand that the woman was using her to get Soren to join her club?

Only, how dare she try to make a rift in their relationship?

To be honest, if Lysandra hadn’t quickly disappeared from her tent, Sylvia probably would have cursed her outright.

"So much for being a professor... she has no dignity."

"Haha... Sylvia, let it go already. Professor Lysandra is like that sometimes. She didn’t mean to say you are a loose girl or something."

Soren was a bit amused to see Sylvia getting so angry for the first time. To be honest, even in anger, she looked quite cute.

So much so that Soren quickly wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her gently into him, smelling her freshness.

"Besides, do you think I will believe anyone? Why would I get jealous over nothing?"

If there was anyone loose here, then it had to be Soren, not her.

"Tch... I know, I just don’t like her."

Sylvia naturally leaned on his shoulder, relaxing her nerves before pouting at Soren.

"Still, don’t do what she says, okay? She is just using a dirty trick to get you to join her club."

She argued,

"You are an archer, and there is no need to join us, healers. In fact, how about I also leave that useless place too?"

Although what Lysandra had said wasn’t true, it was still true that Kairon had been pestering her recently.

Especially after he saw her with Soren, he seemed to have gone mad. And because he was a senior in the same club, she couldn’t even get rid of him completely.

What was the point of being in that club then?

"No... don’t leave right now. In fact, I have also decided to join the Radiant Sacred club, to be honest."

Surprisingly, Soren immediately stopped her, making Sylvia confused.

"What? Why do you want to join it?"

"....Don’t tell me..."

For a moment, her overthinking brain began working rapidly, jumping to a very bad conclusion as she looked at Soren, her eyes instantly growing moist.

"S-Soren... d-do you doubt me?"

Otherwise...?

Why would he suddenly want to join a healer club while being an archer?

Sylvia couldn’t think of any other reason, making her feel betrayed.

Just when she was on the verge of crying, Soren suddenly flicked her glabella with his finger, eliciting a moan of pain from her.

"Idiot... if I doubt you, why would I stop you from leaving the club? Isn’t it better for me if you leave?"

Soren rolled his eyes, feeling that sometimes Sylvia thought too much. He didn’t know what kind of thought process she had.

"I have my own reasons for joining the club, you know. Besides, Prof. Lysandra is a good potionist, despite being a healer."

Soren remarked,

"You can learn many things from her. Didn’t you want to be more helpful in battle before? She can help you quite easily."

He didn’t lie.

Although Lysandra was an S-rank healer by class, she had uncanny expertise in potionology.

In fact, he bet that the dark potion she just gave him was made by her personally.

Just... she was a bit paranoid in her way of researching. So much so that Soren wouldn’t dare to drink the potion she made.

’Well, this should work as intended, right?’

Soren thought, glancing at the dark potion in his hand and the limp albino lizard resting on his shoulder, restrained by the Crimson Queen Lash.

For a moment, he didn’t know whether to give it or not.

"Is that so? Potionist, huh? That’s something I didn’t know about."

Sylvia mumbled, genuinely surprised by Soren’s words.

"Hmph... but still, her behavior is very bad. If she continues to play around like this, I won’t stay in her club anymore."

It was clear that she took Soren’s words to heart and calmed herself down. But that didn’t mean she forgave Lysandra already.

"Okay... I didn’t mean to force you to stay anyway. Just try and see if you can learn something useful. If not, we can just leave."

Soren consoled her before signaling toward his tent.

"But first, let’s give this potion to this guy. It is still asleep, and I don’t want to waste my time waiting for it to wake up."

He just wanted to know whether, after waking up, the Albino Lizard would still want to make a pact with him.

Things were going to get pretty hectic these days with Crucible’s appearance.

Having a pet of his own might help him somehow, who knew?