[Eon's POV: ]
[[ "I want to gouge those eyes out." ]] Rein swore with pure anger in her eyes and chewed out her salad leaves.
[[ "I should be the angry one here dum dum. They are glaring at you more than me. Especially the ones from your own house. What's the problem with those bastards?" ]]
My answer was also filled with anger as I took a bite from the freshly decorated fruits before us and glanced at the other side where a group of students from our houses was glaring at the two of us.
[[ Should I punish them, sister Elle? ]] I could feel Celes also didn't like the look they gave us or their malevolent gazes.
But nothing would come out of a fight with a bunch of kids who hadn't even spent a day in this academy.
[[ "Yes Celes~! Let's do that~!!" ]]
But who would tell that simple thing to this weird fiancée of mine?
[[ "There is no need to harm those kids you two. They are weak anyway so Celes, no playing with kids here.
Go play in the academy castle or talk with the ancient tree grandpa outside. He said he wanted to tell you a story anyway.
He should have some sweet lights so you will have fun but no fighting.
And Rein… well, you could do something for self-defense if they do something to you first but don't hurt them too much." ]]
[[ Whaaa… I wanted to beat them! But alright master~! See you sister Elle~! ]]
And after saying that, Celes came out of her mark from my hand in an invisible state and flew out of this giant dining hall that housed hundreds and thousands of us.
It was dinner time right now and they had instructed us about the temporary resting rooms for tonight already.
We can do the process of dormitory assignment or house finding on this floating island tomorrow after the inauguration ceremony early in the morning so we mostly had tomorrow free to look around and get familiar with the academy and the places around the island.
A few nobles and royals present here already had their family's accommodations on this island. And though I also had land on the island in my name, and mom's villa nearby where Carla, Alf, Zoe, and Chry will stay, for this year, the two of us were going to stay in a special dormitory...
A young-looking girl with lavender-colored hair and silver eyes came to Rein as we were eating our dinner and asked politely, "H-hello? Can I sit here?".
She was wearing an attractive dress and there was a silver star on her not-at-all-modest chest and, there was a certain star-like mark that had a crescent moon in it imprinted on her star.
"Yeah sure. You are our vice-captain?" Rein asked while taking a sip from her glass of water and the girl nodded shyly as she sat down beside her.
The room was big so there were many empty places and for some unknown reason, the chairs on both our sides were empty right now.
"Y-yes! I'm Nebula Paras Gala… may goddess Diya bestow her grace on you c-captain!"
She seemed to be one of those cute shy types of girls who liked befriending others but unlike stereotypical flatbords, she had a little too good assets.
'Nebula, the young holy swordsman of the holy kingdom of Rahum. Seems like Rein has someone interesting on her side.'
She greeted me too after her and I gave her a calm smile, at which she blushed again. And Rein didn't like that.
"Hello, little Nebula. I see you are a pretty special one. You can call me Uriel, and… this bastard here is called Lucifer, my amazing fiancé."
Her introduction was simple but she certainly emphasized the word 'fiancé' a little too much. So much so that the students sitting six chairs away from us also heard it and got a shiver running down their spines.
The girl before her was only surprised though. And the blush on her face had become a dark blush of embarrassment now.
"N-no! I didn't mean to… I mean I just thought he feels weird, No! I-I I'm sorry!"
"What?" Rein had a frown on her face now. Confused about what this girl was even trying to say.
"Nothing! May the goddess bless you with a good night and tomorrow!"
She got up, bowed down toward both of us and ran away while covering her embarrassed face.
[[ "Seems like she is sensitive to the divine energy of my stigma and Ronna. Huhu looks like you will have competition, Rein." ]]
-Smack!
A smack on the back. Just the thing I expected after that laugh.
But it was a fact that she will have competition, not from just the girl after me but also the ones after her house. And I would be one of the people she will have to face while leading her house.
"Shut up and let's go if you are done. I'm sleepy." She complained with a look that certainly contained a warning to not say shit like that again.
"You are sleepy? Really? Weren't we going to stay up all night and talk about stuff that happened today and then 'play'?"
There was no way I could ask that without a grin on my face. And the frown on her face after that was also inevitable after her previous words.
"It's the same. Let's go!"
And then she dragged me by the end of my shirt, and instead of going to the rooms, we came out of the dining hall, passed the long lobby, and walked out of the gates of the middle part of the academy, ending up outside before the garden.
"Why here?" It was confusing why this weird girl brought me outside but when I sensed some activities from the area around us and the area behind the door that we just walked out from, I grasped the wicked intentions of this bad girl of mine.
"Seriously? We just ate."
"And this is after dinner exercise!"
She grinned and looked around the area covered with greenery bathed in the bright moonlight of night.
-Swiiiiiiiiiiiish!
-Clank.
A knife flew towards us from somewhere in the bushes but they were blocked by Rein's water magic shield.
There was a grin on her face after that, and as we saw, new figures popped up around us in this garden, and, at the same time, the doors behind us also slowly opened.
A group of four walked out from the door as two hooded figures also jumped off from the bushes and took off their hoods, revealing their young faces.
'What bad cliche entry…'
"Hello, house captain~! I think there was some misunderstanding here. We just came here to halve a little talk-"
"Yeah. Well, now get ready."
The two of the four that had walked out and one of the hooded ones were wearing luxurious items of clothing so it was easy to guess that they were some spoiled brats who thought they could 'talk' with Rein and gain some position in their house.
But sadly for them, they chose the wrong time and place, and opponent.
-Dhum! Bam! Boooooom!
-Ooooooooooooooong!
-Boooooooooooooooom!
"Good. Now you little brats. Tell anyone and everyone you see after today who has some problem with me or the vice house captain to come straight to meet me.
I will listen to them like right now and we could talk for a long time and clear out any doubt or question they have, ok?"
She was already bored and pissed from their gazes from earlier so they were genuinely the best punching bags for her.
"You…! You fucking bitch!! Do you know who we even are?! Do you know my father-"
"Of course she does Mike Goolen Boorav, son of Count Boorav from the southern kingdom of Bonak.
We heard your father recently faced some 'small' losses while investing in slave markets? Our sincere condolences." I smiled sadly at the boy who lay on the ground with his nose bleeding and his clothes in tatters.
He wasn't seriously hurt though, and the rest of them were the same.
Thankfully I told her to not hurt anyone or she might already have started the things that we weren't supposed to do for at least after the midterms.
But this much was good enough and she only used her water magic and nothing more so it was fine.
"Y-you…! How do you know-"
"Shut the fuck up you pig."
-Thum!
She stomped her foot right beside the place he was laying on the ground and the boy looked up at her with a wide-open gaze filled with pure horror.
"Your family is already on the path of ruins so you should hone that little talent of yours instead of trying to forcefully get on the good grace of someone in this fucked up comical way.
And you…"
The boy she was intimidating was scared shitless so there was no need for more words to him so she looked beside him and looked at the boy in a hood who wore normal commoner clothing under that.
"The day after tomorrow in the evening. Meet me right here if you are free."
The boy she was looking at had an old scar on his face and from his weak body, he didn't seem to be taking proper meals… or was blocked from having proper meals.
"Are you talking to me miss?" He asked with a straight fearless look in his eyes even though he was just beaten up by her and had a fresh wound on his hand. That was quite a nice look he had in those deep brown eyes.
"Yes, you. Why? You can do that?" She asked again with eyes full of serious questions.
"Yes. I'm afraid I can not do that. You see, the one you are scaring right now-"
"He is your master, I know. Doesn't change shit. He would naturally agree to that if I'm the one asking this." She menacingly smiled at the boy practically under her feet and the boy looked at her with a new smile that was so full of confidence which even surprised me.
"Hahaha! Now I understand! You filthy commoner bitch! You like this slave bastard, don't you?! You filthy-"
"That would be enough, Mike.
Show some respect if you want to study here peacefully.
Not only as your house captain she has the authority to file an expulsion order against her house members at any given moment, she is neither your slave nor someone you should even talk to while looking up as long as you are on this island."
His words were being too much so I had no choice but to say something.
And saying it simply wouldn't have worked much so I infused some Aura in my voice and concentrated it on him and his lowly group.
"It's fine darling. They aren't worth your attention. Except for this one. What's your name boy."
-Thump.
"Khaaaa!"
She stomped on the leg of the boy she was only intimidating just a moment ago even though he was stunned by the weight behind my voice and smiled at the slave boy.
But the boy was also horrified after feeling the dangerous force behind those mere words from me.
"Oy? I'm asking you something."
She snapped her finger before his eyes and the boy snapped out of that state of fright, looked at her with wide eyes, and then looked at his master, the boy who now cried in pain while holding his leg.
"Nox. My big sister used to call me that before they took her away and I was given to master."
"You damn slave! You are nothing more than a bastard who is supposed to do my chores here!"
-Thump!
"Khaaaaaaa!"
"Nox? Alright. Nox, listen. The fact that you are in this academy wearing that star means that you are a student here just like this bastard.
Yes you might have been his slave or whatever but, the moment you were given that star you wear now, meant that you had regained your individuality.
You aren't his slave or anything like that anymore so stop this bullshit.
You can talk to some teacher or authority and ask them to help you remove that slave mark and you would be free to do whatever you want here.
And don't worry about the costs of anything as long as you are in this academy.
They take care of most of the things for special cases like yours and also support them to the best of their abilities.
And you got 96th rank during the entrance exam anyway. You have more than enough points to remove that mark, get a good dorm room, and even go shop to your heart's content on the island after that.
Use that talent of yours to do something for yourself and find this big sister of yours instead of following these filthy bastards.
And as I said, meet me the day after tomorrow right here with a better look than that.
You are free from this filth."
-Thump!
"Khaaaaaaaa! You will pay for this bitch!!! You will pay!"
"Why not? I am rich anyway so come at me with as big of a force as you can. I will even accept official duels with a bunch of you chicks."
She glared at them, gave the special boy a little smile, and walked back toward me.
"That was refreshing. Haaa~. Alright. Let's go darling~."
Well, that wasn't as much fun for me but she was smiling so that much was enough for me.
"Do whatever you want but watch that mouth of yours." I glared at the boys one last time and then looked at the boy who had caught her eyes.
He was quite a normal boy from any normal perspective but that particular innate skill of his…
===Status===
Name: Nox
Race: Human
Age: 15
Strength: 81
Dexterity: 78
Stamina: 75
Magic Power: 54
Intelligence: 63
Luck: 33
Charm: 18
[Skill: Night walk, Dagger handling, Acrobatics. ]
…
============
"Nox. Follow her. You will get stronger than you can ever possibly imagine."
Nodding at him, I walked away with her from this serene moonlit garden.
It was a unique skill that probably even he doesn't understand at this moment but Rein was a master of darkness.
With her help, she can turn that currently fragile boy into someone that might even catch grandpa Zhen's attention and get into his good grace after graduating from the academy.
'And he can even become a formidable foe for our house so if he gets strong, the competition would become even more exciting, and ultimately, things would be even more exciting for all of us.'
It was a good one to invest her energy and the boy had potential, probably on the same level as the boy that Zoe and Chry met during their exam.
And by the arrow of luck, that boy was in our house anyway, so I also had a good prospect that I will have to teach and polish from the start but, Zoe was there to help me and lead our great house to the pinnacle that it once owned, so I wasn't alone there.
Things were going to be fun but for now…
"Alright. This place looks nice."
Rein used her shadow travel skill and we were now on a high branch of the ancient tree, standing right under the eternal blue moon and looking at each other.
A green ball of light also materialized beside us so I knew we at least won't be alone today.
And we didn't need to be alone anyway so I started my story of how some girl tried kissing Rein in the astral realm this morning.
It was a fun time and the night was young, and we knew tomorrow was going to be fun, hectic, and full of work too so we sat on the tree branch with her gentle head on my lap and I caressed her brown hair that did nothing to hide her bewitching beauty.
The night was fine, things were going to be quite something when the headmaster gives his special speech to the students tomorrow, it was going to be difficult to get the dorm that would let the two of us stay in the same room, but I knew as I saw her deep black eyes looking into my blue ones that…
'Well, you already know.'
