"Good morning, Professor!"

"Morning, Art."

The next day, in front of the academy entrance, Art came across Grim standing idly, as if awaiting someone. Approaching her, he greeted her, and she turned to face him, responding with a lovely smile.

"How are you doing?"

Keeping her smile, she placed her hand within her coat, seemingly searching for something. As she did, Art straightened his collar and responded, "I'm fine."

"That's great." She cheered, retrieving a rectangular, long bar of chocolate in a red wrapper.

"Here!" She tossed it at him.

"Thanks." He caught it, a bit surprised but happy nonetheless.

"I know this isn't much, but this is my thanks for yesterday."

"Yesterday?"

"Yes. I don't know what you did, but a few minutes after you left, Cheshire returned, displayed her ability to use aura, and asked me to score her."

"She did, huh?" Art thought, tearing the wrapper of the chocolate to take a bite.

"What about Valerie? Did you finish your business with her?"

"She's a tough nut to crack, but we'll get there."

"Is it that serious?"

Art, already aware of Valerie's situation, pretended to be surprised.

"It wasn't serious... just complicated."

The sudden pause Grim took before continuing made it clear she wasn't pleased with talking about Valerie's situation with him.

"Well, I hope it turns out fine." He remarked, choosing not to dwell further on Valerie's situation. For now, Art intended to minimize contact with Valerie, as she was not essential at the moment. She was strong, but all that strength was locked away by her trauma. He knew a way of breaking that mental block now, but he felt she wasn't ready yet.

"By the way, Professor, do you know when Professor Villier will be back?"

"...Oh, you want to leave me that much?"

Grim pouted, causing Art to panic. He quickly shook his head to explain.

"No... It's just..."

"You don't have to explain yourself. You were just worried about him."

"Tsk, as if." Art furrowed his brow, finding her words annoying. Him, worried about that bastard? Over his dead body. He was just worried that the further Villier was away, the more likely he would come into contact with something he shouldn't. But he couldn't tell Grim that, so it came across as him worrying about that bastard.

**"You know, there's no harm in saying you want to be his friend."

"As if." Art shrugged, finding the mere thought foolish.

"Really? I think he treats you well... in contrast to other new instructors, I mean."

A glare from Art caused her to change her wording a bit, but she wasn't entirely wrong. Villier was usually indifferent to others—from colleagues to students alike. Among the academy faculty members, there were few he paid attention to or even spoke to, and Art was one of those.

Art being his teaching assistant wasn't by mere coincidence but by Villier's own accord, as he had gone to the headmistress to ask for the young teacher to be assigned to him. He didn't exactly treat him well, per se, but he had definitely warmed up to him in his own peculiar way.

"If you're that interested in when he'll be back, then it should be next week."

"I see."

The change in Art's tone denoted worry, but Grim did not comment on it because the type of worry she sensed wasn't the kind one felt for a friend's safety but rather paranoia for when something bad would happen.

"As I thought, he is suspicious!"

Thinking to herself, her eyes grew cold momentarily as she kept her attention fixated on him.

During the moments she was observing him, she found him tilting his head, glaring at empty space, and then showing subtle surprise as his brow rose for just a split second before he locked eyes with Grim, whose eyes returned to their warmer state.

"Shall we head to class?" She suggested, taking the lead up the stairs to the campus.

Art's reaction was delayed as he found himself running after her.

---

"She's after me again."

Valerie, taking a seat, mused to herself, her eyes drawn to Trish, whom she once again found herself sitting beside. It wasn't just a matter of them choosing to be consistent and take the seats they had occupied the previous day. Rather, since the moment they stepped into the classroom, Valerie—scared of Trish—had tried to find a new seat, only to be followed by Trish like a duckling. Within minutes, she had switched positions ten times, and during those times, Trish would always follow her. So, fed up, she went back to her seat from the previous day just because.

"The princess is bothering you?"

Her other seatmate, a dark-haired boy with blood-red eyes, commented, altering his gaze between her and Trish.

Valerie nodded, causing him to smile a bit.

"That's Trish for you. She stalks everything she finds interesting."

"Keep your mouth out of this, Damien!"

A warning came from Trish in the background, but the dark-haired boy ignored her.

"So, you're saying she's interested in me?"

Valerie inquired, wondering what was so interesting about her to warrant Trish's attention.

"In some way, yes. After all, Miss Valerie, aren't you one of the Seven?"

"That's a title for show..."

She hesitated before continuing, "I'm relatively weak as far as things are concerned."

Her title as one of the Seven was something she had earned by being the student of a very strong person, but apart from that, there wasn't anything special about her.

She could wield a sword alright, but anything else, she was lacking in. She couldn't properly harness her aura, nor could she use most of the techniques her master had taught her because of the aforementioned problem.

"Well, being part of the Seven isn't all about strength but rather potential."

"Is there much difference?" She muttered.

"Yes, there is."

"What is it, then?"

"Strength has to do with what you can do now, and potential is what you can do in the future—or so my sister says, anyway."

"Your sister must be wise, then." Valerie remarked.

"Of course. She's perfect, after all."

She couldn't tell if Damien was joking or if he truly believed his sister was perfect.

Soon, their conversation came to an end as the professor and her TA stepped into the lecture hall once more.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.