The principal sure wasn’t kidding when he said the mine is abandoned. Even the forest surrounding his destination is just eerie and unsettling. For Eden, the young 16-year boy from Efren Dorm, this has got to be the worst first day of school ever. The young man scratched the back of his head, frustrated. His red eyes glaring at his surroundings.

“Huh… Damn that monster. That lame girl took on my debts so why would I have to find a damn stone in a depleted mine? Agh!!! THIS IS WAY TOO ANNOYING!” Eden shouted angrily, panting right after letting out his anger - not realizing a pair of newcomers nearby.

“Well, good to know the kid I just saved is quite an ungrateful boy” Aediva said, crossing her arms. Cath growled.

“You should learn to be a bit more grateful, brat! Aediva here is going to work her bones off because of you” the little monster said - responded with Aediva’s amused glance.

“You’re the last person I want to hear that from. And mind you, you’re also working with me from now on” she said. Cath’s ears flattened.

“... Why are you both here…?” Eden asked. Aediva shrugged.

“Well, it would be bad if you’re in trouble with no one around. It’s an abandoned mine. Didn’t you think that it’s pretty unfortunate if it collapse while you’re inside?” the amnesiac janitor said with a smug grin. The dark-haired boy gritted his teeth, shaking in even more frustration when seeing the two cause of his plight - although it’s definitely not true. Aediva grinned.

“Grr... Don’t bother! Not only you can’t use magic, that monster you dragged along looks like trouble as well. I’d rather die than having you and your pet dragging me down!” Eden said, stomping away from the two who was about to offer him help. Cath growled.

“That brat! How dare he say I’m a pet?! Oi, minion! Chase after him and make him owe us even more!” Cath said to Aediva, climbing up to her shoulder as the platinum blonde-haired beauty looked at him with lazy eyes.

“... No thanks” Aediva said, reacted with Cath’s ultimate shock. Now what’s with that?! Didn’t she just said she wanted to help the kid? Why the change in attitude?

Cath pouted, smacking his paws against Aediva’s temples. Aediva swiped his paws away, forcing Cath off her shoulder. Her silver orbs stared to where that boy whose name she recalled as Eden Stynes ran towards.

“Grrr!!! If you’re not gonna really gonna help that boy then why are we even here?!” the feline monster asked as Aediva nonchalantly shrugged without an answer.

“I never said I’ll force our help on him. Plus, he ran where some beast is sleeping. He’ll come back here soon. Hmm~ Let’s wait over there by that conveniently-placed boulder at the side up there” Aediva said with a grin, walking away right after towards the a dense shrubbery. Cath’s ears perked up as he looked around, looking for this “conveniently-placed” boulder Aediva mentioning earlier. There’s an elevated area alright but there’s not even a trace of any rocks around - only creepy dried up trees and dense dark-leaved shrubs. His ears perked up when hearing something in the distance and a noise that sounds like someone’s rolling something big somewhere.

“Gyaaaaahhh!!! Why the hell is there a bear?!!!”

Cath shrieked the moment he saw the familiar black-haired boy running straight towards him after emerging from the bushes. Hearing the angry roar of a bear, he too turned panicked.

“Gyahhhh!!! Why did you run back here with a bear!!!” Cath shouted in completely fear.

“Agh!!! Outta the way!!!”

“You idiot! Why would I run behind you! You have longer legs! You run behind me, you idiot!!!”

Looking from the small cliff nearby, Aediva only shook her head and kicked the boulder in front of her towards the running boy and monster.

CRASH! BOOM!

The rather large boulder rolled down and fortunately, hitting the bear in its path. Saved from a certain demise by a wild bear, both Eden and Cath who had fallen face first to the ground, looked to their back - finding the path of destruction by the unexpected appearance of a rolling boulder that had effectively laid waste to everything in its path which also includes the now dead bear. It was practically squished flat to the horror of its witnesses.

“Well, aren’t you both lucky? Looks like you’re not turning into some delicious morsel for a wild bear this evening” Aediva chuckled - appearing from the bushes while casually plucking some of the leaves from her hair. A smug grin stamped on her pretty face as she laughed at the two males who were hugging each other, still trembling.

“Oh? Looks to me that you’re both getting along fine now. Isn’t that a nice thing?” Aediva teased, crossing her arms. Eden almost instantly hurled Cath away right after hearing what Aediva said. The poor creature flew with a yelp.

“YOU BASTARD!” Cath shouted.

“AH?! SHUT UP, YOU FREAK!” Eden shouted back as Aediva shrugged.

“Goodness, both of you are so energetic...” the sole girl in the group said.

“Hmm... I don’t like this place... It has a creepy vibe to it. It’s like a ghost will come out at any time…”

“Stop that. You don’t have to say anything like that”

In the end, Eden had no other choice but let both Aediva and Cath tag along. Maybe it’s for the better. After all, he really doesn’t want to encounter anything like a bear again. Once was terrifying enough. Who knows that an actual bear is that big?

“Hmm… Weird, we’ve been walking for quite some time and there’s nowhere near a mine. Everything is just the same left and right. It’s all trees and bushes” Cath complained, looking at Aediva who was just eyeing at everything in silence. As if sensing his stare, the young female looked at him.

“I’m not letting you ride on my shoulder” she said coldly. Cath sighed.

“You’re surprisingly cold-hearted are you?” Eden commented.

“How about you try losing your memories, get woken up almost burned to death and then get humiliated in public after being revealed to not actually be a legitimate student of the academy. Then being made into a janitor with a troublesome monster at your side? Oh, should I add the piling debts as well? If that doesn’t make someone feel like doing something like mass genocide in school, I don’t know what will” Aediva said with a cheerful tone that rendered Eden speechless from the debilitating amount of sarcasm in Aediva’s sentences.

“S-sorry” is that he could say as Aediva let out a sigh before letting the silence sink in again. It was Eden’s mumbling that broke the brief silence.

“T-thanks… f-for saving me” Eden thanked underneath his mumbling.

“Oh? What’s this? The brat is mumbling something, Aediva! Did you hear him?” Cath asked, suddenly grinning from ear to ear. Eden flinched. Aediva then grin along with the monster, rubbing her chin as she tilted her head.

“That’s right. Barely hear anything at all. Were you saying something, Eden-kun?” she teased. Eden’s cheeks turned red. From rising anger? Frustration? Who knows?

“Geez, if I know the both of you are like this, I would rather have that bear mauled me to death. I said, I’m sorry and thank you for helping me out!” the male freshman repeated himself mid his complaints. Aediva and Cath laughed a bit, both equally amused.

“Isn’t that much better than continuously spouting arrogant nonsense? Fufu, very well. I accept your apology and thanks for saving you from the bear. That said, your name is Eden, huh? It really doesn’t suit you at all” Aediva commented, Cath nodding in agreement to her last statement.

“Yeah! Your name pictures nothing right about you!” Cath said.

“I say, he doesn’t even look like someone whose name is Eden in the first place” Aediva said. Eden growled.

“Dammit. Here I thought I might have a nice girl around for once but I’m here stuck with someone like you…” he complained, his shoulders dropping as he let out a weak sigh while recalling his terrible first day of school. Aediva let out a chuckle.

“Don’t worry, you’re just gonna be stuck with me until we got that stone. Hm?” Aediva suddenly stopped in her tracks as her words come to a sudden halt. An action that made the other two stopped in their tracks as well.

“What is it?” Eden asked.

“Someone’s right in front of us” Aediva said to the confusion of the young man and Cath who could literally see nothing at all. Both male peered into the distant, baffled.