The marble pillars that need at least 50 able-bodied students capable of magic each to carry… All the remaining 15 pillars were handled on her own. Without magic. Aediva’s annoyance earlier was really not in a joking manner. It scared Fay to even say what they are supposed to do. Together.

All the 145 students just looked at the girl with platinum blonde hair set the last pillar in place - drenched in sweat and her face scowling from start to finish. Did they also mention that she carried one on her shoulder like lumberjack carrying a piece of log after cutting it down?

For a week they’ve been working to erect and decorate the pillar, they’ve only been able to do one per day.

The murmurs behind Fay intensified as they looked at Aediva who still lingered on the last pillar she had placed. After a few moments, Aediva picked up the sweater she placed on the ground and wiped her face with it.

“Done. Now get me out of this forsaken collar. I’m not a damn dog to be wearing one without fashion practicality” Aediva said, coldly to Fay who snapped out of her stupor.

“O-Okay! Wait, just a minute! I’ll go tell the Dorm Leader!” Fay said, scurrying away right after - leaving Aediva with the group of Efren students who looked at her while still whispering with each other, thinking she wasn’t able to hear what they said.

“What was that?”

“Is she a Syurin? Only beasts have that much strength”

“No way. Even Syurin don’t have that much strength to carry a marble pillar on their own”

“Figures. I mean, even we need 50 students to move one with our combined magic”

“What a freak”

“Did you see how rude she was to Senior Fay too?”

The moment she felt the collar around her neck felt loose, Aediva ripped it away from her neck - mirrored by Cath who quickly spewed fire to the collars on the ground, charring the cursed things as Aediva stepped towards the gate.

“Wait!!! Aediva-chan!!!” Fay’s voice called out for them but Aediva didn’t stop to even turn to look anymore.

Arthur and Eden are not exactly restrained to the dorm all day. They would still come to class until afternoon. That said, they can still survive.

“Aediva, please wait!” Fay called out to the girl again.

Aediva simply stepped into the portal and left without a word. Fay followed her too, having grateful Daniel removed her collar too. By the time she passed through the gate to the main academy grounds’ teleportation building, Aediva was gone.

By the time she got there, it was long past sundown. The promised time was 4:30pm, right after classes ended. Now it’s probably quite some time past 7pm.

“Aediva? Who are we meeting here…?” Cath asked. Aediva looked at the feline monster - reminding her that this is basically the first time he is brought there. Her shoulders dropped as she let go of her sweater - letting it fall to the ground. She sighed as she sit on the empty bench where she usually sits with mysterious “Blackhorns”.

“Figured he won’t be waiting for me. That damn prick. He made me work free and made me missed my damn lesson with Blackhorns” Aediva growled, annoyed as she quickly stand up and look at the garden.

“Should I check that cliff?” she murmured to herself. Although tired, she went to the maze anyway and ended up at the cliff - much to Cath’s chagrin that she was ignoring him.

“Aediva, I’m hungry! Let’s go back to the dorm!” Cath said. Aediva scratched the back of her head - letting out a disgruntled sigh more directed to her and the redhead prick that basically just enslaved her. Aediva pulled her hair, distressed.

“EEEEEEEEE----- ONCE I GET THE HANG OF MY DAMN MAGIC, I’M GONNA BLAST THAT PRICK TO SPACE!” Aediva shouted, throwing a rock she took from the ground towards the bright glow at the horizon she saw from the cliff - assuming that it is the light from Efren Dormitories.

She touched her neck, suddenly feeling more like shit when remembering the collar the result of Daniel’s magic.

“Aediva?” Cath called out to his human partner - looking at her as she straightened up.

“... Let’s go back to the dorm… I’m going to apologize to him tomorrow” she said, lifting the feline monster who could only blink at her, confused. As Aediva picked up her sweater, she went towards the portal going back to the garden instead of the one for the maze or the other broken archway that leads to who-knows-where. Before she steps into the portal, she abruptly turns around.

Only served to disappoint herself, she found no one there. As cryptic as he is, there’s no way he would actually be hiding somewhere just to wait for a girl who couldn’t keep her promise to be on time.

“I really hope you’re not angry, Blackhorns…” she murmured before disappearing behind the thin veils of the portal.

The very next morning, Aediva started her day with a foul mood. She had noticed a lot of the students of Efren Dorm were gone from the class early in the morning. Thank goodness, at least she could have a respite about their endless insults after witnessing her brute strength yesterday. At that point, she felt like everything she does is bound to be criticized by everyone.

Okay, maybe not everyone but those will be among the minority.

In class, Arthur and Eden were both silent unlike she’s never seen before. Maybe they are too tired. During lectures, both of them were sleeping behind their book shields. It just made her feel painful when seeing the teachers were angry at them for sleeping in the class after they had to stay in the shithole called Efren Dorm.

How she wished she could help them but she is pretty selfish. She simply listens to their complaints that start to sound like zombies’ wails of sorts. During gym class, she noticed how she actually joined the rest of Efren Dorm students of her class at the side.

Aediva couldn’t help but pout. Right, she knows she’s bad with those brooms but actually forcing her to warm the bench with the tired students is a little cruel. She puffed her cheeks. It was as if Ms. Thalla could read her mind when she turned to look at the shaded corner of the field.

“Ms. Aediva, don’t you dare take even a single step from that place. You’re on time out for breaking so many brooms yesterday! I don’t have any more brooms to lend to you” the buff-bodied woman with pink hair said. Aediva’s shoulders visibly dropped.

“What a killjoy. Let me destroy some shit. I’m stressed” the girl mumbled to herself, noticing Arthur and Eden slowly falling to her direction. She simply sat still when their heads fell to her lap.

“Aediva… Please help us…” Eden said.

“... I… This is too much… I had to skip my sword practice too… Just to…” Arthur muttered in his delirious state. Aediva let out a sigh.

“I’m saving myself. Both of you jerks can die. Did you how fucking angry I was yesterday?” the only girl in the trio group growled. Arthur and Eden shifted to their sides - completely comfortable as they used her lap as their head pillow.

“... I’m gonna kill both of you” Aediva said, sensing the lack of guilt in the two boys’ actions.

“Noo~ Have mercy, Ms. Aediva~~~” Eden responded.

It was completely silent after that.

The time gym class ends, Thalla - the gym teacher of class 1-B, just stared at Aediva reading a book with her two friends on her lap.

Is it just the older woman’s imagination or is Arthur sweating bullets while pretending to be asleep? What the hell happened to Eden? Is the young raven dead?

“What happened to these two boys?” Thalla ended up asking Aediva who blinked at her innocently.

“Might be the fatigue, Ms. Thalla” Aediva said. Thalla looked at the girl with a skeptical look.

As soon as the lunch bell rings, Arthur and Eden are gone again. Even with Cath remaining, she felt as though that monster is really not there at all.

Especially because he was getting real chummy with the girls whom she had heard talking shit about her.

“That damn raccoon dog…” Aediva growled, glaring daggers at the group of girls who were frolicking with Cath at the front of the class. It was then when she spotted a familiar face at the door of her classroom.

“Huh?”

Aediva frowned when seeing Fay peering into the classroom and she instantly ignored the one year older upperclassman when their eyes met. Although it turned out to be a failed attempt when Fay entered the class and skipped towards where she’s sitting.

“Aediva-chan~” Fay called out to the girl who quickly stand up and jumped off the chair before going straight to the window, opening it with impassive look. Fay only watched, a little confused if anything.

“Aediva-chan~?” she called again.

It was then when she turned surprised when Aediva jumped off the window - seemingly to the ground three levels below. The senior student rushed to the window and to her bewilderment found Aediva casually grabbing the branch of the tree near the building before swinging herself to stand on the large branch.

“W-Wait! That’s dangerous!” Fay shouted to the junior student but Aediva merely scowled at her.

“Leave me alone. I don’t want to be involved in anything you Efren Dorm students are doing. I had enough of being enslaved by you haughty damn people” Aediva said, jumping off the branch towards the other trees - quickly disappearing among the leaves while Fay blinked her eyes in disbelief before running out of the classroom to chase after the silver-eyed girl.