Chapter 14 : Ripples of Feeling

Like a stone that had leapt its way across the surface of a lake, ripples began to form when the trio entered the cafeteria, almost as if all attention was turned towards them. Oddly enough, most of the eyes and fingers pointed to Harux, whose fame, or infamy rather, now exceeded that of even Lucius beside him. Whispers of the night prior drifted from ear to ear as the students gossiped about Harux’s vicious assault on Tommy, the ninth strongest student in the whole school according to the rankings.

And yet, the individual in question, however, was unperturbed despite this.

Without concern for what they had to say, the trio each grabbed a tray with assorted food and found an adequately sized table in a manner completely devoid of any pressure or judgement from the crowd. Azama, having seated himself in front of Harux, had his head resting lazily on his right arm, goggling the elf whose attention was entirely on the food in front of him.

“So, how has it been going for the moment, my students?” Azama asked.

“Rather well actually,” Lucius responded, taking a sip of his pure dark coffee. “Jaiga gave us a very in-depth tour of the school yesterday evening”.

“That’s great!” Azama said, relieved that one of his students had undertaken the process of introducing the new students.

The subject would then change entirely.

“By the way, Harux, I heard you attacked Tommy last night in the training room, is that true?”

Leaning forward, Azama abridged the distance between himself and Harux in less than a second. So close that he was, that should Azama have taken another breath, Harux would have felt it.

Even being a mere bystander, Lucius felt a certain amount of pressure radiated from that question. The person who supposedly bore the full brunt of the pressure, however, was not shaken in the slightest.

“Who cares what the weaklings say?” Harux said nonchalantly, munching on his fourth toast. He was of the belief that ‘anything goes in a battlefield’ but using words as a way to attack was just pathetic.

“Haha, that certainly is true,” Azama laughed. Softening his tone, he fell back and placed a firm elbow on the table that would support his head.

Most likely whatever had transpired, it was not what the rumors had told me. Azama believed in his student, after all. Harux had never attacked anyone before, even when they had rejected a duel, so why now? Deviation in personality doesn’t just appear out of nowhere, and according to his calculations, Harux was not affected by some odd misplaced variable.

Of course, that was not to say, a certain someone wasn’t.

As of late, that boy sure is undergoing the spirits of youth…

Longingly looking to the distance, Azama could only hope that Tommy was okay.

“Hm” was the only sound that could come out of Lucius’s mouth.

With his mind on other matters, Lucius had been eyeing the room inconspicuously for the entirety of the meal, hoping to identify his assistant, Morgana to no avail. Wherever he looked, the familiar brown-haired girl could not be seen. She was always there when he needed, and in cases where she wasn’t, well, she usually gave some prior warning of such.

A slight tinge of unease welling in his throat, he saw the perfect opportunity to ask his question.

“Excuse me Mr Azama, but have you seen Morgana? I haven't seen her around today,” Lucius asked, cutting Azama off from his lecture about the joys of Mathematics and how Harux should choose it as one of his subjects. Taking notice of the sliver of anxiousness ingrained in his pupil’s voice, Azama raised a finger to respond.

Only to be cut off haphazardly.

“Uhh, hello,” interrupted one of Tommy’s cronies.

Bringing everyone to a silence, they saw that the answer that they were searching for most likely resided within the mindless goon.