"Argh… All this commotion and preparation are so annoying!"

Sitting in the usual spot of hers within the pastry shop, Kaisha continued to swing her legs in the air. As she complained about the situation in the city, her spoon continued to nibble away at the new cake that the shop-owner came up with recently, creating a commotion in the town on par to the arrival of the royal legate. If not for the relatively steep price of the novelty, then the royal family of the empire would learn what does the real rule over the population's hearts looks like!

"Yeah, I can up that statement as many times as necessary. What's the damned point in wasting so much time just to welcome an envoy? It's not like this will be his last nor the first visit…"

Even despite not being a part of the social body of the town, Fen was slowly making up to his lapses in the knowledge. Between the short lessons during which Stiel would provide him with bullet points about arcana of their art, the long hours that the young man would spend doing nothing but trying to implement them and the short sessions with Mark, it was rare for him to find time for leisure anytime else but during the class break.

Given how he could only catch his teacher off-guard in a specific time-frame after the middle-aged man would be done with his duties and before he would start drinking himself dead, even going for a simple, short stroll through the streets of the city could result in wasting the opportunity to learn more!

"I guess common folk would take any chance to make a festival…"

Scrapping the last bit of fruity filling from her plate, Kaisha licked her spoon clean before placing it back on the table and standing up.

"Let's go. We might still have some time before the lessons, but with how busy the streets are right now, we will need more time to get back. And with how Stiel accented the importance of the lesson…"

Leaning her head to the side, the girl sent a meaningful look to her classmate. The right corner of her mouth lifted, as she graced Fen with a mysterious smile.

"Yeah, I guess it will have something to do with that showcase of our abilities. Given how militaristic our empire is, I can already guess what will this lesson be all about."

Leaving the pastry shop effectively cut off their discussion, as just the task of squeezing themselves through the constantly moving flux of the crowd was enough to occupy their entire attention. At some point, Kaisha's hand somehow found its way towards Fen's fingers, instantly grabbing his palm in an attempt to not separate. In the current mess that replaced the calm and dignified streets of the city, moving alone against the current was akin to asking to be flushed in the direction the mass of people was moving.

"Uff, we finally got out…"

By the time the two of them managed to reach the one single calm alley of the city that leads directly towards the academy grounds, both of the young arcanists were panting heavily. The task of forcing one's way against the will of the mass was far harder than one could imagine without experiencing it first hand.

"It seems that some of my students already brought their partnership to a new level!"

As if he couldn't pick the worse timing, before Fen and his classmate could regain their composure to the point of realising that they were still tightly groping each others' hand, Stiel emerged from one of the buildings. Without even a single speck of dirt on his long robes, one could tell that he didn't bother moving through the city almost at all.

"Ah…"

Only now realising what did their teacher meant behind his words, Fen quickly freed his hand from Keisha's soft yet firm grip. Yet, the feeling of her delicate warmth coming from her soft skin didn't disappear.

"Come on, I'm just joking. There is no point to get all riled up. At least…. Yet."

Raising the corners of his lips in a smug smile of victory, Stiel quickly nodded to this student before actually setting off! Even though they obviously had the time, from the speed at which this relatively young teacher reached as soon as he started moving, it was obvious that he was actually challenging the two of them to the gate of their class!

"You…"

Hearing Kaisha's strange tone, Fen moved his sight on her face, only to notice how his classmate's eyes were throwing daggers at the back of their teacher. This kind of expression on her usually all smiley and cute face, was certainly a new kind of experience for the young apprentice!

Sadly, as soon as Kaisha noticed Fen's stare, her face relaxed, returning to its usual state. Most likely knowing that it wasn't the good opportunity to catch her classmate's and partner's hand now, the girl only shook her head lightly before heavily breathing out.

"Let's go. I can already tell that he is up to something…"

With the priestess apprentice tone changing from the wrathful to a completely resigned one, Kaisha didn't linger on the spot anymore. After sending one last, longing look towards Fen's palm, she finally moved forward. Her movements clearly declared her intention to at least catch up with their teacher, if not to reach the class before him!

Given no other choice, Fen only shrugged his arms to ignore all the thoughts about what had just happened in his head. Picking up his pace, he quickly followed behind the two, taking just a few seconds to catch up to Kaisha. At this point, something strange moved in him, making the young man reach for the girl's hand.

'What the hell…'

Unable to put it into the words or thoughts himself, Fen stared directly in front of him, trying to pretend that he didn't notice the surprised gaze of his cute classmate. From what he could see in the corner of his eyes, Kaisha's initially shocked expression quickly melted into a lovable smile of content, as she turned her head forward. From that point on, rather than just speedily walking, she appeared as if she was floating through the road they were going through!

"Haha! I'm first!"

Once again proving that he wasn't one of those authoritative and cold educators, Stiel celebrated his victory with a few, strange jumps that would take someone nearly blind in order to be judged as a dance.

"But we are not late!"

Stepping forward while tightening his grip over Keisha's hand as if he wanted to prove something, Fen looked at his teacher with a strange look on his face. Seeing someone who was supposed to be a figure of respect in his mind acting so childishly, invoked a mixed feeling in the young man's soul.

"You are not, and bless you for that. The next lesson will be really important."

With a wave of his hand, the young teacher invited his students inside, pushing the gate open himself. Surprisingly, the rest of their class was already in their places, making Fen's pairing the main focus of the stares…

Or it would do so if not for another person standing right where their teacher would usually be during the class!

"Everyone, meet Victor. He is one of the royal guardians of the city. During today's lesson, you will have to do your best to kill him!"