“Urgh, this is soooo boring. Why must we visit this dump of a place anyway?” The words of the boy slightly stung Jamie as he walked up to the group of students. He counted twelve of them, all wearing the same prestige uniform. White silk shirts, a black tie as well as a dark blue cloak, decorated with golden ornaments, one look and you knew that they had money and power on their side.

Jamie forced himself to smile. “Welcome to the ‘Golden Blood’ tavern. It is an honour to have you.”

The students however ignored him and focused on what was going on behind Jamie. Dorian was still trying to grab Newton who continued to throw down bottle after bottle of expensive beverages. The shattering of glass sounded almost hypnotic as every few second a new one occurred as Dorian continuous cursing accompanied the shattering noises.

The students of the magical academy looked dumfounded at this absurd scene and Jamie stopped his forced smiling. Angry he turned around. “How are you this incompetent?!”

“Well if it’s that easy why don’t you try it yourself?!” Dorian shouted as he slipped because of the alcohol on the ground and fell down. He slowly got up, a glass shard piercing through his forehead.

“AHHHH!” A girl behind Jamie began to scream hysterically. If she couldn’t even handle this, how did she expect to fight on the front rows? Jamie sighed as he forcefully pulled the glass out of Dorian, leading to another scream, this time from another student.

“Now watch and learn Dorian.” Jamie got into position and within two seconds Newton had jumped into his arms.

Dorian looked annoyed. “Well, I guess you are good for some things…” He and Jamie both smiled and Dorian took the cat out of Jamie’s arms.

“Oh by the way what am I supposed to do with these?” Jamie asked Dorian and pointed towards the crowd of traumatised students.

“Oh, I trust you on this one. I need to do some urgent stuff so you’ll need to take care of this one yourself.” Dorian waved and went in his laboratory, the backroom of the bar.

Jamie turned his attention back to the group of students who were still standing in the doorway. “So, where is… Ah, there you are you little shi- I mean it’s good to see you Elliot!”

A man young man, about the age of seventeen, with platinum blonde hair and friendly green eyes was fighting his way to the front through the group of awestruck students. His expression changed from friendly to annoyed the second he saw Jamie.

“Oh hey Jamie… Where’s Dorian?” Just as Jamie did, Elliot forced a smile upon his face and Jamie pointed to the back of the room.

Elliot walked past Jamie and as soon as they were out of each other’s view they swapped their friendly attire to a displeased one. After Jamie had heard the door shut, he sat down at the nearest table and began drinking out of a whiskey bottle. After a few moments he realized that the students were still not moving and looked like lost dogs out in the rain.

Jamie wanted to get up and tell them what to do, but then he realized that he had no idea what they could do in the first place. Why were they here in the first place?

“Hey you there! Yes you with the hair that looks like it was cut with a lawnmower. Could you tell me why the hell you are all here?” Jamie asked the one who called their tavern they had worked hard so hard for a dump.

The boy slowly broke out of his paralyzed state. “Uh, we are here to learn something, but I don’t know what…”

“Well that describes my school life in a nutshell. Sounds like a you problem though. Don’t you have any teachers or something like that? What about the guy who announced ‘his excellency’?” Jamie took another sip of whiskey.

“Uhm, he is just a servant who carries out luggage. Elliot was supposed to teach us today. That was the reason why he got approval by the headmaster.” The boy answered.

So that’s what he told them? Clever excuse to come see us.

“Well I am sorry to disappoint you but Elliot won’t be joining you for a while. What do you want to do?” Jamie couldn’t care less about what they did, as long as none of them died.

The students looked at each other a bit lost. That was the first time they were ever asked about what they wanted to do. Finally a girl shyly spoke up. “Uh, I’d like to try that thing you are having, if that is okay…” She pointed at the whiskey in Jamie’s hand.

Jamie shrugged. They were all about as old as Ruby so in this world they were technically allowed to drink. “If you can pay I don’t see an issue here, I certainly won’t stop you.”

The girl hesitantly walked up to Jamie, grabbed the bottle and poured herself a drink. The other students were closely observing as she chugged the whole glass down. They marvelled at the sight of their friend being this bold and soon followed her lead, sitting down on the table and quickly emptying the bottle.

Jamie witnessed amused as they all became drunk after just one glass. At least they weren’t acting like they had a stick up their ass anymore and Jamie found that he could almost tolerate them.

“…H-hey, who are you anyway?” The girl who drank first and didn’t seem shy at all anymore asked dead drunk.

“Well first of all, you are all idiots for drinking so fast and not enjoying the taste of that whiskey more. Secondly, I am Jamie Jackson, rich beyond compare and I am a god amongst man.” He bragged, clearly having a good time making a fool out of these high class students.

“Ohhh! Wow, so are you like, a big deal or something?” A girl who was even worse off than the other stared in confusion and amazement at the same time.

A mischievous smile formed on Jamie’s face. Today was a good day. “Oh yes, have you never heard of me?” The students all shook their heads in unison. “Well how about this, I’ll tell you three things about me and one of them is a lie. You can make your assumptions about me then.”

“Oh, I know! I have played that game with a maid once before!” One of the boys excitedly exclaimed.

Fucking rich kids…

Jamie cleared his throat and began with his little joke. “So: First one is that I insulted a goddess straight to her face.”

The students giggled. “Oh come on that one’s obviously the lie! No one except for the royal family and the pope can contact the gods!”

Jamie did his best to hide his laughter. “Second, I defeated a dragon without any help.”

I mean it was a chess duel but still, they don’t have to know that…

The laughter of the students stopped. Dragons were supposed to be extinct. There was no way for him to battle one, never the less even if he did fight one, even the most powerful people in the world would struggle to kill one alone.

Despite the speechless students Jamie continued. “And last but not least, I made an idol completely fall for me.”

“THAT’S BULLSHIT!” Diane shouted from across the room. She and Ruby had been sitting at the back, trying to make as little noise as possible to not be noticed but Jamie’s statement had made her forget that for a second.

Immediately she regretted her outburst and buried her face behind the menu. Jamie who knew exactly who had said that grinned and took another sip of whiskey while quietly whispering to himself “I wasn’t speaking about you though…”

“Who is that Jamie?” A guy was staring over to Ruby’s and Diane’s table but Ruby had managed to hide herself under a hood. She stood up and tried to leave but Jamie noticed her maid uniform.

“Hey you! Don’t slack off, go back to work!” He didn’t know which one of the staff this was, but he couldn’t tolerate them leaving so early.

The students had forgotten all about the two truths one lie game they had played and were now fully focused on Ruby, who began to panic. Despite her classmates being drunk, she wasn’t certain if maybe they’d still be able to identify her.

She looked at Diane with anxiety in her eyes. Diane sighed, but she couldn’t complain after all she got them into this situation in the first pla- no wait it was Jamie. Yet another thing she could put onto the list of ‘things why I hate Jamie’.

“Hey, you are training to fight on the front lines aren’t you? That’s sooo brave!” Diane had put on her star persona and was waving over to Jamie’s table.

“Is… Is that who I think it is?!” The students stared as Diane revealed herself as the famous singer she was.

“OMG, OMG, OMG!!!” One of the girls screamed and the group ran up to their idol to greet her. Jamie followed them to his ex-fiancé after emptying his glass. Diane was completely surrounded by her fans as they begged her for autographs.

“Diane, I was at your concert in the Oxfort-shire!”

“Is it true that you fought and defeated a general of Diablo?!”

“I heard that before she retired from being an adventurer she saved thirty people the demon army had taken hostage!”

Diane tried to calm the students down. “Please, one at a time! Huh? Y-yes I am. NO, definitely not… What do you mean by ‘not taken’? Please relax, you are suffocating me-”

But the drunk students kept going anyway. Jamie began to laugh as he watched her struggle. He had seen scenes like this before, however back then she always took care of her more ‘extreme’ fans with drastic measures. But due to their social standing and the fact that those were Ruby’s friends, she held herself back.

“Hey, are the rumours true? Are you really single?!” One of the boys blurted out with a beet red face. The others gawked at his courage and stared at Diane high expectations.

Despite her never caring about those things and Dorian strictly telling her to NOT have any kind of relationship for her job, she did blush a bit at the suddenness of the question. Quickly she shook her head and a murmur ran through the group.

“T-then would you m-maybe… want to go on a date with me?” Apparently the intoxicated him had a lot more courage than his usual self. His friends were completely surprised by his sudden change in behaviour but once again turned all their attention to a very embarrassed Diane.

“Holy, you are hilarious!” Everyone was taking the boy’s confession very seriously, except for Jamie who was going hysterical over everything the drunk group of teenagers did. “I mean come on man, she is an idol, a real star! Do you think you have any chance with someone as gorgeous and famous as her? Be real and give up.”

The boy’s gaze lowered. Jamie’s words cut him like a knife. Diane angrily glared at her ex-fiancé but he just shrugged. In that moment a plan for revenge popped up in Diane’s head.

“Well, it is true that as an idol I shouldn’t go out with anyone, at least while I am still active. But when true love arises, how could I put my work over true happiness.” Diane was taunting Jamie and he fell for it hook line and sinker.

“S-surely you are kidding me, right? He stuttered but she just gave him an ice cold smile.

The boy who had asked her out raised his head. “So, does that mean that you’d consider going out with me?” He sounded hopeful.

“First we would need to go on a few dates to find out if our chemistry worked out with each other. But then… I could consider it…” Her gaze shifted towards a suddenly very pale Jamie.

“H-hey, come on. Stop this messed up joke.” Again, another ice cold glare. Jamie took a deep breath before pulling all his registers.

He pulled his sunglasses down a bit, buried his hands deep in his pockets and gave Diane his most adorable puppy-dog eyes possible. “Surely you wouldn’t be so cruel as to flirt right in front of your ex, right?”

For a split second, Jamie was convinced that he saw a blush on Diane’s face, but that thought immediately died once he realized how incredibly pissed Diane glared at him.

Right… The last time I used this expression was when I apologised for cheating on her… Maybe not the best memory to remember.

“WHAT did you say?” Her face showed a smile but her voice was ready to kill him.

Jamie gulped audibly. “Uh, nothing. Please continue.” Suddenly he felt very small and powerless.

“Please ignore that idiot, he didn’t get enough attention from his parents.” Jamie wanted to disagree but he knew that he would be better off not saying anything.

“Well then, what is your answer?” The boy had completely ignored Diane’s and Jamie’s exchange and was eagerly awaiting her answer.

“Oh, well I am sorry but I can’t, I am an idol after all…” She used the same excuse she always used and pretended to be sad about it.

“But earlier you said that you would give up on being an idol for true love and you’d only know if it was true love if you’d go on a date with that person!” He defended himself.

“T-true, I did say that but…” Diane regretted her lying to get revenge on Jamie. In reality she would never date someone like him but she couldn’t bring herself to break his heart.

“Then it’s okay?!” The boy was beginning to get really pushy and Diane didn’t know what to do with him.

“W-well” She stuttered as she tried to find a way out of this mess.

He forcefully grabbed her hand. “So then you will go out with me?!” A bit more and Diane would stop being so nice. However for now she was still looking for a peaceful solution. She tried to gently push him away but he got even more physical with her.

“Please stop that!” She shouted.

“B-but we are going to date anyway, so this is fin-”

He was interrupted by a slap to his face. However the one hitting him was none other than he himself. Or better it was Jamie who had possessed his body. He spoke with the voice of the boy.

“If you touch her again I’ll make sure you won’t have a hand to touch her anymore.”

He left his body and screamed in agony for a second. “Goddamn it…” He mumbled as he poured himself another glass of whiskey.

“Thanks I guess…” Diane said, but so quiet that no one could hear her.

One of the girls looked confused. “What was that?” She asked Diane but she just pointed at Jamie.

Diane sighed. “It was his doing. He may not look like it but he did save me a few times before so you can imagine how powerful he is… Even if he does abuse his ability sometimes…” But that last part was drowned out by the excited questions the students now asked Jamie.

“Calm down idiots, gosh how old are you anyways?! I am not your caretaker.” Jamie began to regret giving them the alcohol.

He stood up and walked away backwards, trying to keep the excited teenagers away from him. The further he got away, the smaller his patience got. If this would continue he’d punch one of them.

But before that could happen the crowd surrounding him split up to let someone through. It was none other than the kid Jamie had just threatened. He looked furious but with the red mark of his own hand on his cheek Jamie couldn’t really take him serious.

“YOU!” He screeched with a red face. “I’ll make sure you’ll regret this for the rest of your life! Do you have any idea who I am?! I AM LOID BARALOT, THE STEPBROTHER OF ANNABELLE BARALOT! I COULD END THIS WHOLE TOWN IF I WANTED TO!!!”

Loid probably expected Jamie to get on his knees and beg him for forgiveness, but instead Jamie chuckled quietly, which quickly turned into a complete fit of laughter. Jamie could barely hold in his tears of joy.

“W-what’s so funny imbecile?!” Loid asked confused but still enraged.

Jamie slowly got up, still laughing. “It’s just that- It’s just… I slept with Annabelle so you got NOTHING on me boy!” Again he burst into laughter and Loids face grew even redder than before.

“You are dead.” He said in a dead serious tone and drew out a sword he had kept hidden with magic. Then he charged at Jamie with the intention of ending his life.

Jamie cracked his knuckles as he prepared himself to give the boy a beating. The first stab, while definitely being that of a professional, he dodged without effort with a big grin on his face. He softly punched Loid at the exact location where he had slapped him before, his right cheek.

Angry Loid began to continue stabbing and swinging at Jamie, but he dodged all of his attacks without breaking a sweat and after each successful evasion he gave him another light punch on his cheek.

After a while Loid took a step back. He knew that due to him being drunk he wasn’t in top form, but he felt like even at his best Jamie would be on another level. But he felt offended in his honour and thus had no other choice but to continue this battle.

His classmates had formed a circle around them and watched the disaster of a fight unfold but none of them stepped in to stop him from ridiculing himself any further. Even Diane was watching and while she had thought about stopping them, she knew it would offend Loid even more.

“Ready to give up? If not I will start to fight serious.” Jamie gave Loid one last warning.

His opponent just spat on the ground and wiped off his sweat. “Let’s do this commoner.”

“…You know, I’d forgiven you but spitting on the floor? The staff is working really hard to keep this place clean and you spit on their work? I will not apologise for what comes next kid.” Jamie’s gaze grew sinister. His next hit would leave this boy in agony, he’d make sure of it.

Loid charged at him and Jamie got into position to parry him. But before his blade could reach him, Jamie got hit on his head. Meanwhile Loid was stopped by the pope stepping in between the two of them.

Jamie turned around to find out that the one who hit him was none other than Dorian. He looked angry but after looking at the circle of drunk teenagers he quickly figured out what had happened. “Did you really have to let it escalate that far?” He pointed around in the room to all the destruction they had caused.

A few tables got cut in half and some chairs had swords cuts running through them. Jamie had been drunk himself and thus he hadn’t really cared about his surroundings.

“Oh… Sorry?” Jamie apologised and Dorian just sighed.

“In any way, I got some news, follow me.” He said and they left the pope behind, trying to take care of his drunk classmates.