“Hey! We finally found you guys!” Tullian yelled out to their friends.

He’d broken out into a full-on sprint.

Amy’s spirits blossomed. The joy on her face was very clear.

“Tullian! Come sit here!” She gestured towards the seat next to her, which she’d conveniently kept free. Lina sat on her other side of the chair, while Sin sat on the opposite side of the table.

Tullian jumped onto the seat, causing the table to tilt for a moment before dropping back down onto the floor.

“Oops. Sorry about that! Hahaha!”

“It’s fine! Being excited is a good thing! At least, in this situation I think it is, hehe.”

Rai walked over slowly. Sin said nothing.

He sat beside her in the empty seat. She still didn’t say a word. Ah. Ahahaha. She didn’t get over it. Rai held in his laughter.

Tullian noticed something was off with her.

“Sindyl! Are you alright?” He asked.

“Mhm.”

“Huh... you don’t look alright.”

“I didn’t think teasing you like that would do this. C’mon, forget about it.” Rai said. He patted her head, messing with her hair.

Amy and Lina braced themselves. If anyone else were to do such a thing, Sin would’ve flipped. In fact, the twins had seen it happen once before. A noble boy trying to flirt with her attempted to pat her head just like that. They couldn’t quite fathom why he thought a head pat was going to get him in Sin’s good books. By that point, it was clear that Sin was already getting tired of his antics. But when he reached for her head... A demon was released. She kicked him in his private parts. Neither Lina nor Amy knew just how painful that was, but they expected that it must have hurt a hell of a lot.

But now, Sin was accepting Rai’s hand on her head. Just like that.

Amy in particular watched on in awe as Sin’s nervousness melted away as Rai fondled with her hair.

Sin didn’t want it to end. When Rai pulled his hand back, she pouted at him.

“... Do that more often.” She said quietly.

“What are you, a cat?”

Sin’s eyes were pleading. She didn’t respond to Rai’s joke.

Tullian was... surprised. He’d never seen the Princess act like this with anyone else. The only thing he knew was that she beat up everyone that tried to flirt with her. Tullian wasn’t the smartest tool in the shed, but he felt like this was some kind of flirting. Who knew that the Princess would be the one to make that advance.

Needless to say, he completely misread the situation, just like everyone else at the table.

“What’s that expression meant to be? You look like a frog.” Rai said to Sin. He held his deadpan expression.

“No way... BAHAHAHA! You finally learned how to do it, the deadpan! PFFT! That’s too fucking funny. Wow, I’m actually impressed.”

“Wha-... But I didn’t ev-”

“Don’t worry, you’re just a genius I know. Just make sure you give me more head massages like that one earlier, okay?”

“... Yeah... Sure.” He gave up.

Victory! Sin turned to face away from Rai and stealthily fist pumped the air. It was so stealthy that everyone saw it.

Rai pointed at his tray.

“I’m... I’m gonna eat now.”

“Good idea. I’m starving!” Her mood was clearly much brighter. It reminded Rai of when him and Sin were kids and would happily play around Acies together.

Tullian watched the two of them throughout the whole thing. The entire time, he had no idea what was happening.

“What just-”

Amy prodded his arm. She was pointing at her head.

“You do that to me too!”

“HUH?!”

“What’s gotten into you?” Sin asked him.

Tullian pointed at himself. “Me?! Nothing makes sense right now!”

Sin gestured for him to sit back down.

“Maybe some food will sort that brain of yours out.”

“Right... yes ma’am.”

After a few spoonfuls of lizard tail soup, his worries washed away.

Lina was reading a book the entire time. Or, she wanted people to think that she was reading a book. The whole time that Rai and Sin were acting silly with each other, she listened on. She wasn’t necessarily jealous of them, but she wanted something like that for herself. The same kind of companionship that Rai and Sin shared. Lina envied that part of their relationship.

A loud voice came from behind her.

“Hey, you! Weakling fucker! Robespierre wants to talk to you after lunch. Go after you’ve eaten, ass clown!”

Lina, Amy, and Tullian, all turned around to see a boy with piercings all over his face. There were two in his lips, two on one eyebrow, and a nose ring. His ears were also pierced, and his earrings were very spiky. He had wavy brown hair and bright red eyes. Though, his eyes were different to Sin’s.

His were far more... feral.

Lina’s heart skipped a beat.

Rai looked up at the source of the voice. Upon seeing its source, he sighed.

“Alright, see you later Feris.”

“Fuckin’ piss-ants. Make yourselves useful. If you’re gonna walk on my turf, then get stronger!”

“What are you going on about now, Feris?” Rai asked.

“The Archaeology society, dumbfuck! You’re all gonna join? You’re too weak to even think about entering ruins right now.” He scrunched up his hair. “Gah! It’s pissing me off just being here!”

Lina stared at him with her mouth agape. Feris noticed.

“The fuck you starin’ at? Trynna catch flies?”

“You’re... so cool.” Lina said, in a daze.

Huh?

Everyone had the same thought.

Feris was so caught off guard that he blushed, ever so slightly.

“Whatever. I’m gone.” He turned around and left.

Lina turned back to the table. Everyone was staring at her. Immediately, she turned red. Her arms flailed around as she tried to swat away the attention. It wasn’t working, but it still made her feel a bit better.

“You’re doing great.” Sin said.

Lina stopped flailing.

“Huh?”

“Good job!” Rai reaffirmed.

“Huh?”

Amy patted her on the back. “You got this!” She said.

“HUH?!”

Tullian had no clue what was going on with his friends, but he started muttering something.

“He was strong. Really strong.”

The attention shifted towards Tullian. Lina felt relieved that it went away from her.

Rai readied a spoonful of soup.

“How can you tell?” He flew the spoon like a bird into his mouth.

“It’s one of my abilities. His aura is a lot like yours, but different in a way.”

“Hmph? Wike miwe? Auwa?” Rai said, with the spoon still in his mouth.

Sin pinched him.

“Don’t talk with your mouth full, bumpkin.”

“Owh.”

“You all have unique auras. Yours is cold, regal, and electric. Sindyl's is raw and powerful, while also mysterious and suffocating. Amy's is warm, loving, and caring. Lina's is almost metallic and sweet at the same time. His is more... Feral, wild, and volatile."

Sin was surprised. She didn't know that Tullian had that kind of sixth sense. He could tell what someone's powers were just from looking at them and feeling the primal energies that they gave off. Sin recalled the stories she'd heard about the beastmen, and Tullian very much embodied the traits and powers of the beastmen.

Rai took the spoon out of his mouth.

“I’m stronger.” He declared.

“Yeah well... I can’t tell. You, Sindyl, and him are all at a much higher level, so I can’t tell who’s stronger.”

“I’m telling you, I’m stronger.”

“Me too.” Sin declared alongside him.

Tullian gulped. In front of him were two monsters, and they were destined to deal with a third.

Sin pulled a napkin out of her spatial storage. She pulled Rai close and wiped a small piece of lizard tail from the side of his lips.

“Calm down.” She whispered to him.

Rai didn’t realise.

“Sorry.” He whispered to her in return.

The twins were surprised that Sin pulled Rai in like that. Tullian wasn’t expecting it either.

Sin let Rai go. The air became lighter.

“You nearly wet your pants when he was here, didn’t you?” Rai asked Tullian.

Sin rolled her eyes.

“Did not! I’d fight him in a heartbeat, just like you!”

They both started laughing at each other.

“Who was that guy?” Amy asked.

Rai looked at Sin, who was now focusing on her food. He turned back to Amy and answered.

“His name is Feris. Me and Sin saw him earlier today in the headmaster’s classroom, but we don’t really know much about him.”

“I see, I see.” She nearly choked on her food, “Wait, you two were in the headmaster’s room?”

“Yeah? He’s our mentor so we had our session earlier with him.” Sin said.

Everyone was surprised.

“Didn’t... didn’t you tell them, Sin?”

“Oh. Uhhhhhh... Whoopsie. I... forgot.”

“You forgot something like that?” Tullian asked.

“I... I’m sorry. I was super busy focusing on my own growth and Rai and the lessons and all of that stuff.”

“Haha! Don’t worry about it. I’m just messin’. It's pretty cool!” The others agreed with Tullian’s sentiment.

Sin sighed. She recollected herself, then tapped Rai’s arm.

“Don’t forget to see the headmaster after you eat.”

Rai heeded her words, and promptly devoured his lizard tail soup in seconds.

Sin wasn’t surprised, given that she’d seen him eat meat even faster than that before. Still, this wasn’t what she meant.

“I said after you eat, dumbass.”

Rai smiled at her in response.

Amy was in awe. She’d never seen anyone eat a meal so fast before.

Rai belched. Sin waved the lizard smelling air away.

“Gross. Alright, get going then, lizard-breath.” Sin said.

The others giggled.

“I’ll see you at the next lesson! Don’t forget we’ve gotta go to that place after school today, the one you mentioned this morning!”

Sin’s eyes widened, then she smiled at Rai with a little bounce in her seat. She’d almost forgotten.

“Yep! I can’t wait.”

Rai heard Sin talk to the others about the plans as he was leaving.

I wonder what the headmaster wants now. We spoke not too long ago, so I hope it’s nothing so serious that it couldn’t wait.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

The clock was turning, and the tension was rising. The three figures in the room waited and waited.

“Where is he!” The short and stocky man yelled.

“He’ll be here, please be patient. It’s lunch and the students only just started getting their food.”

“Argh! Fine... I’ll wait as long as I have to.” The man growled.

Rodrick sighed. I wonder how he’ll deal with this now. To kill a noble, what a dreary fate.