Before they could get closer to see clearly, the Qwelin Academy entrance announcement rang, forcing them to go inside.
Lingmei's friend, who was used to her antics, went in first, leaving her behind.
"Hey, don't take too long or the killer teacher will come for you!!"
Lingmei just raised her hand in an "OK" gesture, as if this was routine.
Lingmei and Nic focused on playing Go. Nic, being a beginner, was obviously very easy in Lingmei's eyes. She smiled like she was watching any other newbie.
"Hm, boring," Lingmei said, making the final move that ended the game.
"Huh, it's over already?" Nic asked.
"Yeah, I won. Sigh, I picked the wrong opponent... even my favorite teacher hasn't come to get me yet. I'm going in now. See you later, newbie," Lingmei said, and her spot was immediately cleaned up by her maid.
Nic, watching this, smiled. "This is exactly what I like..."
Nic left and thought about how to enter Qwelin Academy.
"Should I disguise myself as a janitor?" Nic thought.
[ Better to become a real janitor, Master Nic. ]
"Do I really look that suitable to be a janitor, huh???"
[ If it doesn't suit you, just change to another similar profession. ]
"Zeta, try appearing here."
[ Does Master Nic want to pinch me again? Unfortunately, I already know. ]
"No."
[ I don't believe you. I want to sleep. ]
"Huh? A system can sleep?"
[ Of course. I can also sleep so I don't have to hear vague complaints from my master. ]
"Ugh... this system really does whatever it wants..."
Since he knew where Qwelin Academy was, Nic decided to head back for now.
---
Nic went to Aurelia's house again, and coincidentally, Hinata was there too.
"Have you seen Qwelin Academy?" Aurelia asked as she saw Nic approaching.
"Eh, Qwelin Academy? Did Nic go there?" Hinata asked.
"Yeah, I was curious, and there's someone I know there, so I went just to look around. Turns out it's huge," Nic said with admiration.
"Well, it's the best school here, so it makes sense for it to be that luxurious... I heard Qwelin Academy is doing a student exchange with a school in the Western... could they be the people you know?" Aurelia said.
Nic gave a thumbs up. "And do you have any ideas on how I can get in there?"
"You want to get in? Can't you just meet them outside the Academy?" Aurelia asked, confused.
"True, but wouldn't it be nice if I could get in so I don't have to wait long?" Nic said, laughing.
Hinata clapped her hands once, surprising Aurelia.
"I know! Sister Aurelia has a place for researching flowers and other things there, right?" Hinata said.
Aurelia just remembered that she had created that place, and it seemed to still be active, just with different caretakers.
"In that case, I can get you in as a new caretaker who will manage that place," Aurelia said, standing up and pointing at Nic.
"Seriously!??"
Aurelia nodded and asked if she should take Nic there right now.
While waiting for Aurelia to get ready, Nic chatted with Hinata.
"How about you, Hinata? Are you a Qwelin Academy alumna too?" Nic asked.
Hinata was silent for a moment, then looked away. "Um, I should have been, but I quit because of something, and in the end, I just focused on tending the garden."
Nic paused and thought, "Should I ask directly what happened, or is that enough and I'll find out myself via the Love Archive?"
"Oh, it seems like it was very heavy for you... do you have trauma?" Nic asked softly.
Hinata nodded. "Sorry, I can't tell anyone about it yet..."
"Relax, I understand," Nic smiled.
A few moments later, Aurelia came out carrying a bag of special botanist caretaker clothes.
"Do I wear this now?" Nic asked.
"Yeah, just wear it now so no one gets confused."
Nic put it on quickly.
"Wow... looks like you look handsome in anything, haha," Aurelia said, laughing while tapping the brim of Nic's botanist hat.
Hinata saw her sister blushing and smiling, so she teased her, "Do you like Nic, Sis?"
"... WHAT!? JUST GO INSIDE! WE'RE LEAVING NOW! COME ON, NIC," Aurelia said, clearly embarrassed.
Hinata just laughed while waving. "Hah... I'm jealous I can't come along."
Nic just chuckled seeing the scene while following Aurelia, who was walking very fast.
---
They arrived quickly at Qwelin Academy, and at the gate, there was only a security guard on duty.
Aurelia greeted the guard, who turned out to have been a security guard at Qwelin Academy for a long time, so he had known her for a while.
"Wow, what brings the best botanist of Qwelin Academy here?" the guard said.
"Hahah, you're too much... I'm just here to drop off a new caretaker for my botanist area," Aurelia said, laughing.
"Oh, I see. In that case, please come in."
Aurelia and Nic entered easily. Here, Nic lowered the brim of his hat so his eyes wouldn't be seen.
While passing through the hallway, Nic accidentally crossed paths with Lingmei again.
"Huh, this smell..." Lingmei said after passing Nic, and she turned around to make sure.
"Um, you're Senior Aurelia, right? Who is this?" Lingmei asked.
"Oh, he's just a new caretaker for my botanist area. Is there a problem, Lingmei?" Aurelia said.
"Uhm, no... I just wondered who it was." Lingmei walked away immediately.
A few moments later, they finally reached the end of the hall, the special botanist room created by Aurelia.
"There should be many active botanists here..." Aurelia said.
But when she opened the door, there was only one person, and it wasn't even a caretaker of her botanist room.
"Huh, Miko? Where are the caretakers of this place?" Aurelia asked.
"Ah, I should be asking you that, Senior Aurelia. I came here and was confused too because the place is empty, hehe," Miko said.
"Hm, are they busy with something? I'll ask a teacher. Nic, you stay here, okay? Keep Miko company while you're at it, ask what he wants," Aurelia said, and she immediately rushed off.
The room felt awkward.
"Um, hello, I'm Nic, the new caretaker for this room," Nic greeted with a smile.
"Wow, hello! So you understand plants then? Do you understand food too?" Miko asked enthusiastically.
"I do. Why?" Nic asked.
Miko explained that his family owned a large animal farm and he also liked to help with farming, so he wanted to ask something related to that.
"Wow, I see. So what do you want to ask?" Nic asked curiously.
"I want to ask, why are cows cute?" Miko said with his clingy face.
Nic instantly blanked out. "Hah??"
"Yeah, sometimes I see baby cows and they're so cute... what do you think makes them cute?" Miko asked seriously.
Even though the question was unrelated to the start, Nic tried to answer wholeheartedly.
"That's because you love them very much. They look 100 times cuter compared to cows you aren't raising as livestock," Nic answered with a smile.
"Oh! That's true. I see other people's cows as ordinary, but I see my cows as cute... is affection that powerful? I just learned that..." Miko noted it down in his diary.
"Eh, ahaha, right, it is that powerful... you have to take good care of them, okay? Feed them well so they grow healthy like you," Nic said.
After that, Miko thanked him and left. Although weird, Miko just seemed like an innocent and polite student.
Meanwhile, Nic kept waiting for Aurelia to return, but she didn't come back for a while. And when she finally returned...
"Nic, sorry but... THE BOTANIST ROOM CARETAKERS RESIGNED!!" Aurelia said in frustration.
Nic was shocked too. "Seriously? Why?"
"I don't know... they said they lost direction doing this and wanted to find something new... so yeah, they finally moved to another club, and because they were afraid of me, they didn't tell me," Aurelia said while holding her head, clearly dizzy.
"Huh, afraid of you? Are you fierce?"
Aurelia immediately blushed. "N-no way I'm fierce... they're just paranoid... ah, forget it. Anyway, are you okay managing this room alone?"
Nic nodded. "Relax, did you forget who I am?"
"Uh, okay then... Mr. Most Mysterious... but I trust you can do anything. Good luck, and hope you can keep meeting the students you know," Aurelia said with a smile.
"I won't forget to keep meeting you either," Nic said.
Aurelia, who was about to leave, froze. Her face turned completely red this time. "DON'T SAY THINGS LIKE THAT!!" She immediately ran away.
Nic just smiled and chuckled while looking down. "I miss moments like this... looks like it's going to happen again because this kind of atmosphere... only exists in school."
To be continued...