Nic casually used all his botanist-related skills to understand everything in detail, while also cleaning up the room, which had gotten a bit dusty.
Then someone arrived, and it turned out to be Lingmei, yet again.
"Why does she keep coming to me..." Nic thought to himself.
"Hey, you're the new botanist, right? What flower is this?" Lingmei showed him a sunflower.
"That's a sunflower... why?" Nic said in a low tone.
"Hm, good that you know. I thought you were a fake botanist," Lingmei said, leaving again.
"Seriously... she tested me with a flower even a toddler would know?" Nic thought while sighing.
Nic decided to lock the door and ask who was entering first.
Not even 5 minutes later, someone knocked on the door.
"Hallohallohallohallohallo!!!!" The voice was very loud and noisy.
"Who is it this time..." Nic peeked through the peephole and realized it was a girl he knew.
"Huh... is that Lily?"
Nic immediately opened the door, but he deliberately took off his hat and covered his entire face with it like a weirdo.
When the door opened, Lily looked at him confusedly.
"Whoaa! You scared me! You wanna scare a cute creature like me!? Come here!!" Lily said.
Lily tried to hit him, but Nic easily caught her hand and hugged her.
"Ughh, help, Nic!"
Nic laughed. "You're still hoping he'll save you even though he's right here?"
"What do you mean? OHHH!!" Lily looked up and immediately pulled off Nic's hat, finally revealing Nic's face.
"Boo!! Hello, ninth girlfriend~"
Lily immediately started whining and hitting Nic. "Huh, you were here all this time? That's so mean, never coming home!!"
"Shhh, keep your voice down. You know why I'm doing this, right?" Nic said while covering Lily's mouth.
"I know... you're a hero and all, but everyone misses you, you know... even Fanny started hitting people because you didn't come home," Lily said while pouting.
"Huh, she hit people? Seriously?" Nic panicked.
The door opened again, and it was Olivia. "No, she's joking. No way Fanny would do that... Hello Nic, long time no see."
"Olivia... sorry about that."
But Olivia immediately covered Nic's mouth with her finger. "We all understand, no need to explain, we know... I'm happy to see you again, too bad the others haven't yet."
"Right! Besides, why didn't you contact us if you were here? Just disappearing like that, you ghost!" Lily said.
"Haha sorry... by the way, how did you guys get here?" Nic asked, confused.
Olivia explained that Lily was told to come to this room to pick up plants entrusted by her class. Since Lily happened to be an exchange student, it was also so she would know where the place was.
"And I asked permission to tag along with Lily, but on the way, I was blocked by some people," Olivia said, scratching her cheek.
"What? Who blocked you!?" Nic's face looked like he was about to get angry.
Olivia quickly shook her head. "Not a bad thing! They were just like, amazed seeing me... you know how it is, right? They said I was very elegant... I can't deny that."
"Nyeh, typical elegant queen," Lily said, pouting.
"Oh, I see. Well, Lily, just look for the plants. I happened to just tidy them up on that shelf over there," Nic pointed to a shelf full of plants.
Lily looked for her plants while Nic and Olivia chatted.
"Btw, have you guys started studying?"
"Not yet. Earlier, the teacher just discussed the issue of recent events, about the flash natural disaster that felt like a dream but was real. I'm curious because they say everyone here almost felt it... then about the figure called The Witness, they consider it the embodiment of nature's anger, so we are forbidden from destroying nature," Olivia explained while blinking rapidly at Nic.
"I-I see... why are you blinking fast like that? Are you in flirt mode..." Nic said, getting flustered seeing Olivia acting weird.
"I'm just curious... after Death Raven in the Western... then when we all went to the Southern and met Cecilia, she also talked about a figure called King Raven... Then here there's another figure, the difference being it's not a Raven but The Witness... Is that you too??" Olivia asked with sparkling eyes.
Then Lily returned, having found her plants. "You ask too many questions, Olivia. Whether it's Nic or not, it's not our problem. The important thing is no one got hurt, and instead, it became a symbol of goodness," Lily said.
Nic was shocked to hear Lily say that. Usually, she was the most childish one who just spouted nonsense and delusions, but now she seemed a bit more mature.
"You're right, Lily. Ahaha, sorry Nic... btw, you're a botanist here now? That's cute... alright, we'll get going now! Bye!!" Olivia said while pulling Lily's hand.
The door closed, and Nic sat on the bench, leaning back while staring at the ceiling.
"Lots of new things I've seen, but also lots of new things I haven't seen on the other side... sigh," Nic closed his eyes.
---
On the other hand, Chloe was at the modeling club. She became a fashion stylist for the models, and the club president liked Chloe's great fashion sense.
"Wow, looks like you should be paired with our club's Best Duo!" said the modeling club president.
Chloe tilted her head. "Um, can we be paired up like that?"
"Yup, because every week we hold our own modeling competition here just for club members, then the best results will be marked to join bigger events later."
Chloe was interested; this reminded her of past fashion competitions.
"But it seems this club's Best Duo is currently sick... they are great, but their efforts are too extreme... I think they might even still be practicing at home," the modeling club president complained.
"Ah, it's okay, just wait until they're healthy to pair me with them," Chloe said.
They continued their activities while gossiping like girls do.
---
Back to Nic, whose door was knocked on again.
"Is this a botanist room or a toilet? So many people knocking," Nic said.
And when he peeked, the person looked neat, not like a student, so Nic promptly opened the door.
It turned out the one knocking was the genius Science Teacher.
"Hello, are you the new botanist room caretaker? What is your name?" the Science Teacher asked.
"Correct, I am the new caretaker of this botanist room. My name is Nic!" Nic said firmly.
The Science Teacher smiled. "My name is Shiori Han. I teach all science subjects... could you come with me to the lab for a moment?"
"Huh, what for?" Nic asked.
"Since yesterday, I've needed a young botanist's skills to help me privately. I was too lazy to look outside, so I looked in this school to make it easier. But previously, all the botanists here quit, so I postponed it. Now that there's a replacement, which is you... could you accompany me to conduct research?" Shiori explained while staring deeply at Nic.
Nic finally gave in and nodded. He sensed no hidden intentions from Teacher Shiori Han, which meant she genuinely wanted to conduct research.
To be continued...