"..."
Rotsard Vallhall was hiding his face in his hands, pressing his forehead against the wall of the cold room where he stood in complete silence.
While the way he dealt with the mandatory defeat could be described as praiseworthy, it did come with an unfortunate reality.
Until the beginning of the third year, so the start of 3rd volume, he was still supposed to lose to Justin every time they clashed.
Rotsard talked so big, but he will have to lose if he doesn't want the world to end!
The only bright side of that outcome was that after the evaluation results were announced, Vicas Lazalarius should properly enter the stage as the actual main villain of the 1st volume.
Rotsard's mandatory encounters with Justin should be reduced to just two.
The first one in a few months, where Justin and his friend group would be investigating Vicas, trying to find the connection between him and the epidemic of students falling unconscious left and right.
And then one after the volume finale, where Rotsard should humiliate himself one last time in its epilog.
"Enough of that. Time to train."
After allowing himself one more minute of self-pity, Rotsard scoffed at himself and sat down cross-legged, beginning the meditation.
The winter break should have already started, and the bleached-blond-haired boy did not expect anyone to bother him, but to his surprise, after what felt like seconds to him, someone knocked on the door.
"Is it already time to refill the food supply?"
Rotsard rolled his eyes and grumbled, annoyed, since he felt that he was a step from being able to enter that peculiar state which allowed him to use magic, and the sudden visitor was messing things up.
But as he got up and walked to the door, what awaited him on the other side was a rather nice surprise.
Mira Vultress, although it would be difficult to recognize her from the looks alone, donning multiple layers of winter clothes to shield herself from the frigid cold emanating from Rotsard's training room.
"Mira!?"
Rotsard gasped before hurriedly grabbing some clothes to put on, as his usual attire within the cold room consisted only of his undergarments.
He even ended up stepping out of the room where the most severe cold was originating from and closing the door.
"Yes?"
He then greeted her with the brightest smile since their last meeting and awaited her explanation.
"I… I finally made a potion… to help you… Your injury…"
"...potion…"
Fighting both embarrassment and the overwhelming cold, the black-haired girl spoke up through the multiple layers of scarves, causing the bleached-blond-haired boy to repeat one word.
Rotsard's expression turned troubled as echoes of a certain someone's words resounded through his brain.
He didn't want to refuse his fiancee's offer, but…
"Y-yes…! The way to help you heal your internal injury. We divided the work, and I did the research for the right recipe."
"...?"
Mira explained, causing Rotsard to furrow his brows as he tilted his head to the side like a confused puppy.
"I didn't know there were any people in the Academy willing to help me besides you."
The boy said cautiously, pushing the thoughts of a certain someone who ended up disappearing without as much as a word of goodbye.
Rotsard didn't want to think about that person, that's for sure. He even lowered his gaze and looked to the side to hide how bothered he was.
Luckily, it wasn't as if that person could be the one cooperating with Mira in the first place.
"There is! There is at least one! Or… at least was… Lila. Oh, umm… Miss Lila, that is. You know, the nurse you took me to back when… ummm…"
"!"
But then Mira straight up mentioned that person, leaving no room for misunderstanding, causing Rotsard to flinch as his beastly yellow eyes shook and widened when he stared back at her.
Mira didn't notice the intense glare as she was currently closing her eyes, deeply blushing about the memory of Rotsard using his body to provide warmth for her back then.
That gave the bleached-blond-haired boy enough time to compose himself, although he was having some trouble unclenching his jaws as he was still pretty bothered by the flippant attitude that person showed him.
…acting all worried, only to disappear without a word, the peak of selfishness only a peasant was capable of reaching…
The whole situation was leaving a bad taste in Rotsard's mouth.
Honestly? He really wanted to spit to the side and click his tongue…
…but he wouldn't act like that in front of Mira. She deserved her fiance being a better person than that…
"Miss Lila was very helpful, although she was strangely convinced that someone from your family wanted to harm you. Every time we had a meeting, she would bring up new information and gossip she learned… O-of course I didn't really believe any of it…!"
"...huh..? Sorry! Don't mind me. Please continue."
Mira was explaining, but suddenly she flinched, making a worried expression and suddenly waving her hands around, all troubled, which in turn made Rotsard realize that his expression had betrayed him. So he hurriedly covered his face with one hand and assured the girl before encouraging her… although he couldn't really muster a smile anymore.
That peasant really didn't know her place!
She must have learned that she was mistaken and ran away in shame, like a peasant she was, instead of properly admitting her wrongs.
…it's not like he would have held it against her…
But… her disappearance only meant that she didn't actually care…
"...!"
Rotsard flinched as he realized he was making a rather nasty expression while clenching his fists again, so he hurriedly shook his head and released his grip.
"Is… everything alright…?"
"...yes… As I said, please continue."
Mira asked hesitantly with a worried look in her eyes, but the bleached-blond-haired boy merely shook his head and nodded at her encouragingly after a brief pause.
"A-anyway… I'm sure you were going to say that you can't take any potions because your natural mana barrier doesn't work."
"...I…! Yes, that's what I was going to say."
The girl cleared her throat and continued, surprising the boy quite a bit with her perfect prediction.