Stephen was sitting on the tree, watching the students come out one by one.
He saw Leonard and Agnes reunite with Ira, Eveline, and Kai, and then Elisa came out and met them as well.
But Stephen only looked at them for a moment, then looked back at the students coming out.
When the students were almost done, David finally came out alone. He looked angry.
Stephen looked at him with a frown.
'What's wrong with him?.. And where's the other one?'
Stephen jumped down from the tree and went away from the teachers' sight and secretly entered the festival square.
After wandering around a bit, he found Nathan sitting and reading something — maybe a book or a notebook.
Stephen felt confused.
'Reading?.. Here?!'
The square was full of rubble and chaos, and Nathan was sitting comfortably with a book in his hand!
When Nathan noticed Stephen approaching, he closed the sky-blue-covered book, with blue flowers hanging from its upper corner, slightly darker than the color of the book in his hands, and smiled at Stephen.
"You're back."
Stephen looked at him for a moment, then spoke calmly.
"Why didn't you leave?"
When Nathan heard this question, his eyes widened slightly, then he smiled happily.
"What, were you worried because I didn't leave?"
Stephen furrowed his brows in annoyance.
"I wasn't."
Nathan tilted his head with a mischievous smile.
"Hm, then why did you come here?"
Stephen spoke irritably.
"I only came to make sure you didn't die to a few weak monsters. You'd be pitiful then."
Nathan shrugged.
"Who dies to those weak monsters? And I'm not weak at all."
Stephen repeated the question irritably.
"Then why didn't you leave with David? He was angry. What happened?"
Nathan was silent for a moment, then laughed while scratching the back of his neck.
"Ha ha ha… I was probably a little annoyed…"
Stephen looked at him in confusion.
...
Earlier, after David and Nathan finished fighting the monsters,
After seeing the monster dead, Nathan turned around and walked off alone, leaving the place.
David followed him while running.
"Wait, Nathan, they said we can leave the square now."
Nathan looked at him and spoke with a smile.
"Then go out and leave me alone."
David frowned.
"Huh? Why? Aren't you leaving?"
Nathan smiled.
"I want to stay alone."
David was confused and asked awkwardly,
"Why? Is something bothering you?…"
(Author/Daviiiid, I know the mood, man, leave him alone 😂)
Suddenly, a small, fast rock passed by his head, causing a slight scratch on his cheek — so light that it didn't even draw blood.
Nathan lowered the foot he had kicked the rock with and spoke again with the same smile.
"I said l e a v e m e a l o n e."
David stood in place in shock, then his face turned red with anger and he clenched his teeth.
"You bastard."
"Was that really necessary, you jerk?"
He turned and walked away, cursing angrily.
"That crazy perverted lowlife&@#"
Nathan raised an eyebrow when he heard the cursing, then shrugged as he walked alone.
Nathan walked while his mind was busy; he wasn't smiling either — he was just thinking about something.
Then suddenly his foot hit a book on the ground. It was a notebook.
He frowned slightly, then bent down and picked it up.
….
Stephen sighed and spoke.
"Let's leave first."
Nathan nodded obediently, then followed Stephen.
Stephen looked at Nathan's hand holding the blue notebook with small shining stars, whose corner was decorated with a flower bluer than the cover, and asked,
(Author/I want it 😭😭)
"Are you going to take it with you?"
Nathan looked at the notebook, then nodded to Stephen with enjoyment.
"Yes, it's very entertaining."
Then he leaned closer and whispered into Stephen's ear mischievously,
"It's some girl's diary."
Stephen frowned.
"Huh? Then why did you take it?"
Nathan shrugged.
"Because it's fun."
Stephen looked at Nathan with a frown.
Nathan raised his eyebrows, then laughed and spoke.
"Come on, don't frown. If she comes to take it back, I'll return it to her."
"...."
Stephen looked at his smile suspiciously. Of course, he didn't believe him, and the two left the square.
…..
Although Stephen controlled the situation and took care of most of the monsters, there were fifteen female students who had been killed.
The number was small, but if this news got out of the academy — that there had been an attack — the media would cover it everywhere, and this would damage the academy's reputation.
So the teachers and the vice principal tried to control the situation, and the students were given only a three-day break.
After Stephen heard this news about the three-day break, he thought sarcastically,
'They're trying to protect the academy's reputation, but they'll give in later and this will become a normal event at the academy.'
Stephen separated from Nathan and went to the library to look for any useful books.
Stephen wandered through the library and looked at all kinds of books, but during his search, he found David standing in one of the aisles holding a book and reading it with focus.
Stephen looked at the title of the book, then widened his eyes and froze in shock.
"...."
Its title was (Why Does Someone Get Angry at You for No Reason).
Stephen was extremely shocked.
'Huh? What is happening?'
David noticed Stephen's presence, widened his eyes, his face went pale, and his mouth opened in shock.
He moved the hand holding the book quickly, trying to hide it from Stephen's sight,
But because of his nervousness and fast movement, the book was thrown onto the ground directly in front of Stephen.
Stephen looked at the book calmly, while David froze in place.
"...."
"...."
David moved quickly and picked up the book from in front of Stephen,
And shouted at Stephen angrily,
"Huh, what are you looking at?!"
Stephen was silent, then spoke in a calm voice.
"Nothing."
Stephen tried to turn to leave, but David stopped him.
"I-I wasn't reading this crap."
"It-it just fell on the ground and I picked it up."
Stephen looked at him with an expressionless face.
After seeing Stephen's expression, David's face suddenly turned red and he spoke angrily.
"If I hear any false rumors outside, I'll kill you!"
Stephen nodded.
"I won't say anything."
David looked at him with disgust and lifted his chin threateningly.
"Tch, you'd better not talk."
Stephen pointed in some direction and spoke.
"Then I'll go now."
David looked at him with a frown.
"Where to?"
Stephen was silent for a moment, then spoke.
"…I'll look for some books."
David shrugged, threw the book onto one of the shelves, and spoke in a commanding tone.
"Then come on, we'll go together."
Stephen frowned.
'Did it maybe get more annoying?'
David looked at him with narrow eyes.
"What?.. You don't want that?"
Stephen sighed tiredly and spoke indifferently.
"Doesn't matter, do whatever you want."
David nodded with an arrogant smile.
"Good."
….
David completely ignored Nathan.
And of course, Nathan didn't give the slightest bit of attention to that and completely ignored David.
Stephen sighed in annoyance. During those three days, not only did the ignoring between David and Nathan continue, but David was also giving Stephen sharp looks.
When bedtime came, and classes would start again the next morning,
Stephen spoke to Nathan coldly.
"How long will this last?"
Nathan, who was lying down, sat up and asked in confusion.
"What do you mean?"
Stephen looked at him coldly.
"You and David."
Nathan raised his eyebrows and spoke indifferently.
"He's free to act however he wants. It's none of my business."
Stephen frowned.
"You know you were wrong in this."
Nathan spoke sarcastically.
"So what if I was wrong? What do you want me to do?"
"Apologize??"
Stephen didn't answer and just stood there.
Nathan stood up, put his hand on Stephen's shoulder, and smiled.
"I will never apologize! And I also won't control my actions — maybe next time he won't just get a rock passing by him… maybe more."
When Nathan found Stephen silent, he shrugged and went back to sitting on his bed.
The next morning, Stephen woke up early as usual, made food for himself, and went out to go to Byrne.
Today was the day he had to feed Byrne mana.
Stephen knew his location — it was in that same special garden for third-years.
So he headed there. After entering it again, Stephen's eyes softened, as the view was as beautiful as before.
When he looked around, he didn't find Byrne anywhere.
After moving forward a bit, he heard a cold, ice-like voice.
"How did you two find this place?"
The voice Stephen heard was very cold, and he could even feel a faint killing intent in the air.
Stephen approached with a frown. When he got closer, he was able to see a third-year student holding Byrne, looking at the two students who had stumbled backward and fallen to the ground in fear, with faint killing intent, and he opened his mouth and repeated the same question again.
"How did you two find this place?"
The boy spoke in fear.
"I-I-I'm sorry, Student Council President. I found it by accident yesterday and brought my friend to see it. I-I didn't know it was your place."
The girl beside him was trembling.
Stephen stood with a frown as he heard this.
'Student Council President?!..... Velican??'
Byrne suddenly jumped out of Velican's arms and went to Stephen.
Velican looked back and found Stephen standing behind him. Velican returned his gaze to the two students in front of him and spoke coldly.
"Get out of here now."
The student nodded quickly, picked up his friend, and fled.