"Student Vallhall, stay behind for a bit."
"..."
As everyone began to leave, the headmaster beckoned the bleached-blond-haired youth and informed him.
The two stayed in silence, observing each other, even when the staff began clearing the training grounds and the last chair remaining was the one the headmaster was seated on…
As it began to get dark, the headmaster made an unexpected move.
He reached out with his open hand, but it wasn't as if he was going for a handshake or asking Rotsard to help him get up.
"Spell Break."
*CRACK*
Lord Lazalarius suddenly chanted an incantation while clenching his fist and twisting it in the air, which was followed by a loud crunching sound and…
*CRASH*
The bruised and battered, bleached-blond-haired youth in front of him turned translucent and crumbled into a pile of ice shards.
*crack*
At the same time, fine cracks appeared in thin air, in a seemingly empty spot a bit further away, revealing a large box-like structure with mirror-like walls. But since it already cracked, it soon crumbled apart, revealing a perfectly healthy, bleached-blond-haired youth sitting on another chair… He had to observe everything from the side, hidden out of sight from the very start…!
"Was it the disturbance in the mana in nature, or just the cold emanating from my spells, that sold me out?"
Rotsard Vallhall, who had not actually fought with Justin in person that day, straightened his back and asked with an intrigued smile.
"If it was any of that, those three I brought especially to show you off would have noticed something was amiss…"
The headmaster shrugged his shoulders, glancing at the pile of ice in front of him for a moment and focusing back on the real Rotsard.
"Solitude of the Frosted Wasteland AND Dance of the Frozen Lake… Impressive."
"Not really."
The man nodded his head, but the student didn't share his opinion.
"The illusion was junky, I could barely make my ice puppet speak, it moved all clunky… and I'm pretty sure that teacher Oltial figured me out even without knowledge of spells from Essence of Winter. Unfortunately, this combination cannot join my repertoire since to make it even a little bit convincing, I have to stay completely still."
Rotsard revealed giving himself a rather harsh evaluation while leaning back into his chair.
"I really thought I could maybe… Well, nevermind of what I thought. In the end, it is not something that can be used against the strong… If anything, it's something that can deceive only the weak… so it definitely goes against my sense of honor as a noble. Well…!"
Rotsard let out a dispirited sigh before calling out and theatrically smacking his hands against his knees and standing up.
"...in the eyes of the entire Academy you've lost quite miserably… isn't that affecting your honor as a noble…?"
"..."
As the youth began to walk off and passed the still seated headmaster, the man asked him, making Rotsard stop for a moment.
"I don't think that the commoner would agree with that whole miserable part. Not with how injured he got. And although crying suits him the best, that smile he made when, in his eyes, he tore the victory out of the jaws of defeat was… quite nice too."
"???"
Rotsard shrugged his shoulders and chuckled before tilting his head and smiling softly while looking into the distance, causing the headmaster to stare at him wide-eyed, as, without any context, that was quite the statement to make.
"Hmmhmm~"
Seeing that sort of reaction made Rotsard chuckle, and he left without saying a proper goodbye to the headmaster, who appeared to intend to stay behind for a bit longer.
Still, on his way to the dormitory, Rotsard's expression darkened, and his brows furrowed.
"...id she figured out that it wasn't actually me…? It would be nice if she did…"
He muttered to himself while looking to the side.
Meanwhile, back in the girls' dormitory, Saria walked out of the bathroom, freshly out of the bath, dressed in a fluffy bathrobe and carefully patting down her wet hair with the soft towel.
"Spite? Were you staring out of the window the whole time?"
"Nmmm."
The girl froze up and asked in confusion, and her contracted fae let out a casual muffled whine.
"Did… something interesting happen at least…?"
Saria furrowed her brows and asked while leaning to the side, but what she saw was just a headmaster conversing with one of the Academy's staff members holding the last two chairs as they walked towards the main building.
"Nmm…"
"You're so weird sometimes…"
But as her contracted fae let out a dismissive whine and trotted away from the window, Saria rolled her eyes and shook her head at it with a lighthearted scoff.