The academy teachers gathered with serious expressions waiting for someone.
âSir Silver hasnât come?â
âUh⦠he isnât the kind to be late.â
âHe seemed to be in a bad mood lately. Maybe he is sick?â
âHe would inform us if that was the case.â
âI canât contact him.â
Silver Blanc.
A homeroom teacher for the elementary level Beta in Phoenix Academy, a cheerful and healthy man.
He was close to all the staff so it was natural that they were worried because of his sudden absence.
âDoes anyone know where he lives? Didnât you drink a lot with him after classes?â
âWe did but I donât know the address. We never drank till we were drunk.â
Magicians donât drink too much.
Because alcohol messes up with memory. And memory was important to magicians, and they wouldnât do things which would deteriorate their memories.
Because of that, even if they drank, it would only be until they felt better.
And the door opened and a little boy, Jamie entered while rubbing his eyes.
âAhh~ good morning.â
Jamie went to his seat.
One of the teachers called him.
âMr. Jamie. Did you see Mr. Silver yesterday?â
âMr. Silver?â
Jamie didnât remember most people, but he remembered this one person.
It was because he had spoken to him a few times. And he seemed like a very kind person.
âNo. I didnât see him.â
âWell. He couldnât have been with you.â
âDid something happen?â
One of the teachers explained.
âHe didnât even contact?â
âYes. I tried calling, but he didnât accept it.â
Sophia with her blue wavy hair responded and sighed.
âSomething bad didnât happen right?â
âIt canât be that. He just had to be tired.â
âDid Mr. Silver have class today?â
âFortunately, no.â
âThen Miss Sophia can go to the beta class for today.â
âYes yes.â
Although they were worried, they had an obligation to the academy, so they have to fill the vacancy.
âWhat are you all gathered here for?â
The door opened and Javelin entered.
He approached them with a smile.
The teacher who explained to Jamie, explained again.
âIs Mr. Silver sick?â
âI donât know.â
âI will go see him. I will go find his address.â
Since Javelin would take the position as acting principal, finding an address wouldnât be tough.
âAs expected! So reassured by our acting principal!â
âIt is fine.â
When Javelin solved the problem, everyone cheered for him.
âW-what is with you all acting like this. Of course I need to do this.â
âWeâve been worried for an hour.â
âWe can go to class at ease now.â
Javelin was a reliable man for not just the students but teachers too.
Everytime Jamie saw Javelin, he thought that he was a difficult-to-understand person, but he also knew that giving someone so much trust wasnât easy.
Which meant he had to be a good man.
âAnyway, Iâll tell you after I find out.â
A large problem was resolved so Jamie headed to his seat.
He put down his bag, took off the tie around his neck and leaned back on the chair.
The door opened with a knock and Ann entered while looking around and found the spot.
âAnn. Over here.â
âAh! Good morning.
Ann greeted the other teachers too as she walked towards Jamie.
âYou came.â
âYes.â
Yesterday, he met Ann on the way and talked to her and asked to drop by the teacherâs room in the morning.
Jamie looked at Ann.
A 10 year girl with her mouth shut as she was nervous, but eyes full of life.
It was the eyes which changed Jamieâs mind.
Jamie nodded with a smile.
âCome to my teacherâs house after class today.â
âH-home? I donât know where.â
âLennon knows.â
â⦠Lennon?â
âRight. Lennon is also taking classes from me.â
At that, Annâs expression wrinkled.
He knew without even asking.
Just yesterday he heard what Ann thought of Lennon.
âWhy? Any complaints?â
âNo, butâ¦â
Muffled words.
Jamie would have been disappointed if he heard a stiff answer.
Jamie saw a bit of anger on Annâs face. Annâs envy and jealousy towards Lennon wonât be resolved in just one day.
Ann still had a strong sense of inferiority towards Lennon.
So he accepted Lennon too.
He felt bad to take Lennon in on that thought, but he hoped that his presence would be a catalyst for Ann.
âThen good. Come with Lennon. And know this.â
âWhat?â
âYou two arenât my disciples yet. Only when you pass the test will you be my disciples.â
âTestâ¦â
âRight, so work hard, or it could be only you or Lennon. Both may remain, or both may fall.â
The sound of Ann gulping could be heard.
âPlease donât miss the chance.â
âI-Iâll do my best!â
When Ann answered loudly, all the teachers looked their way. Ann quickly covered her mouth and bowed in their direction.
It was quite remarkable to see her white skin turn red.
Jamie smiled and waved to Ann.
âNow go and get ready for class.â
âYes. Iâll see you later.â
Ann nodded and walked out.
It seemed like there was too much motivation for her.
âAnn needs stimulation.â
And in order to raise the magical talent she lacked, the emotional part had to be tapped.
And Lennon might be the right one for her.
âAre you going to make that child your disciple?â
âAh! You shocked me!â
Jamie almost fell back at the sudden words from Keniac.
The gloomy man suddenly appeared with no sign.
âGive me a sign before you come! Please! I thought my heart was going to fall.â
âI am sorry. It looked like you were too deep in thought so I didnât care much about it.â
â⦠but, what is going on?â
âI guess you were too shocked to hear. I asked if you were taking Ann as a disciple.â
Jamie felt uncomfortable talking about this to Keniac.
This was because they were talking for the first time, only after the first magic circle class was done.
He knew that Keniac respected him after the class, but Jamie was more comfortable with arrogant ones.
âI am still thinking about it.â
âAre you interested?â
âIt is because I am interested that I am thinking if I should take her in or not. Why?â
Keniac stared at Jamie and lowered his head and spoke quietly only for his ears.
âDonât be interested.â
âI think you should explain more about what you meaâ¦â
âDonât ask. Just keep it in mind.â
Keniac began to head back.
â⦠I donât want to see a great talent fall down so quickly. Donât ignore the words.â
With that, Keniac left to teach.
Jamie, who looked at that, frowned.
âWhat was that?â
Didnât this mean that Ann was dangerous?
Ann was a genius with the talent of a scholar, but her family was ordinary.
He did a little research about her and her family and how she grew up. And Jamie couldnât find anything problematic in it.
So Keniacâs warning didnât make sense.
âMore than anything⦠when I talked about Ann to Siegfried, I didnât hear any warning.â
Of course, Siegfried was the principal so he might not have known everything considering how he worked.
So he would have to look into the matter separately.
Ding! Dong! Dang!
The class bell rang.
Jamie got up as he decided to think about it later.
When Ann returned to class, she ran into Lennon at the entrance.
The two stared at each other without a word.
âHuh!â
âHuh!â
Both snorted at the other. But Ann felt bad.
Looking back. Lennon was staring at her terrifyingly. After a brief night, Lennon snorted and looked away.
âJust why?â
Ann couldnât understand why Lennnon who was amazing in magic, was acting like this towards her. In addition, the Simon family was known to have excellent magicians.
And his father was an elder in the Magic world. Having such a great father, why did he have to ask Jamie to teach him?
And she thought of something else.
âI will not lose.â
Although they were quite far away now, she was going to grit her teeth and learn. And will pass this test and become Jamieâs disciple.
Ann had been diligent with her studies since she was young.
Although she is still young, she thought that there was nothing she couldnât do.
Ann prepared for class without knowing that Lennon was thinking the same thing.
And looked at Finn next to her.
Finn didnât look nice. His eyes were slightly open and he looked weak.
âFinn, are you alright? Are you sick somewhere?â
âI am fine.â
He forced a smile.
âIt is because the weather is cold⦠I have been feeling tired.â
Finn clenched his teeth and lowered his head.
Just yesterday Finn looked fine. And just a day later he looked like a corpse.
âAre you really alright?â
âI am really fine. Phew⦠donât worry, I will be back to normal once I drink this.â
Finn said, taking out a bottle of Apophis X.
Ann stopped him,
âIf you drink nutritional supplements, they wonât help your body.â
âIt is okay. This is good medicine.â
âYou drink four to five of this a day.â
âI told you I am fine!â
Finn groaned and shook Annâs hand.
When Ann looked at Finn with a bewildered look, Finnâs face became startled as he recognized what he did.
âS-sorry. I am really fine, donât worry.â
â⦠uh.â
Ann turned away.
Meanwhile, Finn opened the bottle and shoved it into his mouth.
Did he have to do that?
Ann was concerned about his condition, but seeing how he reacted she didnât want to.
And the bell rang.
Ann looked away reluctantly and opened her textbook.