Inside the training grounds, the students of Magic Class 3, who were diligently participating in today’s practical session, were stealing glances in one particular direction as if they had coordinated it.
“Put more strength into your right leg. That way, the power carries through the attack.”
Following those words, Ruite shifted his weight into his lower body and launched an attack.
Chester’s eyes widened slightly in surprise, but he soon smirked and moved back into rhythm with Ruite.
“But… were those two always that close?”
“That’s what I’m saying. They were paired up twice for matches, but I never got the feeling they were friendly back then…”
“Since when did they become so tight? Especially with someone like Chester.”
“Haven’t they been sticking together quite a bit during practicals lately?”
“I even saw them doing an assignment together in the library the other day.”
Question marks floated in everyone’s eyes.
Chester, by nature, did not socialize with others.
He was famous for putting up walls against everyone—classmates, juniors, and seniors alike.
However, since he had recently been seen hanging out with Ruite so often, it was only natural for everyone to be curious.
By the time the classmates were deep into their discussion about the two, Ruite and Chester’s sparring session came to an end.
“Ah, I’m exhausted. Do we really need to go this hard even in a practical class?”
Ruite collapsed onto the floor immediately.
“Practicals should be like real combat. Don’t you know that?”
“Chester, you’re such an old soul.”
“A… what?”
“A kid who acts like an old man.”
“Doesn’t that word suit you better than me?”
The two then began bickering over the term “old soul.”
It was a truly beautiful sight to see them both refusing the title and trying to hand it off to the other.
Watching this, the classmates tilted their heads again.
“Maybe they’re… not that close?”
“Yeah. It’s ambiguous.”
“Come to think of it, when they were doing that assignment in the library, Chester was really pushing Ruite. Asking him what he even listened to in class. Ruite was face-down on the desk sleeping, and Chester was staring at him so intensely.”
Someone suggested that maybe he just didn’t like the way Ruite looked while sleeping, and everyone fell back into doubt.
It was so vague that it was hard to define whether they were close or not.
“Is it really that important?”
Colin approached the group from behind. Everyone turned to him, asking, “Huh?”
“Whether they’re close or not, it’s just nice to look at. Besides, if you keep standing here like this, Professor Ned will catch you.”
Sure enough, Ned, who had been monitoring the students’ progress from across the way, began walking toward them.
The chatty classmates scrambled into position, feigning innocence as if they had been working hard on their drills all along.
Colin continued to watch Ruite and Chester.
The two were still engaged in their childish bickering.
When Ruite swept his hair back to wipe away sweat, Chester paused for a moment.
Seeing Chester’s earlobes turn bright red, Colin left the area with a faint smile on his lips.
“Alright, that’s it for today’s practical! Don’t wander off—go straight to your classrooms and prepare for the next lecture.”
“Yes, sir!”
As soon as Ned finished speaking, everyone emptied out of the training grounds.
Stepping outside, a biting cold wind swept past.
Predictably, pained groans erupted from the students’ mouths.
Winter was slowly preparing to arrive.
Ruite stood at the entrance of the training grounds, looking up at the gloomy sky.
It wouldn’t be strange if snow started falling at any moment.
“Ruite.”
Before he could even turn around, a training jacket landed on his shoulders.
“You should carry an outer layer with you.”
“What’s this? You want me to wear it?”
Ruite asked Chester.
As he said, he hadn’t brought a jacket, but he figured he could get back to the classroom quickly if he ran.
“Yeah. You sweated a lot earlier. If the cold wind hits you in that state… you’ll catch a cold.”
“Ah… okay, thanks.”
The two stood side-by-side at the entrance, staring at the distant mountains.
As if by plan, they didn’t meet eyes once.
Only awkward coughing filled the air.
“What are you two doing there? Get to the classroom.”
At Professor Ned’s words, the two finally snapped out of it.
However, they maintained an awkward atmosphere even as they walked together.
It was a complete 180 from when they were sparring intensely and bickering like children inside.
Ruite unconsciously toyed with the jacket Chester had handed him.
Since the festival day, Ruite hadn’t avoided Chester anymore.
Although it was somewhat forced, he didn’t want to go back on his word, and truthfully, Ruite had been feeling a quiet stress from avoiding Chester, so he concluded it was better to just give up.
So now, they were living much like they used to.
But it wasn’t exactly the same.
While things felt normal when they were together, there were times when the air between them became strangely awkward.
Like right now.
Before entering the locker room, Ruite hesitated while trying to return the jacket to Chester.
“Ah, but it might be a bit gross since there’s sweat on it, right? I’ll wash it and give it back.”
“It’s fine. Just give it here.”
Chester took his outer garment from Ruite’s awkwardly extended hand.
Chester certainly didn’t snap at Ruite like he used to.
Ruite wasn’t sure if it was the influence of the pressure from his family or some other personal reason, but one thing was certain: Ruite didn’t find this current relationship uncomfortable.
In a way, they could be seen as just friendly classmates, and it didn’t seem like it would have a major impact on his plan to break off the engagement.
Besides, he honestly didn’t have the luxury to dwell on that issue right now.
The second-semester final exams were approaching.
Furthermore, they were the final exams of their third year.
Once these exams passed, the third-years had to prepare to become fourth-years.
A fourth-year at Whitmore was, quite literally, a student right on the edge of graduation—the most pitiable existence in the academy.
Graduating students were barred from academy events like festivals or camps and were almost forced to devote themselves to self-study or training even during weekends.
They couldn’t even fully rest during vacations, and because assignments and pop quizzes rained down on them, they had almost zero time to hang out with friends.
The difficulty of exams increased exponentially, leading to a common saying among fourth-years: they studied and trained so much that a whole year vanished in the blink of an eye.
Given that fearsome reputation, tension was naturally simmering among the students nearing the end of their third year.
Even the professors were now saying, “You’ll be fourth-years soon,” as if it were a greeting.
Naturally, an atmosphere of intense preparation for the final exams took hold.
Because of that, Ruite didn’t have the mental energy to worry deeply about a smooth annulment, his relationship with Chester, or his future where he wouldn’t die.
Today, as soon as lectures were over, he headed straight to the library.
He walked past the section occupied by fourth-years whose under-eyes had turned pitch black, and found a suitable spot.
Thinking that those half-dead fourth-years were his future self made him feel strangely gloomy.
The library was filled only with the sound of scratching pens and turning pages.
After immersing himself in study for an hour, Ruite stepped outside to stretch his stiff body.
“Oh.”
Just then, through the window right next to the library, he saw pure white snowflakes fluttering down.
Ruite naturally pressed closer to the glass.
It wasn’t a lot, but it was definitely snowing.
“Wait, isn’t this the first snow?”
“Colin.”
Colin had also just stepped out of the library, seemingly intending to take a break.
“Rui-i, taking a rest?”
“Yeah.”
Colin naturally stood next to Ruite.
“Ah, if you’re disappointed about watching the first snow with me, should I just go back inside?”
“What are you talking about? Who cares who you watch the first snow with?”
Ruite let out a small laugh at the nonsensical comment.
“Anyway, time really flies, doesn’t it? To think we’ll be fourth-years next year.”
Colin said, massaging his stiff shoulders.
“Right. At this rate, graduation will be here in the blink of an eye.”
“Even Rui-i has moments of being sentimental.”
“Let’s just call it a side effect of the exams.”
Ruite watched the white snow, which looked out of place against the black sky.
The sky had been looking gloomy quite often lately; it must have been preparing to let the snow fall.
Whenever he felt the change of seasons, the passage of time always hit him all at once.
It felt like just yesterday he had caught a cold because he put on his summer uniform too early, and yet it was already winter.
“I guess once we become fourth-years, we really will have to do nothing but study. They say the Magic Department is going to practically live on the back mountain. Apparently, they make us gain a lot of experience in monster subjugation, too.”
“Colin, you just shattered my sentimentality.”
“Haha, sorry.”
Colin let out a hearty laugh.
“That’s why I want to make as many memories as possible with my friends.”
“All of a sudden?”
“Once we’re fourth-years, we’ll be busy, and we’ll have even less time because we have to prepare for graduation and the Mana User Exam. Then, after we graduate and return to our respective places, we’ll naturally drift apart. It’ll become hard even to see each other’s faces.”
It was certainly because so many students were bound together by the common organization of the academy that they could build friendships and spend time together.
But once they graduated to pursue their own goals and returned to their positions, they might become people who struggled to see each other even once, just as Colin said.
‘Then it will be the same with Chester.’
Of course, that was a story for when the engagement was smoothly annulled, but Chester had already made up his mind to break free from his father’s shackles and join the Knights.
Seeing that, he must have fully regained his will to resist his father, so he would surely be able to stand up to his family’s pressure to marry.
Once he accepted the annulment and they each walked their own paths after their families settled things, it would turn out just as Colin described.
“Rui? What are you thinking about so deeply?”
“Huh? Oh, it’s nothing.”
