Merlin felt like a boulder had been lifted off his shoulders after his meeting with the headmaster and his parents came to a rather abrupt end. He had not thought he would be courageous enough to speak his mind, but he had done it, and, honestly, it felt so refreshing.

  However, that feeling had come about in exchange for his father’s usual calm stare taking a nose dive in quality, and his mother bursting into tears. He had not meant for his words to hurt them, he had just wanted them to know about what was in store for his future. He was sorry, but this was the only way he would be able to protect them. And protect them, he would.

  “Can I have a minute, Merlin?” Headmaster Im Ilseong started as Merlin and Nora approached the door, finally taking the liberty to lean back into his chair and rex. The whole conversation must have been stifling. After all, Merlin could have been pulled out of the Academy, and considering what the headmaster wanted of him, that would be anything but good.

  Merlin gnced over his shoulder at the man and sighed softly.

  “Sure.” He walked back in.

  “I’ll be outside,” said Nora, and she left the office.

  “Have your seat,” offered Headmaster Im Ilseong. Merlin took it. “First of all, no one is going to be letting you have close shaves with death. Now, I get it, you are serious about trying to help the world, and I take the bme for pushing such a proposition onto you in the first pce. But, surely, you do not think I would let a student of mine kill himself just because he wants to become strong, do you?”

  Merlin had realized that this was what their conversation would entail, but that still didn’t prepare him for it. After all, he couldn’t tell the headmaster that the only way for him to actually get strong enough to combat the Cataclysm was by having those encounters where his life fshed by his eyes. At the end of the day, it was not like the headmaster could do anything about that anyway, so he just decided to go along with whatever the man said. There was no point in dragging things out.

  He nodded and said briefly, not really in the mood for any long talk, “I understand.” Then silence descended upon the room, and a certain feeling bit into him concerning how he had acted the past night. His anger had been justified, but that was no way to talk to a person of authority. His shoulders dropped. “I also want to apologize for my behavior st night. That was rude of me.” He bowed slightly.

  Headmaster Im Ilseong chuckled, waving his hand listlessly as though he didn’t care for the apology. “Eh… It’s fine. I’ve been spoken to in worse manners throughout my life.”

  “That doesn’t make it any better,” Merlin added. “I apologize.”

  Headmaster Im Ilseong smiled. “Next time, however, do well to let me finish talking first.” Merlin blinked, unsure what the headmaster meant by that. Perhaps that bled into his expression, because Headmaster Im Ilseong stroked his beard and added, “Because of that you missed me announcing that you earned thirty points for Cohort Spearhead for your quick thinking and bravery in the presence of danger.”

  Merlin’s eyes widened as he did a double take. Surely he had heard wrong, right? Did the headmaster just say that he earned points for his actions? Goodness, now he felt even worse than he was feeling already. He really shouldn’t have shed out like he’d done. What was he to say now?

  He stared bnkly at Headmaster Im Ilseong’s face and realized that the man was relishing in the incredulous look he wore. The man was more sly than he seemed.

  “Isn’t this the part where I get a ‘thank you’?” Headmaster Im Ilseong commented, and Merlin snapped back to his senses.

  “T-Thank you, headmaster,” he said, standing up and bowing. “And, once again, I apologize for my actions.

  “It’s fine,” the headmaster said. “Your actions were noble, and your anger was from a good pce. However, if you ever come upon such a situation again—which I sincerely hope not—I suggest you don’t fight the monsters head on, but instead stall for time.”

  Merlin tilted his head slightly. “Stall for time? And how do you reckon I do that, sir?”

  “Monsters are naturally drawn to the strongest present in a location, that is unless they are intercepted by another, or their sense of perception is off for whatever reason. All you have to do is stay on the defensive for as long as you can until backup arrives. Do not engage them in offense.”

  Honestly, Merlin wasn’t sure about what the headmaster had said. Wouldn’t staying on the defensive only worsen the situation? If he attacked, he could get a few hits in and maybe even kill one or two monsters, just like Janeth had done. Why stay on the defensive when that could just give them a higher probability of cornering him?

  “I understand what’s going through your mind,” Headmaster Im Ilseong noted as he csped his hands together. “Offense is the best form of defense, that’s the general rule of thumb. What you have to understand though, is that such a rule only applies to enemies on a weaker or simir level as the one attacking. If the enemy is far stronger, I assure you that defense or, specifically, running away is the best way to survive. Do not let your epic sense for heroics get in the way of your reasoning. If the enemy is far stronger than you are, you can retreat. You are allowed to retreat.”

  As she had said, Nora was waiting just outside the headmaster’s office when Merlin came out, leaning on the wall and staring sers into a vase of flowers opposite her, perhaps as some way to keep her mind busy so she did not croak over and wither due to boredom.

  “Sorry to keep you,” Merlin said as he shut the door behind him.

  Nora shook her head. “You’re fine.” She then smiled, pulling her back from the wall as they made their way down the hallway of the mini-mansion. “Your conversation was entertaining enough. Sucks that Spearhead has overtaken Dragon Eye now, though.”

  Merlin’s lips twitched. “You know eavesdropping is a bad habit, right?”

  She snorted, threw her arm over his neck and mimicked a weak imitation of trying to strangle him. “And so is keeping a secret from your only sister, you nerd. So you went on a date with Janeth and decided not to tell me, huh?”

  Merlin groaned. “I wanted it to be a surprise.”

  “So? How did it go, loverboy?” Nora asked, her arm still wrapped around his neck. Merlin had to lower his height for her to keep her ‘sibling love’ up. And it seemed she noticed it then. “By the way, when did you get so tall?”

  He ignored the tter question, and focused on the former. “Well, besides the Ice Wyverns showing up and ruining the date, it was absolutely horrific.”

  Nora’s whole body twitched. She then took her arm off Merlin and stopped, her brows narrowing in horror. “Geez, Merlin. What did you do? Don’t tell me you tried to kiss her as soon as you met?”

  Merlin downturned his lips, disappointed at her ridiculous leap in inference. “No, I did not try to do that. What do you take me for? A deranged aristocrat?”

  Nora shrugged as she resumed her walking. “One can never tell.”

  “You can! I’m your brother!” Merlin sighed. “She rejected me; that’s what happened.”

  Nora clicked her tongue. “I knew she would.”

  Merlin didn’t take offense at her casual reply to his newest addition in the growing list of the disastrous life of Merlin Tyrrell, because he had always pictured his sister as someone completely apathetic to anything romantic. Which was why he felt sorry for Lee Jaehyun.

  However…

  “Couldn’t you at least feign sympathy for me? It wouldn’t kill you.”

  Nora’s brows drew together as she faked a gasp. “Goodness, Merlin. But that would be rude of me.” One of these days he was going to kick her. “Anyway, the truth is Janeth has never seen you as more than a friend. So it’s only normal that she rejected you.”

  Merlin scoffed, rolling his eyes at her. “Thanks for the Earth shattering reveal. I must not have heard her correctly when she told me ‘no’ yesterday.”

  “However, young padawan,” Nora continued, obviously enjoying the whole conversation at Merlin’s detriment. “The future might just differ. Because she didn’t like you yesterday, doesn’t mean she won’t like you tomorrow. Stand firm, and your future might just be you walking down the aisle with a certain dy named Janeth Park.” She paused. “But I wouldn’t bank on it.”

  “Oh, shut up…”

  Nora ughed.

  Merlin had actually been getting quite motivated there, but what had he been expecting from the gremlin he had as a twin.

  They came across Maid Eun-Wol on their way out of the manor, who only greeted them with a simple bow, like she’d done when they’d arrived, and immediately vanished from their presence. She had also come to call them ‘Master’ and ‘Miss’, which had struck Merlin the wrong way at first, but he knew telling her to stop would just be equivalent to shooting darts at metal. He just let her be.

  “Heading back to the dorm?” Nora asked as they walked out of the headmaster’s home and through its gate. She was already angling her body to move in the direction that led to her dorm, but Merlin’s body wasn’t moving towards his just yet.

  “I have somewhere to be,” he replied, taking a deep breath of fresh air. It had been suffocating within the headmaster’s office—no offense to the man.

  Nora narrowed her eyes. “You’re not heading out of the Academy again, are you?”

  “I’m not that brazen, Nora,” Merlin snorted. “I’m heading to the square. Gotta fix my phone… and meet someone.”

  “Meet someone?” Nora was confused for a moment, then an answer to her question suddenly sparked in her head and it showed in the way her eyes widened. “Merlin. Do you have another date?” she asked, folding her arms.

  Merlin pressed his lips together. “Well… It’s not a date per se—”

  “When did you become a pyboy?” Nora shook her head. “I’m telling Janeth. Can’t have my friend falling for someone so shifty.”

  “I’m your brother, for crying out loud.” Merlin almost facepalmed. “And it’s not a date. There’s this girl that approached me, I’m just going to tell her how I really feel so she’s not stuck in limbo.”

  Nora eyed him for a moment. Then she shrugged. “If that’s the case then, good luck.” She spped him on the shoulder before turning around and walking away. “See you ter.”

  Merlin turned his gaze to the drifting clouds in the sky, focusing on his current worries…

  Now, how do I go about dishing the same thing Janeth gave me to another?

  The square was simply the name given to the enormous mall the Academy had within its walls, which made for easier access to whatever students wanted, so that they were not tempted by the prospect of heading out of the Academy every now and then.

  It was an exquisitely made building of multiple floors and gss railings, each level lined by stores dispying colorful signs and sales banners, and the ambience about the pce was a deep contrast with, say, the Academy’s library. What Merlin hadn’t been expecting, though, was for most, if not everyone, to switch from lively chattering to murmuring as soon as he’d waltzed into the pce.

  “Is that him?” a girl said. Merlin knew she was a student because she was not far older than he was despite her casual wear. And, besides, who else would be shopping within the mall of an Academy if not students.

  “Yes,” her friend replied as they walked past Merlin where he was receiving his tag at the Guest Services Desk. “He doesn’t look as scary as the video made him out to be, though.”

  “Isn’t he a Deficient Mage?” This question came from another angle. “How could he have fought C-Ranked monsters without magic?”

  “I hear he can use anti-magic,” another answered. “That’s why he got admitted in the first pce. He’s also the twin brother of one of the A-Css Mages in our set.”

  “Anti-magic? That’s real?”

  “How else would you expin the video?”

  “I think his case is more than just anti-magic,” another said. “Didn’t you see how he was moving? He was flying through the air. None of us should be able to do something like that. I swear, something’s up with that guy.”

  “I agree.”

  The murmurs only grew louder and louder until they overwhelmed Merlin, forcing him to close his eyes and lean on the desk before him. He had been curious as to how people would react when they found out about what he could do, but now he understood why deep down he didn’t go about announcing it. The attention was nauseating.

  “Here you go,” the attendant said as they slid a tag over to him. “Sorry about the dey.”

  Merlin swallowed dryly and replied with a stutter as he put on the tag, “It’s fine.”

  Immediately, he left the desk, sought out the closest mobile repair shop he could, and left his phone there. Then he found his way to the assigned location he and Sofia had agreed upon to meet before his phone had gone bust, half hoping that she wouldn’t come since he had not replied to any texts she might have sent.

  Surprisingly, though, she was there, dressed in a pink floral gown with embellishments, her hair braided in a rather astonishing way, and her face touched with light makeup to make her look even more attractive than she already was. She looked like she was out for a tea party, which was ironic since their agreed location was a cake and coffee shop.

  Merlin sighed and walked in, and immediately her somewhat sombre face brightened up. She waved him over.

  “Hi,” she greeted. “I thought you wouldn’t come. You weren’t replying to my texts, so I just took a leap of faith.”

  “My phone got spoiled. I’m sorry,” replied Merlin.

  “Ah… It’s fine. I’m sorry I jumped to conclusions. If you don’t mind, I ordered a slice of cake for you. It’s chocote. I heard guys liked chocote. Mine’s red velvet.”

  Merlin smiled as he and Sofia both took their seats, his eyes gncing over the piece of cake on a small ceramic pte pced before him.

  “Thank you; but for future reference, not all guys like chocote.”

  “Oh? You don’t like chocote?” Sofia asked, her eyes widening softly. “I must have read it wrong then.”

  For one, Merlin had been trying to throw her a hint there that she should redirect her attention towards other guys, but he had failed spectacurly. And, secondly, she had read it online? It seemed he wasn’t the only one with zero date experiences.

  That aside… How was he to go about breaking the news of his infatuation with Janeth to Sofia now? Was he to do it after they’d talked a bit over cake and coffee, or was he to just get it out of the way now so that she didn’t get more attached, causing the news to hit harder?

  He had no idea what to do, and the silence was beginning to stretch out indefinitely. His mouth opened, and he blurted the first thing that came to his mind.

  “You’re not curious?” he asked, making Sofia blink owlishly. He nudged his head in the direction of the students gncing his way, murmuring under their breaths. “Everyone else seems to be.”

  Sofia smiled. “I am. But that’s not what we’re here for today, and I don’t want to spoil the mood.”

  Merlin’s heart skipped a beat. If this went on any longer, he would definitely have a harder time rejecting her outright here and now. He was always so cautious about what others thought of him, and if he got close to her, it would make matters worse for him on that front.

  He opened his lips to say what he had on his mind, but he was stopped by the call of the barista.

  “Sofia Petrovna. Your coffee orders are ready.”

  Sofia beamed and cpped her hands softly. “That’s us. I don’t know what you like so I just ordered a tte. I hope that’s fine with you?”

  She had really gone out of her way to set things up, and Merlin suddenly felt even more worse than how he’d felt when he’d walked into the cafe.

  He nodded. “Yes, that’s fine. I’ll get them.” He made to stand up, but she shot up before him, shaking her head.

  “No. I’ll do it. You can just rex.” And she hurried to the counter to bring back their drinks.

  For a moment there, Merlin had felt like he was the dy between both of them, but exchanging words was never his thing, so he just let Sofia be herself. And, before he knew it, their time together stretched on; he found himself ughing, which was a welcome feeling considering how he’d been emotionally a few moments back. But because he enjoyed the company, and was unable to open his mouth to do what he needed to do, the day ended with him returning back to the dorm a lot closer with her than he had been before. Which had not been the pn, and Chima and Hakyun made sure his ears were full.