Several wizards approached Julia and spoke to her.

"Hey youngest. How's school life?"

"Is anyone bullying you? Just tell me. I'll go right there and grab the chancellor by the collar!"

"Hey, sister! Why are you pressuring her like that? Julia, just quietly tell us who it is. If you do that, whoever's bothering you won't be seen the next day."

"What are you going to do?"

"Just make them sleep forever."

"Wouldn't it be better to keep them from sleeping?"

"Huh? That's true too?"

The sight of Dream School wizards exchanging words among themselves was truly reminiscent of a marketplace.

"You're really being doted on."

At Rudger's words, Julia gritted her teeth.

It was as if she was saying 'This is why I didn't want to come.'

To think that the most proud and cold person in Theon was being treated like a cute little thing in her own school faction.

Finally, Julia, unable to hold back, exploded.

"Ah, please! Stop it! Anyone watching would think I'd been gone for 10 years!"

"No, this is all because we're worried about you. Want some candy?"

"Stop treating me like a child! I'm a proper wizard of the Dream School!"

At Julia's outcry, the Dream School wizards looked at each other.

"Even if you say don't treat you like a child, what's the age difference between you and us?"

"If people here had just married early, they'd all have daughters your age."

"Hey. Not daughters. We could've had grandchildren by now?"

"But we don't, right?"

"That's true too."

-Ha ha ha ha!

They talked among themselves and laughed boisterously at whatever they found funny.

Even Rudger was tired of their noisy and energetic behavior.

"Huh? But our youngest brought a man?"

"Oh my! Has she already reached that age?"

"No, what's this gigolo doing here!"

The arrows naturally turned to Rudger standing next to Julia.

Like Zantman, none of the wizards here recognized Rudger.

Above all, at the mention of a man brought by their beloved youngest, they all glared with fierce eyes, already ready to cut him down with a meat cleaver.

It was Zantman who stopped them.

"No, you fools! What are you doing! He's a guest!"

"Guest? Isn't he the man our youngest brought?"

"He's our youngest's school teacher!"

The wizards' attitude flipped like turning over a palm.

"Oh my! So you're a teacher. We're sorry. We didn't know that. But why did a teacher come here?"

"Isn't it vacation now? Ah! That's it! Home visit!"

"Home visit? Isn't that for meeting parents?"

"Still, we're like family to our youngest too, so he could come."

"That's right!"

What's right about that?

Rudger almost said that out loud but barely held back.

What kind of home visits are there these days to say such things.

Or maybe they're not thinking straight because it's related to their beloved youngest.

"Hey teacher. Is our youngest doing well?"

"Is there anything Julia is struggling with?"

Thinking what tiresome people they were, Rudger opened his mouth.

"Julia is top of her class among Theon freshmen. She's so clever that she never loses first place in any class, so you don't need to worry."

At those words, the Dream School wizards visibly relaxed.

"Oh my, I was seriously considering packing loads of candy to ask you to be nice to our Julia."

"No sister. What candy? Kids these days don't like that stuff."

"Is that so?"

They were tiresome and quite meddlesome people, but at the same time, their affection for Julia was strongly present.

Usually, relationships between wizards within a school faction are based on strict hierarchical order.

While the degree of casualness may vary by faction, there was definitely not a single place that showed such close family-like bonds.

'When I first heard rumors about the Dream School, I thought it would be a gathering of eccentric geniuses with outstanding talent somewhere.'

But this is no different from a rural village meeting.

However, that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

Rather, it should be said it was good because it felt human.

Because it was a place where only dreamers who dream gathered, these emotional aspects resonated more.

Although from Julia's perspective, who receives such excessive love, it must be embarrassing.

Maybe that's why she tries so hard to maintain her current attitude within Theon.

"Hey you people, move aside so we can pass!"

"You bastard Zantman! You should have told us when Julia came!"

"Why should I!"

"Look at that conscienceless guy. You bullied Julia again, didn't you?"

"Ah, forget it, I need to guide the guest now so let's talk later."

"Guide? To whom?"

"He has questions about Dreamland's depths, so he's looking for that."

"What? This young man came to learn about Dreamland's depths?"

The Dream School wizards stared at Rudger with wide eyes.

The reactions were split exactly in half.

"Young men have a strong curiosity. But too much curiosity can act as poison instead."

"No, but since we're already born into this life, living for such romance isn't bad either! I support it!"

"But why are you looking into the depths anyway? We can tell you about it, but surely you're not thinking of going in there?"

At those words, the other wizards made a fuss.

From their shuddering reactions, one could tell how much they feared Dreamland's depths.

Zantman berated the clamoring wizards.

"Shut up you fools! It's too noisy! Anyway, what matters is the decision of the elders, what use is your chatter!"

"You're an elder too!"

Rudger looked at Zantman with eyes that said 'Really?'

Zantman stroked his beard and looked at distant mountains.

"Was I?"

"Zantman has finally gone senile!"

"What? Senile? You dare say that to an elder!"

"Didn't you say you were busy? What are you doing not guiding the guest!"

Zantman, who was about to get angry, clicked his tongue and led Rudger and Julia to continue walking.

Cheers of support and welcomes to Julia followed behind.

Julia's face was flushed red as she heard those cheers.

Feeling the atmosphere might become awkward at this rate, Rudger broke the ice.

"Quite interesting people."

"...I won't deny that. They're not people you can easily find anywhere else."

"I suppose so. I was quite surprised too."

Rudger gave Julia a subtle piece of advice.

"It's good to care about Sedina, but don't neglect these people too much either."

"What's this? Life advice?"

"Something like that. Friends are important, but sometimes having senior-junior relationships like family like this will be something you'll be grateful for someday."

"I know that without you telling me. It's just a bit embarrassing."

Rudger let out a small laugh.

"I can't deny that."

Even from an observer's perspective, similar emotions were felt, so how much more for the person involved.

Zantman, who was walking in front, stopped his steps.

"We're here!"

Beyond the space that was a bedroom disguised as a research lab.

What was at its end was an ordinary door.

However, Rudger felt that absolutely extraordinary things were happening inside that door.

The gentle magical power that could be felt from the outside hinted that the space inside was filled with some kind of magical something.

Though it seemed dangerous to open carelessly, Zantman opened it wide without even thinking of knocking.

A sweet fragrance wafted out from inside along with a gentle breeze.

'Fragrance? No, something's different.'

The unknown force flowing from inside the room was hard to describe in words.

It was clearly fragrant but felt on the skin, warm but sensed through smell.

The inside of the room was full of all kinds of colors.

It was like flowers in a field, and at the same time like stars scattered in the night sky.

Tasting while seeing with eyes.

Hearing sounds while breathing.

A peculiar sensation where the five senses seemed to mix with each other.

Zantman and Julia must have felt it too, as they momentarily paused in place.

"Whew. This room is always like this whenever we open it."

Zantman clicked his tongue and boldly stepped into the room.

With each step Zantman took, the floor beneath rippled and created waves.

The lights caught in the waves giggled like children, becoming dim before returning to their original state.

'This scene. Something similar feels familiar.'

A faintly rising sense of déjà vu.

Rudger soon realized the identity of that déjà vu.

'Dreamland's surface world. It's similar to what I saw there.'

When he accessed Dream Land for Order Synod, Rudger had witnessed that scene with his own eyes.

The floor was full of water with stars submerged underneath, and misty water fog rose around.

The scenery inside the room before his eyes now was similar to that and at the center of that room the figure of a being sleeping while floating in midair belatedly came into view.

'An old woman?'

The person sleeping was an old woman who looked to be over 80 years old.

She was curled up like a fetus in its mother's womb, floating in midair while deep in sleep.

The white clothes wrapped around her body undulated and moved, looking like another star floating in the sky.

'That person is the master of the Dream School.'

The Dream Master of the Dream School, Clara Cowen, a wizard shrouded in mystery who spent over 300 days out of 365 days a year sleeping and had never shown herself in public.

"Old lady! I'm here! Wake up!"

When Zantman shouted, Clara's movement floating in midair stopped abruptly and soon her body slowly descended.

Clara lightly touched the ground with her two feet.

Her build was small. Perhaps due to her age, her face was full of wrinkles.

She looked like she could pass away today or tomorrow and it wouldn't be strange.

However, when she opened her closed eyes and met those bright pupils Rudger could realize why this old woman was the master leading the Dream School.

Though her eyes were half-dazed from not being able to wake from sleep, Clara Cowen's blue eyes gently examined Rudger's appearance.

"Well this is quite something. It's surprising enough that one who doesn't dream has come, but to sense traces of Dreamland on that person. Perhaps you're connected to another child of our school?"

Rudger was quite surprised inside.

He had never entered Dreamland except during Order Synod and that was quite a while ago.

Even the most recent was just exchanging greetings when Helia came in.

It was magic that happened long ago, nevertheless, Clara Cowen saw through at once that Rudger had been to Dreamland.

"Huh? Really?"

Even Zantman asked back as if surprised but at the same time he understood inside that someone who had been to Dreamland would be curious about its depths.

Meanwhile, Clara's examination of Rudger did not stop.

"How curious, curious indeed. One who doesn't dream. Yet coming here to explore the dream world. Child, what did you come here to find."

Clara's voice was both gentle and strict at the same time.

Rudger brought up his purpose for coming.

"I want to find a way to go to Dreamland's depths."

"The depths......"

Clara didn't seem surprised, nor did she get angry or press him.

As if she had expected this, she quietly murmured that word for a moment, then turned her body.

"Come in."

At the words of permission, Rudger entered the room where Clara resided.

Zantman and Julia tried to follow, but Clara did not allow it.

"Only that child must come in. You two wait outside."

Julia and Zantman did not disobey those words.

Though they usually fought like siblings, they were very quiet and obedient before Clara, the head of the school.

Rudger stepped into Clara's space.

At the same time, the door closed by itself and the scenery inside the room changed.

Centered on where Rudger stood, the surrounding scenery became tinted like a real-world study.

"This......"

"Don't be surprised. This space is made of my magic. It's reality, but a place containing the dream world. It's a natural reaction when one who doesn't dream enters such a dream world."

Those who don't dream basically only face reality.

Even when they dream, they only replay parts of past reality, not a world where various things are mixed with unconsciousness and imagination added.

They are bound to reality even in dreams.

"Sit down."

-Tap tap.

A staff was now in Clara's hand.

When she lightly tapped the floor twice with it, a soft chair suddenly sprouted from beneath Rudger's feet.

Rudger naturally sat there.

"So. You want to enter the depths?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"There's something I need to find there."

"Something you need to find. I don't know if such a thing exists in Dreamland's depths, but if you're willing to go to such a dangerous place, it must be something very precious to you?"

"Yes."

Clara nodded lightly.

"The depths of Dream Land can be accessed."

"When you say it can be accessed......"

"Even if it's a forbidden space, access itself isn't blocked. If you want to go, you can go. But what comes after is the problem."

"I'm fully prepared."

"No. This isn't a matter of preparation."

Clara tapped the floor with her staff.

"In the deep parts of that world, there exists a being that must never open its eyes, sleeping."

And the surrounding scenery changed.