Despite the students' groaning, Rudger showed no mercy.

Although there weren't any textbooks yet, Rudger had already prepared separate class materials in anticipation of this.

"Assistant Sedina."

Two people responded to that call.

One was Sedina Roschen, who was waiting outside the door.

The other was Julia Plumhart, sitting in her seat with a languid expression.

Julia, with slightly dilated pupils, stared at the small-framed girl who was bringing in a stack of documents.

There had been no news during the break, but she heard from Rudger that she had gone to the Elven Forest.

Still, she must have returned before the second semester started.

Sedina's gaze, after delivering the materials, turned toward Julia.

Their eyes naturally met.

If it were the usual Sedina, she would have turned her head away here to avoid Julia's gaze but now was different, Sedina nodded toward Julia.

That nod implied they should meet and talk later.

Julia almost curled up the corners of her mouth unconsciously but barely restrained herself, conscious of the surrounding gazes.

Meanwhile, Rudger's gaze swept across the entire classroom.

His gaze lingered particularly long on certain students: Aidan's group, Rene and Erendir, and Flora Lumos.

Most of them had achieved magical accomplishments during the break, rather than just playing around.

"It seems everyone had an enjoyable break."

No one denied that statement.

They had thoroughly enjoyed being temporarily free from the hell of assignments and exams.

"Of course, there must be some who didn't waste their time just playing. How you spend your given break time isn't important. But now a new semester has started, and you need to readjust your mindset."

Break is break.

Now that it's over, if anyone tries to maintain a half-hearted attitude out of habit, they won't escape misfortune.

"Don't complain too much about having class from day one. Rather, it's barely enough time to regain your early semester sense from now on. So I'll help you directly."

Rudger's words sounded less like advice and more like a prelude to upcoming hardships.

The students harbored complaints inside but couldn't express them.

They actually vaguely knew that the enjoyable break was now over and that they had to return to those days of attending classes.

"Why is everyone acting like that? Isn't attending class fun?"

"Shh. Aidan. Be quiet."

There was a minor incident where one oblivious student made an unnecessary comment and was cautioned by his friend but since it was a common occurrence, it was quickly overlooked.

* * *

With the start of the new semester, students immediately plunged into their busy daily routines.

Students who had been focused on studying before adapted quickly, but those who had only played around couldn't.

Students who had fallen into laziness continued their struggle with assignments even when others were taking proper breaks.

The price of laziness was harsh.

Even students who had consistently studied ahead had to push themselves harder to avoid being caught up to.

The relaxed atmosphere that had just settled in after the break was nowhere to be found, and Theon once again burned hot with academic fervor.

It had regained its early-year appearance once more.

But there were students who weren't affected by such flows.

Julia Plumhart was one of them.

Befitting her position as the top student in first year, she handled even the tight class schedule with ease.

Meanwhile, she made time to take a walk in the park established within the Theon grounds.

Of course, this wasn't just a walk to refresh her mood.

There was a definite destination at the end of the path she was walking.

"Sedina."

Julia called out to the girl sitting leaned against a large tree trunk.

The girl who had arrived first and was waiting turned her head to stare at Julia.

"...Julia."

"Hi. It's been a while."

"Yeah. It's been a while."

Though it was just a casual greeting, many meanings were implied within it.

The two were silent for a while.

They had a lot to say, but once they met face to face, they were at a loss for where to begin.

Both Julia and Sedina fumbled awkwardly in the uncomfortable atmosphere.

Julia was the first to gather courage.

"I heard. They say you went back home?"

"Home? Ah, yes."

"Are you okay?"

She asked in a voice full of worry.

It would have been a shocking sight for students who usually found Julia intimidating.

Sedina naturally accepted such concern from Julia because Julia had always been that kind of friend.

"Yeah. I'm much better now. Though I'm not completely fine yet, that will gradually get better with time too."

"What happened during that time?"

"A lot happened. Too much to explain all at once right here."

"Is it something I shouldn't hear about?"

"That's not it. It just doesn't suit telling right now. I'll tell you later when there's a chance. Everything."

Sedina was different from before. She didn't say things like 'it has nothing to do with you' or 'you don't need to know.'

She had changed, and now decided to treat Julia with the mindset of being different.

Even now as she explained that she couldn't tell, Sedina's apologetic expression was evident.

Julia was satisfied with this huge development and nodded.

"Okay. I'll look forward to that time."

"Rather, I'm curious about how you spent your time, how was it?"

"I just spent it as usual."

"Only the teacher knows that I went to the forest, right? Did you meet with the teacher during that time too?"

"Meeting was by chance. But we did talk quite a bit. We both needed something from each other. As much as I was curious about the teacher, the teacher was curious about me too."

"Teacher Rudger? That's hard to imagine."

"More precisely, not me but our school of magic. You know well which school I belong to, right?"

"The Dream School. It's famous."

"Teacher Rudger seems to be interested in that. So he came to visit our school."

She didn't talk about the depths of Dreamland.

Not only would it not be good to mention, but the school had ordered silence about the series of incidents that had recently occurred in Dreamland.

"I see."

It was quite interesting news for Sedina, who had been curious about what Rudger had been doing and where while she was away.

Just then, a gentle breeze blew through, passing between them as if teasing.

Julia neatly arranged her side hair that was fluttering with her fingertips.

Glancing at Sedina, she was appreciating the garden scenery with a much more relieved expression.

Sedina murmured while reminiscing about the past.

"Somehow, this feels like we've gone back to the old days."

"The old days, huh..."

Julia nodded with a bitter smile.

When they were very young, the two often played separately like this.

It was during their immature childhood, when they were much purer than now.

They still remembered it clearly and vividly.

"Julia. I'm really sorry about everything until now."

Julia opened her eyes wide and then showed a faint smile.

It was a gentle smile, different from when she put up walls against people usually.

"You don't need to be sorry."

Sedina turned to Julia in surprise but Julia slightly avoided her gaze, seeming a bit shy.

"Between friends, we can have small fights sometimes."

Sedina opened her eyes round, then soon broke into a soft laugh.

"Yeah! That's true."

Then another gust of wind blew in.

It was different from the breeze that had blown earlier.

Rather than gently embracing something, it rushed in as if trying to roughly blow things away.

What wafted from it was an inexplicable sense of anxiety.

Julia stared in the direction the wind had come from with a hardened expression.

She thought she had just felt a similar wavelength to what she had felt in Dreamland.

Looking around again, there was no trace of the anxiety.

"Julia? What's wrong?"

"...It's nothing. I must have misunderstood something momentarily."

Julia brushed it off like that but the anxiety that strangely tickled her body stuck to her like humid moisture and wouldn't let go.

* * *

After the new semester started, time flew by quickly.

Though the daily routine wasn't much different from the first semester, students had to spend their time busily without a moment to spare because of that.

But perhaps because of the sweet break time?

Occasionally there were students who didn't come to class even during lecture hours.

"Is Demian not here today?"

"Hmm. That's unexpected. I thought Charlotte was diligent. Maybe she's sick somewhere?"

"Please tell Jamie's friend not to be late with assignment submissions."

One by one, empty seats appeared in the classroom.

Neither teachers nor students taking the same classes found it strange.

It had been too much of a forced march until now, and it was still a time when they could be immersed in the lingering feelings of the break.

"Students these days seem too relaxed."

"That's right. In my class too, there were three absences today."

Selina and Merilda brought up what had happened in today's classes while sharing a meal together.

Since it was the first time students had skipped classes, they seemed troubled about how to handle it.

"Did they get relaxed because of the break?"

"How much must they look down on us to dare to be absent? This is a chance to teach them a sharp lesson."

"But there could be unavoidable circumstances..."

"Selina. You're too nice. That's why the kids rather look down on you. At times like this, you need to be strict. Look at Teacher Rudger."

Rudger, who was cutting his steak, stopped and stared at Merilda.

His gaze seemed to ask why his name was coming up here.

"Since it came up, let me ask. Were there any absences in Teacher Rudger's class?"

"...No. There are no students who skip my class. At least not yet."

"See? If they don't want to die, of course they'll come."

Rudger glared at Merilda with a slightly disgruntled gaze.

Don't want to die? Was she saying he would grab and kill students if they didn't come to class?

"If a student is absent, I first worry about them. You seem to think of me as some military instructor, but isn't that going too far?"

"Ah, wasn't that the case?"

Selina beside them unconsciously asked that and then, belatedly realizing her mistake, quickly covered her mouth with both hands but it was already too late.

Rudger was rather hurt by that pure action.

"Come to think of it, there were absences in my class too."

At Bruno's slightly worried appearance, both Merilda and Selina were very surprised.

"Don't students who take your class really love it?"

Although Bruno's steam golem lectures weren't hugely popular, they received extremely passionate praise from certain students.

Because it included both researching golems and the process of making them directly, it was a must-take class for students interested in magical engineering.

Thanks to this, Bruno's class boasted an amazing attendance rate, and the lectures themselves were famous for their heated atmosphere.

To have absences in Bruno’s class was a bit strange, considering that all the students taking the class were passionate.

Of course, Rudger didn't feel it much yet since there were no students skipping his class.

Looking at the reactions, it seemed it wouldn't be strange even if one or two appeared in his class.

'Is it because they're first years? I wonder how other grade levels' classes are.'

Well, for now, he didn't plan to worry much even if someone skipped class as long as there was a valid reason.

On the way back to the faculty office after finishing the meal, Rudger happened to meet Chris coming from across the corridor.

"..."

"Rudger Chelici."

Their relationship was still subtle.

Rudger didn't pay much attention to Chris, but Chris held complicated feelings toward Rudger.

Someone who made him feel inferior, yet at the same time a skilled person he had to acknowledge as both a magician and teacher, also the person who knew best about the whereabouts of his love, Lady Bellaruna.

Because of this, Chris worried about how to approach Rudger.

"You look very busy."

Rudger was the one who broke the ice first.

Chris felt slightly grateful for that action and responded to those words.

"There are many kids playing hooky from classes recently. How is it on your end?"

"On my side..."

"Ah, no need to say it. I can guess. Of course, unless students are crazy, they wouldn't dare skip your class."

"..."

Rudger seriously pondered how severe his image and reputation were among the teachers.

"More than that, I have something I want to ask, can I meet Lady Bellaruna again? There's been no response lately even when I contact her."

It seems Chris had been maintaining separate personal contact with Bellaruna but becoming this urgent was probably because Bellaruna had been away visiting the Forest of Life.

"She was probably busy recently visiting her hometown. She should have time now, so it wouldn't be bad to try contacting her."

"How do you know that?"

"...Weren't you asking while knowing?"

At Chris's jealous gaze, Rudger immediately added words as if making an excuse.

"Besides me, Teacher Vierano knows too, so you could ask him."

"...Is that so? Thanks for telling me."

Chris passed by Rudger with a proper bow.

Is that how a man blinded by love changes?

While holding such thoughts, Rudger recalled Chris' words.

Come to think of it, he said there were students playing hooky?

'Even Chris Benimore is equally picky and sensitive so students wouldn't dare think of skipping class. It's a bit strange that there were absences.'

Returning to the faculty office, Rudger sat down.

Rudger, who was about to check materials for the next class, rang the assistant room's call bell for something he needed.

Usually, Sedina would have immediately opened the door and come out here but even though he rang the call bell, Sedina didn't show herself.

'Did she step out for a moment?'

Rudger got up from his seat and entered the assistant room.

Inside, like last time, it was still full of plants to the point of reminding one of a garden.

Rudger examined the condition of the plants and his pupils narrowed.

'There are no traces of watering.'