Chapter 5 – An Unexpected Invitation

The reason, of course, was my conversation with Alya earlier that afternoon.

"I... don't know," Alya replied pitifully. "Sheela is my closest friend here. But somehow, she also feels distant from me."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

Alya stared off into space. "I don't understand either. Sometimes she acts like a close friend, but other times, she feels like she's hiding something from me."

Van and I fell silent at those words.

Alya took a deep breath. "I wish I could do something."

I shook my head slowly. "No, it's better not to do anything yet." But saying that would sound heartless. So, I said, "You've worried enough."

Alya turned to look at me. “What do you mean?”

“Well, you’re worried about her, right? That means you care about Sheela. I think that’s enough.”

“But I didn’t solve anything.”

“Hmm, not all problems can be solved quickly,” I said. “Sometimes, you just need to let it go and move on with your life. Sometimes, the answer is simply time.”

I looked at Alya. “Besides, not everyone likes having others intrude on their privacy.”

“Eh?” Alya looked at me in confusion. “Did I disturb Sheela?”

“Well, maybe.”

A cloud obscured the moon, preventing its light from entering the room. My room grew darker.

Thinking back on the events of that afternoon, I gained a lot of new information. About Alya, Sheela, and their relationship. Was this related to Sheela’s background? Could this lead to Sheela’s rise as Act 1 Boss?

As I thought about all this, my eyes began to close. Soon, I fell asleep.

oOo

That morning, school started as usual.

“Huh, I hope nothing strange happens again,” I complained as I walked to class.

“You seem tired, huh?” Van laughed at my demeanor.

“You’re one of the reasons, remember!” I exclaimed. This kid, if he hadn’t messed up yesterday, I could have enjoyed life at this academy in peace.

“Hehe, sorry, sorry,” Van said. “Besides, I did it for you, you know.”

I glared at Van. "I didn't ask for your weird plan. You came up with it yourself."

Van looked away, feigning ignorance.

Damn, this kid.

"Nolan!"

I turned toward the source of the voice. Van followed me, curious as to who was calling me so early in the morning.

I saw someone running toward us. He was wearing the academy's male uniform, but that tie. He was wearing a different color than ours. An upperclassman?

The person finally arrived before us. He was relatively short for a man and older than us. He wore fairly thick glasses. His messy brown hair made him look like a nerd.

"Thank goodness I still have time," he said, panting.

Well, this seemed more normal than what Alya did yesterday.

"What's wrong, Senior?" Van asked.

"Ah, sorry to interrupt. Let me introduce myself. I'm Adam, a second-year student. I'm a member of the Alchemy research group," the person introduced himself.

Hearing the word "Alchemy" made my hair stand on end. Van also looked uncomfortable.

"I was sent by Professor Seraphine to summon Nolan."

Sigh. What I feared had happened.

Oh my, what should I do?

"Do I need to come too, Senior?" Van asked, answering my concerns.

Adam looked at Van. "Ah, you don't need to come. Professor Seraphine just summoned Nolan."

Van and I looked at each other. Van shook his head slowly. His expression looked sad.

What could be done? What happened, happened.

"Okay, Senior. Shall we go to class now?" I excused myself.

"Uh, no need. Professor Seraphine wants it now," Adam insisted.

Ugh, this is getting more complicated.

I scratched my head. "Okay, I'll be right there."

"Okay, follow me," Adam said, turning around.

I looked at Van. Van simply gave me two thumbs up in response.

Don't worry. That's probably what he was trying to say.

I started to turn around, following Adam's limp steps.

oOo

“So you're Nolan?” Professor Seraphine asked when we met in the Alchemy room.

“Yes, Professor. I'm Nolan,” I replied politely, trying to suppress my unease as best as I could. I hoped Professor Seraphine wouldn't lecture me all day.

Professor Seraphine looked me up and down. “Hmm, okay. Please sit down,” she said kindly. She pulled out a chair for me to sit in, while she remained standing.

As I sat, I looked around. The room was rectangular with a large window in the center. In front of the window was a large table and two chairs facing each other. The chair closest to the door was the one I was sitting in. The chair by the window was empty, presumably Professor Seraphine's.

The room was actually quite spacious, but the clutter made it seem cramped. There were two cupboards, stretching from the door to the window. The cupboards contained thick books, of unknown titles. Alchemy equipment was scattered about. I recognized some of them. However, most of them were new to me.

Prof. Seraphine herself was reading one of the books on the shelf when I entered the room. Adam immediately excused himself, asking permission to return to class, leaving me alone with Prof. Seraphine, who was now engrossed in her book.

Oh yeah, if you're curious about Professor Seraphine, she's the teacher who interrupted Professor Jamund's lecture during the new student intake. However, I thought she seemed a little more awkward then than she did now.

Plop. Professor Seraphine closed her book. She approached me.

"Sorry for ignoring you," Professor Seraphine said, clasping her palms.

"Eh, it's okay, Professor," I replied nervously. I'd never known a teacher could act like that.

"Hehe, relax. I won't scold you," Professor Seraphine said, noticing my nervousness.

"Eh?"

"Hmm, did you think I called you here because of the crystal explosion yesterday?" she asked.

"Ah, yes, Ma'am. Uh, I mean, sorry for damaging your equipment," I said, looking down.

"No, no. I'm really fine with that."

I looked at her in confusion.

"I'm actually more curious about you." Professor Seraphine held her chin as she studied me.

Being stared at so intently made me quite uneasy.

"Tell me honestly, you know what that crystal does, right?" Professor Seraphine asked.

"Eh?" This was a terrible question, how could I answer her? "Sorry, Professor. I don't understand your question."

“Well, I mean, you seem to know what the crystal does. I wasn’t there when it happened. But from Professor Jamund’s story and my own analysis, you seem to know how it works,” Professor Seraphine said.

I straightened in my seat. Oh my, what should I do? Should I just explain that I’m not from this world? No, no. That could get out. I don’t want to bother giving away any spoilers about the end of the world. Besides, there’s still Alya who can change the course of this game. I still want to live in peace.

“Hello? Is anyone there?” Professor Seraphine snapped me out of my reverie.

“Uh, ah, sorry, Professor. I’m having trouble explaining,” I replied, confused. What could this mean? Professor Seraphine might suspect me.

“Well, if you don’t want to answer, that’s fine with me,” Professor Seraphine said, giving up. "What's clear is that not just anyone knows that Attribute Reading Crystals can store mana. Furthermore, they can detect if the crystal will explode if it has too much mana."

I swallowed hard at Professor Seraphine's explanation. It was all on point. She was indeed a fitting Alchemy teacher.

"But, put that aside. I'm actually more interested in you," Professor Seraphine said, looking at me.

I squirmed uncomfortably. I'd been wrong. I thought Professor Jamund's eight-hour lecture yesterday was the ultimate torture. It turns out there's something even more cruel: being cornered like this. You know it's all true, and your conversation partner knows all their questions have been answered. However, your conversation partner wants to hear the answers directly from you. Or perhaps, they just want to see your frustrated expression at having all your tricks exposed.

Professor Seraphine picked up a book from the pile on the table.

"If I'm not mistaken, what kind of disorder do you have?"

Urgh. She knows that too. Actually, how much does she know about me?

"Don't worry, I learned this from the other teachers. This information was deliberately shared so we can determine the right teaching method for each student," Professor Seraphine said when she saw my distressed expression. "If you don't believe me, I also know that Alya has four attributes, although she hasn't demonstrated her magical techniques yet. Is that enough proof?"

I nodded slowly. Ah, thank goodness. I was afraid he knew everything about me.

"Now, back to the original topic. I'm actually interested in you. If you're still confused, let me give you a little insight. It has something to do with alchemy. I know you can deduce it yourself," said Professor Seraphine, deliberately letting me draw my own conclusions.

"What do you mean, Professor?" I asked, not understanding.

Professor Seraphine smiled knowingly. She sat up in her chair. "Come on, think about it. For someone who can figure out how crystals work, this is a pretty easy question."

"Excuse me, Professor. But I don't understand how crystals work," I blurted out.

Professor Seraphine ignored me. She preferred to continue with her book rather than deal with my confusion.

Ah, well, I'd better think about my answer.

Knock knock. There was a knock on the door.

"Please come in," Professor Seraphine said, inviting whoever was outside to come in.

"Excuse me, Professor," the person said before entering. "I'm Kara, Professor."

Uh, is that it? I turned to see who had just arrived.

"Oh, it's you. I thought it was you," Professor Seraphine said.

Yes. It was Kara, a drwaf who was also a student in my class. What business did she have here?

"Hey, why is Nolan here?" Kara asked, surprised when she noticed me. "Could it be that you're participating in Professor Seraphine's research?"

"Huh? What do you mean? I'm here because…"

"Kara! Why did you leak it?"

My words were cut off by Professor Seraphine's exclamation.

I looked at Professor Seraphine, who looked panicked. She put her index finger to her mouth, signaling Kara to be quiet.

"Oh, did I slip something, Professor?" Kara said, realizing what she had done.

"Oh my. I've told you so many times that it's still classified." Professor Seraphine looked at me, hoping I still hadn't come to a conclusion.

However, it was too late. I already understood why Professor Seraphine had summoned me today