Chapter 49

As it was the last day of the cultural festival, far more folks had arrived for the event, beating the already huge numbers the past days had brought.

All the students were overwhelmed, especially the new ones that did not expect crowds of guests. One of which was Naell who was already tired from seeing different colors of clothes, faces and noises from the crowds.

He was again tasked to oversee the stalls at the left annex of the school. While Viola pouted at that idea, with the permission of the committee head, she reluctantly agreed.

Owly on the other hand, after being woken up by Naell’s sudden outburst, had scolded him throughout their preparation. He sensed that the owl was enjoying it, as he was unable to refute due to his mistake that the owl often brought up to silence him.

If it weren’t for Note and Rizaul who gladly took the owl with them, Naell’s ears might have shattered as Owly’s barrage of scolding words continued even after they left their room.

Not to mention, the scowl Owly gave him was incorporated with a heavy seal, making Naell feel immense pressure inside.

That was why, adding to the fact that he was not used to walking with large crowds, including the recent intricate seal, he felt more tired than usual.

The only saving grace was the fact that the gazes he was receiving after the incident was not intimidating for him anymore.

Nevertheless, it wasn’t entirely because of what he thought. Of course due to the recent good fame he earned, even those who knew of his bad past were more accepting.

Yet what really made Naell not misunderstand his surroundings more than before was his mana detection. At that moment he was unintentionally able to detect one’s intention without him knowing.

It was actually Owly who figured it out upon sealing his mana, yet to his dismay, when he told him about it, Naell shrugged it off and thought nothing of it.

Since he was like that, Owly did not bother giving him the benefits of his supposed growth. The bird was certain that Naell would just be an awkward potato regardless if he knew the extent of it.

Not to mention, Namiku and Andrew were with him as they accidentally met. This made the number of onlookers far less than usual as the duo were quite intimidating with their status; the princess of the Eastern Kingdom, and the most sought adventurer in the capital.

Various laughter with music and noises filled every stall. There were wielders of aura and magic doing jaw dropping performances like dancing, theatrical play, and even exhibition matches.

While some stalls were for rest and to satisfy one’s hunger, the food and beverages that were served was quite different from usual, as it had themes that represented the general, magic or aura department.

After an hour, as both of their breaks were over, Namiku and Andrew bid farewell to Naell. Then as he was inspecting the next stalls that he was assigned to, he saw familiar faces such as his famous cousin, Lesjon Star.

Upon their accidental meeting, Naell immediately bowed down as he greeted him, politely including the person that was more or less with Lesjon.

‘’Good day, Young master.’’

‘’Fancy meeting you here, cousin.’’ Replied Lesjon indifferently, neither with joy nor irritation.

Naell was taken aback by this. He truly thought Lesjon would be annoyed as their first meeting wasn’t really pleasant.

Yet in Lesjon’s eyes and aura, it seemed he didn’t care. If Naell would even describe it, the response he got was actually quite warm and friendly.

‘’Yes, I’m doing my committee task.’’

‘’Thank you for doing the work that no one wanted to do.’’ Teasingly said Lesjon as he remembered that in their class, all the males were grateful to Naell for accepting the job.

Little did they know, Naell was actually regretful. He did not actually know and thought it would be easy. That was why he could only smile wryly as a response.

Lesjon caught onto it as he also smiled and said,

‘’It looks like you did not know.’’

‘’I’m afraid so.’’ Replied Naell resulting in both of them smiling.

While Naell thought he could finally bid them farewell and go finish his task, Lesjon’s companion, with her excited voice yet scrutinizing eyes said,

‘’Well, dear nephew, I didn’t expect to see another nephew of mine here.’’

Just those words alone made Naell realize who she was. Platinum hair with hints of blue, yellow and violet that seemed to resemble the colors of lightning, golden eyes and a very fit body befitting for a magic knight.

‘’Naell, this is my--- our Aunt, Sarah and this is the captain of the knights of Star, Aestero.’’

Naell could see the pain in Lesjon’s eyes as Sarah Star grabbed his head and knuckled his temple playfully.

‘’I told you to call me sister!’’

For a while Lesjon did try to act tough and indifferent, yet in the end he still apologized due to the pain.

While Naell was bewildered with the spectacle, it was Aestero who introduced himself that managed to calm the two.

‘’It is nice to see you again, Young master Naell.’’

Yet when they saw Naell’s confused face, Sarah could not help but laugh as she said,

‘’Aes, he doesn’t remember you! HAHAHA!’’

The captain could only smile wryly. Naell had left him a very noble like first impression which was why he was kinda disappointed not to be remembered.

In Naell’s defense, he never had any intention of dealing with the Star family, that was why the faces he met that day weren’t imprinted on him.

Yet because he knew that a noble family usually had one captain for all their knights, he had managed to figure out where he had met him, but all too late.

‘’I’m sorry sire, I was quite in a hurry that day that my mind was focused elsewhere.’’ Said Naell bowing slightly as he apologized.

Aestero’s reply was swift as he bowed down as well.

‘’It is fine young master, you did leave in a hurry.’’

When all was well, Naell greeted Sarah Star, not just because she declared their blood relation, but more like, he did not at all want to be on her bad side. Knowing the novel, he knew how formidable she was on the battlefield, yet he also knew how chaotic her presence was, as she often teased the protagonist’s party.

‘’Greetings to you, older sister.’’

His reply had earned him a genuine smile from Sarah, yet her demeanor was still clouded with mystery. It had seemed even though Naell had evolved, the so-called Witch hunter was certainly far stronger than him.

‘’That’s how you should greet me from now on, Lesjon.’’

Lesjon only shrugged off her words, clearly annoyed by her teasing. They then decided to accompany Naell for awhile which he reluctantly agreed to.

Sarah’s questions were quite rebukative; asking why he only visited once, why Baron Fharom never attended any family gatherings and why Naell did not attend any of their invitations.

Her speech was light-hearted, yet anyone could sense her scrutinizing spirit. Luckily, before she could exhaust Naell any further, Rinca who happened to be passing by saw them and in an instant, Sarah’s target changed.

Yet before she left, with an intimidating smile, she said,

‘’Let’s meet again, Naell.’’

Naell knew after hearing her last words, he would not dare meet them again. That was also the first time he saw Rinca’s eyes filled with a deep want to escape the impending doom that was Sarah Star.

‘’...’’

After completing his task, all that’s left was to report and wait for Viola to finish. Yet when he arrived, she was already done. There she stood with her friends and their classmate. Naell of course greeted them politely, which in turn resulted in them politely greeting him back.

From the discussion they had, Naell had guessed that they were on break and decided to accompany Viola. The committee praised them for their good works and made it so that their remaining time could be used exploring the festival.

Naell had found it ironic since that was what he was doing in the first place. Nevertheless, he was glad as he could then just use his time to rest.

However, it turned out Marcha and Noveam were quite interested in bombarding him with questions. It was quite an ordeal as he got exhausted from all the socialization he had gone through, with not room to even excuse himself.

Sensing his tiredness, Viola stepped in and calmed down the two. The poised Noveam got embarrassed with her actions, yet Marcha, the cheerful one just laughed it off with her warmest smile.

Naell was truly grateful with Viola’s compassion. As he bid them farewell, he recalled his time throughout the day. At that moment he thought that having the protagonist’s party’s back wasn’t so bad afterall.