Chapter 2 : What Are You Doing Here, Miss Lu?

Herald Commercial Street was only a five-minute walk from the student district where Sheffil lived.

It was also the closest shopping area to Jadecrest Academy, supplying nearly 80% of the academy students’ daily needs and magical materials.

Naturally, most of the entertainment venues were also clustered here.

A glance down the street revealed a crowd of students in Jadecrest Academy uniforms wandering about.

Sheffil was, of course, among them.

Normally, he would have spent the entire day strolling through the back alleys, sampling cheap and delicious street snacks from his memory.

But not today—he had plans.

“You bastard!”

As soon as Sheffil arrived at the designated meeting spot, a girl who had clearly been waiting a long time kicked him squarely in the leg.

“You think you’re my dad or something?!”

“Ow! You crazy brat!”

He grabbed her arm and yanked off the wide-brimmed witch’s hat she was wearing.

A cascade of snow-white hair spilled down, and a pair of crimson eyes full of frustration stared him down.

She looked just like a spoiled cat—one that throws a tantrum after getting caught being naughty.

Sheffil could almost feel his blood pressure spike.

“Alright, alright. I’m not stooping to your level.”

He let go of her pale, delicate arm and plopped the hat back onto her head with a thud.

“So? What do you want from me this time?”

“So rough. No wonder you’re still single.”

Dorothy muttered under her breath as she straightened her now-messy hair.

Like it’s my fault!

Another vein popped on Sheffil’s forehead.

Since childhood, he’d been relegated to playing second fiddle to Dorothy.

Every girl back home who approached him—regardless of their initial reason—eventually turned him into their designated love guru for winning over Dorothy.

Now they were all just bitter women waiting for Dorothy to come home.

The thought almost made him burst out laughing.

It wasn’t until Dorothy called his name three times that he snapped back to reality.

“It’s that cheap master of mine,” Dorothy began grumbling, rolling her eyes.

“He said the daughter of a friend of his is transferring to Jadecrest, but now he’s suddenly ‘too busy’ and dumped the welcoming duty on me, his poor apprentice…”

She didn’t hesitate to drag the name of her master—Milles, the Archmage of Crystal and a high-ranking member of the Mage Council—through the mud.

“If any other student heard you badmouthing him like that, they’d call you ungrateful.”

Sheffil chuckled.

As one of the ten remaining Archmages on this continent, Milles had more would-be apprentices than he could count—many of whom would fight to the death just to be a nominal student.

But Dorothy?

She called him a “cheap master” without a second thought.

Must be nice to be the protagonist.

Sheffil sighed inwardly.

“He’s all name and no work. Not only did he teach me nothing, but he bosses me around every day. If that’s not a cheap master, what is?”

Dorothy waved dismissively and pulled out a photograph from her bag to show Sheffil.

“This is the girl the old man wants me to pick up.”

Sheffil learned in.

The photo showed a young black-haired girl, no more than seven or eight, with a round, chubby face and a bright, carefree smile.

“They’re transferring someone this young into Jadecrest?”

Sheffil was genuinely surprised.

Even someone as talented as Dorothy had entered through the standard admission process.

Besides, Jadecrest had long been criticized for its brutal dropout system.

No matter how great your grades were, if you failed the end-of-semester ranking battles, you’d be sent packing.

“How should I know what that old man’s thinking?”

Dorothy folded the photo and tucked it back into her pocket with a pout.

“People like him probably don’t even think about what the kid wants.”

“Come on. The Magicrail Train should be arriving at the commercial street station in half an hour. Let’s go pick her up.”

“You’re really acting like I’ve got nothing better to do, huh? Where’s Kenle? Why isn’t she with you?”

Despite his complaints, Sheffil obediently followed her.

Kenle Bahamut—mysterious sword wielder of light.

Even Sheffil hadn’t managed to gather much intel on her.

She had lost narrowly to Dorothy in the last ranking battle and was one of her few close friends.

The two were nearly inseparable.

Their bond sat at 60/100—firmly in the “good friends” category.

But based on the yuri novels Sheffil had read, even if Kenle didn’t end up as the “main heroine,” she was definitely a major contender.

If he had to place a bet, half his chips would be on her.

“Oh, Kenle? She’s been training nonstop lately. Said she has to beat me next time.”

Dorothy rested her chin in her palm, then her expression darkened.

“If it weren’t for that damn geezer, I’d be training with her right now too…”

And then you’d both flatten everyone else at school and drag me in to be your sparring dummy again, right?

While Sheffil respected Kenle as Dorothy’s potential love interest, on a personal level, they were completely incompatible.

Thanks to her, Dorothy had been dragged into the bottomless pit of competitive overachievement—and she’d dragged Sheffil along with her.

If he stayed home, she’d come and drag him out.

If he had plans, she’d wait until he finished and then drag him out.

If he dared hang out with friends, the lovestruck idiots around Dorothy would sell him out before he even opened his mouth—and yep, he’d get dragged out.

By the end of last year, Sheffil—who lived by the motto “slack whenever you can”—had spent more time in the training arena than any non-combat-obsessed student.

His homeroom teacher even gave him an award, telling the class to look up to him.

“Tch. Good riddance. At least I won’t be the third wheel now.”

Sheffil scoffed, hands in his pockets, trailing behind Dorothy.

“Oooh, what’s this? Someone’s jealous?”

Dorothy grinned, clearly entertained.

“Jealous? You make it sound like both me and Kenle have a crush on you.”

Kenle’s affection level was literally still in the “friendly” range.

“There you go again! You know, a more straightforward compliment from my childhood friend about how amazing and cute I am would be most welcome~”

Dorothy smirked, eyes gleaming as she twirled around him.

Sheffil swore he could see little devil horns sprouting from her head.

He suddenly remembered all the times she had teased him like this before…

“Alright, enough. Let’s go.”

Sheffil placed a firm hand on her head, cutting her off mid-sentence and dragging her along.

Right, he’d already taken off her witch hat earlier.

“Ahhh! Stop! That hurts! I’m sorry! I give up!”

The victim wailed on the spot.

“You give up?”

Sheffil loosened his grip, glancing at her suspiciously.

Gotcha again, Sheffil~

Dorothy smirked inwardly.

With a quick twist, she snatched the hat from his hand and slipped away like a slick little eel.

Suddenly, five glowing runes flared into life.

The tiny wand tied to her waist expanded and lifted her skirt slightly as it carried her into the air—eliciting gasps from the nearby students.

“And what exactly am I sorry for, hmm?”

Perched atop her wand, the girl held down her skirt and smirked down at him.

“You want to know what you did wrong? Come down here and I’ll explain it real slow,” Sheffil said through gritted teeth, forcing a smile as he fought the urge to deck her.

“Hmm~ but I don’t think I did anything wrong~”

Dorothy hovered in a lazy spiral above him, resting her chin on one hand.

She looked smug, satisfied, and oh-so-smackable.

“Why don’t you come up here and explain it to me?”

Yeah.

At this moment, Sheffil had exactly one thought:

He really, really wanted to punch his childhood friend in the face.

Who in their right mind could fall for someone who roasts you twice a day, every day?

“Dorothy?”

A surprised voice broke the stalemate between them.

Both turned toward the sound.

A black-haired girl with a hint of green dye in her ponytail stood there, holding a small shopping bag, staring at them in stunned silence.

“Lucia? What are you doing here?”

That was Dorothy.

“Miss Lu? What are you doing here?”

That was Sheffil.