I know it’s a very sudden and baffling question.

If I can go, I go; if not, then not.

I just asked this to see his reaction.

‘If he’s hiding something, there’s bound to be a sign.’

But no answer came.

I was eating the Sauerkraut I went down and bought again earlier, piercing it with a fork, then I looked up.

“…?!”

I doubted my eyes.

The Class 1 Ainsidel was staring intently at me with his mouth agape.

He stared without a single movement, to the point where I wondered what I did wrong, or what was behind me.

Only after I glanced behind me did the Class 1 Ainsidel open his mouth.

“…Hm?”

“I asked if I could visit your house…. Not in a weird way.”

Now the Class 1 Ainsidel’s eyes trembled uncontrollably.

His reaction was so excessive compared to the question that I became flustered instead. I waved my hand and said.

“Sorry. I just wanted to get closer, but it was too sudden.”

“No.”

*Thump!*

Ainsidel slammed his glass down on the table, and beer filled it to the brim.

He downed the alcohol without pausing for breath, then wiped his mouth.

“Okay.”

“……”

Okay?

But why so solemn?

Ainsidel now stared intently at me without blinking and asked.

“Are you okay?”

“…Of course. I asked if I could go because I’m okay. More importantly, isn’t your stomach hurting? You’ll get sick if you keep pouring only alcohol without eating.”

“Perfectly fine. Me.”

Ainsidel spoke nonsensically, shaking his head rapidly.

Yet his voice remained devoid of emotion.

“I didn’t mishear that earlier, right?”

“Yeah. You heard correctly. And I really just meant I wanted to visit.”

“I know. I know. So, the words about coming to my house, those were your words?”

“I said so.”

Narrowing my eyes, I tilted my head.

But he already had zero interest in my body language.

I just gave up and smiled.

“Then when should we go? I need to formally greet your uncle, so how about going after finishing training on an afternoon when your uncle is home?”

“…Yeah. No, first, I’ll go ask.”

No matter how I think about it, it’s surprising he accepts so readily. Though I was the one who brought it up first, that was with intention.

It’s hard to believe this worked when we’re not close at all.

Perhaps he acted this way because he, like me, has intentions, but that reaction just now is rather baffling.

‘Could it really be…?’

No.

Then why isn’t the Favorability increasing?

While I looked around, lost in thought, Ainsidel too had his gaze fixed on the opposite side.

A long silence followed.

The Class 1 Ainsidel, who had been blinking idly for a long time, spoke lowly.

“It’s the first time I’m bringing a friend home.”

I stared intently at his face.

My eyes met Ainsidel’s.

“My uncle… might say no. He’s strict. Still, I’ll try my best to persuade him.”

His voice had a strangely quickened rhythm.

If only I had the Insight ability, I could know what he’s thinking right now.

I displayed his Favorability window, which still showed no stage progression, then dismissed it with a smile.

“Okay.”

***

Honestly, we could just hang out in the dormitory, or if we really wanted to go out, we could hang out around the school.

There’s no reason to go all the way to someone else’s house just to hang out.

Yet, the Class 1 Ainsidel didn’t ask me for a reason.

‘Is he really just preoccupied with making friends, or does he have ulterior motives too?’

Humans with hidden intentions often show such unnatural behavior.

Like me, suddenly asking if I could go to his house.

‘More importantly…’

Hangover….

Pressing my forehead firmly, I closed my eyes.

Luca’s body really isn’t accustomed to alcohol. I didn’t think I was particularly drunk while drinking, but the aftermath is hitting hard.

‘Just three glasses, and it’s like this?’

No. Three 500ml glasses, that is quite a lot.

For Luca’s body, that is.

Finishing the brief self-reflection, I took out an Elixir from my pocket and drank it.

‘To think I’d end up drinking Elixir as a hangover cure instead of Dawn.’

The me from a year ago would have thought, what on earth does that mean? Truly, one never knows what lies ahead in life.

Narce, watching this, asked.

“Want me to purify your liver~?”

“No. Let’s start the meeting now.”

“…Right… Narce…. Let’s finish quickly and go train…”

I came here now for the 3rd phase meeting.

Everyone seemed unwell, likely having stayed out late playing last night.

I probably look the same, but for me, it’s because I spent the hangover state purifying the entirety of Bavaria.

Narce opened his mouth.

“First, this exam will be against a Grade 4 victim. You know this is the highest grade victim we’ll face in the field, right?”

“Yeah.”

Narce naturally took the role of our team leader.

Though I’m 1st place, I didn’t particularly intend to lead, so it’s convenient someone else stepped up.

“They told us to proceed as stored in Mimesis for this exam too. Of course, I think we need to consider that the school might throw us into a train station with ten thousand people like last time or drop us at an altitude of 2500m.”

I nodded and asked.

“Narce. Do you anticipate how the school will act?”

“Huh? Haha, I’d need to see the professors’ faces to know that, but I haven’t really encountered them so far~”

Yesterday and today, I only met my homeroom professor.

If the 1st Academy is setting the questions this time too, then Narce has no way of knowing either.

The other students, unaware of Narce’s abilities, just dismissed his words as a joke.

“Alright, shall we discuss the important things first? Since I basically don’t have a Unique Ability, let’s go around starting from Oswald.”

“Your Divine Power is your Unique Ability~”

Oswald said, snapping his fingers playfully.

If there’s a biggest problem in our team, it’s this friend.

This friend was the one who played Faust on the festival day previously.

Perhaps because of the memory of being attacked by Pleroma, or maybe it’s just his personality, he moves most aggressively.

Oswald pressed the tip of his nose firmly and said.

“First off, mine isn’t particularly useful either. My sense of smell is good, but Vitriol doesn’t have a smell.”

“Hmm, certainly…. Still worth remembering. Then, Helene?” (*Note: Assuming 헬레네 is Helene, a female name.*)

Narce pointed to another friend.

One of the two Class 1 friends who participated in the Potion Competition together.

“Invisibility. Though it only works when I’m in good condition, it’s still a Unique Ability.”

“Ooh~”

Oswald exclaimed in admiration.

Many students with quite noticeable Unique Abilities advanced in this exam.

It’s only natural; if everyone performs similarly well, you should pick the student with a good Unique Ability.

Ultimately, I think the key will be how well one can apply and utilize their Unique Ability.

“Cool~ What range can you use it on?”

“Everything I’m touching. But the usable time is less than a minute.”

“Probably because it’s illusion-type magic. Maybe you could even use Divine Power later if you do well?”

Narce said that and looked at the next student.

The other one is just one of Leo’s numerous friends.

The type who considers themselves close to Leo, even though Leo himself doesn’t think so.

And, like most of Leo’s friends—self-proclaimed—they don’t like me.

Whether they like me or not is none of my business; as long as it doesn’t interfere with training, it’s fine.

“I use fire. You saw during the exam yesterday, right?”

The guy said, looking back and forth between me and Ainsidel.

He wasn’t talking to me, though. He still seemed prideful about being pushed back despite being in the same field.

Moving on, when it became his turn, the Class 1 Ainsidel silently shook his head. Narce coaxed him with a smile.

“Still, tell us. We might be able to utilize it if we do well.”

“Useless. Especially in this kind of combat environment.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.”

“……”

The Class 1 Ainsidel scanned Narce.

Averting his gaze from him, Ainsidel said with a nonchalant face.

“I can read the past by touching objects.”

“Objects? Hmm~ Cool ability?”

Narce asked, staring intently into his eyes.

“Do your family members also have abilities like this?”

“Some others do, some similar. Why?”

“No, just that people with similar grains often have similar abilities. I asked because I personally thought it was a cool ability.”

‘Hmm…’

Honestly, Narce easily grasps things like Unique Abilities even without asking. He easily figured out Asman’s Unique Ability before.

He can relatively quickly grasp things that are already determined and unchanging.

Instead, things that are currently changing constantly or are too entangled, he couldn’t grasp easily.

Deducing from past commonalities, that’s how it seems.

He would have known Ainsidel’s Unique Ability without asking, so there must be a reason why he specifically asked to draw it out and inquired about his family having similar abilities too.

Anyway, overall, it’s an ordinary combination.

Not just Team 2, us, but Team 3 and Team 4 are the same.

“Alright, that’s enough sharing Unique Abilities. Shall we start training right away?”

Narce said, standing up from his seat.

***

The 3rd phase training went smoothly.

‘Is this really okay? Isn’t this easier than the 2nd phase?’

There’s no friend scared of me like Philip, and everyone utilizes their own Unique Abilities sufficiently to move.

Other teams are probably similar, to the point where dropping 6 people from here seems more difficult.

‘Anyway, it’s comfortable and good, I guess.’

The school might pull another Zugspitze-like field, so I need to be vigilant, but worrying won’t solve anything, so I should enjoy this peace.

Enjoy it to the fullest while I can.

After training ended, Narce encouraged the students and stood before the Class 1 Ainsidel.

“Heike. You look happy today.”

“Do I?”

The Class 1 Ainsidel answered bluntly.

For the record, outwardly, he didn’t look happy at all.

“Yeah. I felt you did well during the 2nd phase too, but today’s training was cool. I’ll look forward to next time too.”

Narce said that and shouted to the students.

“Alright, you can go back now. I’ll have a strategy meeting with Lucas.”

“Okay~”

“See you tomorrow!”

The students waved and disappeared.

The Class 1 Ainsidel remained beside me, then spoke bluntly just like before.

“I’ll go ask my family. If okay, let’s go today.”

As he warped away, Narce cleaned up the empty training ground and led me outside.

“Decided to go home?”

“Yeah.”

“Said his Unique Ability is reading the past of objects, right?”

Narce brought up out of the blue.

Confirming the sound-proofing magic was deployed, I nodded.

“But that’s not all. From what I read, he can use it on people too.”

“Are you talking about the past of the soul, or the past of the body?”

“Is there much meaning in separating them~? I don’t know that far. Probably Heike himself doesn’t know well either since he hasn’t used the ability often.”

Narce plopped down in the rest area outside the training ground and continued.

“Simply touching doesn’t activate the ability. Seeing as he doesn’t use it often, it probably activates only when he wills it. Still, since that friend is approaching you, be careful.”

“Got it.”

A brief silence fell.

Narce, looking out the window, suddenly spoke.

“And there’s one more thing you need to know, Lucas. That friend and Ainsidel have the same ability.”

“What?”

Using Ainsidel here instead of Heike clearly refers to one person.

“Reading the past is Ainsidel’s Unique Ability. Of course…”

Narce narrowed his eyes and touched his head.

“Met him too briefly, and he’s a difficult type to read, so I couldn’t read anything beyond the Unique Ability.”

“That was helpful enough. So that’s why you brought up family earlier.”

“Right. Usually, family members receive similar abilities.”

In that case, they must be related by blood.

Initially, Ainsidel introduced himself as ‘Ain,’ and I was the first one to utter his surname.

Since I read the name Ainsidel through the status window, the possibility of him lying about his surname was somewhat low anyway.

‘To look so different, yet be related.’

Maybe they only don’t resemble in appearance, perhaps their insides are similar.

“But, Narce.”

“Yeah?”

“Does your Authority work fully on Heike?”

“……”

A smile spread across Narce’s face.

“No. Lucas, looks like you’re in a similar situation? You also have an ability similar to Insight.”

“Uh-huh. There are some ambiguous parts.”

“Me too. Even trying to read, I feel like hitting roadblocks. Didn’t expect to encounter someone like this at school, surprising~”

Silently, I fell into thought.

Perhaps deciding not to dwell deeply on what he couldn’t read further anyway, Narce had already moved on from Ainsidel and brought up another topic.

“By the way, Lucas, do you like Sauerkraut?”

“Hmm? Why?”

“I was at the food booth yesterday, and you kept coming down to buy Sauerkraut.”

“Less liking it, more just a familiar taste.”

“Haha, right~”

Just then, a white lump was seen peering this way from afar. Making eye contact with me, Elias quickly ran over.

Break time must have just started.

“Why are you guys here? Was surprised to see you just as I thought of you~”

“Talking about teammates.”

Widening the range of the sound-proofing magic, I answered.

Elias pulled out a chair and sat next to us.

“Right~? Guys. I have something to tell you now.”

Perhaps sensing it, Narce spoke immediately.

“You went to check out Primrose Path again last night, didn’t you.”

“Right. Went home. Because yesterday after the Arts Festival, the Primrose Path article suddenly disappeared from the Imperial Newspaper.”

“They took down the article?”

Applying various charges and raiding them, and now this?

‘Hmm…’

The intention is clearly visible.

There was collusion with Primrose Path, and they intend to drop the investigation soon.

“Yeah. Soon the articles will disappear from local newspapers too.”

Elias clenched his fists, his eyes wide.

“Knew this would happen, already scraped the article and saved it~ Get it? Huh?”

“Thorough…”

“Have to be. Listen. Does it make sense for all the Primrose Path establishments to band together and sue the Empire?”

“Huhh? Makes sense, but their heads will roll soon~”

“Right! Exactly. Then, do you think it makes sense for the prosecution, those things, to drop the investigation because they’re afraid of being sued?”

Momentarily, my eyes met Narce’s.

‘As expected…’

Are they planning to move so hastily when the heat hasn’t even died down?

If those guys are involved in the *Vitriol* incident as Elias suspects, things shouldn’t proceed like this.

And they committed more than just one or two crimes, yet they plan to turn a blind eye to this?

“Looks like this story is going to get long, what are you guys doing later? Got time?”

“I planned to go to Heike’s house.”

“What?!”

Elias asked, reacting strongly again.

“Why go there?! Did they say it’s okay?”

“Dunno. He just went to ask his family elder now.”

“Oh…. Right?”

Elias stroked his chin, lost in thought.

“Luca.”

“Why.”

“There’s a way to visit the Ainsidel ancestral home and also hear the Primrose Path story. Kill two birds with one stone, save time.”

“……”

“Just say it properly.”

“Let’s go together.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep