Greg's mind raced at an unprecedented speed.
He took a deep breath. Instead of shouting useless platitudes like "calm down" as an ordinary person might,
he simply took a calm step forward, standing between the two of them, and spoke in a respectful tone:
“Headmistresses, please allow me to say a few words.”
Olivia and Luna's gazes fell upon him at the same time.
One was a drunken scrutiny, while the other was a completely emotionless stare.
“Although I am only a student, I have read about your various deeds in the newspapers.”
Greg spoke slowly, his gaze first resting on Olivia.
“Headmistress Olivia, when you were twenty-five, you single-handedly suppressed the monster tide from the Northern Abyss Rift, securing the safety of seven border towns.”
He then turned to Luna.
“Headmistress Luna, at the age of twenty-five, you pierced the core of the Siren King that was ravaging the West Coast with a single arrow, ending a three-year maritime disaster. These feats are still included in the required textbooks of all major magic academies.”
He paused, his tone softening even further.
“I say this not to flatter you, but because, as a junior who has read these accounts, I truly believe you both are seniors worthy of the utmost respect!”
“If you draw weapons against each other here over a mere moment of pique, it will not only disappoint those who look up to you as role models, but it will also cast an unnecessary shadow over the reputation you have built over many years.”
His gaze shifted back and forth between them, his voice carrying an earnest yet dignified tone:
“Therefore, I hope you can value peace. There is no need to quarrel over such matters.”
Silence fell over the corridor.
Olivia's hand holding the revolver slowly lowered. She stared at Greg for several seconds before letting out an ambiguous snort and tucking the magic conduit back into her coat.
“...You brat, I've never seen you speak so eloquently before.”
Luna also released her fingers from the bowstring. Her silver eyes lingered on Greg's face for a moment before looking away.
“...Your student is very good.”
Olivia snorted. “Of course. Look who trained him.”
Seeing this, Greg finally breathed a sigh of relief, feeling as if he had just taken a walk to the gates of death and back.
He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, turned to Luna, and said, carefully choosing his words:
“Um, regarding the matter of becoming your disciple... please give me some time. I will think it over carefully.”
He did not agree immediately, nor did he outright refuse.
He knew very well that although becoming Luna's disciple would give him another powerful backer, it wouldn't solve his current predicament. Instead, it would only bring more trouble.
With Luna's rigid and meticulous personality, he would undoubtedly be assigned numerous training tasks in no time, which would severely conflict with his original plans.
Of course, these disadvantages were mainly for the short term, so Greg left himself an escape route by not rejecting her outright.
Having resolved the conflict between the two, Greg quickly made an excuse and left by himself.
He needed to find his dormitory, settle in as soon as possible, and then begin planning his next moves step by step.
As Greg's figure completely vanished at the end of the corridor, the last trace of tension between the two women dissipated.
Luna gazed in the direction Greg had disappeared and suddenly asked:
“Is he truly a pure-blooded human?”
Olivia was slightly taken aback. Her drunken demeanor vanished, and her gaze grew deeper. “Oh? Why do you ask?”
There was still no emotion in Luna's silver eyes, but her voice carried a tone of absolute certainty:
“Because I can feel that his soul seems even more noble and pure than a holy spirit. It is something I have never seen before.”
Olivia did not speak upon hearing this.
She fell silent for a moment, recalling the mysterious power she had once seen in Greg, and a thoughtful expression appeared on her face.
...
Since one of the primary goals of the Hundred Academy Exchange was to promote communication and interaction among students from different academies, the organizers had specially arranged for mixed dormitory assignments.
Each room had to be shared by students from three different academies, thereby breaking down the barriers between institutions and giving the representatives more opportunities to get to know one another in their daily lives.
Holding his assigned key, Greg wandered around the residential area of the Magic Tower a few times before finally finding his room at the end of the corridor on the seventh floor.
The moment he pushed the door open, he saw two figures already inside, unpacking their luggage.
Seeing him enter, both of them looked up at the same time.
One was rather tall and dark-skinned, wearing a dark green uniform. The other was slender, wore round-framed glasses, and wore a blue academy uniform.
Their attire and the texture of their uniforms looked somewhat plain. Clearly, they were not from the Five Great Academies, but were ordinary students from ordinary schools.
“Yo, hello!”
The dark-skinned boy was the first to grin, revealing a flash of white teeth as he greeted Greg warmly:
“I'm Rom from Greenfield Magic Academy. We'll be roommates for this period!”
“I'm Corwin from Frost Ring Magic Academy.”
The boy with glasses also nodded, his tone gentle. “Pleasure to meet you.”
Greg introduced himself as well, set down his luggage, and briefly shook hands with them.
They had both looked up their roommates' information beforehand, so they weren't too surprised to learn that Greg was from one of the prestigious Five Great Academies.
After a few pleasantries, Greg found that although these two came from ordinary academies, they both had very cheerful personalities and were quite easy to get along with—much better than those folks in the Student Council.
After chatting for a while, Rom suddenly seemed to remember something, scratched his head, and said:
“Oh, right, Greg. There's something I wanted to tell you.”
He paused, seemingly choosing his words carefully:
“When we first arrived today, we heard three girls downstairs going around telling everyone that you're a troublemaker who constantly does bad things, and that we should be careful around you.”
“But then we thought about how you were carrying so much luggage earlier and were even forced to carry a drunk woman on your back. On top of that, you don't have any arrogant attitude when talking to us... We're sure of it now. You must be the victim of bullying at your academy! Those rumors are definitely spread by those bullies to target you!”
Corwin also pushed up his glasses and agreed:
“Don't worry, we'll explain this to the students from our own academies later so that everyone knows not to believe those rumors. We'll also help clarify things if necessary.”
Hearing this, Greg was stunned for a moment, but quickly understood what was happening.
The three girls spreading rumors about him were undoubtedly the three noble representatives who had cornered Victoria on the airship.
Having suffered a setback because of him, they didn't dare cause trouble for him face-to-face, so they resorted to spreading rumors behind his back to ruin his reputation.
As for the current situation, Greg had no intention of correcting them.
He simply smiled to himself. This was an unexpected windfall.
His roommates' misunderstanding had inadvertently helped him craft the persona of an outstanding student who was being bullied.
Not only would this image not harm his plans, but it would also help him garner sympathy and goodwill among students from other academies, further consolidating the persona he wanted to present.
Thus, without explaining further, he put on a melancholy expression:
“I didn't expect them to refuse to let me go even during the exchange... But thank you so much for not misunderstanding me because of those rumors, and even helping me clarify things. Thank you, you guys are truly good people!”
Rate on N.U.
