“Enrolment?” Stunned by what Irea clearly took for the answer to his question, Layn turned even more confused instead. While the word itself wasn’t foreign to him, the meaning behind it was simply too abstract for Layn to acknowledge it right away.

“Yeah. You said that you lack proper foundations, didn’t you?” Sending a light nudge to Layn’s side, Irea quickly trodded out of the archmage’s reach, avoiding the retribution. “Isn’t the cultivation academy the best choice then?”

‘As if.’ Shrugging at just the idea of entering some kind of school once again, dread befell Layn’s soul. Not because the school seemed scary to him for some reason, but because of how useless and wasteful going to one would be!

‘On the other hand though,’ suddenly struck by a realisation, Layn looked around. Everywhere around, everything was different to what he remembered from his own time. The buildings, the clothing of the people around them, their possessions…

Heck, even the food on the street-stalls was starkly different, although the heavy use of oil and spices was just the same. But if just being out in the open of the street was so rich in the experience of the ancient world, wouldn’t a school be a perfect way to learn some common sense?

“First off, I’m not okay with all of you pitching in just…” Turning to the wider audience, Layn directed his words to the rest of the group as well. But before he could finish, Karter and Sitra stepped forward. Passing a sheet of paper forward, the leader of the group looked calmly in the archmage’s face.

“This is the list of spoils that we obtained from the vagabonds you killed.” While it was only Layn’s guess, it seemed as if using Kerren’s name out in the open could cause them some trouble. Lowering his eyes down on the markings on the page, the archmage once again cursed the fact that he was unable to read local letters or numbers.

“On the right side, Sitra calculated the overall worth of those tokens we saved for you.” Pointing his finger at the specific parts of the paper, Karter explained its content. “I assumed you wouldn’t like to be indebted to us, so here is the offer.”

Passing the long piece of paper to Layn, Karter straightened before rising his eyes at the archmage. “Out of the fair share of the spoils that you imposed, we will deduct the equivalent of a hundred tokens. Irea, explain the rest.”

After being waved at, Irea once again stepped forward, even going as far as grabbing Layn’s hand to bring his attention to her face. “It’s just easier to use tokens rather than plain money when talking about the academy. Think of it as accepting someone by recommendation rather than an outright fee.”

Clutching her hands around Layn’s arm, Irea smiled. Then, her eyes twitched, only for her body to freeze in place.

“Teacher?” Shouting from the other side of the street, a youth in relatively plain robes made a surprised face. Then, his shock turned into delight, as he and a group of people around him instantly raced forward.

“Teacher, I’m so glad to see you back in good health!” Stopping right before the girl, the leader of the pack instantly bowed before bringing his face up. Putting a wide smile on his lips, the youngling started his litany.

“Oh, may the days without Teacher’s guidance be cursed… If the only academy could properly recognise your skills and worth, teacher…” Praising Irea to the skies for things that Layn had no idea about, somehow turned into a sting on the archmage’s soul.

‘Who does he think he is, this little maggot,’ cursing the aggressive youth, Layn moved his eyes on the petrified girl beside him. Noticing his look, the girl slightly turned her head away. But for some reason, her eyes were filled with anxiety.

‘Is this idiot bothering her or…’ Swallowing the sour pill that the other possible explanation would mean, Layn kept a gentle smile on his face.

“Oh, and the elder is here too! Let us pay the proper respect!” Noticing the duo right beside me and Irea, the youth turned to them, cupped his hands and bowed his head.

“Third class pays respect to the elder!” Bowing their heads in a disciplined manner, not only the leader of the group but all of his friends lowered themselves before Karter and Sitra.

“Going back to the topic,” In the end, Layn decided to ignore the interruption and pick up right when everyone left. “If you put it like that, then there is no reason for me to refuse.” Shaking his shoulders, Layn then let go of Irea’s hand and moved it towards the duo.

“The pleasure is ours. I will let the three of you deal with this situation.” Stepping aside, Karter clearly wanted no piece of the discussion that was bound to happen here. With a vicious smile on his face, he raised his hand only to wave them goodbye. Rushing ahead, he then pulled the rest of the group, leaving only Layn, Irea, Sitra and a group of overzealous children on the street.

“Either way,” Barely stopping himself from slapping his palm against his forehead, Layn moved back to his previous position. Then, a mischievous thought appeared in his head.

“If you will excuse me,” Sneaking forward, Layn grabbed Irea’s hand back. Feeling the shiver that this action sent travelling down the girl’s body, he raised his eyes at the group before him. “You might’ve failed to notice, but we were in the middle of something. Do me a favour and leave catching up for some later moment, alright son?”

Irea violently shook her head, sending a terrified look at Layn’s face.

This alone dealt critical damage to the man’s soul, heavily disturbing his pride and possessiveness. ‘So in the end, that’s what she was worried about a moment ago.’ Solving the puzzle, Layn felt strange, nearly forgotten emotions slowly sprouting in him.

“Hey, I don’t know who you are, but out of respect for your companions I paid you no heed..” Stepping forward, the Youth proved that ultimately all his politeness was just for show. “Now, get your filthy hands off my teacher, or don’t blame me for getting violent!”