"Wanna come with me to a mixer?"
Akeru opened his mouth, then closed it.
His lips trembled, trying to find the right words, before finally deciding.
"Senpai… It's 3 a.m. What kind of mixer happens now?" Akeru suspiciously looked at him.
Though he was now considered a legal adult, he didn't want to step into that part of adulthood this early.
"Wait, wait. I didn't mean now, but rather tomorrow." Finral frantically flailed his arms, not liking that he got misunderstood.
"Is that so?" Akeru looked unconvinced, whether it was truly a mistake or not.
"Yes."
"Mhm. Fine."
'I have never been to a mixer, so I am excited.'
After chatting with Finral for a while, Akeru finally retreated to his room for the night.
The next day, Akeru trained again with Asta until lunch.
"Are you not going to train after lunch?" Asta tilted his head as he took another bite of the roasted chicken.
"Nope. You should also rest." Akeru's face turned serious. "We are going to a battle in the evening."
Asta raised a brow "A battle?"
"Are you guys going on a mission?" Noelle asked.
"Nah. Finral-senpai is going to take us to a mixer."
"..."
"..."
"..."
All eyes turned to Finral, who suddenly turned nervous.
"Aww, you made me excited for nothing. I thought you guys were going to an exciting battle." Luck whined.
"Unfortunately, I am going on a mission, so I won't be able to join," Magna regretfully said.
'Bro, nobody invited you!'
"Mixer, you say? How interesting. It would be an interesting experience for you two." Vanessa said while taking a sip from a wine glass.
"How commoner-like behaviour." Though Noelle's words were said in general, Akeru felt that those words were directed at him.
'So, what excuse do you have?'
'It's just a mixer. Just wanted to experience it. What's wrong with that?'
Akeru and Noelle held a silent war of glances.
'You do remember you're technically royalty, right? Or did you hit your head training with that idiot?'
'I don't remember when there were rules to bind royalty of all people, why don't you jog my memories?' Despite having a stoic face, Noelle somehow could sense the smugness in his gaze.
'This is called common sense, which is an unsaid rule.'
'What's unsaid is unsaid. Not my problem.' Akeru was nonchalant about this.
Noelle said something with her gaze, but Akeru couldn't understand it.
He gave her a confused look, getting a deadpan in return.
'Maybe you should tag along too.'
'ME? This is beneath me.'
'Ok. As Asta's good friend, I will make sure he finds somebody.' A smug look crept on Akeru's face.
'You won't dare!'
"Wait, are you guys talking through your gazes?" Vanessa asked while looking at Akeru's smug face.
"Uhh, yeah." Akeru could only nod.
"Ohh, no wonder. I initially thought you were having a staring contest or something stupid." Noelle glared at Finral, who ignored her. "But, it seems you are talking. I didn't know that was possible without some kind of magic. I think you talk with Yami-san and Asta like that sometimes, don't you?"
"You noticed? Yeah." Akeru was surprised at Finral's awareness.
'Guess, he doesn't always think about gals.'
"Wait, what?" Noelle was surprised that Akeru could talk to others like that.
"How exactly?" Finral turned his head towards Asta.
"It's kind of exactly knowing what the other guy is saying... Hmm, more like instincts? I guess." Asta said with uncertainty.
"Yeah, either you need to have good instincts along with awareness of other people, or if you are familiar with the other person, then it becomes quite easy to do it." Akeru clarified.
He had also been confused initially, but after trying with Yami and accidentally with Asta once, he came to that realisation.
"I didn't know that Noelle had good instincts. Guess you learn new things every day," Vanessa said while looking at Noelle.
"Actually, it's the latter case with her."
"Hmm?"
"Wait—I never mentioned I've known her for a few years?"
"Wait, what? You didn't mention that before. No wonder you guys always bicker like kids," Magna was surprised by this new fact.
"We don't bicker like kids."
"We don't bicker like kids."
Akeru and Noelle said at the same time.
"Okay, okay. I mean, talk like old friends." Magna said with a wry smile, as if placating children.
His apology only turned to irk the duo.
"Wait, is she the friend you mentioned when you camped in a Grand Magic Zone when you first arrived here?" Finral asked.
"No, that was M—somebody else. Also, why do you remember that?" Akeru suspiciously looked at him.
"Coz, it was our first talk." Finral, unsurely asked.
Why did he remember that talk in the first place?
"Coz, she's out of his league." Vanessa's sudden words caused Finral's eyes to widen before his face fell "Hey!".
"Indeed. Senpai, give it up." Akeru also remembered the context.
"What are you guys talking about?" Noelle tilted her head.
"Nothing." Akeru teasingly said before getting up from the table.
He made his way towards his room before locking it completely.
A barrier enveloped the room, not allowing anything to enter his room, including Finral's teleportation spell.
"About time I start the preparations for tonight." Akeru's fingertips turned blue.
His eyes turned emotionless.
'After all, tonight would be the day Licht and hence Vangeance dies. Stopping the entire Elves and Spade Kingdom Arc.'
---
"Are you guys ready?" Finral asked, his lips twitching.
"Yeah."
"Mhm"
Asta was in his usual outfit, whereas Akeru wore a full-sleeved t-shirt and tracks.
He wasn't wearing his robe, just the headband, which covered his entire left eye.
"You..." Finral facepalmed, not able to form words while looking at Akeru.
"Save it. You don't need to say that I look stunning in every dress or some bullshit, we may as well get going." Akeru stopped Finral from saying the next words.
Finral closed his mouth, opened it... before closing it. A resigned look appeared on his face.
He opened the portal and entered, Asta and Akeru following him.
---
Silence.
That was present across the table, only broken by the hustle and bustle from the rest of the tavern.
"How about we start introductions?" Finral said with a grin, a portal appearing, from which he took out flowers.
"21 Years old, from Touta. I'm Black Bull's spatial mage, Finral Roulacase!"
He was successful in breaking the ice in the room.
"Go on, guys, you are next."
Akeru blinked. "My name is Akeru. Age 15. I am from nowhere in particular. I am the kind of person who doesn't like talking about my likes and dislikes. My dreams for the future? That's none of your business. Anyway, I have lots of hobbies."
Though Akeru looked disinterested while saying this, he was gauging their reaction.
All the subtle tweaks, micro expressions that he could infer.
'I am now one step closer to understanding that guy. No wonder he does that. It feels so satisfying.' Akeru was barely able to stop himself from laughing out loud there.
Finral had an expression that screamed as if he didn't know Akeru, whereas Asta had a confused look.
"Asta..."
"Yeah, I—I am Asta! I am 15! From Hage. I am from Black Bulls. My dream is to become the Wizard King!"
"..."
"..."
"..."
'Finral-senpai, with two of us like this, you would seem the best guy. You could thank me later.' Akeru tried saying this to Finral with his gaze, giving him a secret thumbs up.
However, Finral ignored his gaze.
"Alright. How about you guys introduce yourselves?"
"I'm Erika. I work at a DressMaker's"
"I'm Rebecca. I work at a restaurant."
"I'm Helene. I work as a hairdresser."
The conversation then flowed to their hobbies and what they were up to.
"You do have decent mana control, it's quite rare to see it. You could take it to the next level..." Akeru's interest was piqued at the fact that she was using magic to cut hair.
Though it was not uncommon to do that, it was pretty rare to see it done in specific fields like this, where high control is needed.
"Oh! I didn't know that's how I could improve it. I had been facing a roadblock on this for a few months." The girl opposite him was asking him multiple questions, which Akeru answered in the simplest way.
Akeru had been a follower of the 'If you can't teach it to a kid, then you don't understand the concept yourself' quote when learning.
So, he was an excellent teacher.
"How do you know this much?"
"I had been training since a young age. As a commoner, to contend with a noble's mana pool, I had to improve my mana control." Akeru took a sip from the glass, looking around the tavern.
Akeru choked on his milk. His gaze locked with hers—black clashing with pink.
"Is something the matter?"
"N—No, I am fine. I need to take a bathroom break." Akeru excused himself.
He came into a different room of the tavern.
"I wasn't expecting you to come... let alone like this."
"You saw nothing." Noelle's eyes were dark, like an abyss.
"Yes, ma'am."
BOOM
They turned their head outside and saw Asta manhandling a old man.
"Guess, it's time to dine and dash," Akeru said before running after Asta.
After exiting the tavern, he crashed into a person.
"OUCH. Brat, look where you are going." A drunk-looking guy, in his early twenties, reprimanded him.
"I am sorry." Akeru apologised before running in a different direction.
After running for a while, he came into an alley and took something out of his pocket.
It was a folded note.
"All the pieces are in place, just like you wanted. I'm heading out first, Boss. Try not to miss me."
Akeru read it once, smirked faintly, then closed his fist.
When he opened it—
The paper was gone.
Not burned. Not torn.
Gone from this dimension.
***
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