Upon seeing Murd approach, the boys and girls went completely silent, staring at him.
His presence, though not overtly imposing, felt incredibly strange. Ever since the Emperor had introduced him, they had all assumed he would be a majestic, aloof figure, far detached from ordinary people like them. Seeing him walk up to them so casually left them utterly blindsided.
"Hello?" Murd opened his mouth, raising his hand in a slight, hesitant salute.
"H... H... Hello," Javier was the first to find his voice.
Murd had already resigned himself to the fact that he couldn't go rest yet, so he forced himself to activate his "sociable mode," just as Cynthia had advised.
"It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Murd Cadwell. I hope we can get along well," Murd said, offering a polite smile and extending his hand for a handshake.
Javier, still fighting his nerves, took his hand and introduced himself. "Hello. I'm Javier Menendez. I hope we get along well, too."
"Nice to meet you." Murd then turned to the girls standing beside Javier, offering them the exact same polite handshake.
Cute... Cria thought, her heart skipping a beat.
It was undeniable; Murd was becoming more handsome by the second.
"You are Seron's disciples, right?" Murd asked. "If I'm not mistaken, Churn is also one of his disciples, isn't he?"
"Y... Yes. Yes, Churn is also one of the Master's disciples," Ria managed to answer.
"Oh, I see. Thank you very much," Murd said, giving them a respectful bow.
Everyone exchanged nervous glances.
"Why are you bowing and thanking us? Literally nothing has happened," Lenia said, slouching back in her chair.
"It's because you are Churn's companions," Murd replied, rubbing the back of his neck. "We've been friends since we were kids, and he can be... a bit complicated. So, I truly appreciate you looking after him." Murd straightened his body and offered them a genuine smile.
Lenia blushed slightly at the gesture, quickly crossing her arms to hide it. "Apology accepted, I guess. Taking care of him is a massive pain in the ass, but the Master asked us to do it," she said, her voice taking on a slightly defensive, tough tone.
"Hahaha, thank you very much, everyone. I assume Seron's training must be exhausting. My Master told me a bit about it."
The group's faces went a little dazed at the mention of his "Master." In their short time in this world, Cynthia Ferris's reputation had already been placed on a pedestal right alongside the Emperor himself.
"Yes, to be honest, it's brutal," Javier responded with a weary sigh. "His training style is way too focused on physical conditioning."
"We're completely dead. We barely sleep or eat, we're just constantly training," Cria complained, subtly leaning her arm closer to Murd.
"I assume Miss Cynthia's training is equally difficult, if not worse," Ria noted, adjusting her glasses.
"Yeah... I guess so," Murd muttered, scratching his head, highly doubting his own words.
In reality, Cynthia had only ever taught him two things, and she hadn't even done it directly. Most of the time, he had just been left to train and read entirely on his own.
"It's pretty exhausting," Murd added, putting on his best poker face. If you count reading books for days on end as training, that is, he thought. "Maybe one of these days I could drop by and join your training session."
"You definitely should," Lenia smirked, sitting up straight. "These weaklings can barely last through the basic routines. I've been dying to find someone who can actually keep up with me."
Weren't you just begging to go to sleep a few seconds ago?! all of Lenia's classmates thought simultaneously, deadpanning at her.
Murd stared at Lenia, a strained, slightly forced smile appearing on his face. "I assure you, the day I actually drop by, you will be the one begging to stop training with me."
"Oh yeah? I'll be looking forward to it then," Lenia replied, flashing him a confident grin.
"Uh, okay, things just got a little weird here," Javier interrupted, quickly grabbing Murd by the shoulder and pulling him back a bit. "Lenia is a total training fanatic. Not even Churn spends as much time training as she does."
"Funny," Murd muttered quietly, though everyone still caught it. "Well, I have to head out. I hope we'll see each other at the banquet." Murd raised his hand in a final farewell and quickly made his escape.
The moment his back was turned, Cria's expression shifted into a dark glare that would have terrified anyone. She snapped her head toward Lenia.
"Lenia..." she growled under her breath.
Murd finally managed to slip out of the grand hall. The moment he reached an empty corridor, he collapsed against the wall, sliding down.
"Ahhhhhhhhh!" Murd groaned internally, his thoughts completely consuming him. They were all way too pretty! And that blonde girl, Lenia? Was she... was she making insinuations at me?! I think I responded well... wait, did I?! And Cria, she literally touched my arm! That has to be normal, right? But man, she smelled so good... How do pretty women still smell that good in a fantasy world where they shouldn't even have modern perfumes?! And the girl with the glasses, Ria, was absolutely gorgeous! Why are there only pretty girls around here?! Could it be that Seron is gathering a harem or—no, no, no, impossible. According to Cynthia, he's happily married. Ahhhhhhh!
He sat flat on the cold floor, burying his face in his hands as his brain short-circuited. After a long minute of silent panic, a much more practical problem hit him.
He looked up at the empty, labyrinthine hallway.
"And now... where the fuck am I supposed to go?"
"Damn it… I don't know where I am," Murd muttered to himself. He patted his cheeks to shake off the panic and started pacing blindly down the corridor, desperately searching for the banquet hall.
"Maybe there's dancing, don't you think? Although I can't dance… can you imagine a beautiful noblewoman inviting you to the dance floor and teaching you?" Kida sighed dreamily, resting his head on his hand.
Churn looked at him, genuinely admiring the possibility of something like that happening.
"You just listed three things that will never happen in your life. You have no shame, do you? You sounded so stupid," Huis said expressionlessly, struggling to stifle a laugh.
"Hey! Let me dream, please. Stop laughing," Kida pleaded, his ears turning red.
Churn rubbed his tired eyes hard. "I guess we'll have to socialize," she complained.
"With whom? With the nobles? All the knights say they're arrogant and contemptible," Kida pointed out.
"Don't let stereotypes get to you. Lana's a noblewoman too, in case you'd forgotten," Huis replied gently.
Kida blushed intensely. "H-How do you know?"
"Hahahaha! I knew it! You're so obvious," Huis laughed, wiping away imaginary tears of laughter. "Haven't you thought about at least becoming friends with her or something? She's actually quite nice."
"Um, I don't know… I don't think it'll be enough," Kida replied, nervously rubbing her arm.
"You're right, you're not," Huis said bluntly. "Sleeping with a normal girl your age is already too much for you; sleeping with a noblewoman from another world is completely out of your reach."
"Go to hell, Huis."
"Ouch. Hey, I was just being realistic. If you became friends with her, you wouldn't hurt anyone. And look on the bright side, maybe you could even make her fall for you," Huis offered, giving Kida a light punch on the shoulder.
"Yeah..." Kida murmured.
"And you, Churn? I see you have some pretty girls as classmates," Huis said, turning to face Churn.
"Who do you take me for? We haven't even been in this world for six months. Why would I fall for someone?" Churn replied, letting out a huge yawn.
"I can't believe how proud I am of you, son. I never thought you could come up with something so logical. You seem to think more than most people," Huis laughed, staring at Kida.
"Stop calling me son, you idiot," Churn retorted.
" "Don't be so aggressive, son, or you'll never get married," Huis continued mockingly.
Kida burst out laughing behind Huis. "Hahahaha! How silly you are!"
"I don't know what you're laughing at, Mr. Lovestruck Stranger," Churn retorted with a mocking look.
"Hey… go to hell, you can't…" Kida began.
"Yeah, I don't know why you're laughing either, you poor thing," Huis interrupted gently, taking Churn's side.
Kida's patience reached its limit. "Go to hell, both of you."
He raised his hand slightly, and a small spark of lightning shot out toward Huis and Churn.
"Magic? Here? Run, Churn! He's going to kill us with his almighty lightning!" Huis shouted, feigning panic as he ran away.
"Go to hell..." Kida growled. Instantly, a cluster of glowing words and runes appeared, floating above his hand.
The small lightning bolt flew swiftly toward Huis and Churn.
"Son, get behind me," Huis said playfully. He grabbed Churn and pulled him to his side. Clasping his hands together with incredible speed, Huis formed two small, glowing runic circles beside him.
Two walls of water erupted from the ground in front of them, completely absorbing and neutralizing the lightning bolt.
"Wasn't water supposed to be weak against lightning?" Churn asked, blinking in confusion.
"No, you're playing the wrong video game, Churn," Huis replied, lowering his hands. He peeked out from behind the wall of water. "Have you calmed down, or do you want to throw more sparks, Pikachu?"
"To hell with you guys! Let's get to the banquet and find some good seats." "I'm starving," Kida grumbled, shoving his hands in his pockets and walking past them.
"Come on!" Huis exclaimed, running after Kida to continue teasing him, with Churn following closely behind with the same intention.
"I wanted to ask you something," Churn said, walking calmly with his eyes closed. "Are you focusing solely on water magic now? I thought you were really into bows and telekinesis."
"Well, yeah. I haven't decided what to specialize in yet," Huis replied. He channeled some mana into his hands, causing a pencil on a nearby table to rise into the air, wobbling. "There are so many fun things to try. Besides, Seron mentioned that there's hardly anyone in this world who's really good at telekinesis."
"What about bows? I've seen you practicing with one," Kida remarked.
"I can hold my own, I guess. I don't think I have a great natural talent for it, but it's actually quite fun," Huis replied with a soft chuckle.
"Fun…" the three boys murmured in unison, a shared smile spreading across their faces at the word.
"If it's fun, then we definitely have to train and see who's the strongest among us," Kida said with a grin, giving a confident thumbs-up.
"Yeah, let's do it," Huis agreed, his grin even wider.
"Hey, guys… what about Verju?" Churn asked suddenly, looking around. "We haven't forgotten about him, have we?"
Kida froze instantly, completely stunned.
"Shit, he told me to wait for him, said he was going to the bathroom," Kida said.
Verju emerged from the bathroom with a throbbing headache and his face dripping wet.
"Where the hell are you guys?" he said, lifting his long green hair.