For ten full minutes, not a single member of the Business Club went to the corner of the spectator stands to ask the blonde girl if she wanted a bucket of popcorn or a bottle of soda.
This made Jude very unhappy. It felt as if a corner of his "commercial empire" was missing, yet his subordinates were turning a blind eye to it. Finally unable to restrain himself, he grabbed a club member and asked, "Why hasn't anyone gone over there? Don't tell me all five of you with ten eyes failed to see her!"
The student he grabbed followed Jude's gaze and suddenly realized: "Master, it's not that we didn't see her; it's that I told everyone not to do business with her."
Jude was stunned. "Why??"
The student puffed out his chest and gave a slight snort. "That person is one of the exchange students from the Royal Capital Magic Academy!"
"An exchange student? How do you know?"
"She happens to be assigned to our class. I saw her yesterday, so I recognize her."
Regarding the reason the Royal Capital sent exchange students to Fairy Academy, rumors had long been rife. The loudest rumor was that they sent people primarily to "slap the face" of Fairy Academy and establish the Royal Capital Academy as the sole authority in magic education.
Initially, the students found this rumor too absurd and remained skeptical. However, the moment the exchange team stepped into the academy yesterday, news of Serena challenging Descartes broke out, which instantly cleared all doubts regarding the rumor.
One must understand that the rift between the two academies was planted years ago when the Royal Capital Academy struck at Fairy Academy on various fronts. After years of fermenting, it had become deeply rooted. Now, with Serena acting as the fuse, all past unpleasantness came rushing back like a tide, becoming uncontrollable.
Consequently, some students at Fairy Academy found everything about Serena's group eyesores; even a great beauty like Ur or a young beauty like Layla had people feeling sour toward them. Of course, those with this mindset were a tiny minority.
After hearing the club member's explanation, Jude understood. After hesitating for a long while, he finally waved his hand and decided to turn a blind eye to the situation: "I see. You all get back to work."
"YES!!"
In truth, Jude felt this behavior wasn't right. No matter the real purpose of the exchange students, it didn't have much to do with him—as long as they were willing to do business, they were good customers! But with the "general trend" before him, he didn't dare stand in opposition to the crowd.
Just as the club member was about to resume his work...
"Nonsense!"
Thump—!!
Accompanied by a sharp cry, a fist descended from above and landed forcefully on his forehead.
"Dammit! Who hit me!?"
The lowerclassman was about to shout, but upon seeing the face of the person who hit him, he became so terrified his legs couldn't stand straight and his words became slurred: "Ah... it's... it's Senior Descartes! When did you get here?!"
Descartes had heard their conversation clearly, and his face was already clouded with frost.
"Who gave you permission to engage in bullying and discrimination in this academy?"
"If I catch you doing it once more, I'll report it to the Principal and have you expelled!"
The lowerclassman didn't dare question the power of the King of Backgrounds for a second. He nodded coldly: "Yes... yes... I understand... I'll never dare do it again!!"
Descartes snorted coldly, casually picked up a bucket of popcorn, a bottle of ice-cold cola, and a few bags of chips from the cart, dropped the phrase "put it on my tab," then turned and walked toward the girl in the corner of the stands.
The lowerclassman finally scrambled up from the ground and nudged the person next to him. "Master, let's go."
"Ah? Oh..."
Jude stared at Descartes' receding back, his eyes dazed and his heart suddenly tightening, as if he had just lost something incredibly important.
...
Corner of the Spectator Stands.
Layla's mood was currently terrible because Ur, who had agreed to meet her here at 2:00 PM, had broken the appointment. She didn't know what had happened to Ur; she only knew she was currently hot, thirsty, and super, super, super wanted to down a few big gulps of ice-cold cola...
"Here!"
A bottle of ice-cold cola suddenly appeared in front of Layla.
"It's soda!!" Layla shouted subconsciously.
Where did the soda come from? Had a god heard the prayer of this beautiful girl and specially bestowed it upon her? However, a second later, Layla recovered her rationality. Where were there gods in this world? It must have been given by a kind person!
Her gaze followed the arm holding the cola upward, finally settling on a handsome and warm face.
Wow! Such a handsome kind person!!
Layla blinked her bright eyes, pointing at herself in disbelief: "Is... is it for me?"
Descartes smiled and nodded. "That's right!"
His smile looks so good!!
Layla suddenly felt her heart skip a beat; her face felt hot, and her head was a bit dizzy. Oh no, I must be coming down with heatstroke!
"Thank you!"
The girl hurriedly reached out to take the cola, twisting it open with ease. After a pssh, she took a massive, satisfied gulp.
Refreshing~
"Um... who are you?"
"My name is Descartes."
"Eh?! You are Descartes?" Layla's eyes suddenly went wide, and she pointed down toward the duel arena. "The... that Descartes?"
"That's right. The one who's about to duel here is me! You should be an exchange student from the Royal Capital Magic Academy named Layla, right?"
He actually knows me?!
"Yes!!"
Layla's face grew hotter and redder, and she immediately took another sip of ice-cold cola to calm her nerves.
"Why are you here all by yourself? Where are your seniors?"
As Descartes asked, he opened the popcorn and snacks to share with Layla. Layla knew he was asking about the other exchange students, so she answered truthfully: "We agreed to meet at 2:00 PM, but they haven't arrived yet. I think they might have been delayed by something."
"Eh... they're nearly half an hour late and left you here alone? Those guys are far too unreliable! Wait! Yesterday I agreed to duel that Serena guy at 3:00 PM—he wouldn't happen to be stood me up, would he?"
Layla gave an awkward smile. "Probably... not..."
Judging by her voice, she actually didn't have much confidence in that either. This made Descartes slightly surprised: "You're from the same school; aren't you familiar with each other?"
Layla shook her head. "They are all upperclassmen and very strong; they are high-profile figures known as the 'Four Heavenly Kings' in the academy! I'm different; I'm just a lowerclassman with weak strength and no fame."
Descartes was even more surprised: "Then how were you able to come as an exchange student??"
"Well..."