That night.
Lortelle Kecheln didn't feel humiliated by Ed's clear-cut rejection.
"Oh my, Senior Janica."
Understanding the pros and cons, profit, and self-interest...
The perfect businessman doesn't lose any opportunity that comes within their reach.
"Oh, I didn't expect to see you here, Senior."
"Ah... so it's you, Lortelle. You look pretty different with your hair down."
"I hear that often."
On the contrary, it awakened the unrelenting spirit within her to turn Janica Faylover... into one of her people.
They met in a corridor in Ophilis Hall, the dormitory that boasted the most luxurious facilities among the three dormitories in Sylvania.
For a student to be allowed to stay at Ophilis, one of two conditions had to be met: overwhelming status or overwhelming grades.
"You know, there was a big fuss about me using forbidden intermediate magic during the joint combat exercise.
Truth is, part of me was particularly impulsive. It's been a while since the incident, but I still wanted to apologize."
The reason Lortelle used intermediate magic was just to see how the top sophomore student was.
"So the wound hasn't healed yet, huh..."
Though she had to pay a big price for it.
"I'm sure it'll heal quickly. Don't worry about it too much, Senior Janica."
Lortelle sharply caught on to the fact that Janica still felt a bit of guilt about her wounds.
Janica Faylover was too nice. It was because of her good nature that the people around her felt a strong protective instinct toward her, making her an idol among the second years.
Moreover, the second years had been feeling miserable from being overshadowed by the first years. As Janica was the only one who showcased her competency against them, she became a savior to the second years as well. In a way, this was all due to Lortelle, whom she beat horribly in the Joint Combat Training class.
She was just the adorable and cute top second-year student who was also a Spirit User, but now she had become the only light and hope for the second years.
Lortelle believed that personal connections led to social power. Since Lortelle had lived her life realizing this fact, she didn't put on a smile for the cute second year.
Having someone indebted to you could be considered an asset. And it would be foolish of Lortelle not to use the assets she had.
With this in mind, Lortelle thought of starting an exchange with Janica through her debt as an opportunity.
"I guess the talk with Ed went well, huh?"
"What are you suddenly talking about...?!"
"I tell them to restrain themselves when it comes to personal matters, but..."
"The spirits sure love chatting."
"I hear everything around the northern part of the forest, you see."
Janica must have chased after Ed after he ignored Lortelle's words. But wasn't the route he took leading toward the entrance of the northern forest?
Originally, the northern forest was Janica's territory. That was because most of the spirits playing in the northern forest were on Janica's side.
But Lortelle could only see as far as the edge of the forest entrance. And to say that Ed Rothstaylor was in Janica's territory was just ridiculous, because the conversation Lortelle had with him was not something she could proudly reveal, even as empty words.
Lortelle thought of using money to buy Janica as a personal connection, and then use her as an opportunity to gauge Ed Rothstaylor, who was currently stuck in a tight spot. He really wasn't in a situation to be acting this stubborn.
"You probably have your own way of doing things, but…"
Given the amount of respect Janica received, she was certainly worthy enough of being called a saint.
"Ed must have his own way of doing things too. And from my point of view, I am more moved by his efforts."
"..."
"Of course, your willingness to use gold coins as a means to become closer with me also made me feel really emotional, but sincerity isn't something that money can buy. Am I being too condescending? It's my first time having someone younger than me, so I think I may be acting like I'm too full of myself… Ah! This is so embarrassing…"
Even after knowing what Lortelle did, she didn't deny or swear at Lortelle's methods.
Lortelle finally understood why everyone loved Janica.
A girl who walked straight out of a fairytale.
But this description of her as someone who was cute and lively also had a subtle diss.
It could also mean that she was someone who didn't know much about the world, someone who had lived in a flower garden all her life. That was how it sounded to Lortelle.
But they must have severely misjudged Janica.
She understood the darkness on the other side of the world; she just chose to continue living her life without losing her cheerful nature.
To stand in front of such dazzling light, someone with a black heart would crawl back into the darkness in shame.
If everyone lived in dirt together, then being dirty would be the standard appearance of all humans. But that was just an illusion, of course.
Because there would definitely be people like Janica. And it wasn't like Lortelle didn't know that.
"Ed is probably someone who's much more strong-willed and funnier than you think."
"What? Is that so? But why do you think so?"
Janica giggled and spun around, untying her braid.
"It's a secret."
Lortelle then realized they had arrived in front of Janica's room.
Once Janica entered the room, she planned on relaxing comfortably by untying her braids and loosening the straps on her cute and frilly casual clothes.
"Well, the spirits always keep gossiping among themselves, but whenever something stands out, it seems very stalkerish."
"Isn't being friendly with spirits something to be proud of?"
"Thanks for saying that~ Hehe~ But I'm the only one in the whole world who knows those fun facts."
Janica spun in front of her door and smiled brightly. Only she knew what the spirits had told her about Ed.
"I should get going now. The dean told me I should try and sign a contract with another high-ranking spirit next month. In order to do that, I have to study and prepare a lot of things."
"Didn't you just sign a contract with a high-ranking fire spirit?"
"These days, expectations of me have risen quite a bit. I need to work hard, hmm. Yeah, it's a good thing that people are expecting a lot from me."
After saying that, Janica opened her door wider.
"Ahh, that's right, Lortelle."
Janica said her name with her unique and charming smile.
"I'm sorry about last time. You got hurt a lot because of me, right? I hope you get better soon."
Janica slowly closed the door after saying that, looking relieved. And Lortelle herself saw how much consideration Janica had for her in saying that.
In front of the softly closed door, Lortelle thought it over for a long time.
Ed Rothstaylor is definitely an interesting person.
Lortelle couldn't guess why Janica had such a high opinion of him.
Looking back, there was a strange sense of danger in her lively and relaxed appearance.
But no matter how hard she thought about what the reason might be, she couldn't come up with a clear answer right away.