Chapter 142: What They Think Of Him
After Mika left with Olivia, the white class was walking back to the shelter located on the dorm grounds.
Their newest classmate Lily Hayth was leading the group while conversing with her mother.
For today, the authorities decided to let everyone rest, giving them also the time to think about their future.
Some people, like Lena Hayth, came from other nations to watch the tournament so they did not have to worry about anything. However, most of the people were either citizens or students in Loogam.
"..."
Sylvia looked like she was lost in thoughts.
The gap between the white class and Lily and her mother widened unconsciously.
"What are you thinking about so hard?" Rachel asked.
Belian and Harik turned their attention to Syliva, too.
"It’s nothing..."
But Rachel was not sold by her answer as she kept staring daggers at her.
Sylvia glanced back at Rachel for a moment until she began to elaborate.
"It’s just... I was thinking about Mika and the powers he hid from us."
"Is there something bothering you about it?" Belian asked.
"No, it doesn’t bother me. I just thought back to the first quest we did together."
"It was in the Great Jungle, right?" Harik responded.
"Yeah."
"There, too, we encountered a demon from the B-rank." Sylvia added, surprising everyone.
"B-rank...?!"
Harik was reminded how much he struggled against Clara, a demon from the same rank.
"Let me guess, Mika eliminated the demon." Belian stated sternly.
Sylvia just nodded.
"As expected from Mika!" Rachel huffed proudly.
"Back then, he would avoid answering me every time I confronted him with this topic. But deep down, I knew that he was the one who achieved such a feat."
"Maybe he had his reasons for hiding his powers." Harik replied with a somewhat saddened smile.
"But why did he decide to reveal everything now?" Belian wondered pensively.
"I suppose it was inevitable considering the invasion." Sylvia said.
Rachel sighed.
"Does it matter? He didn’t harm anyone with his secret, right?" Rachel argued as she shrugged her shoulders.
Harik scratched his cheek with his finger.
"I guess that’s true." he said awkwardly.
"You really are like some kind of worshipper." Sylvia joked.
"Worshipper?"
Rachel tilted her head as she pointed her finger to herself.
"Haven’t you noticed yet? Since recently, whenever we bring his name up, you’re either swarming about him or defending him. And your interactions with him don’t hide your affection towards him."
Harik had to laugh loudly at Sylvia’s deductions.
"D-d-don’t laugh so much, Harik! You’re in the same boat as me!" Rachel shouted. ƒгeewёbnovel.com
"Huh? Care to explain?"
"I-I’ve seen you taking many glances at Mika since the invasion ended!"
"O-of course I did. I-isn’t it natural for me to do so after w-witnessing his power?" Harik stuttered as he adjusted his sunglasses on his nose, which he wore out of habit despite not needing them anymore thanks to Mika.
Sylvia tilted her head extremely as she looked at Harik very confused.
"Did Mika manage to capture your heart as well, Harik?" Sylvia pondered, blushing slightly.
"N-no!" he replied instantly.
"But I suppose you can say that he saved my life..." Harik added embarrassed.
He remembered the days he was discriminated against due to his cursed eyes.
"The same applies to me, too." Rachel said, nodding her head multiple times with a smug grin.
She remembered the days she wasted in her bed lamenting about her curse, which hindered her from living a normal life.
Harik and Rachel looked each other in the eyes.
"I guess being called a worshipper isn’t so bad in this case." Rachel giggled.
"Yeah, if it’s for him, I would gladly do anything." Harik stated with a faint smile.
But only more and more question marks popped above Sylvia’s head as she could not follow those two at all, which was not her fault as Harik and Rachel did not tell anyone here about their curses aside from Mika.
"..."
While the three continued to talk about Mika, Belian just looked to the front, where Lily was still talking to her mother, oblivious to the conversation of the other white-class members.
But he did not pay attention to Lily or her mother. He just looked blankly to the front as he was in his own thoughts.
The others may have praised Mika but Belian felt unwell after he heard the explanation of his powers.
Not only that but he also witnessed those moments.
The moments when Mika was not Mika.
Of course, Belian saw an opportunity in Mika because he had the strength to actually help Belian with his goals. However, from the point of view of a friend, he was concerned.
When he witnessed Mika switching to his other form, he noticed that a part of his personality began to change.
Belian, too, bore a heavy grudge against demons, hence emitting a great killing intent at them and often losing his rationality while fighting or hearing about them. But Mika took it to greater heights.
Not only when fighting demons but also when fighting humans.
What he felt from him was not hatred like himself. Rather, he felt utter disgust emitting from Mika.
Just like a normal person would view a gross-looking insect, Mika would view his opponents the same.
He would look down on his enemies and treat them as simple objects.
And if Belian remembered correctly, there was also a moment when that personality emerged even though Mika was not fighting.
At that time, his appearance was mostly normal. It was only his eyes, which were blue and had white cross-shaped pupils.
"..."
Belian’s eyes squinted.
Back then, when he fought against him for the first time, Mika was nothing like that at all. He did not look down on anybody nor did he give off the impression of someone inhuman.
He was just a teenager, who was lazier than the average student.
"Can I- No, can we trust him...?" Belian muttered as he looked into the far distance.
However, Belian was not the only person, who thought like that.
He was just the second human, who had doubts concerning Mika.
The first one was the queen of Rostanta, Olivia Rostanta.
And said person was currently alone in a tent with Mika.
"Yesterday, after the meeting, I began to investigate those robes with other people." she said.
"And did you find anything out?" Mika asked.
She shook her head to the sides.
"But we think that those robes are magic tools."
"..."
"You don’t know anything about them, correct?" she asked with a blunt expression.
"Not much..."
Olivia heaved a sigh.
"Magic tools are objects with certain abilities. Anybody, who can wield magic, can also use those magic tools additionally."
"They began to surface around the time I was born-"
"Oh, really? They must be pretty old then."
A minute passed.
"Anyways, from what I’ve heard, someone managed to find a way to experiment with the usage of pure magic, allowing that person to come up with those magic tools. It doesn’t really surprise me but said person was a former teacher at this academy. He goes by the name Hecto Togin."
"Do you follow me?"
"Y-y-yes..." Mika answered weakly.
He was on the ground beaten half to death.
"Well, considering those robes could be possibly magic tools, I sought his knowledge and thus, approached him."
Her gaze turned sterner.
"He, then, told me that he was actually the one, who made those robes."
"!"
Mika lifted his upper body immediately.
"According to him, those robes conceal the wearer’s presence."
"That’s why no one managed to spot the demons beforehand..." Mika said.
Olivia nodded her head.
"Then, is he the culprit behind the invasion?!"
"Not quite."
"At first, I had the same thought as you but quickly dismissed that thought again. After all, he wouldn’t admit it so easily, if he truly was the mastermind. There was someone else involved."
"Who is it?"
"That Hecto Togin said that he only created those robes for his customer without asking for the reason."
She took a seat on the table.
"Connecting every piece with each other, it makes all sense now." she stated.
"?"
"Do you remember when you were kidnapped during the tournament week? You told us that you woke up in a desolated building after having found Xander Maystra."
"Yeah..."
Obviously, Mika had his suspicions about Xander.
"During the entire week, he behaved strangely. But if we think about it, everything leads to him."
"So the one who bought those robes was..."
"Yes. Xander Maystra." Olivia reaffirmed his thought.
"W-where is he?!"
"We don’t know. The last time he was spotted, he came to the rescue of the second-years, who were fighting in the northwest part of Loogam."
"There must be still some traces!"
"Calm down, will you? I’m not done explaining yet."
"What’s there still left to say? Isn’t Xander the one we have to find?"
Mika got slightly impatient.
"It’s true that we have to find him, however, my intuition tells me that he’s not the mastermind."
"What?"
Olivia shifted her gaze to the right and then to the left.
"I will tell you once I’ve found more evidence."
She stood up and headed out.
"H-hey, you can’t leave after saying that!" Mika shouted after her.
However, she just put a finger on her lips, which formed a mocking grin.
"Don’t you know who I am? I can do what I want."