RHEIN'S POINT OF VIEW
"S-sorry! I didn't mean it!" Lovely stammered, apologizing to the guy now glaring at her. She was trembling so much I could tell—this guy is probably one of the most respected students here. "I-it won't happen again."
"Help her, Rhein," Forelody whispered in my ear. As if she even needed to tell me—I was already going to.
I stepped forward, moving to stand beside Lovely. The guy's gaze shifted to me, and so did his friends'. Their laughter died instantly.
"Mister, I apologize for what my friend did. She didn't mean it," I said evenly.
"Miss, will her sorry remove the stain from my uniform? Will it make the coffee disappear?" His voice was tight, like he was barely holding back from yelling.
"Rhein, a lot of students are looking at us," Forelody murmured.
And she was right—by the way everyone was staring, I was sure this group was well-known in the academy.
I sighed, meeting his eyes without flinching. He didn't look away—instead, he matched my stare, as if daring me to back down.
"This school provides for all its students' needs. You got your uniform ruined by accident? Then go to the admin's office and get a new one. If you're going to complain about coffee touching your skin, the solution is simple—take a shower. And if you still want to blame someone, blame yourself. You and your friends were blocking the way. If you'd stayed in a straight line instead of zigzagging around, you wouldn't have been spilled on in the first place."
I spoke calmly the entire time.
He had no comeback. "Oh, fine," he said at last, giving in.
"Thanks for your understanding, Mister."
I offered him the faintest of smiles before tugging Lovely toward our table. On the way, I grabbed a fresh cup of coffee from the counter.
When we reached our seats, Allie and Kate were staring at us with serious expressions—clearly, they'd seen everything.
"Thanks, Rhein." Lovely smiled weakly at me, her nerves finally settling. "What an unlucky day. That was scary!" She was back to her usual jolly self soon enough.
We started eating, ignoring the curious eyes still watching us.
"Pracien, that was impressive," Forelody said sarcastically. "I didn't know you could humiliate someone so calmly." She hopped onto the table, munching on an apple. "But just kidding, of course. You caused a scene! What if they target you for this?"
I smirked. "Don't worry. I know what I'm doing."
"You've got guts, huh?" Kate finally joined in. "Do you even know who they are? That's the most popular group in Ecialis Section A. They call themselves 'JAZA.' They're the top mnarill users in the section—and you'll be in the same class as them."
I glanced at Allie, who gave me a discreet nod. "What else do you know about them?"
Lovely took over. "JAZA is an acronym for their first names: J for Justin Drake, A for Ace Zettel, Z for Zen Harrison, and another A for Andrew Miller. Justin—the one with the black feather badge—is a deore mnarillaza…"
I knew it. My instincts earlier were right. Even without seeing his badge, I'd felt it—his deore mnarill, exactly like the kind that had nearly killed me more than once.
"…Ace, with the white snowflake badge, is an aias mnarillaza. Zen, the guy with the lightning badge, obviously a gulni mnarillaza. And Andrew, with the bluish-white hand badge, is a sychi mnarillaza like Principal Oak."
"They don't have praciens because they couldn't summon them when their asle was destroyed. Maybe, they didn't have a formaedius at the time, or maybe, they just didn't want to summon them. We don't know for sure. That might even be why they became friends," Kate added.
"Is that Justin guy their leader?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at Forelody when I caught his teasing look. I knew Justin was handsome, but I didn't care.
"Yes. He's also the strongest in their group. What would you expect from the most dangerous mnarillaza type? He's already fully transitioned, even though it's only been a few months since his seal broke. Some rumors say he's part of the Deorcanen Clan—since all deore mnarillazas belong there—but if he were, he wouldn't have been accepted into this academy. So no, it's not true."
The Deorcanen Clan… we'd learned about them in preparatory classes. They supposedly still existed in a remote, hidden place in this world, but no one knew its exact location except its members.
After we finished eating, we left the cafeteria. Allie and I parted ways from Lovely and Kate, whose building was in the opposite direction. They were in Ementumo Section A, while we were in Ecialis Section A.
Several minutes later, we reached our classroom. As expected, the room was spacious, but only about twenty students filled it—some reading, some chatting, others napping while waiting for class to start.
Owlice and Forelody excused themselves, reminding us not to cause trouble or flirt with anyone. Honestly, they sounded more like nagging grandmothers than guardians.
I was about to enter first when my feet stopped on their own. Justin had glanced my way while laughing with his friends—already wearing a fresh uniform.
Once again, the feel of his mnarill brushed against my senses, and I couldn't help but think of the deore mnarillaza. I shut my eyes for a brief moment, irritation tightening in my chest. Another problem to add to the ones already in my head.
"What are you going to do, Rhein? You just offended the leader of JAZA," Allie murmured, her voice tinged with worry. She shot a look at Justin, clearly noting that he'd noticed me too.
I smiled faintly. "I didn't do anything wrong."
Heads turned as we entered the room, including the JAZA members. Probably wondering what we were doing here. Before rumors could spread, I stood and introduced us.
"We'll be joining your class from now on." I cleared my throat and gestured to Allie. "Her name is Allie Frost. She's from Abracadabra Town—a mixed-type mnarillaza but considered special-type, with both aias and aiashomnarills. Forgive me for introducing her myself—she's not much of a talker."
Then I smiled. "And I'm Rhein Gomez, from the human world. I'm not fully transitioned yet, but I'm a hwizta mnarillaza."
A murmur went through the room, whispers calling me a princess. Some even assumed I was nobility, like my friends.
I quickly corrected them. "I may be a hwizta mnarillaza, but I'm not part of any royal family—nor am I a member of the Lithosowan Clan."