"Justice?" Cyril muttered, giving Monty a calm stare.
The student took a step back but still held an angry expression.
"That's right! I thought I finally found a friend, but he beat me up for this... bomb. Why would I have a bomb?!"
"You told me you found an unusual black rock recently-"
"Shut up," Cyril interrupted, giving Albert a cold glare.
Although his face looked uninterested, internally he was intrigued by what he heard.
An unusual black rock...
"What if it's actually Ambrosia?! We should check it out. Maybe we'll get two pieces at once!" Rhamn rubbed her palms in anticipation, drool forming at the corner of her mouth.
Later.
Cyril looked back at Monty, observing his nervous but angry face. An idea quickly struck him.
He stood to the side, pointing with his hand towards Albert on the ground.
"Then, do it."
"What...?"
"Have your justice. Strike him a few times in revenge. Let it out."
Albert opened his mouth in shock, but no words came out, simply staring at the two with growing fears.
Monty shakily pointed at himself, anger replaced with confusion, to which Cyril simply nodded.
Monty then took a few steps closer to Albert, staring at him with hesitation.
"..."
A minute passed as Monty stood over Albert, silent. Judging from his shaking arms and tightly clenched fists, he obviously wanted to have a go but held himself back.
We don't have all day...
Impatient, Cyril lightly pushed Monty on the back. "Don't hesitate."
Monty flinched, almost stumbling to the ground. With a desperate expression, he suddenly winded his leg and kicked Albert on the chest.
"Aah!"
Screaming, he kicked again and again, on his face desperation mixed with hatred.
What the...?
Cyril silently observed the meek student go off the rails. Monty had his teeth clenched tightly together, his eyes closed as if afraid to observe.
For some reason the scene looked as if a soldier was threatened by a demon to brutally attack his comrade, lest he kill both of them.
You could've said no if you didn't want to...
Didn't think he would go this hard.
"Monty is just showing his true colors. Good for him!" Rhamn observed with excitement, even cheering occasionally.
At this moment a red butterfly landed on Cyril's shoulder, but not before dropping a vial with red liquid in his hands.
"Thanks."
Morpho curiously observed the unhinged actions in front of her, then shook her head with disapproval. How vile of this student to let his emotions cloud his judgement so much...
...
Cyril never interrupted Monty, letting him kick until he grew tired, sweat covering his back.
He wasn't afraid of Albert's death. Not because of a healing potion in his hand, but because Monty's strength surpassed all his expectations.
He was far weaker than Cyril thought.
After going at it for a few minutes, tiring himself out completely, Monty failed to make Albert draw blood or even to exclaim a genuine cry of pain.
Perhaps to make Monty feel better, Albert gasped each time a soft kick landed on him, but it was obviously faked.
At least to Cyril it was obvious.
When Monty stopped, completely covered in sweat, he had a refreshed but horrified expression, staring at his hands as if he were a sinner.
He then snapped his head to Albert, who faked being unconscious, and carefully leaned over him.
"Is-is he...?" Monty uttered, his face pale.
"I don't know," Cyril said, playing along.
His words made Monty's face even paler, his heartbeat increasing further.
Cyril crouched down in front of Albert, peering at him as if analyzing his health.
He didn't know why, but Monty's panicked face gave him a peculiar urge to make it even more panicked.
Perhaps he interacted with Rhamn too much lately.
"Not enough, I would say."
Cyril shook his head, then looked at Monty.
"He is fine for now. A healing potion will handle it."
Monty gave a long sigh of relief, but before he could relax completely, Cyril continued. "Alright Monty, now you are even. Go home and don't tell anyone about this."
"Remember, you also assaulted a helpless student. The academy won't look kindly on you."
Monty's face twisted, looking as if he swallowed something disgusting.
"But- but it was you-" he stammered, growing quiet under Cyril's cold glare.
Without saying anything else, Monty nodded and began running, escaping from here.
Cyril looked back at Albert, who no longer pretended to be knocked out, silently stretched his hand forward, and poured the potion into his mouth.
Albert coughed, trying his best to drink the liquid with an embarrassed expression.
In a few moments, his limbs twitched, able to move again.
Albert shakily stood up, wiping his mouth.
"Are you sure Monty will keep his mouth shut?" he said, pretending nothing was wrong.
The meek student seemed agreeable now. But who knows what he'll do once he calms down and has the time to think?
Of course Cyril understood his concerns, but to this, he had only one thing to say.
"It's not my problem."
He's done enough.
Albert stiffened, his face quickly going through a mix of emotions. Finally he sighed, turned around, and then hurriedly ran in the direction Monty disappeared.
Cyril observed until his back disappeared from his sight, then subtly nodded.
This went well.
We'll let Monty calm down and ask him about the stone tomorrow. It's unlikely to be Ambrosia, but it won't hurt to check.
"Sure, sure. Now...!"
Yes. Let's go.
Cyril walked away as well. There were more pressing matters to him than stopping a fight between two students.
The Ambrosia he got from Margaret was an unexpected gain today, and he won't feel at ease before dealing with it in some way.
As he walked through the park's exit, Cyril noticed a white tiger hastily running towards him from the direction of the dorm.
It seems this whole time they tried to join in. Unfortunately, they couldn't fly.
The blue scarf hanging off the tiger's neck hissed, staring at Cyril with excitement.
They ran here as soon as they heard from Morpho what was happening!
Cyril crouched down, grabbing Tigris off the ground and putting him on his shoulder.
"Sorry, you missed it. We are done already."
Tigris froze, then his cat face quickly grew uninterested. That's that. He'll just go to sleep then.
But Atheris hanging on his neck reacted differently. She hissed with disappointment, then glared at the lazy tiger. If he wasn't so slow, they would've gotten to participate as well!
Tigris stiffened, instinctively lowering his head, though the snake's angry face only lowered with him.
"Atheris, calm down," Cyril whispered, the snake immediately losing any ferocity.
He shook his head, then began walking again. On the way he and Rhamn retold what had happened, the creatures listening in with interest.
Once Cyril arrived back in his dorm, he took a shower, readied himself, and sat on his bed. A red butterfly, a white tiger, and a blue snake all observed his actions with silent curiosity.
The dorm's magic lamps were turned off, plunging everything into a somewhat ritualistic darkness. Only the moonlight spilling out from the window softly illuminated the surroundings.
Cyril held a pitch-black stone in his hand, observing it with a frown while enduring its allure.
What does Margaret know about me, exactly? Does she know more than even the demons?
She was friends with my mother... That should mean she wouldn't want to harm me, right?
"I don't think this Ambrosia is a trap or anything. But we should be careful around Margaret in the future. Who knows what's going on in that head of hers?"
Surprised, Cyril threw Rhamn a glance.
I thought you liked her?
"For a human, she's not too bad. But at the end of the day, she is not on our side."
Rhamn shrugged, her face not showing much emotion. Cyril knew she didn't mean 'demons' when talking about 'our side.' She meant them: all the beings in this very room. To her, everyone else was simply the others.
"Yeah, yeah. How dare I place family above all else? Whatever, let's just use the stone already!"
Cyril sighed, throwing away any stray thoughts,and brought Ambrosia close.
Since I was given a way to get stronger, I won't be polite."That's right!"
But, just as the stone was about to reach his mouth, Cyril discovered a slight problem.
This piece of Ambrosia is bigger than the last one...
"That's very good."
"..."
"Ah, right. Hold on... Bring it to your chest."
Under Rhamn's impatient voice, Cyril put Ambrosia under his pajama top, letting it touch his skin.
In a second, the middle of his chest opened up, revealing a bloody maw that soon grabbed onto the stone.
The next moment the flesh morphed, reverting to a normal human chest, only now, there was no stone in Cyril's hands. It didn't even leave any blood.
The magic creatures stared in wonder as if observing a magician's trick, while Cyril felt a bit of helplessness.
Right. That's one way to do it.
Rhamn, are you here?
"...I am digesting. It'll be quick."
Cyril nodded, then sat still, carefully feeling any changes that might be happening to his body. He subtly began feeling better, as if cured of a mild illness he didn't even know he had.
Ah.
Maybe I should've saved a piece for Myra…
"No!"
Ignoring the despair in Rhamn's voice, Cyril lay down on the bed, prepared to drift off into sleep.