Later that day…
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With the duel between summons concluded, the creatures returned to the inner sanctuaries of their lords while the cadets later dispersed for their respective business.
As for Cedric, he paid a visit to one of the homes in the section where the cadets who stayed outside the fortress lived.
This particular home was the most dilapidated in the entire row, and it didn't even have a roof.
Inside this ruin, a certain teen with red hair and blue eyes sat slumped against the wall, staring blankly at the flames of an oil lamp that flickered in front of him. The boy's expression was hollow and, honestly, he looked like a shell of a person.
He was still lost in his head when a raven suddenly landed beside him. At first, he turned slowly and stared at it for a few seconds with a dull, vacant gaze. But then, as the sight of the bird finally registered, his eyes widened.
