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Chapter 267: Kiss of Fortune

“Darling, did you not sleep well last night?”

Under the bright noon sun, an auburn-haired beauty looked at the black-haired man seated opposite to her as she asked.

Roel was massaging the space between his eyebrows when he heard Charlotte’s words and raised his head. Faced with her clear emerald eyes, he hesitated for a moment before nodding.

“Something like that. I... had a nightmare last night.”

“A nightmare?”

“Mm. It was a peculiar nightmare,” replied Roel with a strained smile as he gazed down at the scenery beneath him.

The two of them were currently seated at the top level of the Ceruleansky Tower located near the edge of the commercial street. It used to be a meteorological tower, but it was later refurbished into a luxury restaurant.

The restaurant went for the super high-class route, opting to only provide outdoor seating consisting of a table of two in each of its four balconies. It was only open for breakfast and dinner, which meant that it only hosted a total of sixteen customers each day.

Despite its small customer base, the revenue of the Ceruleansky Tower was still ranked in the top three amongst all of the luxury restaurants in the Saint Freya Academy. This was indicative of just how expensive its food and service was.

Of course, the Ceruleansky Tower also had its unique selling points that justified its sky-high price tag, such as its scenic overlook of the academy and its top-notch Brolne chefs.

Roel would have surely enjoyed Charlotte’s treat had it been a day ago, but gazing upon the scenery of the noon academy only left him with an uncomfortable feeling now. He couldn’t help but recall the more chilling version of it he had seen yesterday night.

The nightmare last night left Roel with many questions in mind, be it the empty academy, the terrifying black-robed figures, the whispers of a mysterious language, and the empty bed. He wasn’t able to find any answers to any of his questions, and the realization that he wasn’t afflicted with the side effects of Glacier made him confused about the nature of the nightmare he had been through.

Was it the guidance of the Blackrose Ring or just a simple nightmare?

If it’s the guidance of the ring, what was it expecting me to achieve? Am I to find clues and piece together the truth or defeat those monsters?

The streets that were now bustling with life had been deathly silent yesterday night in his dream. It was such a jarring contrast that it left him a little disconcerted.

Before he could snap out of his daze, he suddenly felt a pair of warm hands on his cheeks.

“Darling, what’s wrong?”

“Hm?”

Roel raised his eyes once more, only to find that Charlotte had walked up to him at some point in time, looking at him with deeply worried eyes. He quickly adjusted his state of mind and explained the matter.

“I didn’t sleep well last night, and the lessons I had earlier in the morning were a little tough.”

“I see. Miss Chris is known for her difficult lessons, so I’m afraid that I can’t help you much with that,” said Charlotte as she settled herself on Roel’s legs.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, and her close-up warmth made Roel’s cheeks redden a little though he didn’t try to push her away. He had already gotten used to such intimacy during the adventure they had together last year.

“Though I might just be able to help you with the nightmare you spoke of.”

“Hm? You’re referring to divination?”

“That’s right. Dreams fall under the category of divination as well, so you can say that it’s my field of specialty,” replied Charlotte with a wink.

She stretched her hand forth and to cover his eyes.

“Don’t move. This is a spell to dispel your nightmares.”

“Oh?”

Roel closed his eyes obediently at her instruction. However, what that came wasn’t a spell but a warm peck on his lips.

“Charlotte?”

“This is a Kiss of Fortune. It’s particularly effective on afflictions like yours. If you still face any nightmares afterward, make sure to look for me. I’ll prepare a more potent one for you next time.”

Charlotte replied with an extremely calm tone, reminiscent of a nurse who had just applied an injection on a patient. Her oddly professional attitude stifled all of the doubts that he had on the tip of his tongue.

Hm? Is there really such a spell? But there was no mana reaction earlier. Is this some sort of esoteric divination spell... Oh, wait a moment.

“Charlotte, there’s something I would like to ask you... Is there any astrology-related buildings on our campus?”

“Like this tower we’re currently on?”

“Yes, something similar to this. Its highest floor has something similar to an open viewing platform that grants an overview of the entire central district,

“Are you referring to the old observatory?” asked Charlotte with a blink of her eyes.

The observatory Charlotte was referring to was an old building with centuries of history behind it. It was mainly used for astrology-related divinations, and the highest floor did have an open viewing platform. However, there were some problems with its facilities that resulted in an accident decades ago, and it had fallen into disuse ever since then.

“Grandaunt Lora told me that she had to work with the other astrology scholars to fight for the possession of the new observatory. It was quite a huge project in the Saint Freya Academy back then with a great deal of capital invested into it,” said Charlotte.

However, there was only one thing on Roel’s mind at the moment.

That scenery I saw in the dream really exists!

The old observatory had been abandoned since a long time ago, such that the lower levels were only used as an office at the moment. Roel was certain that he hadn’t been there before, which meant that he shouldn’t have any recollections of that place for it to appear in his dreams.

In other words, that wasn’t just a normal nightmare.

This realization shook Roel’s heart, but he was able to keep it from showing on his expression. He thought about the peculiar expression of the black-robed figure and his obscure chants, and an answer came to his mind.

They’re either evil cultists or heretics from some other race. Regardless of which it is, they’re an extremely dangerous group. What’s the goal they wish to achieve here? Would their deeds in ‘that world’ affect reality?

If that cultist he had met was really just chanting to an empty wall, Roel wouldn’t even want to get involved in it. However, were things really that simple?

Roel pondered for a moment before sighing deeply. He decided to toss those frustrating thoughts out of his mind for the time being. There was simply too little information for him to come to a judgment at the moment, so it would just be blind speculation.

He quickly reverted back to his usual state and began conversing with Charlotte with a smile. Instead of worrying about the future, he would very much rather enjoy the extortionate meal he was having, the beautiful clear sky above him, and the precious time he was spending with his partner.

...

The dream he had about the deathly silent academy had left Roel with a huge headache, but it wasn’t the greatest problem he had on hand. Rather, there was something in reality that was even more troubling.

Today was the day that ‘Chris’ Classroom’ welcomed its newest member, him. Other than the nonchalant Lilian, the atmosphere was lively and inviting.

With the inclusion of Roel, ‘Chris’ Classroom’ currently had twelve members. There were five in the Fourth Grade who were busy working toward their graduation, three in the Third Grade, and three in the Second Grade. What particularly stood out though was the fact that they were all women.

So, when they realized that their new junior was a good-looking man with a gentle demeanor, as well as a Ringbearer, the atmosphere immediately rose to a peak.

All of the seniors were incredibly welcoming, especially those from the Second Grade. However, probably due to Lilian’s cold attitude, none of them overstepped their boundaries to get too intimate with him. This came as a huge relief to Roel, who wasn’t good at dealing with women.

The interpersonal relationship aspect appeared to be going well, but the same couldn’t be said about the lesson. ‘Chris’ Classroom’ covered a wide scope of topics, and fortunately, Roel was still able to deal with most of them. However, there was one particularly subject he was facing great difficulties with, and that was the Precision Magic Class.

“Whether you become a technician or a soldier in the future, being able to control your mana output to derive the greatest efficiency from your mana capacity is a key skill you’ll have to master.”

Chris was extremely demanding when it came to mana precision. She expected her students to be able to channel the minimal amount of mana required to form spells, reducing all wastages of mana to the minimum. However, this happened to be an extremely difficult task for Roel.

Manifesting Grandar and Peytra simply required far too much mana that needed to be constantly channeled that it was nigh impossible to control it with precision.

Due to that, Roel chose to focus on his burst power, seeking to maximize destruction in the shortest period of time.

So, it was only natural that he would be thrown for a loop when he was suddenly asked to control his mana with precision. It was as if telling a glutton who had simply been gobbling his food down ever since he was born to start controlling his calories intake to a very precise level!

At the end of the lesson, when Roel looked at the thick chainlike rope of mana in his hand and the thin hairlike thread in Lilian’s, he knew right away that he would have to take remedial lessons for this class.

If a Ringbearer like him were to fail an examination, he could be darned sure that it would be going on the tabloid headlines the following morning. He could even imagine what the title would be.

‘The record holder of ‘Night of the Demons’ failed his examination! Is this bias from the teaching staff or the start of a prodigy’s downfall?’

Just thinking about it made Roel’s head hurt.

To make things worse, Chris was intending to send letters to the Ascart Fiefdom. If Alicia were to find out that he had failed his examination, he would lose his dignity as her older brother!

Putting everyone aside, he was at least determined to maintain his reputation before Alicia!

...

It was soon nighttime, and Roel was finally able to take a break from all of the studying he had done. Most of the students started heading toward the gourmet street and commercial street, but a certain black-haired young man was walking in the opposite direction.

Roel lowered his head, making sure to conceal himself from the students from ‘Lora’s Classroom’ and ‘Kathleen’s Classroom’ passing him by. Just like that, he discreetly made his way to Building 1’s Classroom 14 and knocked on its door.

“Password.”

Roel’s cheeks twitched a little. He felt like a child playing some sort of spy game, coming up with passwords to identify one another. He took a deep breath to suppress his embarrassment before squeezing two words out of his gritted teeth.

“Teacher’s Mission!”