ACT II
MONAMI

Chapter 36
The Unwanted Attention

  If Hans’s action could be worded in a single word, it would be “Ruthless”. The Initiation ceremonial duel turned into one-sided bullying. Walter understood that Hans was like an unrestrained Horse, the more you force him into submission the more he will retaliate. He was eager to see how a wood mage fights and no matter how hard he tried he couldn't sense a speck of mana in his body even when he was fighting. There was no remnant of the casting circles like he was just commanding mana to do his bidding.

He knew how he should control this unrestrained horse but this was not the time for that, he had to stop him from further damaging Martha’s pride. He tried to converse with her but she abruptly lashed on him,

Didn't you say no one could harm the talents of Concordia and you just stood there without doing anything? Is this what this place means to you?

Walter came near her and replied to her calmly in a quiet voice,

You also said that Concordia is a place without any prejudice, but look at your actions. You should look both ways. He is the rarest talent of these times and he will grow into a splendid mage with this pace pouring everything into his growth. Do you wish to make him your enemy?

She didn't say much and left for her position, Walter sighed and looked at the source of his troubles who was still tense. He said to him,
Hey kiddo, you are at school not in war, let loose a little.

Hans calmed himself down and listened to his next words,
Martha, she is not a bad person.

Hans looked at him with a questioning gaze and the man replied to him,

The school calls itself discrimination free but it still exists. Martha has it under control for now. but she was once a victim of the social hierarchy as a student here. Despite having talent she was bullied by the recommended students to the point she thought of leaving this place but she grits her teeth and stayed to make sure that what happened to her won't happen to anyone again.

Hans understood his words but refuted them,
But that doesn't give her any right to judge me?

Yes, you are right indeed but her work here gives her the right to be respected.

  Hans already marked her a bad person and realised that he was doing the same thing Martha did to him. After seeing him becoming calm and reasonable again, he asked him, what he was curious for,

Why did you concede? You could have engraved your name alongside your father and grandfather.

  Hans got startled to know that there was someone who knew of his origin but his words were news to him and now regret was showing up in his eyes. He wanted to humiliate Romnick for a lifetime and engraving his name on the wall permanently was the ideal solution he came up with in anger. He smarten up his reply and said to him,

He will be humiliated whenever he sees his name on the wall of fame.

Walter chuckled and replied,
But your eyes are telling a different story, kiddo.

  Hans closed his eyes and turned away. He tried to make up for his regret with some cool words but was caught on. There was an area in the grand hall which was hidden away from others, a place where guests and higher professors were observing the students. A director leaned to his left side and said to Rudolf,

It looks like the apple didn't fall far from the tree, Sir Rudolf.

Rudolf who was nervously biting his nails got out of the trance from sudden words and responded back,
Oh, I was so nervous.

The director continued the conversation,
What to be nervous about if you have a kid like that?

That's not it, I thought he would kill on his first day.

  The director got silent after hearing his response and was in deep thought about how should they raise Hans. But the mysterious chairman, who always remained silent like his presence said from the back,

Looks like this would be an interesting year.

         The chairman who almost never spoke was showing his favour for the first years so a bootlicking professor praised him by saying,
Yes, sir chairman, this is the finest batch we got in some years.

I am not talking about the batch.

  With his last words, the man disappeared like he was never there to begin with and no one spoke after this because they started thinking about their own interpretation of the chairman's words. They all turned towards Hans and Walter, Rudolf was contemplating whether being in Chairman’s sight was a good or bad thing for Hans.

Walter announced in a loud voice,

Hans Richardson, you have gone too far, beating up someone in a duel with that bad and disrespectful attitude towards the elder. You should visit me in four days, I will decide your punishment.

  With this, Walter gave Martha some face and disciplined Hans in front of everyone and Hans seemed to catch his intentions so he respectfully accepted his wishes. Walter was not done yet, he continued by addressing all of the first years,

Remember my words carefully, you first-years, being weak is not a major flaw because here you can overcome it but there is no solution for being stupid. So think before you act.

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  Hans let loose his tense face and let his cute and lively demeanour take over. Walter couldn't distinguish whether the boy was putting up or it was his natural appearance and he was not the only one feeling that way, Martha was stupefied by seeing a person who was so arrogant just a moment ago could turn into something like this.

        Hans never believed he looked cute and always thought Vanessa and the other servants were just doing lip service but it was not really the case. Walter was barely holding himself from bursting into laughter so he asked Martha,

Shall we end this Professor Martha,

Before Martha could say something, Aredhel intervened, she has to say something after all a student of her house was thoroughly injured, she said to Walter,

What about my half-dead student, Walter?

Walter quickly replied to her,
Oh don't you worry, I would give him a befitting punishment.

The boy looked at the HouseMaster who looked serious, he thought that Walter was only putting on some airs but his expressions were scaring Hans slowly. He turned towards Hans and said,

Oh don't give me that look, you will be hating me soon.

After hearing this Aredhel had a satisfied expression, Martha who was interrupted by this bickering duo spoke up,
Both of you do your own thing on your own time and let me finish my task.

She continued and addressed the students,

You all will be partnered with a student of your counter class like a mage with a knight and vice versa respective to your genders. The dorms of First years are in Midlands, near the School itself. So you will be isolated from your seniors, your seniors are banned to converse with you until you reach the second year, so do notify me of anyone who sneaks into first years dorms.

  She sorted some papers and gave them to her assistant who burned those in a small brazier. After this act, written words in the air were shown, they contained the information of allotted partners and their room numbers Hans was searching for his name and suddenly someone patted his shoulder. Hans turned around and looked at the individual who was staring right back at him and asked

What?

The boy who was a foot taller than hans scratched his head and pointed towards the writing, where his name was written together with Hans and said

Looks like We are Roommates for the time being.

Ah, Hans understood and asked
What do you mean for the time being?

Oh, don’t you know, you could change your roommates after a month if you don’t like it, but I hope we could be roomies, you were cool back in the fight.

Hans was embarrassed and replied,
And that cool fight cost me a punishment.

Both of them laughed at the situation and the head foot taller boy told Hans
My name is Chris, Chris Holger, I am a tenth Grade knight with the thunder aura and twelve this year.

Hans found nothing but genuinity in Chris’s voice so he replied,
As you know I am Hans Richardson, a wood mage, I am ten this year. I came from Edenberg County.

Hans was looking at Chris curiously because Chris did not mention where he came from and Chris caught his looks asking for where he came from, so he responded while scratching his head,

It's complicated, but you are from Dean’s estate, right?

Hans humoured him,
Yeah, both of you have the same type of aura, right?

Chris asked him in surprise,
Oh, How do you know?

I just can.

Chris said with pride,
I wanna be like him when I grow up.

Hans teased him,
So do you also have a lady waiting for you?

Chris understood what Hans was connecting his desires to become like Rudolf to, he quickly replied,
No, there is no lady Sierra waiting for me, I just want to have the same grit as him to stand against the world alone and come victorious.

***