"The Vampire Servant is a Tactician"

Educator Alphonse explained the mechanics, "Your goal is to capture the opponent's stones by skipping to a vacant diagonal square…"

Each player had twelve stones, one of them had the red ones, while the other had the blue ones. The pairs could choose where they would like to play and since fresh air could be felt in Ivory's seat, Arcea was the one who moved towards her.

As they played, it was too obvious that Ivory was a beginner. A really bad one. Even Sigmund, who sat quietly as he watched his Master play, couldn't help but feel agitated on every wrong move she did. He even noticed that her opponent had been taking it easy on her, yet she still couldn't see the right stone to transfer.

"You're such a dimwit," Sigmund whispered to Ivory.

"It's my first time," she pouted.

"Even a five-year-old kid can do better than you."

"Why don't you teach me then? I'm curious about your greatness, Servant."

"Okay. You better follow my words or I'll return to Betania and find a better Master."

Arcea noticed that they have been whispering to each other. She then moved one of her blue stones, hoping that Ivory wouldn't notice the flaws in her plays, but with Sigmund guiding her, the game changed drastically. Arcea's ten blue stones had become six in just two moves. Hers had an equal number of stones to Ivory, so she decided to go for defense.

As if reading Arcea's mind, Sigmund instructed Ivory what stones she should move, beating her with their aggressive plays. They didn't notice that Educator Alphonse had been watching the match ever since Sigmund helped his Master.

The delighted Educator clapped his hands and was more delighted to see Ivory and Sigmund's teamwork, "Good game."

"Your Servant is a good tactician," Arcea praised. "You're very lucky to have him."

Sigmund crossed his arms and retorted, "I just hate losing, that's all."

"Thank you for your help, Sigmund," Ivory smiled sweetly at him, but his head turned away as he looked outside of the window.

"He's a bit snobbish, I'm sorry… But on behalf of him, thanks for recognizing his skill as a tactician."

"Shall we go for another round?" Arcea asked her. "Ask your Servant to teach you…"

When Ivory was about to call him, she saw his beautiful sleeping face. His previously furrowed eyebrows had finally relaxed and watched how his thick, black hair danced with the cool breeze. She let him sleep more, since, without their Contract, he's only human. Besides, they only got a few hours of sleep at the hard bed of the tavern.

Thinking about their night at the tavern made her remember such an embarrassing scene, but Sigmund's warning to not lower her guard at him made her feel at ease. It was a sign that even though he had yet to make a Contract Ritual with her, he had been considering her as his Master. Even though partial, it was still a great progress for them. Him teaching her checkers also made her feel that he at least cared for her as his Master.

"Let's go to the academy's eatery," Arcea looked at Ivory. "You seem like you haven't brought any food."

"But… Aren't you afraid that they might say bad things about you because you're with me?" Ivory asked with a concerned look. "You seem like a rich person, so…"

Arcea just laughed at her worries, "I'm just an average person, don't worry!" She tucked her purple gray-colored hair behind her ears, "Plus, I don't care about those stuff!"

Ivory was delighted to meet someone humble like Arcea. Despite her saying that she's just an average person, almost everyone at school knows her good reputation as the only daughter of a famous blacksmith in Megalia City.

She agreed to come with her, so she woke Sigmund up.

"You dare interrupt my good sleep?" Sigmund creased his eyebrows in annoyance. "What do you want?"

"Uhh, sorry, I just woke you up to say that we'll be going to the eatery for lunch. You should come with us."

"Nah, I'll get more sleep. Go on without me."

Although Ivory had a hunch that he might escape again, there was a part of her that wanted to trust her Servant. They left, letting Sigmund get more sleep, but when they returned, he was nowhere to be found.

One of their classmates approached her and said, "Hey, Ivory. Your Servant said not to look for him anymore."

"He's just probably in the bathroom or probably roaming around the academy. My Servant easily gets bored-"

The girl laughed together with their other classmates behind her, "Oh shut up! You don't know your Servant at all. He despises you so much that he ran away again!"

As she heard their laughter, Ivory felt her knees weakened. Sigmund was already opening up to her, right? So why did he leave?

Soon after, Educator Rosanna Flameberg entered the room. Seeing the expression on Ivory's face made her ask, "What's wrong?"

She was about to explain the situation, but a classmate of hers butted in, "Educator Rosanna," the student crossed her arms, "Ivory's Vampire Servant left again."

"Maybe Ivory is too weak for a special Servant like him."

"Yeah, you should think about why a country bumpkin like her is still here-"

"QUIET!" Rosanna shouted, shocking all the students. "Natsu, I need you here. NOW."

Suddenly, something emerged from the Educator's shadow. It was her Spirit Servant, a tall man in a black hakama, wearing a white mask covering only his eyes. His spiky hair had the same bloody red hue as his Master. He's half samurai, bringing with him his long and sharp katana, and half shinobi, having the ability to hide in any shadow surrounding him.

"What is it, Master?" the man lowered his head as he asked Rosanna.

"Watch them for me. Anyone who misbehaves, spits out nonsense, and talks about things unrelated to the class discussion will have their feet pulled down to the abyss with you."