Gathering Before the Appointed Time

"Dupont, you bastard!" a booming voice echoed in the vast front hall where some of the guests who just arrived were congregating. "You're here! Bahahaha! It's nice to see your old, wrinkled face again!"

"Speak for yourself, Jianhong," Professor Erwan Dupont replied in German. His stern, sharp eyes twinkled as he shook his old friend's hand before giving each other hugs. "Still as loud as a blue whale, I see."

"Bah! I'm just speaking louder than usual so that your old ears can hear what I'm saying. Bahaha!" 

Grandpa Lu "patted" his old friend in the back and it was a miracle how the much thinner headmaster of Cross Academy was able to endure such force. The people around them winced at the loud sounds. Looking at Professor Dupont, however, his back remained tall and straight. His expression also didn't change.