Hearing Rumors

After having finished, Grim said, "After that, Yuu decided to have the both of us be like siblings with him for some reason."

"I see..." Jamil nodded, "Clever..."

"What do you mean?" Epel looked to him in confusion and rather irritated that he still doesn't understood.

"How does that help?" The sophmore questioned curiously.

"When it comes to family bonds or relatives blood related or not, they usually spend the most time with you and have the right to look into your condition so long as you trust them." Jamil explained with a sigh, "By doing this, Yuu has the excuse required to access his personal information a little more over time than just as a dorm leader and it gives him a reason to step into his problems and to ask about his condition. As you've heard, Lotus is smart and strong for his age even without magic, with a very independent personality. However, he often gets into trouble with his curious nature and reckless behaviors. With how reckless he is, he has ended up getting countless wounds on himself before. However, he never does like to share what happens to himself or his own condition. So..."

"So, using the bond of family relations to some degree can give Yuu a reason to get close with him and it would give him hints if something went wrong." Ruggie concluded with a sigh after having finished wringing his sweater and putting it back on, "Yuu is responsible for the students in Ramshackle dorm even if he is a prefect and not the dorm leader. So, Lotus and Grim is under his care. If something were to happen to either of them, Yuu would be in trouble. Not to mention, Yuu is too caring for a student in our school. You've seen how he wouldn't sit by as Riddle and Leona overblotted before. If something were to happen to him similar to Grim, Yuu would also become very upset like earlier, then. So, Lotus is probably gonna get a good scolding."

Jamil wanted to speak up but held back quietly in deep thoughts.

"So, that's why." Epel responded in deep thoughts, "I didn't think that Lotus was also this strong and brave. When he sparred with me, I thought it was very impressive that he could subdue a magician that just started its training, like me. But, now, he seems to be much further than I thought."

"Strong and brave or reckless and uncontrollable?" Jamil grumbled with a sigh, "To make the Prefect become this angry. I've never seen anyone aside from his friends capable of making him blow a fuse."

"He's totally not uncontrollable if he was so easily tamed by my minion, remember?" Grim smirked.

"You say that, but all the nightmares you ever had since coming to our dorm has always been about either your food being taken away or being chased by Lotus. That's all you ever mumble about in your sleep. I mean, how was any of us suppose to get some sleep?" Epel brought it up with a sigh of disappointment.

"Wh-What are you talking about?! What nightmares?! It was just dreaming of me stomping on him! Y-yeah! That's right!"

Hearing this, the others shook their heads hesitantly. None of them ever thought that Lotus was actually so prone to mischief and getting into danger before. In fact, the only thing they ever knew was how witty she is, stubborn, and resourceful. None of them truly thought that she had much to suffer from. Only the horse-riding club knew of her incident with the cold, but that was it.

"Agh! HELP!!!"

They looked up to find that the catfish was struggling to return into the waters as the sole octavinelle student was struggling to keep the large fish out of the waters!

"Hold on! We're coming!" Jamil called out and got the basketball club to led the horse-riding club a hand.

Watching them do so from a distance, Ruggie couldn't help but hesitate internally. It was natural for Yuu to be overprotective over Lotus if he swore to be a brother to him. However, something about this just didn't feel right and he wasn't certain why. This feeling was far stronger than he had felt back when they were discovered to have been the mastermind of the "accidents" prior to the magift tournament. It just...

Felt like everything they have ever known is on the brink of collapse.

.....

When Lotus came back out after having her ears tortured by Yuu's ferocious scolding, she made a beeline straight for the forest and gathered some banana leaves that were especially large before rushing back to the camp site. Seeing her rush back with a bundle of leaves and herbs from afar, Vargas folded his hands in deep thought before he muttered with a frown as he stood next to Crowley, "Hm... This could be a bit troublesome... How do I break this out to them?"

"Break what to them?" The ghost looked to him in confusion, "By the way, that student. Lotus? He's really good at what he does. Fishing, setting up the tent, giving instructions, or even harvesting edible plants. He's a natural at this!"

"Hm...." Crowley shook his head with a frown, "I remember hearing rumors that, prior to his adoption, he was a runaway orphan from an illegal orphanage at a very tender age and lived in the forest by himself before his parents saved him from wolves. It would seem that some rumors might be true."

"That's just awful!" The ghost gasped with pity, "He's lucky to have been saved by his new family, then. I can't imagine living in the wilderness by myself while being alive."

"Yes." Crowley nodded with a heavy sigh.

"Although I do pity them..." Vargas sighed, "Unfortunately, that fishing technique he used was simply too dangerous."

"That was a fishing technique?" Crowley raised a brow.

"That's right." The ghost nodded, "That was called noodling. The person gets into the water and sticks their hand into the den of the fishes. Then, they grab the catfish the moment it tries to bite their hand and pull the fish out of their den. If the catfishes in this lake were the ones that have sharp teeth jaws, then he would be in need of medical care."

"Though you say that..." Vargas frowned, "He had to use bait to attract the first fish. After getting seeing the catfish has no sharp teeth, he began noodling with his bare hands. He has a keen attention to details and sharp senses. Shame that he can't use magic. Otherwise, he would be the strongest human magician I've ever taught in my entire career. It's just a shame that we could never get those muscles in no matter how hard he works out."

"Aside from that," Crowley secretly rolled his eyes, "I'll put aside his recklessness for now. It's rare to see the prefect let his anger get the better of him. He was able to properly use it to scold Lotus this time, even. Hopefully, he won't do something as reckless as this again. I'll go back to the school and prepare a plan with Crewel. It won't be long before the end of the semester approaches. I need to plan it out with the other professors on what can be done for the students to stay on top of their studies prior to then with the Magic Stone missing. After your return, we will dive into a deep conversation with what everyone comes up with for their classes. However, the most difficult classes will have to be the physical education class."

"Don't worry." Vargas smiled wide, "I'll come up with an idea."

Watching them from afar, Uncle Fern smiled proudly, "As expected, the princess is a prodigy and has talent."

"True. She singlehandedly caught the old monster of the lake that has roamed the lake for many years." Aunt Ripple frowned, "To think that her majesty has done something like taking the Magic stone for herself, like this. We must help save her from the curse."

Uncle Fern nodded, "The princess is also suffering greatly just from watching the queen act unlike herself. I dare not imagine what the king's thoughts are. Yet, until then, we must save ourselves first before we can save others that we have no way of helping."

"Do you remember what the king said to us through the princess's messenger bird?" Aunt Ripple reminded him with a frown, "Our princess's mind is also growing more and more chaotic."

"Retaining the memories of days gone past, our princess embraces them so tightly that they have now begun to bore into her own conscious." Uncle Fern frown, "The consequences of having been reborn with the memories of the past, yet keeping them so close to her heart that it cannot be overlapped by the present. A past engulfed in so much pain and grief that it continues to bore new prints and evolve over time."

"I remember..." Aunt Ripple noted as she recalled the king's handwritten words, "That the princess recalls that she dwelled in a place home to all flowers of her world. Her love for her home is so strong that it almost mirrors her love for the kingdom and the people in the palace. Yet, it was this love that later gouged the hole in our princess's chest by her perpetrators. If only I can strike vengeance upon those miscreants for our princess."