Chapter 102: Back At the Academy II

The conversation eventually moved to their own training.

It didn’t take long before the two started arguing over whose mistake had cost them the last fight. Neither was willing to accept the blame, and Leon listened for some time before getting up to find food, which they all decided was a good enough time for that, so they all left together.

...

On reaching the dining hall, they found it to be quite busy, busy enough that Leon expected finding a seat to be the difficult expectation. It was a little unusual, since it was midday.

He didn’t even reach the food counter before two students stopped him near the entrance. They bombarded him with questions, which he did well to answer briefly. After that, he was quite surprised, but they requested to take a picture with him. He was going to turn them down, but in the end he gave in.

Taking the picture only lasted a moment, but another student came over to ask about the Mage before Leon could move. Someone behind him also appeared to have a question.

"Sorry, I haven’t got my food yet," Leon said before they could properly gather around him. "We can talk another time."

He walked past them and joined the queue.

"They found you quickly enough," Raul said, looking back.

"Everyone’s making such a big deal out of it too."

Dustin laughed as the line moved forward.

They found seats once they had their food, luckily. A few students continued looking towards Leon, and he heard his name from another table, but nobody interrupted the meal, which he preferred.

They could watch if they wanted. There wasn’t much to see while he ate.

After that, the rest of the day kind of went by like that, with nothing much. Dustin and Raul made sure to drag Leon along to test themselves against his Second Swordsman, but of course, the results didn’t change.

...

The following morning, Joseph sent Leon a message through an Email.

The Headmaster wanted to see him after the school day. Joseph had included a time and asked Leon to confirm that he would be available.

Leon checked his classes before replying that he would be there. He had been expecting the meeting, just not the day after he returned.

"What is it?" Raul asked from beside the wardrobe.

"It’s nothing. The Headmaster wants to see me after classes."

"Yeah sure, nothing. Is it about the summons?"

"I imagine so."

"You’ve only just got back," Dustin said from his bed.

"Right? I wasn’t expecting it this soon either."

Leon put away his phone and gathered what he needed for class, which of course, was next to nothing. There was no point guessing what the Headmaster wanted when he would find out later that day.

More people looked towards him when he entered the classroom. A few students he recognised came over before the teacher arrived, asking questions about the monsters and the dungeon collapse.

Leon answered what he could, though he only knew what had happened in his own section after the earthquake separated everyone.

"Could you show us all fifty after class?" One of them asked.

"No." He answered directly and simply without worrying about what others would think.

"Oh, sorry." The student appeared a little embarassed.

"No need to apologise." He said.

Leon took his seat, and the questions ended when the teacher arrived.

During the afternoon break, another student brought over a recording from the disaster.

Leon recognised the street as soon as the video started. By now, he had already gotten tired of the whole thing, and his patience was slowly running thin.

"Yes, I was on that street," he said.

"I know. There’s something I wanted to show you. Watch this part."

A Skeleton Warrior lifted part of a wreck with another skeleton helping from the opposite side. Leon had already told them where to place it before the recording began.

"Is that one of yours?"

"Yes, it is."

The student seemed satisfied with the answer and left, allowing Leon to return to what he was doing.

By the end of the school day, he had already grown used to most of the attention, and it was extremely tiring. Unless someone stopped him directly, it was easy enough to ignore the looks and continue with whatever he was doing.

He got the most attention in combat class, but true to himself, he mananed to laze his way through it.

After the day was over, Leon packed his things and told Dustin and Raul he would meet them later.

Most of the students were heading towards the residences or training grounds, leaving the route to the Administrative Section quieter than the rest of the academy.

Leon checked the time as he climbed the stairs, seeing that he still had a few minutes.

Leon soon reached the office after just a few minutes and knocked.

"Come in, Leon. The Headmaster is expecting you," Joseph said after opening the door.

Leon nodded and stepped inside.

The Headmaster had several papers laid out on his desk when Leon entered. Leon greeted him, then Joseph, and waited while Joseph closed the door behind him.

"Have a seat, Leon. How was your visit home?" the Headmaster said.

"Thank you, Headmaster." Leon placed his bag beside the chair and sat down. "It was good. Everyone at home is doing well."

"I’m glad to hear it. Lex mentioned that you’ve returned to classes. Are you keeping up?"

"Yes, sir. I still have a few lessons to catch up on."

The Headmaster nodded. For a moment, his gaze moved to the papers in front of him, though he didn’t pick any of them up.

"We’ve received the preliminary accounts from the expedition and the response teams. After hearing what happened, I’m grateful that all of you returned."

"Thank you, sir. We had a great deal of help from Instructor Lex and the professionals."

"You did, and Lex was equally clear about the help you gave them." The Headmaster leaned back slightly, his face still wearing a warm expression. "His account does leave us with questions about your ability, though I imagine you were expecting that."

"Yes, sir," Leon replied.