Ch 98: Judy and Mark

Judy was walking along the path that led to the training ground. She had gathered her green hair into a small bun at the back of her head, and she wore a long-sleeved top paired with track pants in the same matching black as her top.

Her strides were quick, nearly a run rather than a walk, because the sun had already risen above the horizon and was casting the world in a glow of red and gold. The path was not as empty as she had hoped. Students like her had already woken up and were going about their mornings, some walking in the same direction, likely headed to the training ground as well. The path was not packed to the brim, but alas, it was not the situation she had actually wanted, because she had intended to arrive early in the morning, around five in the morning if not earlier, or at the very least before six. But right now, on her very first day of committing to early morning training, she had become late, all because her dear friend could not manage to wake himself up on time.

Judy turned her head to her right, where Mark was striding along beside her. He had come in a sleeveless green shirt and black shorts.

Mark turned to her and moved his right hand to the back of his brown hair, smiling awkwardly. "Judy, I told you I am sorry," he said. "I slept late last night because I was practicing with the bracelets." He raised his wrists to show her the bracelets that restricted him to only fifteen percent mana circulation, unlike hers, which allowed thirty percent.

She still could not help but want to smack Mark on the forehead for going to Lucien's office and requesting an increase in difficulty. She had always known he was reckless, but she had not known he was enough of a fool to do something like that.

Judy let out a long sigh. "Stop with your excuses. And if you dare to be late again tomorrow, I am going to train alone from then on." She fixed a hateful glare on him.

Mark let out a small squeal and pressed his palms together. "Sorry, my lady, I will not be late tomorrow. I promise."

"How many promises have you broken until now?" Judy put her right hand out and began counting off her fingers. "So many that I have run out of fingers to count them on."

Mark's face flushed red and he turned his head forward, unable to find any reply to her words. Judy allowed herself a small smile at seeing him flustered and speechless. She was still angry with him for making them late, but watching him squirm without a single word to defend himself made her feel just a little better.

***

They reached the training ground soon enough, and just as Judy had expected, just as fate seemed determined to make her nightmares come true, the place was already buzzing with students. Some were running along the track, others were practicing alone or in groups of two or more, spread across the open ground in pairs and clusters. She turned once again to Mark with a glare sharp enough to cut stone, and he let out another squeal like an animal sensing its master's wrath.

Judy shook her head and resolved then and there to come even earlier the next morning. "We are going to train from four in the morning from tomorrow onwards," she said, fixing her gaze on Mark, who nodded at her without protest. "And if you dare to be late again, our friendship ends right then and there."

Mark frowned but nodded again.

Judy strode ahead and Mark fell into step beside her. She had not wanted to find so many students already here, not because she disliked being watched or being in the limelight, but because of the particular way most of them looked at her.

It was widely known that she came from a fallen house, that House Evaska had once stood as a prominent Count's household but had since been reduced to a barony. The scornful and mocking looks of the other students were something she had grown to receive in abundance, and she did not like them, not one bit. Most at least had the presence of mind to conceal those looks when her eyes met theirs, since she was one of the higher scorers in the academy, but some were not afraid of even that, because high scores mattered little when her family's standing was the lowest among the nobility. Those ones scorned her openly, mocked her without hiding it, and kept their distance with the feeling of superiority. The more students there were in the training ground, the more of those looks she would have to swallow down and bear.

Though not every student knew her situation, everyone in her class did, and even students from other sections had heard. There were still a few who remained unaware, and that at least was something to be grateful for.

Also, the fact that she walked alongside Mark did not help her situation either. Him being a commoner, her being from a fallen house, the two of them together gave people yet another excuse to curl their lips. More than once she had stopped Mark from launching himself at students who taunted them outright. She did not know how much longer she could hold Mark back from attacking others.

At home, in her barony, she was not subjected to any of this. But the academy had been a complete reversal of that, and though she had attended banquets in the past and experienced her fair share of belittlement, the difficulty had been turned up to an entirely different level here. The bastards and bitches of the high noble houses were shameless about it in a way that left her vowing herself that she would repay every last one of them when the time came.

Mark tapped her on the shoulder. She jolted out of her thoughts and turned to him.

"Are we going to cross the entire ground and walk out the other end, or what?" he asked.

Judy turned her head back and realized with a startle that they had already crossed half the training ground and had been walking without stopping the whole time.

"Sorr-" Her apology died on her lips the moment she caught sight of Lucien seated on a bench at the far edge of the ground, his gaze turned directly toward them.

***

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