Chapter 67: Draven’s Acting Skills.

Chapter 67: Chapter 67: Draven’s Acting Skills.

’These idiots have no idea who they’re messing with.’

Draven watched the scene from the corner of the hallway.

Selmar Velgrimm stood in front of Lansholt Calenne, while Mirholt Braskill and Tervin Roskell blocked the paths the young woman could take to leave.

Calenne kept her head slightly lowered and held her books against her chest while her expression looked nervous.

"I-I just wanted to get past..."

Selmar frowned.

"Then answer when I talk to you!"

"Exactly!"

Mirholt added.

"You shouldn’t ignore someone of his status!"

Calenne took a small step back.

"I-I’m sorry..."

Draven raised one eyebrow slightly.

’What a convincing performance.’

If Draven hadn’t known her true personality, he probably would have believed Calenne was a helpless student who couldn’t defend herself either.

However, he knew perfectly well that the young woman could defeat all three of them without much difficulty, and in fact, she had already done so before.

’Didn’t they learn anything from last time?’

Although Calenne had used her ability in front of Draven, the three of them had lost consciousness before they could understand what had happened, so they still believed they were intimidating a defenseless student.

’I guess they don’t remember anything.’

Calenne stepped back again.

"C-Could you please let me through?"

Selmar smiled.

"And why should we?"

"Because I have to..."

"We’re not done talking yet!"

The young woman lowered her gaze again, and Draven let out a small sigh.

’This is ridiculous.’

Beside him, Taliah watched the scene with clear distaste.

"What are those three doing?"

"What they do best."

"We should intervene."

Draven nodded.

"That’s what I was thinking."

Although there was another reason why he wanted to stop the situation.

If Selmar kept provoking Calenne, the young woman might lose her patience and use her ability again, which would end up causing problems.

Besides, Draven didn’t want other students discovering the true nature of the Sovereign’s Eyes, since he had promised to keep that secret.

’Better to avoid it.’

Draven started walking toward them.

"Hey!"

Draven’s voice interrupted the argument, so Selmar immediately turned.

"What?"

When he recognized the young man, his expression changed, and Draven raised a hand.

"Good afternoon."

Selmar frowned.

"You!"

"I’m glad you still remember me."

"What the hell are you doing here?!"

Draven glanced briefly at Calenne, who lifted her gaze slightly, and for a moment their eyes met.

Draven caught a small expression of curiosity, but Calenne immediately returned to her act.

"D-Draven...?"

The young man smiled.

"Looks like you’re pretty busy."

Selmar clenched his teeth.

"This has nothing to do with you."

"Really?"

"Exactly!"

Draven looked at the other two students.

"Then I suppose you won’t mind if we escort our classmate."

Mirholt took a step forward.

"Hey, commoner! You can’t talk to Selmar like that!"

Draven raised an eyebrow.

"You’re still on about that?"

"What?!"

"I thought after our last conversation you would’ve found something more interesting to do."

Selmar started to get furious.

"You damn...!"

However, before he could continue, he heard another voice.

"Is there a problem?"

Taliah appeared beside Draven, and the three students froze, causing Selmar to open his eyes slightly.

"T-Taliah Valdegrim?"

The young woman looked at him with a serious expression.

"What’s going on here?"

Selmar instinctively stepped back.

"N-Nothing."

Taliah looked toward Calenne and then back at the three boys.

"Then why were you bothering her?"

"We weren’t bothering her!"

"Oh, really?"

Selmar started to get nervous.

"We were just talking!"

Taliah crossed her arms.

"Well, it didn’t look like a pleasant conversation."

"..."

Mirholt and Tervin exchanged glances, and neither seemed willing to intervene while Draven observed Selmar’s reaction.

’Wow.’

The noble, who moments earlier had been yelling and threatening Calenne, was now avoiding looking directly at Taliah.

’He’s definitely scared of her.’

Draven remembered that the Valdegrim family held enormous influence in Aster, and besides, Taliah wasn’t just Fenrick Valdegrim’s daughter.

She was also an extraordinarily talented swordswoman, and unlike Draven, her prestige didn’t depend solely on her personal relationships.

’I guess even Selmar understands that picking a fight with her would be a bad idea.’

Taliah took a step forward.

"Are you going to leave her alone?"

Selmar clenched his fists.

"..."

"I’m waiting for an answer."

"Y-Yes!"

The response was immediate, causing Taliah to raise one eyebrow slightly.

"Yes what?"

"We won’t bother her again!"

Draven smiled.

"How considerate."

Selmar glared at him with hatred, but Draven kept smiling.

"I’m glad we can resolve this by talking."

"Shut your mouth!"

Taliah immediately turned toward Selmar, and the noble stepped back.

"I-I mean... we were just leaving."

Draven had to hold back a laugh.

’This is too funny.’

Selmar gestured to his companions.

"Let’s go!"

Mirholt and Tervin obeyed immediately, but before leaving, Selmar stopped to look at Draven again while his expression turned ugly.

"This isn’t over."

Draven raised an eyebrow.

"What isn’t?"

"You’re always interfering in my business!"

"Maybe you should find less annoying business."

Selmar clenched his teeth.

"You’ll regret humiliating me!"

Taliah looked at him again.

"Did you just threaten him?"

Selmar remained motionless and then stepped back.

"It wasn’t a threat!"

"Then what was it?"

"..."

The noble didn’t answer and finally turned away.

"We’re leaving!"

The three students quickly left the hallway, and Draven remained watching them for a few seconds while his smile faded.

’Another threat.’

He recalled his first encounter with Selmar, since on that occasion the noble had tried to intimidate him using his family’s prestige.

He had also threatened to involve the Dunvyr and the Valdegrim if Draven continued associating with Taliah, which was probably a lie.

’Wait...’

A possibility appeared in his thoughts.

’What if he’s involved?’

Draven remembered the attack in the Edran forest.

Selmar had reasons to hate him, plus he was always bragging about his father’s influence.

’Could he have tipped off those mercenaries out of spite?’

He remained thoughtful, but Taliah interrupted his thoughts.

"Draven."

"Yes?"

"What’s wrong?"

"Nothing."

"You’re staring at those idiots too much."

Draven smiled slightly.

"I was just thinking about something."

Taliah sighed.

"I hope you’re not considering revenge."

"Of course not."

"I know you too well."

The young man raised both hands.

"I’m not planning anything!"

Taliah watched him for a few seconds and finally sighed.

"You’d better not."

"U-Um..."

A timid voice interrupted the conversation, causing Draven and Taliah to turn toward Calenne, who was still standing by the wall, still holding her books.

"Thank you very much..."

Taliah smiled.

"You don’t have to thank us."

"Yes..."

Calenne lowered her head slightly.

"You really helped me a lot."

Draven observed her performance.

’Incredible.’

The young woman seemed completely different from the person he had spoken with during their first meeting, since now she was acting as if she needed protection from three ordinary students.

’She definitely enjoys pretending.’

Draven decided to play along, since after all, they had an agreement.

Calenne would keep Elfin’s presence a secret, and he wouldn’t reveal anything about her Sovereign’s Eyes.

Besides, he couldn’t allow Taliah to suspect that the two of them knew each other much better than they appeared to.

’Alright, I’ve always wanted to do this.’

Draven straightened his back and then placed a hand over his chest.

"You don’t have to thank me, my lady!"

"..."

Calenne lifted her gaze slightly, and Taliah also looked at him, so Draven continued.

"A gentleman would never allow a lady to be bothered by the likes of them!"

"..."

Calenne blinked while Taliah narrowed her eyes, but Draven still wasn’t finished.

"As long as I’m nearby, you can rest assured that no one will bother you again!"

"..."

"..."

The silence stretched on for several seconds, and Draven smiled with satisfaction.

’Perfect, I can check another thing off my bucket list.’

But then he observed both young women’s expressions.

Taliah was looking at him with clear disapproval while Calenne maintained her timid smile, although her eyes seemed to express something completely different.

’Huh?’

The young woman tilted her head slightly.

"H-How kind of you..."

"Of course."

Draven placed a hand on his hip.

"A lady’s safety should always be a priority!"

Taliah sighed, and Calenne lowered her gaze.

"...Thank you."

Draven smiled.

’I think I’m overdoing it a bit.’

However, he decided to continue.

"If those individuals bother you again, just come find me."

Calenne lifted her gaze slightly, and for a moment their eyes met.

The young woman’s expression changed just enough for Draven to understand the message.

’Stop making a fool of yourself.’

Draven blinked.

’Ah.’

Calenne immediately returned to her act.

"I’ll keep that in mind..."

Taliah crossed her arms.

"Draven."

"Yes?"

"Are you done?"

"..."

The young man observed her expression.

"Done with what?"

"With that."

"That?"

Taliah sighed.

"Forget it."

Calenne adjusted her books.

"Well..."

The young woman tilted her head slightly.

"Thank you again for helping me."

Taliah smiled.

"It was nothing."

Draven raised a hand.

"Always at your service!"

"..."

Calenne looked at him and then smiled in a way that only Draven could interpret correctly.

’If you talk like that again, you’ll regret it.’

The young man slowly lowered his hand.

’I definitely need to stop.’

Calenne said goodbye and started walking down the hallway while Draven watched her leave.

’I guess that went pretty well.’

Then he felt a hand on his right shoulder, and his body tensed immediately.

The shoulder was still recovering from the wounds caused by the sniper, so Taliah slightly eased the pressure when she noticed, but she didn’t remove her hand.

"Draven."

The young man turned slowly.

"...Yes, Taliah?"

Taliah was smiling, but that smile didn’t feel reassuring.

"Can I ask you something?"

Draven swallowed.

"Of course."

The young woman moved a little closer.

"Are you interested in Calenne?"

Draven remained motionless.

’Ah.’

Taliah continued smiling.

"Because you seemed pretty interested in impressing her."

"No!"

"No?"

"I was just trying to be nice!"

"Nice?"

"Exactly."

Taliah raised an eyebrow.

"Since when do you talk like that?"

"..."

"A gentleman would never allow a lady to be bothered?"

Draven felt himself starting to regret his decisions.

"..."

"Always at your service?"

"..."

Taliah tilted her head slightly.

"Really?"

Draven raised both hands.

"I was joking!"

"Joking?"

"That’s right!"

Taliah watched him for several seconds and then sighed.

"Draven..."

"What?"

"You really don’t know how to act around women."

The young man remained silent.

’That was unnecessarily harsh.’

Taliah finally removed her hand from his shoulder.

"Come on, we have to eat."

"Alright."

They both started walking, but Draven was still thinking about what had happened.

’I definitely need to improve my acting.’