Identity Exposed and a Growing Idiot

"School?"

Mayuna's mind was filled with question marks. She was an Archmage, for crying out loud. Even if she went to a school, she should be teaching those little brats. And now she was supposed to compete alongside a bunch of naughty children who could barely cast second-tier magic? It was practically like throwing a Demon King into a beginner village.

"It's inevitable that I'll leave this place. It's too far away for me to come home every day, so I'll probably stay at the academy. What are you going to do then?"

Ruben had considered this for a long time before resorting to this plan. In truth, even if he did not do this, Mayuna would probably chase him all the way to the academy. Rather than let her wreak havoc after exposing her identity, it was better for her to enroll from the start as an ordinary student.

"I definitely can't be apart from you!"

Mayuna said with great seriousness. At the same time, she found it strange that looking at Ruben now no longer made her heart race. They could speak normally now.

"You mean you can't be apart from the things I make."

"Ninety percent, yes. I'm going out for a bit."

Mayuna did not deny her desire, and after speaking, she vanished from the basement. She was still bothered by what Ruben had just done. No matter what, she did not want Ruben to be misunderstood as some greedy little man.

Meanwhile, Eve and Sairan had finished wandering around the small town of Dris and were preparing to head back. Since Eve kept clamoring about going to find Ruben and give him money, Sairan was annoyed beyond endurance and simply picked up her tiny body, intending to fly back to the imperial capital.

"Why, Sairan? Why won't you let me go find that man?!"

Even in midair, the pink-haired girl kept struggling. What she said made Sairan rub her forehead and sigh.

"My lady, why is it that, despite being human, your intelligence is about on par with a dwarf's? Humans are supposed to be creatures capable of understanding one another, yet I cannot understand your way of thinking at all."

As the wealthiest family on the continent, the Starry Night Clan naturally attracted countless villains coveting their riches. Sairan was their family's sole guardian deity. Her main task now was to protect the young sprouts of the family, but somehow this particular sprout had grown into poisonous weed. Perhaps the family head's upbringing was the problem.

Eve had always been the family head's cherished pearl, but she herself had no such awareness. It was not that she lacked intelligence—this young lady displayed extraordinary talent when it came to financial matters—but she was rather naive. In Sairan's words, "I could trick a young lady like this into bed ten times in one night!"

"Don't you think he looks a little like my brother?"

"Other than having the same hairstyle, where exactly do they look alike?! Your brother has pink hair too, okay?"

Sairan unusually did not respond with a venomous retort. Although Eve's brother was mockingly called the Pink Hedgehog, he was still a very handsome man. Ruben, on the other hand, looked entirely ordinary. She simply could not see the resemblance.

Just as the two were arguing fiercely, a figure abruptly appeared ahead of them. If Sairan had not stopped in time, they would probably have crashed right into them.

"What, did seeing all that money stir up some bad ideas?"

Sairan focused her eyes and saw that it was the white-haired woman who had caught up to them. She had already felt that Mayuna's strength was anything but ordinary, but she had not expected the other woman to locate them even in the sky. She immediately asked without any courtesy.

"Don't misunderstand. A mere Mage Saint is beneath my notice."

Mayuna glanced at Sairan and then looked away. Sairan was quite an established Mage Saint, having reached that realm long before even Mayuna's teacher had. She was one of the Holy Empire's few Mage Saints, but in Mayuna's eyes, she was not worth mentioning.

"Brat, although my partner took your money, our family has never liked owing anyone anything. Take this, and behave yourself."

Mayuna tossed a bag of crystals at Sairan before leaving with complete nonchalance, leaving the two of them staring at each other.

"What did she give you?"

Eve had never had much sense of danger. It was only after Mayuna left that she reacted and asked.

"Venom crystals, and they're extremely pure. Could that woman be...?"

Sairan inspected the contents of the bag, and her expression changed slightly. Even their family's merchant guild had very little of this stuff in reserve, yet that woman had handed over an entire bag at once. Combined with her tone just now, Sairan felt as if she had grasped something.

"So she isn't dead. But why fake her death?"

"Sairan, what are you talking about?"

"My lady, perhaps you don't know this, but that woman used to appear frequently in the imperial capital. That might not mean anything to you, so do you remember the second young master of the Haman Ducal House?"

"I remember! He was hung from the cross at the cathedral for several days. I laughed myself to death."

At the mention of the Haman family's second young master, Eve immediately broke into a "Hehehe" laugh. As one of the imperial capital's greatest laughingstocks, he was unforgettable to everyone.

"You know the outcome, but not the cause. He merely invited her for a drink, and after she refused, he said she didn't know what was good for her. Of course, that was before he knew her true identity. Even so, His Majesty the Emperor nearly killed that spoiled brat himself over the incident."

"Eh? Is that woman a princess?"

"She's far more terrifying than a princess. She's the only person in the world to have stepped into the realm of the gods. But why would she fake her death? Hmm... fake death, a man?"

Sairan held her chin and thought for a long time. Then she recalled the man beside Mayuna, and a look of realization finally appeared on her face.

"Her talent is so enviable it drives people mad, but she's still just a little girl. Hiding her identity to fall in love really is the sort of thing a kid her age would do. Mm-hmm."

Mayuna had no idea she had been mistaken for a young girl pursuing romance. When she returned underground, she found Ruben packing up some things. He had taken out several large bags and was preparing to leave. She could not be bothered to ask what he was doing and quietly followed him to the lakeside.

"Aqua."

Ruben stood on the shore and called softly. Very soon, a sky-blue figure surfaced from the water. The lovely mermaid's face immediately lit up when she saw Ruben.

"Ruben, did you come to play with me again? I can smell food!"

"Aqua, you've been away from home for so long. Have you ever missed it?"

"Mm, sometimes I think about Mother."

Although she did not know why Ruben was asking, Aqua happily answered as she swayed her fish tail, sending ripples across the water.

"Then I'll take you home."

"Huh?"

"Mayuna and I are about to go to the academy. We probably won't be back for quite a long time, so I think it would be better to send you back to the sea."

"...No."

Aqua's face, which had been smiling foolishly just moments ago, darkened considerably. She lowered her head and answered unwillingly.

"Be good. I only had you stay here before because there was no other choice. Now that I have the ability to send you back, wouldn't you be happier living with your own people?"

Ruben was doing this for Aqua's sake. She would definitely be lonely if he was gone, and this little mountain was not always deserted. If someone discovered her, she could end up as a dead fish.

"You jerk!"

Aqua suddenly leaped out of the lake and landed on Ruben. Her entire lower body pressed down on his chest as she cursed at him furiously.

"Aqua... Aah! You...! What are you doing?!"

Before Ruben could struggle more than a few times after coming to his senses, the blue fish tail came crashing down. Aqua repeatedly smacked his face with it to vent her anger.

"Jerk, jerk, jerk! What did you take everything we've been through all this time for? You say you'll send me away just like that—do you think I'm your pet?!"

Aqua might have been a little stupid, but she had feelings too. Even if her relationship with Ruben could not be called romantic, they were still very close friends. She simply could not believe that Ruben was about to send her away. Tears fell from her eyes one by one, turning into pearls as they dropped.

"I'll come visit you later..."

Ruben's entire face had been slapped red and swollen. Despite being hit with a tail, it somehow felt like being slapped by a hand. As the victim, he could only soften his tone and try to persuade her.

"Liar! You don't even know where my home is or how to get there! Do you hate me and want to throw me away?! You only picked me up in the first place! Without you, I'd have died long ago!"

"But if you stay here, you won't be able to see me either."

"...Huh?"

Aqua stopped crying and tilted her head at Ruben, seemingly trying to figure out what he was up to.

"Huh, you—you stupid mermaid. Didn't I say from the beginning that I was going far away?"

Ruben finally managed to push Aqua away. He ruthlessly flicked her forehead in retaliation before asking.

"Th-this-this... Anyway, I refuse! If I don't see you for three days, I'll die!"

"Are you a child?"

"I'm not going back until I've had your child! If you've got the nerve, just leave. In a few days, you'll hear that a mermaid was captured and killed. Go ahead and abandon us mother and daughter and leave by yourself."

After saying that, Aqua simply closed her eyes and played dead. Who said idiots could not grow? They simply had not encountered the right opportunity. Now she had suddenly awakened and forcefully acted out the plot of an eight o'clock soap opera.

"She actually learned such an advanced skill as blackmail..."

"You two are seriously annoying. The academy has a break every week anyway. Can't you just come back then?"

Mayuna had finally finished watching this farce. Though she enjoyed bullying Aqua, she did not dislike the silly mermaid girl either. It was undeniable that without Aqua, she would lose a great deal of entertainment, so she spoke up.

"Isn't the academy at least two days away from here?"

"Idiot, don't you have me? Do you think my spatial magic is just for show?"

Mayuna reminded Ruben not to forget that he had a convenient Archmage like her. To her, using spatial magic to teleport was as easy as playing around. Bringing Ruben along would not burden her in the slightest. In the end, Ruben and Aqua reached an agreement to meet once a week.

"What?"

On the way back, Mayuna suddenly poked Ruben in the face with her index finger, prompting his dissatisfied question.

"Did you guess that Aqua wouldn't agree to go back, so you prepared so much food for her?"

"Yeah. There's nothing wrong with being thoroughly prepared."

"You really are a jerk. You got a whole pile of pearls out of her for free."

Their figures cast long shadows beneath the setting sun. It was about time to leave this little mountain that had accompanied them for so long.

PS: Please bookmark and recommend.

PS: New map, new map.

PS: Thanks to reader Masked Dance Tome for the 500 reward, and Ming Family Head and Sigh, Falling Brush for the 100 rewards.