With a swish, all the Newmontgard students sat down at once, startling Sean and Hermione beside him.
Sean's expression turned strange. So it really was military-style management...
"Hey, Sean, have you seen that boy before?" Hermione nudged him and whispered.
"I have." Sean nodded. "Colton Sterling. He was the one who came to recruit students at my home back then. You too?"
Hermione nodded, sounding somewhat indignant. "The way he treated my dad was awful!"
Thinking back on it, Sean agreed. "True. My family thought he was far too arrogant too."
"But—" Sean jerked his chin toward the Newmontgard students, "they were obviously all cut from the same mold."
Hermione agreed wholeheartedly, but she still said worriedly, "The Newmontgard students look... look..."
"They're really outstanding?" Sean supplied.
"Mm..." Hermione nodded with a frown.
Sean didn't pay it much mind. He smiled at the girl. "You don't need to worry."
That was the truth. Sean had never met anyone more hardworking than Hermione, especially when he was by her side.
When it came to grades, Hermione was generally just slightly ahead of Sean. Nearly all the extra points Sean earned from completing tasks came from Transfiguration. And because Sean studied so seriously, Hermione only worked harder and harder.
As the girl put it, "Wouldn't it be such a loss if I worked so hard and still couldn't get first place?"
With the two of them constantly chasing each other, their learning progress had basically pulled far ahead of the other wizards in their year.
But these Newmontgard elites had clearly stirred up Hermione's strong sense of crisis again.
"I have to worry!" The girl glared at Sean, her face filled with concern. "What if I can't keep up with them at all in class?"
Sean shrugged. "Fine, fine. We'll continue the