(Heartfelt thanks to '*Chocola', 'Kakakakaka~', 'Xiong Mao A!', 'Pokémon', 'hatin', and 'Chenfeng☆' for their donations!)
"Your purpose?"
Under Grayvas's gaze, Noah let out a bitter laugh.
"If I said I only came here because I got lost, would you believe me?"
"Lost?" Grayvas froze for a moment, displeasure beginning to flicker in her eyes.
"If you were lost, then why did you sneak into this academy?"
"What else was I supposed to do?" Noah rolled his eyes.
"An academy built deep in the mountains and forests looks suspicious no matter how you look at it. If there was something shady going on here and I stupidly walked right through the front gate, wouldn't I just be asking for trouble?"
"Oh? You're quite bold, aren't you?" Grayvas's smile turned unfriendly.
"You actually called the Elf Forest, which connects to the Elemental Spirit World, some remote mountain wilderness. And you said an academy built in the Elf Forest specifically to train Elf Users was shady. If those words got out, you'd probably be condemned by everyone and every spirit on the continent."
At that point, the way Grayvas looked at Noah became increasingly meaningful.
"Or perhaps you're a suspicious person who doesn't even know such basic knowledge that everyone on the continent knows—someone who doesn't even know about spirits and Elf Users?"
At that moment, Grayvas's gaze was like that of a judge determined to corner a criminal, full of pressure.
Facing Grayvas's oppressive gaze, Noah remained outwardly calm, though he sighed inwardly.
So I was exposed after all?
To avoid arousing suspicion, Noah had tried his best not to ask too many questions.
However, regarding spirits and Elf Users, Noah only had a rough idea based on his own guesses. He could hardly be said to understand them.
What he did