With Borne making such a spectacle of himself, some people finally couldn't hold back any longer.
An upperclassman stopped the girl bringing Borne some pastries and kept demanding to know why she had broken up with him.
Was it because he'd said he was a commoner and she'd looked down on him? Did she like a great noble like Borne instead? And so on...
Borne was stunned when he heard that. Good grief, he'd somehow become a "great noble."
The girl froze for a moment, then immediately shook off the upperclassman and hurriedly explained to Borne that they had broken up a long time ago, and that the upperclassman had been going on and on...
More and more people gathered around them. The two argued heatedly, and as they kept letting things slip, the onlookers gradually pieced together what had happened.
Borne had been standing off to the side without saying a word, but the crowd didn't let him off just because he wasn't arguing. If anything, his silence made them think he had a guilty conscience.
The girls who had liked Borne began looking at him with increasing hostility. Some nearly had "scumbag" written across their faces.
As the drama approached its climax, Borne felt the time was about right.
He walked straight between the two. His sudden arrival immediately drew their attention.
Then came a sharp smack. Both of them felt their minds go hazy, and their eyes began to lose focus.
Borne lowered his right hand and asked the girl, "Who sent you?"
"P-Payam... Payam Morien."
"What was the purpose?"
"To get close to Borne Ioulaum and pretend to admire him."
When the onlookers heard the name "Payam Morien," the crowd erupted.
They'd thought this was just noble gossip, but they hadn't expected such a shocking twist.
This was the kind of juicy story they could talk about for a year!
Borne asked a couple more questions. When he found there was no other information beyond the plan to get close to him, he turned to the boy and asked the same things.
"Alder Kieran."
Hah, another "great noble."
Borne continued questioning him. "Who is he? What did he offer you?"
"Alder is a fifth-year student at Giles Academy. After it's done, he promised to recommend me for the Arcane Society..."
"Enough!!!"
A furious shout rang out. The two whose eyes had gone unfocused immediately came to their senses and stared at Borne in terror.
The interruption of his spell didn't bother Borne in the slightest. Now that a "great noble" had been named, the whole affair had become a joke. There weren't many fools at Giles Academy, and it wouldn't take long for them to figure out what had happened.
"Borne Ioulaum, I'm Archie Nasif, head of the Student Council's Discipline Department. You've violated school rules by using magic on campus, and you've cast a spell on fellow students in public. The consequences are extremely serious!"
A handsome man approached Borne, the Arcane Society's insignia pinned to his chest. "In the name of the Arcane Society, I'm asking you to come with us."
Behind him, several members of the Arcane Society began dispersing the crowd.
"Hmm? Third-circle Dispel Magic?"
Borne wasn't particularly interested in the man. It was the spell he had just cast that had caught his attention.
He had affected everyone within a certain radius through sound, expanding a spell that normally targeted a single person into an area-of-effect magic.
It was similar in principle to Borne's Hypnotism, but the other spell's technique and casting were far more obvious and clumsy. It couldn't be cast as smoothly or naturally as Borne's.
Although Borne bore the title of "youngest Arcanist," at the academy he was still just a student.
Seeing Borne unmoved—or perhaps looking a little "disdainful"—made Archie, who had long served as a senior member of the Arcane Society, feel that his authority was being challenged.
Archie grew slightly angry. Without a second thought, he raised his hand and reached for Borne.
Smack.
His hand was knocked aside.
"Hmm? What did you just say?"
Borne looked at him in confusion. He'd been a little distracted, but his third-level Monk instincts had reacted automatically.
Archie's expression, however, was appalling. He shouted, "Are you openly defying the Arcane Society and opposing the academy?!"
Good grief, what a huge accusation!
"The Arcane Society doesn't represent the academy. Abusing the authority the academy gave you only brings shame on it."
Borne sneered. "I was going to play along with you, but now I don't see the point."
Archie suddenly had a bad feeling. "What are you going to do?!"
"What am I going to do? Flip the table..."
Pale blue magic appeared before Borne. Archie hurriedly retreated, but he was still too slow. A tremendous force slammed into him and sent him flying.
"I'll give you a chance. You have three seconds to chant!"
Borne crossed his arms over his chest and spoke calmly.
The people nearby were stunned to see their department head sent flying. But no one who made it into the Arcane Society was mediocre, and they immediately began to fight back.
They gestured and chanted, each preparing the magic they were best at.
Three seconds passed quickly. Just as everyone finished preparing, they heard a single remark:
"Too slow!"
Before they could release their spells, a heavy blow struck them and interrupted their casting. They collapsed to the ground in an instant.
Two of them reacted a little faster and released their spells ahead of time, but Borne detonated them at close range, knocking them unconscious too.
Borne shook his head at the sight. "That's all you've got..."
"Don't you know to cast buffs first, cover each other, and take turns attacking? And you call yourselves the Arcane Society's elites..."
They didn't know what Borne meant by the first part, but they understood the mockery at the end.
Their casting had been interrupted, and they immediately suffered magical backlash. Though the fallen Arcane Society members were in excruciating pain, they still struggled to get up and fight Borne.
Borne calmly glanced at them where they lay on the ground.
Boom...
An explosion rang out behind Borne.
"I thought you were going to stay down there..."
Borne slowly turned around. A pale blue magical shield stood before him.
Not far away, Archie stared in disbelief. "What kind of magic is that? Arcana?"
Its forms were endlessly varied, and it could be used for both offense and defense. It completely overturned everything he knew.
"Monster! You're a monster!!!"
As Archie howled, he cast several more first-circle spells in quick succession. They produced nothing but colorful smoke and did no harm to Borne.
At that moment, several dark specks in the distant sky rapidly grew larger. The sound of them cutting through the air came from afar.
"Look, someone's coming."
"That uniform... It's the Enforcement Squad!"
No matter the world, there were always people who loved a bit of drama. Those chased off by the Arcane Society stayed far away and watched.
"All right, that's enough acting. Time to wrap things up."
As Borne spoke, Archie's face, which had been both fearful and excited, went blank.
"What?"
A wave of dizziness hit him, followed by a sharp pain in the back of his head. He lost consciousness.
Borne watched as members of the Enforcement Squad landed one after another, then smiled. "Let's make a deal. Which of you is going back to notify your president?"
The Enforcement Squad: ???
By the time the president of the Arcane Society arrived, the members of both the Arcane Society and the Enforcement Squad were already sprawled across the ground, groaning as if they'd been "killed to the last man."
Morien looked at Borne standing in the middle of the scene and forced down his anger.
"Why did you do this?"
"Normally, that would be my line. But I don't have time to play pretend with you. Do you want to follow procedure, or will you admit defeat on behalf of the Arcane Society?"
"What do you mean...? No..."
Borne's words were somewhat cryptic, but Morien seemed to understand. As a noble scion, he'd received a thorough family education.
"Damn it!!!"
Morien gritted his teeth and cursed under his breath.
"Looks like you didn't know. They used you as a pawn."
Borne continued, "If you publicly clarify the incident on behalf of the Arcane Society, then this ends here."
If he could help it, Borne didn't want to flip the table. After all, the Arcane Society represented the academy. Its members had been making all kinds of underhanded moves, but they'd stayed within the rules.
Flipping the table meant openly breaking those rules. Then, if he clashed with the Arcane Society's president—whether he won or lost—it would undoubtedly amount to a challenge to the academy.
For the first time, Morien felt that being president was a trap. He looked around at his people, and only after confirming that no one was seriously hurt did he finally relax a little.
"Don't worry. I held back. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been you who arrived. But they'll definitely be laid up for a few days."
"Regardless, thank you!"
Morien gave Borne a slight noble's bow, then drew the longsword at his waist.
"Let's begin!"
"Is it worth it?"
"I'm the president of the Arcane Society!"
"I understand. As a sign of respect, I'll give it everything I've got!"
Pale blue magic emerged around Borne.
"Forgive me for the offense!!!"
Morien held his longsword as a faint light shimmered along its blade.
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