"Then let's disband for now. Meet at the Universal Duel Society branch around dinnertime."
Professor Medea waved her hand, then boarded her carriage again and flew toward her dormitory.
"See you tonight."
At the fork leading to the teachers' dormitory, Dark waved goodbye to Lily, Oli, and Angri, then headed with Aurora toward the Noble House tower.
The two crossed the bridge, greeted the long-unseen Feathered Serpent Golem, and pushed open the tower doors.
Cold winds blew outside, while it was warm as spring within.
Dark saw Dulong and the others playing in the common room and raised a hand in greeting.
Dulong and the others had been bored out of their minds. The moment they saw him return, they immediately surrounded him and competed to ask where he had been these past few days.
With a smile, he said that he and Aurora had gone back to Free City. After briefly mentioning the monster siege incident already reported in the newspapers, he used the exhaustion of travel as an excuse to escape from Dulong and the others' clutches.
On the second floor, he said goodbye to Aurora once more and continued up to the third floor.
"Knock, knock, knock."
Outside Room 301 on the third floor, Dark instinctively knocked on the door, then suddenly lowered his head and smiled.
"There's no one inside."
He took out his key, unlocked the door, and entered.
The familiar sound of Meowth was nowhere to be heard.
After only a few days apart, the dorm room looked strangely empty, and he found himself very unaccustomed to it.
"DemiDevimon, can you go bring the Meow Meow Grass back?" Dark asked.
But DemiDevimon only half-opened its eyes and said dejectedly, "That'll take ages. I can't even carry them..."
As it spoke, it flopped onto its