The children were mostly eleven, twelve, or thirteen years old.
One parent was chatting with someone beside him.
"I heard this academy is really impressive. It only accepts monsters."
"My child's Martial Soul is a snake. Does that count as a monster?"
"What's a snake? My child's Martial Soul is a lump of shit. Now that's what you call a monster."
"...That is pretty strange."
At the front of the line, a white-haired old man sat in a chair, with a table in front of him.
"Teacher, here are ten Gold Soul Coins."
"Hold out one arm."
"Um..."
"You don't meet the age requirement. You can leave."
"Ah, teacher, my son only just passed the enrollment age. Could you make an exception?" the child's parent asked quietly.
But the old man wasn't having any of it. He sighed.
Then he repeated the rule.
"The academy's rules are clear. We don't accept anyone over the enrollment age. You already knew that."
"Then what about our registration fee?"
"Once you've registered, it's nonrefundable."
"Th-this... You won't refund it? You're obviously just scamming people!"
The parent first froze, then panicked as soon as he understood.
Who wouldn't be upset at throwing away ten Gold Soul Coins for nothing?
"Move along. Don't hold up the people behind you."
"No! You have to refund our registration fee, or we're not leaving!"
"If we'd known Shrek Academy was such a dump, we never would've come!"
The old man shook his head and called out,
"Mubai, someone wants their registration fee back. Deal with it."
"Sure. If you want your registration fee back, beat me and I'll return every coin."
A golden-haired young man jumped down from a tree. He looked at the father and son with an air of arrogance, his eyes full of disdain.
Then