The Academy Cafeteria

"The vast majority of hybrids can only awaken one innate Spirit during their entire lifetime. It is determined by their bloodline and cannot be learned or changed later."

Hilbert von Ange explained, then cast a curious gaze toward Luo Qiusheng.

"Why do you ask?"

"Pure curiosity," Luo Qiusheng said with a smile.

Tapping his fingers rhythmically against the armrest, Hilbert von Ange looked at Luo Qiusheng again and spoke slowly, "I recall you are also from China, aren't you?"

"Yes, what about it?"

"Nothing, it's just that lately, I've had a feeling something is about to happen. Very well, there's nothing more for you here. You don't need to worry about the tribunal; I will handle it for you. And don't even think about dropping out." At this, Hilbert von Ange paused. "I have investigated your past. Both your parents were ordinary people who died in a car accident ten years ago, after which you were taken in by an orphanage."

Seeing Luo Qiusheng staring at him with a calm expression, Hilbert von Ange coughed twice. "Fine, fine. You really are a dull person. That little guy Lu Mingfei is much more interesting."

To von Ange, Luo Qiusheng felt like a seasoned veteran trapped in the body of a youth. In the end, he didn't dwell on it, assuming life had simply worn away the boy's youthful spirit.

After Luo Qiusheng had completely departed, Hilbert von Ange sighed helplessly, murmuring the question Luo Qiusheng had just asked: "Can a hybrid truly only use one ability?"

Deep within his memories, he suddenly recalled the boy on that train over a decade ago.

"Perhaps..."

Leaving von Ange's private office, Luo Qiusheng headed straight for the Kassel College cafeteria. Although the cafeteria offered a delivery service, he felt he would be eating there much more often from now on.

Walking along the path, the students of Kassel College were as hurried as ever.

Caesar would never appear in the cafeteria because it was beneath his status; Chen Motong wouldn't appear there either, as she was Caesar's girlfriend; and Lu Mingfei and Finger mostly ordered takeout.

Arriving on the third floor of the cafeteria, Luo Qiusheng spotted Chu Zihang sitting quietly in a corner, eating noodles.

After ordering his lunch, curiosity drove Luo Qiusheng to walk over and sit opposite Chu Zihang.

Chu Zihang, who was slurping his noodles, sensed someone approaching and instinctively looked up, locking eyes with Luo Qiusheng.

"What are your plans for this afternoon?"

"Reading, sword practice. That said, do you need something?" Chu Zihang looked at Luo Qiusheng with curiosity.

How did this person, who had suddenly vanished not long ago, reappear so abruptly?

Chu Zihang reflected on every encounter he'd had with Luo Qiusheng. It seemed that, like himself, he was always alone—yet not quite. He was amiable to everyone, but beneath that amiability seemed to lie a layer of impenetrable gloom.

"Nothing, just saw you sitting here all by yourself and felt a bit sorry for you, so I came to keep you company," Luo Qiusheng chuckled.

"You seem to have changed..." Chu Zihang finished his last mouthful of noodles and spoke again. "The old you knew how to hide your edge; the current you is full of openings."

Without waiting for Luo Qiusheng to respond, Chu Zihang picked up his tray and left.

"Changed? Perhaps. When you discover your own strength might rival everyone else's, you don't necessarily feel the need to hide your edge anymore."

Luo Qiusheng didn't find it strange that Lu Mingfei could sense his changes based on the Little Devil's warnings, but Chu Zihang had deduced it from mere fragments of conversation. What about the others?

What about Hilbert von Ange?

And how much information had Chen Motong, with her [Profiling] ability, gathered during the days he had disappeared?

Far away in Dorm 303 on the first floor, Lu Mingfei was hesitating over whether to call his senior sister. The Little Devil was not by his side.

Finger leaned in curiously, then teased, "Yo, junior, are you about to call your senior sister?"

Facing Finger's teasing, Lu Mingfei pushed him away impatiently. "Senior, don't you feel like something is very wrong with Luo Qiusheng since he came back?"

Finger was taken aback. "Wrong? What's wrong?"

Lu Mingfei felt a sense of alarm in his heart; there seemed to be something inside Luo Qiusheng that even the Little Devil couldn't see clearly.

Before the call could connect, Lu Mingfei turned off his phone, the screen still displaying Chen Motong's contact.

"Maybe I'm just overthinking it."

On White Day, while Luo Qiusheng was still in his dorm pondering alchemy, a knock suddenly came at the door.

Qilan glanced at Luo Qiusheng, who was tinkering with strange contraptions at his workbench, and quietly left his seat to open the door.

"I don't know if you have any sugar here, but I might need to borrow some."

Qilan froze upon seeing who it was. "Caesar?"

"Hm? Isn't this Luo Qiusheng's dorm? Are you his roommate?"

Qilan immediately ran into the kitchen to grab a jar of sugar and trotted over to hand it to Caesar.

Luo Qiusheng, having just finished his work, glanced behind him to see Qilan already closing the door.

"Who was that?"

Qilan replied, "Boss Caesar came to borrow some sugar. By the way, is today White Day?"

"White Day?" Luo Qiusheng muttered, slowly standing up and walking toward the door.

Qilan suddenly asked with curiosity, "Where are you going?"

"To find Principal von Ange. I want to return to my country for a while."

Stepping out of 304, he noticed the door diagonally across the hall was open, and the neighboring Dorm 303 was also standing ajar.

Across the hall, Chu Zihang, President of the Lionheart Society, drew his ever-present blade, Murasame. Standing back-to-back with Caesar, he flicked his wrist and began to slice with steady, precise force—carving the salmon on the table before him into thin, perfect strips.

As he did so, Caesar worked with nimble efficiency, slicing tomatoes with one hand while sprinkling pepper into a boiling pot of soup with the other.

Both men remained as expressionless as ever.

Luo Qiusheng walked straight down the corridor, only to be hailed by Finger as he passed: "Want to join the party? It's so boring to be cooped up alone!"

Luo Qiusheng offered Finger a faint, somewhat strained smile; the exhaustion from pulling an all-nighter to finish an alchemical weapon made him look rather haggard. "Thanks, but no."

Finger caught the detail instantly and hurried over to grab Luo Qiusheng's arm. "Oh, don't be so formal with us! We're all neighbors anyway; we'll be seeing plenty of each other from now on."

Unable to refuse such hospitality, Luo Qiusheng reluctantly sat at a table with Lu Mingfei. Looking at Mingfei, it seemed he desperately wanted to be in a group with Nono, but given that her boyfriend was right there, wasn't Mingfei's intent a bit too obvious?

Luo Qiusheng leaned toward Lu Mingfei's ear. "Do you like Senior Chen Motong?"

At Luo Qiusheng's words, Lu Mingfei's heart skipped a beat. Was he really being that obvious?

"W-what are you talking about? Senior Nono is Boss Caesar's girlfriend, how could I possibly..."

Seeing Lu Mingfei stammer and struggle for so long just to get that one sentence out, Luo Qiusheng couldn't help but feel a deep sense of sorrow in his heart.

He was not Lu Mingfei; he did not understand Lu Mingfei's personality or his penchant for self-deprecating jokes, but he wanted to change certain tragedies that had yet to unfold.