A Date Invitation

"Tell me! Who exactly is that person?!"

"I want to know her name, grade, class, and dorm room number right now!"

On the way back to the club activity room, Xia Mi kept furiously questioning Li Lin about this so-called "upperclassman."

She could not believe that someone had stolen away the boy she had watched grow up right under her nose, as casually as that.

Even though she knew perfectly well that Li Lin was deliberately using the subject to tease her.

But Xia Mi had to admit that she really was flustered.

Li Lin had weathered the Student Union's money tactics and resisted the temptations of wine and women, yet in the end, this supposed "love at first sight" had smashed the emotional card she had been playing for ten whole years.

She simply could not accept such a bizarre way of being eliminated.

Li Lin noticed that Xia Mi had already been somewhat exasperated during the fight. Now that she had heard him say this, she was so anxious that tears were practically about to spill from her eyes.

To be honest, seeing the little girl's eyes brimming with tears for the first time made Li Lin feel a little guilty.

But if Li Lin dared to confess the truth now, it would probably become his last words.

All he could do was follow beside Xia Mi with a grave expression, saying nothing and pretending to be deeply troubled.

Xia Mi was boiling with anger. The moment they returned to the Martial Arts Club office, she locked the door and then pressed Li Lin into an office chair as though interrogating a criminal.

"Tell me honestly. Was it love at first sight, or were you just attracted by her looks?"

Li Lin had never imagined Xia Mi would react so fiercely to the topic of romance. Knowing he was in the wrong, he could no longer laugh now.

Watching Li Lin fall silent, Xia Mi finally understood that there was no so-called "upperclassman" at all.

But because of that, she realized something very important... Li Lin was, after all, a teenage boy in the prime of puberty. It was practically inevitable that he would be interested in and curious about beautiful girls, and Cassel College had no shortage of pretty girls from wealthy families.

Especially after today's Day of Freedom, this guy would probably soon be drowned in love letters from girls.

Xia Mi stood before Li Lin with a sullen little face, thinking for a long time.

Li Lin thought Xia Mi would angrily demand to know why he had made such a joke, that they would have a huge fight, and then make up as before.

But unusually, Xia Mi grabbed his sleeve. After hesitating several times, she finally spoke in a soft, uncertain voice.

"Um... could I go on dates with you, and then you won't date anyone else for now... how about that?"

The flower-like young girl had made a date invitation with such bashful shyness and anxious uncertainty.

Li Lin, sitting in the office chair, immediately widened his eyes and stared at his childhood friend in disbelief.

At this point, it no longer mattered whether Xia Mi was acting, because her suggestion that they date must have come after careful consideration before she made the decision.

The two of them had often gone out together and wandered around before, but Xia Mi had always called it "come play with me," rather than "go on a date with me."

So when Xia Mi suggested dating, Li Lin's first reaction was suspicion. She always seemed to be joking, and he could never tell whether she was teasing him or simply wanted to get closer to him.

Precisely because he could not tell, his heart was pounding wildly.

He suddenly felt that everything around him had gone quiet. The thudding of his heart against his chest sounded like piano notes. At first, he thought it was Prokofiev's "Sarcasms," reminding him that the beautiful girl before him was a pretty, cunning, dangerous villain pretending to be innocent. But when he listened carefully, he realized it was Marriage d'Amour, played every day over the morning reading class broadcast.

Just then, Caesar arrived at the door carrying a case of champagne in his left hand and a case of U.S. dollars in his right. He had planned to privately celebrate the Day of Freedom victory with Li Lin first, then discuss the sale of Norton Hall's ownership rights.

This young nobleman, who had awakened the Word Spirit Kamaitachi, possessed exceptional hearing. Standing outside the door, Caesar could hear what was happening in the office. Remembering that Norton Hall allowed students to stay overnight, he could not help but curse his own carelessness. How could he ruin this chance for the young couple to live together openly and properly?

So Caesar turned around and left with the entire case of cash, leaving the expensive champagne where it was.

Although he had confidently declared to his subordinates at the conference table, "Norton Hall will still belong to the Student Union this year," he did not mind calling another meeting now to admit his defeat.

That was fine too. After all, they were the ones who had ended Day of Freedom in the first place.

Caesar knew that the Martial Arts Club had one million U.S. dollars on its books. Maintaining Norton Hall should not be a problem at all.

He did not even mind if Li Lin and Xia Mi took the chance to establish their own faction. Having new rivals in the future would actually make things more interesting. Constantly competing with the Lionheart Society was bound to get boring.

With that in mind, Caesar had barely stepped out of the club activity room before calling the auditors and maintenance workers. At the same time, he summoned the best renovation team nearby to stand by, determined to have the Martial Arts Club's president and vice president moved into Norton Hall by next week.

As for why not today...

Because the maintenance workers and auditors were busy under Professor Manstein's command, cleaning up after Day of Freedom.

Every Day of Freedom throughout the years had been a financial disaster for the school. Especially after these young people learned to order custom weapons from the Equipment Department, the roars of alchemical explosives could last all day.

The barely good news was that, with a large number of firearms added to the mix, Day of Freedom had at least been compressed to less than six hours.

Angers personally appeared in Odin Square. Looking at the "masterpieces" the students had created across the various facilities, he broke into a hearty smile.

Professor Schneider of the Executive Department rolled over in his wheelchair and came to his side.

"If I remember correctly, at this time of year, you should have been vacationing in Egypt or Rome, not standing here admiring the students' debauched lives."

"Of course, it's because there are things at this school more worthy of my attention than beaches and oceans."

"Li Lin? I suppose you mean that S-Rank student who fell from the sky into an orphanage in Beijing."

Angers snapped his fingers. "Yes. I knew I had not misjudged that child. He will surely become a dragon slayer whose name the Secret Party carves into stone and remembers."

"Or perhaps he'll become the new name of some First-Generation Species recorded in the Dragon Race Genealogy."

"Schneider, you know I don't care about that at all."

"Yes, but the Board of Trustees cares. How many of their heirs, their properties, and their reputations are tied up in this school? The Executive Department cares. Too many young people have died one after another in order to kill dragons. You should care too."

"All right, all right. Then what did you come to find me for?"

"Next week is the second-years' War Practice Class. I need you, Headmaster, to give Li Lin the status of an auditing student and let him participate in the course. I want to watch with my own eyes as he uses his blade to cut open a Dead Servant's throat."