Two People, Innocent and Pure

After Angers finished speaking about the Japanese branch's exchange student invitation, he picked up his tray and left the cafeteria.

Xia Mi was still blushing furiously as she tried to explain the rumors about "dating" and a "marital home." She was so worked up that her Golden Eyes had ignited without her even noticing.

Li Lin bought her a sugar-free Diet Coke loaded with ice and handed it to her, hoping to cool her down.

But the girl no longer looked shy and bashful as she had before. Her Golden Eyes had gone out, and she sprawled lazily across the table like a pampered cat waiting to be served.

"Hey, Little Li, you actually know how to take care of a girl now?"

Holding her Coke, Xia Mi beckoned Li Lin to sit down.

Li Lin came to his senses as well. "You seem really afraid of the principal."

He did not use the word "reverence," because in front of Angers, Xia Mi deliberately acted like a cute, harmless teenage girl rather than an Executive Department recruit with extraordinary talent and exceptional bloodline.

Even Angers himself could only assume that Xia Mi's behavior came from her respect for the dragon-slaying cause and her reverence for him, a famed centenarian.

Only Li Lin, who had spent every day with Xia Mi for ten years, had sensed that something was off.

Xia Mi knew Li Lin could understand such things, because even she herself often could not tell whether the one laughing and fooling around beside him was "Xia Mi" or "Jormungandr."

She should not have let this boy see her so clearly, yet she could not suppress the urge to reveal certain things to him.

Her world was far too lonely. Though the monarchs of the Dragon Race took loneliness as their throne and endless years as their domain, she had been a girl spoiled by her brother. Sitting upon that empty throne, she could never help wanting to find someone to confide in.

Before, she could chat with Fenrir, complain about some palace maid stealing someone else's hairpin behind their back, or laugh at some minister who had wet himself in court after being frightened by dragon might.

But now that her brother had become an idiot, Li Lin was the only person Xia Mi could try to open her heart to.

She felt a craving and trust toward Li Lin that even she could not understand. Outcasts who stood apart from the world were always drawn to one another. This feeling ran deeper than Sorrow of Blood, transcending the boundaries of bloodlines. They were like two gears cast aside by fate, unable to fit into the world.

Xia Mi bit down on her plastic straw and made a slurping sound before staring into Li Lin's eyes.

"Because the principal is someone set ablaze by hatred. People bent on revenge are the scariest. They hate that their younger selves lacked the strength to do anything, so they keep growing stronger, honing their blades again and again so they can personally kill their enemies, yet they can never reclaim what they have lost."

"Revenge is hollow. Everyone who pursues that hollowness will eventually become an empty shell. The moment their hatred and rage burn out will be the day they die."

Li Lin picked up a fry from his tray and dipped it in ketchup. "You make it sound like you're carrying some blood-deep grudge too."

"Yeah, yeah, I hate you to death." Xia Mi poked her index finger into the ketchup, then pressed it onto Li Lin's face and started drawing. "It's all your fault for insisting on tossing your essay assignment to me for revisions in class today. The professor called on me because of it."

"Then after you get your revenge, will you become an empty shell with nothing left too?" Li Lin used the fry to wipe the ketchup from his face, then stuffed it into his mouth.

Xia Mi thought about it before answering with certainty, "No."

"Why not?"

Xia Mi did not answer. She stared into Li Lin's eyes for a long, long time. Though she did not say a single word, it felt as though she had said everything.

By the time they finished their late-night snack, it was already eleven o'clock.

The cafeteria had left only one lamp on above their table, leaving the surrounding area pitch-black. Xia Mi naturally hooked her arm around Li Lin's and put on a pitiful expression as she begged him to walk her back to her dorm.

At night in Cassel College, they could hear some upperclassman howling like a ghost while riding a motorcycle through Odin Square, but Professor Manstein, dressed in pajamas, soon caught him red-handed.

The professor in charge of the Disciplinary Committee raised a Thompson submachine gun loaded with Frigg Bullets and pulled the trigger wildly, spraying both rider and motorcycle.

The upperclassman soon fell into a peaceful sleep.

Manstein adjusted the nightcap atop his head and waved at Li Lin and Xia Mi as they passed along a side path.

"Good evening, Professor."

"Good evening, students. The college does not object to you living together in Norton Hall, but remember to take proper safety precautions."

The professor's refined smile once again made Li Lin realize how terrifying rumors could be. He hurriedly pulled Xia Mi away, intending to get the girl back to her dorm as quickly as possible.

"These rumors are getting more and more outrageous. It's all Fingel and those paparazzi under him."

Li Lin could no longer hold back his urge to condemn Fingel.

Xia Mi did not particularly care. A girl as extraordinarily beautiful as her had long grown used to rumors and gossip about her spreading all over the school.

Life at Cassel College actually made her feel much more relaxed. After all, the campus was full of handsome men and beautiful women, and the whole school believed in elitism. It was not like ordinary schools, where countless peers would gossip behind her back.

Whether boys or girls, they all loved using the scraps of nonsense they had read in cheap novels or seen in melodramatic idol shows to point fingers at Xia Mi's private life.

Li Lin was not much better off. Because of the Dragon-Slaying Binding System, as Xia Mi gradually grew into her looks, his already handsome appearance also soared. Yet he spent every day only with Xia Mi, so meddlesome girls often accused him of fooling around with women off campus.

Of course, in the end, Li Lin and Xia Mi beat them all until they shut up.

The two divided the work clearly. Even through the tiled wall separating the men's and women's restrooms, one could hear pleas for mercy and wails coming from the other side.

It was useless for the victims to go home and complain to their parents. Li Lin and Xia Mi took first and second place in the entire school every time, opening a gap of more than a hundred points over third place. Compared to them, those students who could not even make the top ten in their grade were practically a different species... The school endlessly smoothed things over, clearly determined to protect these two stars of its enrollment statistics.

Though looking back now, they really did seem to be different species.

"Let them say whatever they want. We're innocent and pure, so we don't care. We can just ignore them."

Xia Mi waved her hand magnanimously, signaling that Li Lin did not need to worry about it either.

Compared to the clear yet foolish malice of ordinary middle school students, the mixed-bloods at Cassel College were really just gossiping. If they actually made their relationship official, the congratulatory comments would probably flood the Night Watchers Forum's homepage.

Li Lin thought for a while, then agreed with Xia Mi.

"That's right. We're innocent and pure with each other. There's really no need to care about these rumors."

Smiling sweetly, Xia Mi held onto his arm as they strolled through the summer night, alive with the chirping of cicadas.