"Hey, hey, your new roommate's got an artistic streak." After putting his things away, Fingel returned to Room 303.
Unlike ordinary universities, which ranked and selected applicants from an enormous surplus of high school graduates, Cassell College admitted students with special qualities, so it couldn't control enrollment numbers. Room 304 was one of the rooms left empty by this year's smaller freshman intake, and Fingel was its only occupant.
"Better than having a pig bone under the bed." Lu Mingfei glanced at him.
"If you hadn't mentioned it, I'd have forgotten, junior." Fingel blinked. "You promised to treat me to a meal. Don't go back on your word."
Lu Mingfei took his student card out of his pocket and handed it over. "I don't think you'd forget."
On Constantine's first day in Room 303 of Cassell College's Zone 1 dormitory, Fingel used the S-Rank student card to order a lavish feast: seared foie gras, herring rolls, and roast goose as the main dishes, truffle bread on the side, and champagne that paired nicely with caviar.
The cafeteria's delivery service was impeccable. A waiter in white wheeled in a serving cart, set up a tabletop in the dorm, spread a snowy white tablecloth over it, and laid out silver cutlery. He placed an ice bucket containing champagne in the center and three chilled glasses beaded with condensation before them, then lit a candle and withdrew.
Since Constantine didn't like alcohol, Lu Mingfei ordered him a large bottle of Dr Pepper.
Fingel stabbed his fork into the roast goose's crisp, golden-brown skin, sending droplets of fat sizzling out. "Wow, now this is living! Eating pork knuckles every day was turning me into one." With truffle bread in one hand and a goose leg skewered on his fork in the other, he attacked the meal like a ravenous beast.
Lu Mingfei and Constantine, by contrast, both chewed slowly and carefully, though Lu Mingfei was clearly eating almost as fast as Fingel.
"Senior, do you know much about Free Day? How does it work?"
Once they had eaten their fill, Lu Mingfei got to the point.
Chapter 39: Announcement
"Junior, you want to take part in Free Day?" Fingel paused in surprise. "Then you'd better consider joining either the Student Union or the Lionheart Society first."
"Two organizations?" Lu Mingfei had only a superficial understanding of Free Day. He knew it was a student event on campus, but hadn't expected it to involve factional divisions among Cassell College's young students. "Tell me more."
Still wanting more, Fingel speared the last herring roll and considered his answer. "It's not complicated, really. There are two rising stars among the students right now. Oh, with you, junior, that'll make three. The Student Union's leader is Caesar, an A-Rank. The Lionheart Society's boss went to your high school. His name's Chu Zihang, and he's Super A-Rank. These two factions are at each other's throats. Neither can stand the other, and Free Day is when they settle things with a fight."
Lu Mingfei had already learned about Caesar and Chu Zihang from Angers. What he was considering was how to "teach" them.
Should I just win Free Day outright?
That didn't seem meaningful. According to Fingel, they were there to fight anyway, so there was bound to be a winner and a loser. All that would accomplish was adding another loser.
"Junior, are you deciding which side to join?" Fingel asked when he saw him lost in thought.
"I'm not planning to join either side." Lu Mingfei shook his head.
He had joined Cassell College because it was a major hybrid power where he could learn about dragons, hybrids, and their abilities. He had no interest in factions formed by students competing and fighting among themselves.
"What form does their fight take?" Lu Mingfei asked.
"Aside from no using the alchemical equipment in the Ice Cellar, no casualties, and no bringing strangers from outside the school to watch, there are practically no restrictions." Fingel certainly knew his way around after eight years here. Though he didn't look like someone who would participate in such an event, he knew the rules inside out.
"Hybrids are physically stronger than ordinary people. Even ordinary people can't avoid casualties in an armed brawl, so how do they enforce the second rule? A battle of wits? Do both sides set up tables and play chess?" Lu Mingfei remembered the old men huddled beneath the old tree in his neighborhood. Their Chinese chess games could turn into heated disputes, but there certainly weren't any casualties.
"No, no, no." Fingel shook his head. "They use Frigg Bullets, a type of alchemical ammunition. The bullets instantly disintegrate and vaporize when they hit a target. They don't injure anyone, just leave marks that look like blood. They contain a trace of anesthetic that knocks people out immediately, so they can be used as tranquilizer rounds in actual combat."
"So they simulate life-or-death combat while remaining safe." Lu Mingfei understood.
He had initially thought hybrids might also have a way to resurrect people, allowing competitive battles similar to Red Spirit Duels. In the Lands Between, people from other worlds and times, or those who possessed certain special methods, could travel between worlds as blood-red spirits to fight or launch vicious attacks.
Their counterparts were friendly golden spirits, embodiments of friendship across worlds, good people who offered lonely would-be lords memories of fighting side by side.
"So, junior, you're planning to compete as a one-man third faction?" Fingel caught on to Lu Mingfei's intention.
"That's right. And I have to defeat Caesar and Chu Zihang at the same time." Lu Mingfei spoke casually, clearly still considering how to "teach" them. "Any ideas?"
"I think we could start a betting pool..." Fingel muttered blankly, then immediately corrected himself. "No, junior, what I meant was, I can help you gather intelligence!"
"Didn't you say before that you were a member of the Student Union?" Lu Mingfei had heard Fingel mention it in passing. Back then, he had assumed the Student Union was a student organization answerable to the school and club advisers, organizing and overseeing group activities. He hadn't expected it to be an armed fighting gang.
"Come on, how could the president matter more than my junior?" Fingel raised an eyebrow.
It was late at night in the United States, peak traffic time for the Night Watch Forum. Tens of thousands of people were posting across its discussion boards, white lines of live updates popping up against the black interface.
"Breaking news: S-Rank student Lu Mingfei claims he hasn't awakened a Word Spirit after the 3E Exam. Could he possess a high-risk Word Spirit the school is keeping secret?"
"The principal personally provides entrance counseling: two generations of S-Ranks face each other!" This thread came with a photo Fingel had taken three months earlier on a platform at Chicago Union Station, showing Lu Mingfei and Angers looking at each other. Golden sunlight streamed through the transparent arched dome, bathing them in what looked like halos and lending the scene a profound sense of destiny.
"Is S-Rank student Lu Mingfei the principal's illegitimate son? We know Lu Mingfei and the principal's illegitimate son have never appeared together..."
Interest in news about Lu Mingfei remained high. Students throughout the college, and even teachers under aliases, were discussing this year's sensation. The S-Rank aura certainly played a part, but Fingel, the Night Watch Forum's shadowy mastermind, was undeniably driving it from behind the scenes.
Some of these stories he revealed himself as the S-Rank's roommate. Others were carefully fabricated by the News Department's talented paparazzi to cultivate Lu Mingfei's "loser" image.
Under many posts, Lu Mingfei's publicly available biography was no secret, including his loser-like high school record. As a result, most students considered him a joke S-Rank, roughly equivalent to the Ig Nobel Prize's relationship to the Nobel Prize. Some countered with the previously leaked footage from Ye Sheng's mission, but under Fingel's manipulation, those posts received pitifully little traffic.
He didn't need to convince everyone. Steering the majority was enough.
Lu Mingfei had no interest in these forums. He preferred spending his time reading Norma's database or visiting the library. Because of Angers's promise, he had also skipped his recent classes in subjects such as Magitech Mechanical Design and Introduction to Dragon Family Lineages. The only freshman courses he intended to attend were Alchemy Chemistry I and Old Norse.
People paying attention soon compiled Lu Mingfei's absences and posted them on the forum. They became compelling evidence for the "loser theory" and "illegitimate son theory," and even spawned the more niche "school board family heir theory," since his habit of skipping classes resembled that of another student, Caesar Gattuso of the Gattuso Family.
Everything was going exactly as Fingel wished.
With roughly half a month left until Free Day, discussion of Lu Mingfei finally quieted down a little. Free Day and its two leading figures, Caesar and Chu Zihang, became the hot topics instead. Every thread's comment section turned into a cyber battlefield between Student Union and Lionheart Society members. Arguments grew so heated that some arranged to trade blows during practical combat class before Free Day even arrived.
At that moment, a thread was suddenly pinned to the top of the forum.
"S-Rank Lu Mingfei may enter the battle for Free Day victory as a one-man third faction!"
Chapter 40: Sword Husk
"By himself? Did those posts over the past couple of days make the S-Rank lose his mind?"
"Even if he really is S-Rank, does he think the rest of us are useless?"
"Heh. Arrogant."
"Why does something feel off here? Does the S-Rank even know he's taking part in Free Day, Fingel?"
Replies came one after another, most questioning Lu Mingfei's arrogance. Still, they lacked the fury of the arguments over Caesar and Chu Zihang a few days earlier, because nobody thought Lu Mingfei was serious-or that he could actually win. After all, hiding in a corner until the fighting ended still counted as participating in Free Day.
Unfortunately, even after the comments reached four digits, those following the thread never saw Lu Mingfei appear. He neither denied the rumor nor officially confirmed it.
By contrast, the S-Rank's roommate, the F-Rank Fingel, was extremely active.
"The news is genuine. Lu Mingfei said it himself: he's going to defeat Caesar and Chu Zihang at the same time." Once the moment was right, he dropped another bombshell.
Though it was already well past midnight, the comment section began refreshing rapidly again.
"I have a feeling this is going to become one of the Night Watch Forum's legendary incidents."
"Badass!"
"The S-Rank's dorm is in Zone 1, right? He never comes to class, so I haven't even seen what this legend looks like."
"A newborn calf has no fear of tigers."
"Fingel, you're not setting the freshman up, are you?"
Clearly, until Free Day arrived, this would remain a hot topic across the entire school, and even among graduates who had scattered around the world as members of the Executive Department or archaeological teams. After all, the central figures included Chu Zihang and Caesar. Neither had graduated, yet both had already participated in numerous missions during their practical training courses, earning considerable reputations for their abilities.
In the main hall of Norton Hall, Caesar reclined on a sofa. Lines of information flashed rapidly across the projection screen before him, almost all concerning Lu Mingfei. Nono leaned against a nearby wall with her arms crossed.
"What do you think he's trying to do? Beat me and Chu Zihang, then establish a student society of his own?" Caesar asked.
"He doesn't seem like someone who enjoys ordering people around." Nono's tone was calm. "But if he's really decided to do it, then he's one hundred percent serious."
"Sounds like we've got another Chu Zihang as an enemy."
"Chu Zihang is Super A-Rank. Lu Mingfei is S-Rank," Nono corrected him.
"Relax. After the 3E Exam, his S-Rank bloodline is confirmed, at least. I've never underestimated him." Caesar shrugged.
Nono looked at the comments on the screen. Some people already seemed to have begun supporting Lu Mingfei, mostly this year's freshmen. After a few glances, she lost interest.
"All right, I'm off. Susie's probably waiting for me to get back before lights-out." She picked up her backpack.
Caesar watched her leave.
The next morning, after getting up and washing, Lu Mingfei glanced at his class schedule, which had a scenic photograph of Cassell College as its background. It showed an alchemy chemistry class that morning.
He gathered his textbook and notes, slung on the shoulder bag issued by the Executive Department, and headed for the lecture hall.
Following the Crimson Cobblestone Road between buildings and lawns, Lu Mingfei noticed that students, and even teachers, were paying him an unusual amount of attention. Normally, strangers passing each other only glanced over for a second or two. These people studied him with the concentration of visitors watching monkeys at a zoo.
His arrival at the lecture hall caused an even greater stir. Students whispered among themselves, and they were actually all talking about him.
Even the teacher at the lectern, who was organizing papers while waiting for class to begin, kept stealing glances at him.
"Hello. Do you know me?"
Lu Mingfei chose the nearest seat and sat down beside a girl. After receiving one stare after another, he finally couldn't help asking.
"Hello, Lu Mingfei. My name's Alexia. It's nice to meet you. Could I have your autograph? And just between us, I'm rooting for you!" The girl seemed to be Nordic, with fair skin, pale blond curls, and lovely light blue eyes.
Lu Mingfei nodded.
Alexia handed him a pen and notebook, shaking her clenched fists in front of her chest, seemingly excited.
Lu Mingfei signed and handed them back, then asked curiously, "Rooting for me in what?"
"Free Day! Those upperclassmen all look down on you, but I believe in you. You're S-Rank!" Alexia said.
Lu Mingfei thought of all the attention he had received along the way. "Does everyone know?"
"I think so. News about you has made several headlines on the Night Watch Forum." Alexia hesitated. "You didn't know?"
Lu Mingfei shook his head.
The bell rang, and everyone fell silent. The alchemy chemistry teacher began writing twisted pictographic symbols on the blackboard.
Alexia stole a glance at Lu Mingfei, who was opening his textbook with a focused expression, and whispered, "Lu Mingfei, would you consider starting a club? I think a lot of freshmen would be willing to join. Free Day is a group activity, after all."
"Thanks, but I can manage on my own." Lu Mingfei recalled the knights of Leyndell coming in every so often to report trivial matters while he sat on the throne. They even reported whether the total weight of the Erdtree's fallen leaves had increased or decreased over a given period. It had been utterly nerve-racking.
Being a leader came with more than glory. There were responsibilities he couldn't escape. In a sense, he was responsible for everyone.
To Alexia, however, his words meant something entirely different, carrying the unmistakable air of a spirited lone wolf.
For the rest of the class, though, Alexia, brimming with the desire to talk, found no further opportunity. Lu Mingfei listened intently, checking the textbook against the professor's explanations and the blackboard, taking notes when appropriate. Otherwise, he simply thought in silence.
Alexia, on the other hand, was called out two or three times by the old alchemy chemistry professor.
That evening, the Night Watch Forum gained a new member of Lu Mingfei's fan club, passionately arguing with members of the Student Union and the Lionheart Society.