The next day, despite the nice weather and the day off, someone knocked on Almark's door as he was lying patiently in bed, resting peacefully.

"Yes."

He opened the door to find Wendy standing there with several textbooks.

?Almark, you said you had to stay in your room for the rest of the day. I was wondering if you would like to review some of class work.”

"I don't know if that's a good idea, It' s your day off, too, Wendy."

Almark was surprised , but Wendy waved her hand and said it was fine.

In the end, he took Wendy up on her kind offer and asked her to take some time to study with him.

The two of them moved to a location in the dorm's common room and began to study.

She was indeed one of the top students in the class, and she was able to answer most of questions easily. Almark was not sure if Wendy was a good student or if he was asking too few questions.

They had lunch together in the cafeteria and resumed their studies.

Wendy stayed with Almark until late in the evening, patiently helping him with his studies.

After putting away the textbooks, they spent the remaining time chatting a little.

Wendy told him many things about academy , but when the subject suddenly died down, Almarc asked Wendy why she was being so nice to him. It seemed like an overabundance of kindness for a mere classmate sitting next to you.

When he asked, Wendy looked puzzled and hesitated for a moment.

Eventually, as if she had come with answer , she said

"What do you think of our school now, . Almark?"

She asked.

he replied, "I don't know. ......."

“It's just a place with bunch of kids with different last names and some kids without it."

Oh ......."

She understood what he meant.

In the current class, there are, according to Wendy, four children with surnames, in other words, children of the nobility. Wendy, Torque, Leila, and Wallis.

All the other students, including two of Torque's friends, are "children without surnames," meaning they are commoners.

The first and third classes have about half the number of children with family names. That's why Torque' doesn't like the fact that he seems to have been put in a commoner's class.

"But this academy"

"It doesn't matter if you are a noble or a commoner, does it? It is only the children of mercenaries in the north who are not allowed to enter the academy."

"Yes, it doesn't matter. Of course, once you step out of the school, there's a lot going on, but inside the school, the teachers never discriminate, and I think they , should too. But some people don't see that as good thing . They say that nobles are better than commoners . They say that there should be a school only for children for nobles Some people share that point of view ."

“...... Surely, those are the four who have the best grades in the class now, right?"

"The difference between the two is the difference in the background or the difference in their pride, which confirms the theory that the children of aristocrats are better."

Wendy nodded and bit her lip in frustration.

“Torque in particular tends to be like that. He's always been very strong with words, too, ....... The girls without last names actually shrivel up and try to curry favor with those with last names . I don't like that. Status means nothing before the power of magic. That's why I wanted to change

this . That's what I thought for a long time. But I couldn't do anything by myself. But you know, the other day, when you . arrived ....."

Wendy giggled.

“The first time you came to this academy, you didn't know anyone, you couldn't use magic at all, but you didn't look at all shaken up. . Remember? The confident look on your face, the straight eyes, the way you looked around the classroom, and the way your eyes met mine.”

"Oh, ......."

Almark remember when Wendy and he looked at each other and she smiled at him .

At that moment, she thought, Oh my God, he is , a good kid. she thought maybe he could change things in the class.)

”I thought it was selfish of me," Wendy said, her face falling down in embarrassment. Tears welled up in her eyes.

"I wanted to help you and get you integrated into the class as soon as possible. I'm sorry I talked about weird thing .”

“Torque for example . He's got some good qualities, even though he looks like that,” Wendy said quickly, with a depressed look on her face.

It was certainly odd, but Almark had no intention of changing his current positions .

He was too busy trying to keep up with his studies.

But when he saw Wendy's red-faced, slumped-over body, he suddenly felt an emotion that he had never felt before.

For a brief moment, Almarc felt a tingle of sadness in his chest, and he was puzzled.

He quickly substituted it with a somewhat familiar feeling ...... of appreciation.

This girl has taken care of him in so many ways until today.

(I owe her a debt . I have to return the favor.)

A debt of kindness.

Almark suddenly felt a sense of nostalgia at these rather exaggerated words.

He felt the cold wind of the northern land blowing through his body.

"If you can't return the favor you've received, quit being a mercenary."

His father had told him one day. “Mercenaries value gratitude. Betrayal is always directly linked to death.”

Seeing Wendy's tears reminded Armark of the rugged chivalry of the mercenaries in the north, which he had almost forgotten for the past few days.

"The beginning of a battle is the most important part," he heard his father's voice .

“ Don't let a man who makes a woman cry lick his boots. Don't let him get away with it." He nodded in agreement.”

"Wendy, I believe we have martial arts class tomorrow, right?"

"What?"

Wendy nodded with a puzzled look on her face after suddenly being told something that had nothing to do with him .

"I see."

”This your first martial arts class, right ?”

Almark seemed to have thought of something.

(Don't address me so politely ' now, Wendy. I'm not going to do the same thing " he said, as he felt his body fill with the ferocious power he had used in the past.)

'You can call me just Almark. “

It reminds him of the old days.

Wendy looked away from the fierce smile that Almark suddenly showed her, as if she had seen something she shouldn't have seen.

“I'll thank you tomorrow for what you did for me today.:

Already back to his usual calm face , he replied?to?he