Nero chuckled, but he did not say anything else. He turned around and headed to the front of the bus as Adrian watched him approach the teacher. A second after the man was gone, Alice pulled Adrian into a hushed whisper.
"What was that?" she asked, voice masking no confusion. "What were you guys talking about?!"
Adrian shrugged. "Secret."
"What? How do you have a secret with a Holy Knight? You’ve got to tell me—"
Perhaps one day, he would tell her the truth about the Fiend. For now, the boy said nothing.
Chapter 20: Adrian IV - Deal
"I can’t believe it," Onia sighed.
"I don’t like this either, but you don’t hear me complaining about it," Adrian said, ignoring the glare the noble girl gave him.
"It’s bad enough that I get grouped up with the half breed"— Onia gestured at the Half Elf boy standing off to the side— "but I have to deal with both commoners too?" She turned to the other noble in their group— a girl with pale green eyes and brown hair with orange streaks— and spoke to her, "Ilyse, please tell me I’m having a nightmare."
"Unfortunately not, Lady Onia. If you were, I’m afraid to tell you that I am experiencing it as well."
Adrian was about to retort, but Alice stepped in front of him and spoke quickly, "Um, Lady Onia, Lady Ilyse, I know we’ve had our differences. But why don’t we put it all behind us for today. Mr Lucas said it’s too dangerous for us to work alone, especially for our first time facing Monsters. That’s why we’re in our groups."
"Dangerous?" the pink haired girl snorted. "Maybe for commoners like you who have never seen a Monster in their life. I’ve seen Kobolds, and I’ve killed them too. This is hardly a new experience for me."
Adrian could not contain his annoyance any longer. They had been together for a total of 15 minutes, and he finally had enough. "I am so sorry that we had to be in the same group as you, Lady Onia. But unlike your maids and butlers who babysit you when your daddy brings you hunting, we won’t help you if you’re being killed by a pack of Monsters."
Onia paused. She eyed the boy with cold eyes. "Don’t think too highly of yourself just because you cheated to beat me, Adrian," she said dangerously. "I could have you and your girlfriend killed and nobody would be any the wiser."
Alice visibly paled, but Adrian just met her gaze. "Why don’t you just do it? Maybe then I’d be spared from seeing your reptilian-like face every single day."
The noble girl walked up to Adrian, and the boy just folded his arms. Ilyse tried to pull her back. "Lady Onia, it’s not worth it—"
But she just continued on. "Maybe I will," she said, finally stopping right in front of him. "It’d be a service to every student in the Academy to be rid of you two."
"Adrian, I think that’s enough," Alice quickly spoke out, trying to stop the boy from saying anything else. However, he just shook his head.
"No, Alice. There’s no reason to be afraid of her. She’s just a rich, spoiled brat who never had to work a day in her life. I wouldn’t be surprised if they paid the Academy just to accept someone as talentless as her."
"You know nothing about me." Onia’s eyes flashed, fury blazing in her pupils.
"I know enough—"
"Guys," a voice cut Adrian off. It was neither Alice nor Ilyse who spoke, but instead it was the other boy in their group, Faizan. "Look," the Half Elf said, "there’s one."
Adrian looked at what he was pointing at. It was a small, almost-hidden, pale green plant underneath a rock. It was a Pixie Bud.
The purpose of the field trip was simple: the class had been split up into nearly dozen groups to go explore the Defenor Forest. They were to observe the local wildlife and write a report on them, hunt down any Monsters in the area to help cull their population from growing too large, as well as gather any herbs or plants that could be used for Alchemy. A Pixie Bud was probably one of the most important of such ingredients.
Alice walked over to the Half Elf and peered over at the plant. "Why’s there only one?" she asked. "Aren’t they supposed to come in clusters?"
"They are," Faizan said, carefully divoting the dirt below the Pixie Bud. He placed it into his basket and turned to the blonde girl. "They don’t grow too close to each other because of how each one affects the flora around it. That’s why each Pixie Bud is so rich in mana. But there should be more in the area, we just have to search for it."
Onia huffed, flipping her hair— currently tied into a braid— back. "You go ahead and do that, half breed. Ensure every Pixie Bud around here is gathered. Ilyse and I will return in an hour to check on your progress."
"Where are you going?" Adrian narrowed his eyes. He would have preferred it if the noble girl were gone since he did not have to interact with her, but he was not going to let her slack off while they did all the work. "Don’t think we’ll do your work for you, Onia."
She frowned at the use of her name without any title, but did not comment on it. "Why, commoner, I’m being efficient. We’ll divide up the work— you three can stay here and do this boring task, while I will find us some Kobolds to kill. It’s not like you’ll be of any help regardless, so try and make yourself useful here."
Adrian held himself back from snapping at her.
