Chapter 5

The next day, Gusion wakes up early in the morning to prepare the field for their lesson about magic. Even though it is not really his interest to do so, he has to do it to cover up his secret -plus, teaching is not a dream job for him. Well, not really a secret anymore now that Lesley has found out about it.

"Gusion," Lunox calls out to him as she rushes over.

"Is something up?" he asks since he seldom sees Lunox in a hurry. Either she has forgotten something and she needs his help - which is very unlikely because she is a very meticulous person-  or someone told her a bad news.

"The Marksman Department has sent another warrior here for inspection of lurking demons. Please do take care of him. I already have tons of workload for today," she replies which made him frown but did not make it so obvious. He already built a good reputation as a mage in their city and he won't jeopardize it just because of something this trivial.

"Why would a demon lurk in an academy full of --," Gusion did not finish his statement for he himself had sensed something dark but he chose to ignore it before. It really isn't as dangerous as it looks like since it is not a powerful demon so he lets it be whenever he sensed its presence. "Fine."

After preparing the field for the magic sparring, Gusion waits for the demon slayer. But his mind is still stuck with the squad that he had heard of the other day. The fact that the two men kept it down, it must mean that the squad is a secret.

He suddenly snaps back into his senses when a man with dark hair wearing a black coat appears at the entrance of the academy. As he walks towards him, the man approaches him as well. The scar that marks his left eye became visible to Gusion when they faced each other.

"Are you the one the Marksman Department had sent?" he asks.

"Yes," he simply replies. With his face half-covered by his coat, Gusion could not tell if he is upset or just stoic. But he does feel the dark aura he emits, not that dark that he is evil. Probably the word gloomy describes him better?

Gusion starts to show him around the school grounds so they could locate where the demons are lurking. They simply walked around, not talking much.

"By the way, I thought Alucard is the only demon slayer," Gusion states to start a conversation. It may not be his specialty but it may work out somehow.

"He scouted me," Granger replies as he scans the vicinity as the field is in view.

Gusion thinks for a while and just then, he remembers the news that Alucard had scouted a warrior who specializes with guns and is referred to as Death Chanter. And basing from his appearance and gloomy presence, the nickname does fit Granger very well.

The two are currently walking the hallway and Harley is running towards their direction. His face is flustered, beet red and too much sweating, which could only mean that he has caused another trouble.

"Get him," Gusion said as he prepares to catch the young mage.

"Why?" Granger asked, confused and a bit in a panic.

Just before Gusion could catch him and present him to the Disciplinary Office, someone comes in with a bang.  Gusion and Granger are taken aback as they watch the pink-haired girl catch Harley with ease.

"Don't think you could outrun me!" Lesley claims as she appears from the roof and swings her way to the hallway, making a soft landing despite her two-inch heels, and grabs Harley by the back of his shirt. The two men simply stared at the two siblings.

"You're growing up into the stage of early adulthood so you better face your problems rather than run away from them."

"I did not mean to do that! It was an accident! " Harley tries to defend and free himself from his sister's grip. "And I am just 17, do not flock me with boring and unfashionable adults."

Gusion is about to speak but he notices the unusual stare of Granger towards Lesley. It isn't the look of being bewitched by her, he stares at her with a stoic face so he could not really tell what he is thinking.

And when Lesley looks ahead and sees them together, she becomes flustered, flinching and widening eyes, that she lets go of Harley but her brother notices the stare of the two so he looks at them alternately. Even he has some suspicions about Lesley and Granger.

"Hey, sis. You should be holding my collar and yelling at me for causing another explosion in the laboratory," Harley states as he tugs at the blue trench coat of Lesley. What he did has brought Lesley back to her senses and she did what she was told to do. She drags Harley away without saying anything as they pass by the two men. She never lifted her head towards them, probably not wanting to have eye contact with Granger.

That is the very first-time Gusion saw Lesley wearing such a surprised and dreadful look on her face. Usually, she is composed and even turns into an annoying woman with her smug face but that moment was different. What could have happened between the two?

"You know her?" he asks as his curiosity rises up.

"Probably," Granger replies before walking again. To change the subject, he starts to question Gusion if they had noticed something out of the ordinary. 

"Hey, sis," Harley says as they walk towards the disciplinary room. "I saw how you stared at the emo guy back there. Is something happening between you two?"

Instead of an answer, Harley yelps in pain as his sister tugs at his ear almost taking it off from him. But with her reaction, he gets the answer.

"Or did something happen before that I did not know of?" Harley presses on, "Is he an ex-lover of yours that you haven't introduced to us?"

Another scream escapes Harley's mouth as Lesley lands a painful whack right on his head. She never said a word, she simply looks furious but then her facial expression softens. She leaves Harley alone in the room so he could reflect on his actions.

"It's been a while," a familiar voice says which totally startled the pink-haired girl. She jumps in surprise while holding her chest as her heart skips a beat. She wants nothing but vanish at that very moment but there's no room for running away. She has to face him.

"Y-Yeah," she stutters without looking at Granger. Her back is facing him for she does not have the courage to show her face to him after what had happened during their last encounter.

"Have you finished your job?" she asks, trying to ward off the awkwardness that is lurking around them. But her effort to do so is a total failure.

"Why can't you face me?" Granger asks, not wanting to change the subject. Lesley looks down with a face of disappointment as her shoulders slump forward. She gathers all the courage she could muster and tries to turn around and look at him. Yet the guy noticed her hesitance.

"You do not have to force yourself," Granger states, "I just came to tell you that your application for transfer to the Assassin Department has been approved."

"I...I see," Lesley replies as she once again fails not to stammer.

"Bye, then."

Granger turns around and walks towards the hallway leading to the exit from the academy. Lesley tightly grips her hands into fists as she takes a few steps forward and glares at Gusion who has been eavesdropping. She corners him and punched the wall just beside him.

"When did you learn to stick your nose into other people's business, you ugly-faced coward," she snarls in anger while staring daggers at him.

Gusion raises both of his hands in surrender.

"It wasn't my intention to listen, baby, do trust me on this one," he replies in the most innocent tone of voice he could manage for him not to anger her even more. "I was just passing by and got stuck here. It would be rude of me to just appear when you're in the middle of talking."

"And it's ruder to eavesdrop," Lesley cuts him off. "If you do not want your cover to be blown off, you better watch your actions and be careful how you open that mouth of yours. You do not know, it may be the end for your pretend-to-be-the-perfect-son play. You got that?"

"Whoah, easy. Why are you so hyped up?" Gusion states and with his impatient tone, he also starts to get annoyed for being blackmailed by a girl. He softened his facial expression before running down his finger on Lesley's cheek.

He smirked and stared down on her pinkish lips and ran his thumb on her lower lip, "Look here, if you keep your mouth running nonchalantly, I might end up shutting you up for good. You would not like that, would you? I do not like it either, baby. "

Lesley scoffs in disbelief as she slapped his hand away from her.

"Do you think you could blackmail me?" she teased with a smug face. "You know too well that it is you who is at a more disadvantaged side here."

Snapping from being patient, Gusion glares at her as he pulls her arm and closes the gap between them.

"Thus, it gives me more reason to kill you," he whispers on her ear. "I'm warning you, Lesley, do not try to interfere with my business. You don't know what I am capable of."

Lesley, being a head shorter than Gusion, tiptoes so she could be as near as possible on his ear. She is a woman of pride and she never allows anyone to step on her and backing out is simply not her thing.

"And do you think you know what I am capable of?" she whispers back. "Don't think you have the upper hand here 'cause just like me, you know little of me. Do not even think I'd cower after hearing your warning. You get what I mean, baby?"

Lesley emphasized her last word before stepping backwards and pulls her arm away from Gusion's tight grip. She gazes at him, meeting his death glare.

"Don't even try me, babyface," she says before walking away, leaving Gusion gritting his teeth in annoyance.

"Damn it," he curses under his breath.

"What could Lesley be referring to, Gusion?" Guinevere shows up from her hiding place after hearing their conversation. "I thought of visiting you here and ended up seeing you with Lesley. Does she know something that I don't?"

Guinevere's sudden appearance and her eavesdropping at him just added more fuel to his already angry state. He closes his eyes as he holds the bridge of his nose to calm himself.

"Are you betraying the mage clan?" she asks.