As soon as they entered, Crowley was there seemingly shocked to find them walk out of the mirror.
"Eh? You really went to Dwarf's Mine to find a magic crystal?" He said aloud in astonishment.
"What?"
The four of them wore a look of bewilderment when they heard his words.
Crowley folded his arms and placed his chin on his finger in contemplation, "I really didn't think... You'd not only go but then come back with a crystal in hand. I quietly completed the paperwork for your expulsion."
"Nnga!" Grim scowled, "The nerve of this guy! While we were off fighting some crazy beast!"
"Beast?" Crowley lowered his arms and turned to them when he heard this.
It would seem that he hadn't known either. Lotus raised a brow.
"There was a monster there." Ace clarified supporting Grim's claim, "It was super gross and crazy strong, it was awful!"
"Could you explain in more details?" Crowley questioned firmly.
They made it back to the gothic headmaster room where the four explained the situation with great details including how they worked together to beat it down.
"Hoh, hoh." Crowley muttered as he continued to sit in his chair with his arms folded and his chin rested in his hand, "A mysterious monster living in the coal mine. The five of you worked together to defeat it and bring back a magic crystal?"
"We didn't really work together..." Ace rejected the statement with slight embarrassment and hesitation.
"It was more like our goals were aligned..." Deuce reasoned as he also supported Ace is rejecting the thought.
Lotus wore a wide smile watching the two struggle to deny the claim while also being supportive about denying it. Even if they deny it, them agreeing about it still supported that the four of them have become a team hilariously enough.
Suddenly, Crowley started bawling aloud like a child almost once he heard this.
"What's with this guy?" Grim said aloud in shock, "What is an adult bursting into tears?!"
"In all these years that I've been headmaster..." Crowley explained in tears that looked like should've streamed down his face, "For the day to come that students from Night Raven College go hand in hand to face and defeat their enemy!"
"What?!" Deuce gagged in bewilderment and pointed at Ace, "I did not hold this guy's hand!"
"I would never do that, gross!" Ace added on his part before saying in bewilderment, "But headmaster, how old are you?!"
Snapping out of his fake tears, Crowley stated with a similar emotional tone, "I am overwhelmed with emotion."
He glanced over to Lotus before turning back to Yuu and nodded firmly before stating, "This incident confirms it."
He turned to Yuu, "Yuu. Without a doubt, you have talent as a beast tamer!"
"Beast tamer?" Lotus raised a brow and smirked quietly in bewilderment.
A beast tamer is someone who came tame wild beasts so other cultivators can make contract with them without harming their own cultivation or suffering major injuries. It'd calm the creatures giving the cultivators a chance to form a contract with them. But, what does a beast tamer do here?
As far as Lotus can see, the only beast here was Grim.
"What talent now?!" Yuu questioned in bewilderment.
"Students of Night Raven College are budding wizards called here by the Dark Mirror. However, they are of a superior class that makes them prideful and egotistical people. They have not even the slightest inkling to work with others. Making many of them selfish and self-centered." Crowley stated bluntly about his students.
"You're really not saying anything good." Grim noted when he heard this as the two magicians next to him silently agreed in disappointment.
"You cannot use magic." Crowley pointed out to Yuu, "But, maybe, precisely because you cannot use magic means that you could give instructions to wizards and get them to cooperate. Perhaps that mediocrity is exactly what this school needs right now!"
"He's not saying anything nice is he?!" Ace pointed out in shock as he listened to the headmaster continue on.
"I have no doubt that your existence is essential to the future of this academy." Crowley stated firmly, "So says my educator-senses. Trapola. Spade. Xue. Along with rescinding your expulsion, I shall give you the qualifications to attend Night Raven College as a student!"
With the headmaster saying the last sentence with a warm smile and open arms as that of an announcement, the four of the stated in bewilderment as Lotus smiled.
"As a student?" Yuu questioned in bewilderment with wide eyes.
"Even though I can't use magic or have the same skills as him?" Lotus raised a brow curiously.
"Yes." Crowley nodded with a wide grin, "For I am exceedingly gracious."
Then he continued firmly, "But, there is one condition. neither of the two of you can use magic. Becoming a wizard is out of the question. You probably will not be able to complete all your lessons. That is why, Grim."
The cat looked up when he heard his name called as the headmaster continued, "You have proven to me that you possess enough talent to become a wizard. Therefore, I shall allow the three of you to enroll together, as one student."
"Fgna!" Grim was startled before bursting into tears, "I-I can go to this academy too...? Not as a handyman, but as a student?"
"Yes." Crowley responded solemnly, "Provided that!"
He placed his hands on his hip with a stern look on the cat, "You don't ever let an incident like yesterday occur again! Do we have an agreement?"
Despite his words, Grim was still in a daze as he cried with tears of joy, "Ffgnaa... Fgnaa... We-we can..."
"That's great!" Yuu smiled widely and petted Grim's head congratulatory.
"Let's do our best." Lotus said to the two with a wide smile and a nod of approval.
"Ffgnnaaaaa!" Grim jumped into the air nearly punching Yuu in the face above him, "I did it!!!"
"Woah!" The boy nearly avoided the collision as he took a step back and laughed.
"Well then, I shall give the symbol of your status as a student of Night Raven College, a magic crystal, to Grim." Crowley as he used his can with the staff to cast a magic making a purple gem appear around Grim's tattered ribbon.
"Woah!" Grim gasped and stared down on the magic crystal around his neck, "A magic crystal?!"
"It is the norm for students to have their magic crystals in the form of a 'magical pen', but you wouldn't be able to grip it in your paws, right?" Crowley pointed out patiently for them before smiling in self-satisfaction, "It's a special custom. Aaah... I pay attention to even the smallest details! Aren't I too gracious?"
However, by then, Grim was too focused on his new crystal to listen as he sang aloud, "I did it! I'm so cool! I got my own special magic crystal collar~~!
"He isn't listening at all..." Crowley noted in disappointment.
"We'll remind him of the length of consideration you've taken for him after he snaps back to reality." Lotus stated with a wide grin.
"Please do." Crowley nodded slightly disgruntled before continuing speaking to Lotus and Yuu, "Do you understand, Yuu? As you can see Grim is not accustomed to human society. It's up to you to take the rein and supervise him to prevent from causing anymore trouble, Yuu!"
Ace laughed with a glint of excitement in his eyes, "Aha! Look at you. School's just started but you're already a supervisor?"
"I see." Deuce responded with understanding, "There's only the three of you in your dorm... So you've been entrusted with supervising Grim, that makes you a supervisor."
Ace laughed, "Isn't that unheard of? For there to be a supervisor student who is unable to use magic."
Hearing his own words, Ace nodded in satisfaction, "Nice. It's cool. A supervisor who is unable to use magic!"
"Eh? I'm not confident..." Yuu's eyes widen in bewilderment and turned to Lotus.
However, she shook her head with a smile, "I'm not willing to be a supervisor. It's too much work for me since I also have to adapt to school life. You can be a supervisor instead. I'm not going to fight for it anyway. I'll help you out from now if you're in a pinch though."
Hearing her words, his eyes lit up in relief and nodded with a confident smile, "Then, I'll do my best!"
Ace laughed happy for his new friend, "Good luck, Supervisor!"
"I see, a supervisor." Crowley nodded his head in satisfaction upon the thought, "I do have a work request, and having a title makes it very convenient... This is wonderful!"
He took out a strange bronze and black rectangular machine from his drawer and handed it to Yuu, "Supervisor, I entrust you with this."
Curious, Yuu took it with both hands and found it slightly heavy, "What is this?"
"This is nicknames the 'ghost camera'." Crowley explained.
"Camera?" Lotus raised a brow when she saw the black circular glass sticking on the machine.
"Ghost?" Yuu questioned in bewilderment.
"Ah, I think my grandma told me about that." Ace noted in surprise, "It's a super old magic tool, right?"
"It is not 'super old'." Crowley corrected slightly offended as he cleared his throat, "It's true this may have been invented during your great grandmother's, or great great grandmother's time. There is a very special spell cast on it."
"Spell?" Lotus listened to the headmaster attentively.
Having finally found her interested in something other than fun, Crowley proudly explained, "It not only captures the subjects' form, but also a part of their soul.
"A part of their soul?" Deuce questioned in confusion.
Lotus, however, frowned when she heard this. Amongst the things important to a cultivator, a cultivation core that absorbs magic, their body, and their soul is one of the most important things to protect! If this thing captures a part of her soul, how is that any different from a soul lantern or a soul jade?!
No! Lotus-! No! Peony refuses to be tied down again!
Crowley was slightly puzzled by when he saw her frown so he continued to explain hoping to change her expression for the better, "We call this' Memory: A Fragment of Remembrance'. Furthermore, the most interesting part of this magic camera is that the souls of the photographer and the photographed become deeply connected and the Memory in the photo comes jumping out!
"It comes jumping out?!" Yuu said in bewilderment.
"Souls are connected?" Lotus questioned with a deep frown, "Captured and then connected?"
Hearing her words, the headmaster finally began to understand her worries vaguely, "It doesn't take your soul from your body. It's not a cursed item. You could say that it merely copies the soul instead. Think of it as a normal camera but the pictures it produces can pop out."
Hearing this, Lotus was a little hesitant but nodded which made the headmaster rather curious about her thought process. Still he continued to explain to everyone else, "Depending on how close the subject and photographer are, the picture could move like a video, or bring to life the situation in the photo. Fascinating, right?"
"Bring the photo to life?" Deuce looked up in bewilderment, "It's like a ghost photograph!"
"I see now." Yuu noted with interest.
"Yes." Crowley nodded, "Therefore it is called 'ghost camera'. They say it was made before the time of videos for when people wanted to leave behind vivid memories... Spade was correct, in the past people would scream 'ghost' in surprise when the memory came jumping out."
Glancing at her, Crowley smiled with silent laughter on his face as he continued, "They were paralyzed with fear at the thought of having a photo taken with this camera."
"A camera for freaking people out..." Ace sighed shaking his head upon the childish antic.
"Supervisor," Crowley turned to Yuu, "Please take photos of Grim and the other students to leave behind many memories of your lives in this academy."
Grim danced happily, "Take lots of cool photos of me~!"
"Especially, always make sure to get 'Memories' when someone steps out of line." Crowley reminded Yuu when he heard Grim who was dancing on his desk as the headmaster showed the cat a dark smile, "It's a most suitable way to report to me, right?"
The cat gulped and jumped down from the table standing straight next to Yuu as Crowley continued with a resumed firm expression, "Keep an eye on your surroundings and make memories as the supervisor."
A thought came to the headmaster as he nodded upon realization with a wide smile growing on his face, "To generously give you a rare item that can be used by non-wizards... Does my graciousness know no bounds?"
Lotus smiled knowing that this time the headmaster was indeed being very nice to Yuu.
"Thank you very much." Yuu responded with a wide smile of gratitude.
Crowley nodded and said patiently, "It is already late. Let's save the detailed conversation for tomorrow. Return to your domitories, everyone."
"Then," Deuce responded with a straight posture, "Pardon our intrusion."
With that the four began to take their leave with the headmaster's approval, when he suddenly called out to Lotus.
When she turned around, the man sighed, "Since what was said did occur, I shall allow you to have your side of the deal."
"Thank you very much, Mister Crowley." Lotus responded gratefully with a wide smile before she excused herself and followed after the four to the halls.
In the dark halls lit by magic lanterns, Grim asked, "By the way, how did you know that the fire won't damage the magic crystal?"
"Hm?" Lotus looked back and saw the four staring at her before she smiled, "Because, if fire damage had occurred, why would it be placed in the cafeteria of all places. That would be too close to the kitchen and expensive to replace, wouldn't it? Also, a magic crystal is still a crystal. As long as it doesn't have any other special characteristics, heat wouldn't easily destroy a crystal, right?"
Yuu raised a brow, "But, the coal..."
"Coal is another issue. Its mineral characteristics are different from crystals." Lotus explained, "Even if it does melt, it'll require an insanely high level of heat. Grim's fire won't be enough to reach that temperature, so it can burn away the surrounding coal instead."
"Interesting..." Deuce nodded in understanding when he heard this.
"Really?" Grim questioned in confusion.
Ace sighed, "You've already thought that far. Where were you when Deuce thought of throwing me to catch this guy?"
"Me?" Lotus raised a brow and smirked, "I was in the cafeteria, the hall of mirrors and back to the cafeteria all day."
"Huh?!" The four of them stared at her in bewilderment.
"Then, you..." Yuu began with a shocked expression.
"Did you forget?" Lotus responded pointing to herself, "I'm the only other human resident alongside you in Ramshackle dorm. We went down the same path to the statues of the Great Seven."
"Ah!" Ace shouted in bewilderment and pointed at her, "You were there the whole time?!?!"
Lotus sighed, "Yes. I was trying to give Yuu and Grim a hand, but, seeing that you guys got punished, I had to stay out of it for my own well-being too, you know. Though, I was surprised when I came to help, but, aside from Ace not arriving, not a single person noticed me at all the entire day."
Feigning defeat and exasperation, Lotus grumbled, "I know I have a weak presence, but you didn't even thank me when I helped you get up in the hall of mirrors and ignored me. Do you really not noticed me or are you just purposefully ignoring me?"
"Th-That's..." Ace stammered in bewilderment before managing a sound, "Huh?!"
"And, Deuce." She turned to him, "I brought up the idea to have Ace float up to the chandelier, but you just launched the guy into the air. At this rate, maybe it was better to keep my mouth shut, after all..."
The four was at a loss for words as they heard her speak before Yuu finally said, "So, those words I've been hearing was from you..."
"Yup." Lotus nodded, "I was actually pretty happy that someone could actually hear me despite thinking I was invisible."
Though, in truth, she was. She just wanted to mess with them and now was no different. Deuce heaved a heavy sigh, "Expulsion, rescinded... I'm beat."
Ace shook his head in exasperation, "Oh my, oh my..."
Grim began singing once more, "I start as a student of Night Raven College tomorrow! I'm gonna leave you all in the dust and take the top spot!"
Ace smirked, "You talk big for someone who is only a third a full student. Anyway, it's fine."
"I wonder how much I missed..." Yuu noted curiously.
Lotus patted his shoulder with a smile, "Relax, it wasn't much."
"Ah, right." Ace turned to Lotus curiously, "You were already a full student here to begin with, but now you're only a third too."
"It's fine, since I don't have magic anyway." Lotus responded, "Besides, I just need to graduate from this school anyway. As long as I get to dive deeper into potions and experience a school life, I'm satisfied."
"Then, we're classmates tomorrow, Supervisor, Grim." Deuce said with a wide smile.
"Once again, nice to meet you!" Yuu smiled wider.
"Saying that again is really embarrassing, will you stop?" Ace pointed out nervously.
Deuce stifled a laugh, "That's true. Even if we don't want to, we're going to see each other everyday."
He shook his head and continued, "I'm even in Heartslbyul with this jerk."
Ace smirked, "Thinking about seeing your serious mug everyday, no thanks."
"That's my line, traunt Ace." Deuce frowned as he folded his arms together.
"Sure, sure. Almost-expelled-crybaby-Deuce." Ace sneered before he smiled to Yuu, "Alrighty, see you tomorrow, Supervisor, Lotus!"
"They might actually make a good combo." Yuu noted curiously as they watched the two walk away.
"You've only just realized?" Lotus smirked, "With the way they agree or disagree on things, it's only a given. Two minds that think alike don't often repel another."
"Those guys might make a good combo." Grim agreed with a wide smile, "They're the 'fight because they're so close' type. We better get back to the dorm! Tomorrow, the two of us aren't handyman!"
"Finally..." Grim teared up emotionally, "Finally! Our bright and shiny academy life at Night Raven College begins!"
Having finished everything, Lotus followed them back to the dorm. Curious about how much he missed, Yuu asked Lotus a few questions to which she responded the contents of today's class. With how much fun she had today, Lotus was finally looking forward to the next day!
What should she try next?