The New Friend, Jeffrey Quinn

Break time soon finished, and Gerald called everyone to form up again.

Arthur then reluctantly put away his new sword.

Gerald noticed his magic weapon, but didn't show any reaction.

----------

After training was done, it later became dinner time.

Leo strolled back to the huge cafeteria and took his food. When he looked around, he noticed that Austin was waving his hands towards him from a table. Beside him was the young lord they met earlier, Jeffrey.

Sitting down at the table, Leo quickly greeted them before curiously asking Jeffrey, "Um, may I ask why are you here?"

"Yes, you may ask that." Jeffrey said in response. He then chuckled at his own joke and Austin soon joined him.

After a few seconds, Leo also failed to resist cracking a smile.

"Sorry, I wasn't trying to be rude."

"No it's okay," Jeffrey reassured him, "It might be hard to believe, but I just want to make friends with you guys and chat around."

Hearing that, Leo turned silent. Seeing that nothing was wrong so far, he decided to oblige the young lord.

"So," Leo began, "What is it that you wanted to talk about?"

Jeffrey grinned at his response.

"Can't we eat first?" Austin interrupted before they could start, "Come on guys, the food is really good today."

He had already taken a bite from his dish and seemed to really enjoy the taste.

Leo and Jeffrey both shared a glance before starting to eat too. To their surprise, the food really was quite delicious.

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"Whew! That was scrumptious!

"I swear, it was comparable to the food served at noble dinner parties."

Walking around after eating, Jeffrey casually talked to Leo and Austin as he stretched his arms.

"How about we head to the school's backyard?" suggested Austin.

Both the two boys agreed to his request.

Walking to the back of the school, they passed through a tall gate and entered a clearing.

Outside was a large field of grass. There were some big trees around that casted large shades students can sit under, as well as colorful flowers for people to admire. There was also a blue lake nearby with clean freshwater.

Leo took his companions to a tree near the lake. Sitting down, they both rubbed their tummies lazily from the meal.

"Right then," Jeffrey said, "Let's start this again."

He suddenly stood up, turned towards them, and gave a polite bow.

"My name is Jeffrey Quinn. I am the second in line to the Quinn family. Do not worry about my noble status, for I have no alternative intentions with you two apart from gaining new allies."

Leo and Austin shared an amused look. Then, they responded in kind.

"Hello, my name is Austin Bridge," Austin first took the lead, "And I am an only child born from a family of peasants.

"If you are wondering about my last name, my parents apparently confessed their love towards each other on a bridge under a starry night sky. Since then, they had the brilliance to make "Bridge" our family's last name."

Jeffrey started to laugh but managed to contain himself.

"It's okay," Austin grinned, "You can laugh. It was supposed to be funny."

"No, no," Jeffrey shook his head, "I rather liked what your parents did. You see, I happen to enjoy romantic stories, especially real life ones. Hence, I didn't feel like I should find it amusing."

Austin shrugged. Then both of them turned towards Leo.

"Ahem," Leo coughed before starting his intro, "I am Leo Ester, the eldest son born of the Ester family. My father happens to be a middle-class merchant who is working his way to gaining more wealth for our family.

"You could say I am a successor to the family business. However, I've already refused the family inheritance and am planning to do something else with my life."

Now that the introductions were done, Jeffrey sat back down between them again.

"To be honest," he began, "Because of my rate of succession, I've also decided to dedicate my life elsewhere. There is a chance that my family might not allow me to keep the Quinn name.

"Of course, if possible, I would still like to retain my noble status while focusing on my personal interests."

"And if you aren't able to?" Leo asked, curious as to why he could lose his title.

"Then I'll gladly swear off my name." Jeffrey answered confidently.

Austin whistled, "That's a brave thing to do."

"Hehe, maybe to most nobles. But I know that people can make their way in the world without a powerful family backing them." Jeffrey said as he gestured to the two of them.

"Hm" was the only reaction from Leo. As for Austin, he looked slightly more friendly.

"So... Why are you here with us?" Leo continued probing.

"Eh," Jeffrey looked sheepish at the other party's straightforwardness, "Well, if I were to live on my own one day, I would want to maintain a good relationship with certain people."

Leo slowly nodded as he pondered at the answer.

"Excuse me, but I'm still a bit confused." Austin said, raising his hand.

Jeffrey soon turned his attention to the lake across from them. After a moment, he spoke, "You see, I have a knack for associating with interesting people.

"You and Leo seem like pretty interesting guys. It is part of a noble's job to gain some friends who he can potentially work with."

"So, in other words," Austin spoke slowly, "It's like you want to be friends with us in case you need our help one day?"

"Yes, kind of. It's more like having trading partners. We can each help our own interests when needed."

Leo nodded in acknowledgement. He could get by with that.

"Now since I've revealed my intentions," Jeffrey turned his head twice to look at the two friends beside him, "Are you guys willing to be my comrades?"

Leo didn't know what to say. It was the strangest friend request they have ever gotten.

After thinking for a moment, Austin agreed to it. Then followed Leo.

"Great!" Jeffrey said excitedly as he put his arms around their shoulders.

The atmosphere soon became a little awkward.

----------

In the following days as they were going to classes, Leo would slowly come to accept Jeffrey as someone trustworthy. He would also come to better understand the young lord's character.

Jeffrey Quinn had a mainly optimistic personality. Mostly cheerful, he would live life bracingly, as if he did not have anything serious to worry about. But that didn't mean he wasn't shrewd. The young man was quite perceptive about certain things.

In fact, after the three spent some time together, Jeffrey soon came to know of Leo's struggles with deciding his future career. Out of the blue one day, he suddenly asked Leo if he was conflicted about what his life was going to be once they all graduate.

It was soon after that Leo came to take him more seriously. In spite of that, however, he came to grow more lax around Jeffrey. So far, the noble didn't seem to have any bad intentions.

While Jeffrey had different interests and lifestyles from them, and would not always have time to hang out due to having other friends, he would still actively engage himself with any discussions in their group. Being very sociable, it wasn't long before they came to know of each other's lives.

If there was one thing that they each had in common though, it was their dislike for Arthur.

Apparently, Jeffrey had met Arthur Reinnes a few times in the past, most often at banquets. Currently, his opinion of him was that of an incompetent showoff.

----------

In one afternoon, the three had headed outside near the lake again. After sitting down under a tree, they then came to spot a glint of silver light near the lake. It came from a magic sword that was being wielded by a student.

It was Arthur. Strong and handsome, with drizzled black hair, he was raising his glowing sword above his head. There were some boys and girls that were already surrounding him in a circle. It wasn't long before other people's attentions were drawn over.

"Ah, look at that pretentious man. Hard to believe he is an adult," Jeffrey shook his head disapprovingly, displaying one of his rare moody sides, "He is going to get in trouble soon if he doesn't turn off that magic item."

Even outside the castle, the academy can still sense any mana being used in places where they are not supposed to.

Although Arthur hadn't yet released his enchanted weapon's magic, if he continues circulating the mana inside it, a teacher will eventually come out and reprimand him.

"Nah, let him do it," Austin said indifferently, "It might help him cool off from the attention."

They could hear sighs of admiration from the small crowd around Arthur. At this moment, the mana in the weapon was being spread out. The concentration and power of the sword made it easy for even those far away to sense it.

"I have to give him credit though," Leo seriously observed, "It really is a nice enchantment. Easily on par with Mr. Jones' abilities. I wonder who built it?"

"Perhaps you should get him to tell you who made it, and become his apprentice." Jeffrey teased at Leo's interest.

Leo snorted.

"And be asked to kneel to his shoes out of respect?" Leo scoffed as he watched the small crowed sit down on the grass, looking up at Arthur's figure.

After spending a good deal of time joking around and making fun of Arthur, Austin soon took out a book handed to him by a teacher.

"Hey guys, look at this," he said as he passed the book to Leo who was sitting in the middle.

Leo opened the book and noticed its content contained information on jobs for graduated students.

"How interesting," Jeffrey commented while glancing at Leo, "Have you guys decided yet on your futures?"

Austin raised his right hand and held up three fingers.

"After taking a look, I found three jobs that interest me." Austin said while Leo was flipping through the pages, "They involve architectural land design, magic trade management, and being a scholar for a mage association."

"Interesting," Jeffrey said before holding his hand to his chin, "Don't they all have some involvement with the government, though?"

"Yeah, Austin once told me that he would like be involved with a city's management or something," Leo replied, still looking at the pages, "At least, I think so."

"Hehehe, you really can't remember?" Austin laughed as he turned his attention to Jeffrey , "Those jobs are quite stable at the moment, and they all seem interesting. What do you think?"