"Wah! Look, Hastora, you're in first place!" Charlotte exclaimed, her voice filled with joy.
"You're in second place, that's great," Hastora complimented Charlotte with a flat expression.
Charlotte's face instantly flushed red after hearing Hastora's praise. She felt like she wanted to run away from embarrassment. However, she tried to calm her mind by taking a deep breath.
Hastora smiled slightly at the outcome. His goal of achieving first place had been perfectly executed. He had only used a small amount of his strength to complete the test.
"Your goal succeeded," Zarafel said with a hint of happiness. "After this, do you want to go back right away?" he asked.
"No, I want to take a walk around the capital for a while," Hastora replied, regaining his usual flat and cold expression.
Seeing the perfect result, Hastora left the field and walked towards a bench located near the field. Apparently, Hastora felt a little tired, so he decided to buy a drink from a mana-powered vending machine.
"There are many choices," he said. "I wonder which one tastes good?"
"Hmm, I think canned milk looks tasty," Zarafel replied, offering his suggestion.
Hearing that, Hastora immediately bought the canned milk as suggested by Zarafel. He inserted one silver coin into the vending machine, then selected the canned milk. Soon, the canned milk fell from the machine into the bottom compartment. Hastora took the canned milk, opened it, and walked back to the bench.
"This is pretty good," Hastora praised the drink. "Your choice is great too."
"Of course, I am Zarafel," Zarafel said with a hint of pride.
Upon reaching the bench, Hastora sat down and drank the canned milk he had bought earlier. Hastora seemed to enjoy the drink. At this moment, he looked incredibly cool. His slightly messy black hair, his glowing red eyes, and his slightly sweaty body made him look like a very mature man. Charlotte seemed to notice Hastora sitting alone on the bench and wanted to take advantage of this opportunity. Charlotte bought a drink from the vending machine and walked towards Hastora.
"Canned milk? Like a little kid, haha," Charlotte said with a small laugh. "May I sit here?"
"Sure. And, what's the connection between milk and looking like a kid?" he asked curiously.
"Of course, little kids love to drink milk," she replied with a slight smile.
Zarafel seemed a little annoyed by Charlotte's words. It was because Charlotte said his drink choice looked like something a kid would drink.
"Damn! Just because you're so beautiful doesn't mean you can make fun of other people's drink choices as you please," he muttered angrily.
Hastora and Charlotte drank their drinks together on the bench. Charlotte seemed a little happy because she could be close to Hastora like this. However, Hastora didn't seem to show any expression. He didn't seem to show any expression at all. It was because he only considered Charlotte as a valuable pawn, nothing more.
Hastora drank his drink while thinking about his life at the academy tomorrow. He wasn't thinking about lessons, but about how he could move more freely. While he was relaxing, a question suddenly popped into his mind.
"Charlotte, I wonder what class I'll be in?" he asked curiously. "As the top scorer, can I choose any class I want to take later?"
"You will be in class A, because you got the highest score on the test, and you can't choose which class you will take later even though you are in first place," she replied at length.
Hastora was a little disappointed, because he couldn't choose which class he wanted to take later. Initially, Hastora thought that if he got first place, he could choose any class he wanted to take because he had the highest points.
Hastora didn't seem to want to be in class A, because class A was the class for talented students and the average students in class A were high-class nobles. It could limit his actions because of the professors at the academy, because class A was the class that most often practiced.
Actually, he wanted to take the lowest class, class D. Class D was the class for students with low scores on the test. This made the class less strict because the professors who entered it didn't care much about students skipping class, they just focused on teaching.
"Hastora, after this test, do you have any free time?" Charlotte asked curiously.
"Yes," he replied, "what's the matter?"
"Hmm... well... if you don't mind, would you like to go for a walk in the capital with me later?"
Hastora actually wanted to refuse Charlotte's invitation. However, it seemed that they both had the same goal. Hastora didn't seem to mind either.
"Sure," he replied, "where are we going later?" he asked curiously.
"What about an amusement park? After that, we'll go to a restaurant to eat?" Charlotte replied, informing them of their destination later.
"Interesting," he replied briefly.
Zarafel, who was observing the two of them, seemed to know what Charlotte was planning. She was asking Hastora out on a date. Knowing Charlotte's true intentions, Zarafel felt very happy, he shouted loudly in Hastora's mind and supported Charlotte in asking Hastora out on a date.
"Aaaaaa! Go for it, Charlotte, I support you!"
"Don't shout in my mind, you damn creature!" Hastora said calmly but sounded annoyed. He was annoyed by Zarafel shouting in his mind.
Zarafel didn't seem to want to tell Hastora about Charlotte's true intentions. It was because he thought that Hastora wouldn't understand what a date was, so it was pointless to tell him about it.
"Children, gather here now!" the principal's voice boomed loudly as he ordered the students to gather.
Hearing that, Hastora and Charlotte immediately moved back towards the field.
"Everyone, this test is now over, and tomorrow there will be a board located in the yard. The board will show you which class you will be in, your class is determined according to your points on the test," the principal explained in a loud and firm voice. "Alright! You can all go back now!"
Hearing that, Hastora immediately walked towards the exit of the field. However, it seemed that he was stopped by Charlotte, whose face was red.
"Wait! Where are you going?" Charlotte asked curiously.
"Of course, I'm leaving this field."
"You said earlier that you wanted to go for a walk in the capital with me," Charlotte said with a little embarrassment. "Did that change?"
Apparently, Charlotte misunderstood. Hastora just wanted to leave the field and wanted to stretch his aching body a little. However, it seemed that Charlotte thought that Hastora would go straight home and cancel their plans.
"Of course, it's still on," he replied calmly. "I just want to stretch my body outside the field, it's too crowded here."
Charlotte felt relieved to hear that, her misunderstanding was cleared up. However, it seemed that Charlotte's friends saw the two of them. They decided to approach Charlotte and Hastora who were together.
"Charlotte!" they shouted as they ran towards Hastora and Charlotte.
Charlotte, who saw her friends coming, looked a little annoyed. In her opinion, her friends seemed to deliberately want to interrupt the two of them.
"What's up?" Charlotte asked.
"Eh? Why are you asking? Of course we want to greet our friend, is that not allowed?"
"Sure," she replied briefly. "Why do you look so suspicious?"
"Hehe... aren't you going to introduce your handsome boyfriend to us?" they asked in a slightly mischievous tone.
"Eh? Boyfriend?" Charlotte asked, she didn't seem to understand the meaning of their words.
"I mean the handsome man you're holding," they said. "Don't you want to introduce him to us?"
Charlotte just realized that she was currently holding Hastora. She quickly realized and quickly released her hand from Hastora while shouting loudly.
'KYAAA, I'm sorry, Hastora, I didn't realize I was touching you."
"It's okay," Hastora replied with a face that showed a flat and cold expression as if he didn't consider the incident as something serious.
"Oh? so his name is Hastora," they said. "Is he your girlfriend, Hastora?"
Charlotte, who heard that, instantly blushed, she felt very embarrassed to hear the question from her friends. However, she was also curious about what Hastora's answer would be.
"No, he's just a pi— I mean a valuable friend," Hastora replied with a face that didn't show any change in expression at all. He almost said that Charlotte was just a pawn. However, he immediately changed his words.
Charlotte's friends, who heard the word "valuable friend," immediately shouted with enthusiasm. They thought that Hastora considered Charlotte as someone special. However, the reality was not so, Hastora only considered her as a valuable pawn, nothing more.
"KYAAAAA! You said valuable friend? It sounds so romantic," they shouted.
Charlotte, who heard Hastora say that, made her face even redder, she seemed like she could faint at any moment from embarrassment. Charlotte's friends decided to leave and leave the two of them, they didn't want to ruin Charlotte and Hastora's moment with their presence.
"Well, we'll go first, Charlotte! Enjoy your time together," they said as they left Hastora and Charlotte.
Seeing her friends leave, Charlotte took a deep breath and turned to Hastora.
"I'm sorry for my friends' attitude," she said with a face that was still red. "They're like that."
"It's okay," he replied. "I don't feel bothered."
Charlotte felt a little relieved to hear that. She felt relieved that her friends' attitude didn't make Hastora feel annoyed.
"Okay," Hastora said. 'Let's go then."
'Eh? Where? Charlotte asked curiously.
"Of course, for a walk, you're the one who invited me earlier."
Hearing that, Charlotte felt a little disbelief. She didn't expect Hastora to invite her like that. She was a little dazed, but she came back to her senses. Charlotte took Hastora's arm and pulled him out of the academy.
"Well then, let's go, Hastora, we're on a date."