“Puahaha!” I burst out triumphantly as I fell onto my bed.


    I was finally in my dorm after I concluded my activities in the outdoors, so after doing some experiments without bothering to rest, I was a little spent.


    My body felt a little tired, but it was nothingpared to the thrill that was coursing through my veins.


    Not only had I managed to find seven new nts, but two out of them also had properties synonymous with those in rare herbs. I was finally reaching a breakthrough!


    “Let’s take a break now…” I muttered


    My eyes darted to a book that I ced on my study desk. It caused a smile to form on my face.


    “A book written by me, uh?”


    Of course, that wasn’t what excited me about the piece of text.


    There was probably nothing inside that would prove of any worth to me at the moment. However, I had borrowed it from the library for an extensive period because of one reason alone.


    “She must be freaking out by now, uh? That Anabelle girl.”


    While tailing Anabelle and Edward, I overheard many things, including the mentions of the book Anabelle was going to the library to retrieve. She spoke of it with so much passion and zeal that I nearly blushed, being the author of the book.


    The History Of Magic Evolution—a book I wrote when I was nearing old age. It was quite a masterful piece, and quite extensive. It had five volumes, well six, to be exact. I only published five, though.


    Anabelle seemed so crazy about it when she spoke, making me think up an idea. I would borrow the book ahead of her and monopolize it for very long. Judging by how much she was looking forward to its contents, it would make her upset and impatient, and that was exactly what I wanted.


    “Sooner orter, our paths will cross and she’ll need the book which is in my possession. I’ll use that as a good basis for conversation!”


    The Lower ss Library only had one copy of any book, after all. There was no other option for the young girl, except toe to me.


    “Pfft…” I chuckled and stifled myughter.


    If anyone saw me now, they would think of me as childish for resorting to such tricks, but I had no choice.


    To bait a child properly, one had to think like them. There were more mature ways to handle this, but this would be the most efficient. I just had to make the most use of her emotions and childish curiosity. No doubt, Edward would step in as well since he was her friend, so I could use that to reel him in too.


    It was basically killing two birds with one stone.


    The best part of it was that there was really no evidence pointing to an ulterior motive on my end. I was innocent by all counts, so none of the two could me me. With me having the moral high ground, my options were widened.


    But, I wasn’t a monster or anything.


    I nned on giving the girl the book she so desperately wanted. In fact, this whole thing was sure to benefit both Anabelle and Edward.


    ‘Tomorrow, we’ll see how it goes…’


    For now, I still had plenty of work to do. Looking to my left where I nearly arranged a total of thirty transparent vials of extracts, I smiled a little.


    Progress was assured in that department, now all that was left was to get something to eat and continue training my Mana Cores and internal mana cirction. Oh, and my proficiency with SPELLCRAFT too.


    “Ah, so much to do, so little time!”


    ***********************


    Homeroom ended without anything noteworthy, it was merely the third day of ss, after all.


    As I remained on my seat, I brought out the ‘bait’ I had prepared and waited for it to reel in my prey. Of course, the bait in question was the book I borrowed from the library. By conspicuously cing it on my desk and pretending to read it, I was actually drawing the attention of Anabelle and Edward.


    Anabelle leaked out so much frustration and slight hatred toward me that it was impossible not to notice. As for Edward, I saw his eyes dart in mine and Anabelle’s direction at intervals.


    ‘I just need to wait… it might not be immediate, but—’


    I felt an abrupt shift in my surroundings and noticed, from the corner of my eye, that Edward approached me.


    I suppressed a smile and waited for him to draw closer.


    “E-erm, excuse me…”


    His voice was nothing like the confident, authoritative tone he had used thest time he confronted me. It appeared he had mellowed out quite well.


    I cocked my head as I looked in his direction, slightly cing my hand over the book I read—a subtle message that it was mine.


    “Yes… what is the matter?” My voice was small and calm, exactly how I had addressed him thest time.


    Considering his aggressive attitude toward me previously, and how I had one-sidedly wrecked him, it would surprise anyone why I was still maintaining a calm, non-imposing demeanor with him.


    “Erm, well, see…”


    I looked at him nkly, tilting my head to the side a little to indicate confusion.


    “I need to make a request of you! I’ll do anything in return!”


    His voice sounded desperate, and the gleam in his eyes reflected sincerity. I knew his rtionship with Anabelle ran deep, but this was actually genuine love I was seeing—well, the friendly type anyway.


    “Hm? A request?”


    Since my expression and tone didn’t signify any hostility, but slight curiosity, it encouraged Edward to press on.


    The boy seemed to swallow hard, clenching his fist with resolve as he opened his mouth. From my distance, I spotted Anabelle looking at him with shock written on her face. Was she not expecting this oue—that Edward would try to make me give her the book?


    No, she probably did.


    That was why she didn’t even attempt to stop him, unlikest time. That was how badly she wanted it.


    All that was left were the words I wanted to hear.


    ‘Say it, Edward… what do you want?’