Although this thought, when it flashed through her mind, made the youthful girl feel a slight, maidenly shyness, she was simply the kind of person with a strong personality.
Once she made a decision, she did not change it lightly.
This was a form of self-respect, and at the same time, a way to temper her own inner self.
————A rule that every Magician must know; for Anna Li Wei, who had long since ceased to be an ordinary Magician, it was etched even deeper into her heart.
Yet she seemed completely unconcerned about the background of the Magician who had fought with Lin Xiu.
The Magicians she had seen were probably more than this boy had ever met in this city, which was likely why she didn't care much.
"No... if Lin Xiu didn't go out of his way to provoke that Magician, doesn't that mean..."
Was she not the only hunter eyeing the prey?
Anna Li Wei's resolve to get the boy firmly in her grasp by tomorrow only grew stronger.
——————————
Inside the cheapest corner room of the inn, a faint smartphone screen flickered.
That night, Lin Xiu woke up several times in his sleep because he kept thinking of various contradictions, feeling as if a noose of extortion had been tightened around his neck, choking him into breathlessness.
Carefully rummaging through his suitcase, he pulled out a book titled "Pupil of Terror". This was a textbook his father had incorporated into his personal tutoring when Lin Xiu was only ten years old.
Most of its contents discussed various rules and technological summaries related to pupil arts.
It mentioned that the pupil art mastered by his own family (the Ran Family Demon Eye) was virtually the top 1 among "Demon Eye" category secret arts, yet he himself couldn't even manage one percent of it.
Furthermore, the most crucial piece of information was—
"Demon Eyes and Magic are incompatible."
"Those born with a Demon Eye can never become Magicians in their lifetime; they can only become Pupil Masters."
"If that's the case, why could that woman unleash both magic and pupil art at the same time?"
After all, he had truly been immobilized by her red eyes; it couldn't possibly have been fake.
Yet his father's textbook records were even less likely to be false.
This meant that either her magic or her pupil art was a facade put up to deceive others. Behind it, there was most likely a much deeper origin.
Right now, however, Lin Xiu just wanted to get a good sleep and clear his mind of distracting thoughts. After tending to his wounds and bruises, he gazed at the dimming streetlights outside the window and quietly drifted off to sleep.
Early the next morning.
The air carried a faint chill caused by unstable cyclonic patterns following the rainy season.
After casually grabbing some bread, Lin Xiu took a few necessary books and headed out for his first day of classes.
The school seemed rather indifferent to formalities; as a transfer student, all of Lin Xiu's movements from outside to inside the campus went completely unnoticed. Just like any normal student, even things like self-introductions were skipped entirely.
The classmates in Class A practically paid him no mind either, save for a few lively boys and girls who greeted him before ignoring him for the rest of the time.
If things were truly that simple, the taciturn boy would have felt relieved.
However—
Just as his thoughts drifted toward conspiracy theories, a gentle gaze fell upon Lin Xiu from the side.
The owner of that gaze was naturally Anna Li Wei, the female student council president who had received him yesterday.
Her white hair gave the boy an indescribable feeling; after all, white-haired girls were a rare sight in his hometown, where such a look should logically be the exclusive domain of elders.
Yet on the girl, it added a touch of startling, transient, and lovely charm.
"Are you adjusting well?"
As soon as class ended, Anna Li Wei stood up, walked over to Lin Xiu's side, and asked softly, deliberately poking his injured left arm with her fingertip.
Hiss... ouch, ouch, ouch... Lin Xiu almost cried out.
"I'm... doing fine, I suppose."
His stuttering actually gave him away entirely, and Anna Li Wei found his quirky brand of amusement increasingly to her taste.
Though for now, it was still just a tiny bit.
"Is the housing sorted out?"
"Actually... these things really have nothing to do with you."
He casually picked up a book from the desk and pretended to read it to mask the panic in his heart—he certainly didn't want to talk about last night's "battle".
Even less did he want to expose the embarrassing and pathetic predicament of being robbed of a huge sum of money right after his arrival.
"How does it not? I was specifically asked by the teacher to keep an eye on you and help you adjust to school life so you don't get into accidents."
"Please, I'm not a middle schooler; don't treat me like some kind of moron." Lin Xiu was quite annoyed, as he had no desire to be watched over.
It had been like this ever since he was a kid.
Yet precisely this kind of personality was one of the puzzle pieces creating today's pathetic situation.
"Oh? Then let's drop the subject. I don't want to buzz around you every day anyway. How's the living arrangement settled?"
The last few words were said with a hint of coldness.
Because a question whose answer she already knew was meaningless rhetoric to her.
"It's done. I'm living there for this period, and the price is well within my budget."
The boy's tone was so light it was practically floating away, clearly lacking both confidence and improvisational phrasing.
"Where? Shared or whole apartment? If you don't spell it out, I can't submit the report."
"How strange. Aren't these things private? Why do they need to be disclosed to the school?"
Lin Xiu's reaction was pretty much what Anna Li Wei had expected.
"Of course you don't have to tell me everything, but at the very least give me a location so I can gloss over this bureaucratic formality to the maximum extent. Come on... this is pretty much the best time to resolve the issue; if the teacher comes looking for you personally, it might become even harder to talk about."
This school was practically more of a prison than an actual prison! Or could it be... that all of this was actually arranged by my old man?!
That old bastard is truly a beast.
Lin Xiu was not good at lying, but telling the truth in front of a beauty like Anna Li Wei—leaving aside whether she would believe it or not—even if she did, it wouldn't make for a very good impression.
"Miya Garden in Erleston District. There are quite a few rentals there, so I found one over there."
When the boy in front of her hastily took out his phone to pull up the location as if he had been well-prepared (though a glance at his search operations made it obvious he was looking it up on the spot), Anna Li Wei still couldn't hold back a laugh.
"Are you... certain it's Miya Garden? The apartments there were rented out a week ago. After all, they're in high demand; although the quality is a bit poor, the price is negotiable.
Unless someone backed out at the last minute and gave the apartment to you, you're lying to me right now, little brother."
Lin Xiu fell silent for a moment, then unconcernedly retorted, "Even if you received news that they were all rented out, how can you be so sure you know about last-minute changes down to the last detail? At least when I went there, only the very last shabby corner room was left."
So he still liked to put up a stubborn front, did he?
Yet her words were genuinely difficult for him to refute. After all, in the absence of evidence (and naturally, such matters didn't require such seriousness), the less anxious one appeared, the more one could hold their ground in terms of aura.
Interesting. Her impression of this new student became even more three-dimensional.
Stubbornly adorable—someone like this ought to add plenty of amusement to her mind-numbingly boring school life.
"Oh? Since you put it that way, I'll just take your word for it. But anyway, could you come by the streetlight next to the school gate after class? I have a little something to discuss with you."
Anna Li Wei casually brushed aside a lock of white hair on her cheek, leaned forward, and stared straight into Lin Xiu's eyes, exerting pressure on him.
Anticipation? Or perhaps... a malicious prank?
Ding—the class bell rang.
"......Fine."
He agreed reluctantly.
In truth, he had a lingering intuition in his heart. Tied to last night's events, it carried a hint of terror; if things were as he suspected, Anna Li Wei might already know everything.
"Great, it's a deal then. Don't stand me up."
"I never break my word. I either don't agree, or once I agree, I don't go back on it." Lin Xiu turned a page and glanced at her sideways.
The smile on her angelic face was truly captivating to men, and showed not the slightest trace of any hidden agenda.
Could it be... that he was indeed overthinking things?
By the time his thoughts reached this point, class had already been going on for over ten minutes. The teacher gave him meaningful glances several times, but it was completely useless.
With no other choice, the teacher finally had to call on him to answer a question to put an end to it.
As an aside—
Even though Lin Xiu hadn't been listening to the lecture, he answered the teacher's question with absolute accuracy.
Beside him, Anna Li Wei rested her chin in her hand and stared at him quietly for a very long time, completely captivated by a charm called "unfamiliarity" and "fearlessness."