Zaroth let out a long sigh of relief as he finally exited the forest and approached the gates of the capital.
Luna was close to his side, but since he wasn't in a hurry anymore, he didn't bother to desummon her. Stay updated through My Virtual Library Empire
His attention was quickly redirected as his bracelet shined.
He raised an eyebrow—it seemed that Roran, Zack, and Lily had sent him messages asking where he was.
Why didn't he receive those messages earlier? Was it because he was too far away from the capital?
Maybe there was more to these shining things than met the eye.
But that was something for his future self to worry about, so he quickly discarded the thought.
He quickly replied that he was alright and that they would see him tomorrow.
Of course, he didn't forget to write to Elysia, letting her know that his taming journey had come to an end for now.
It was already night, so having done everything he needed to, he headed for his apartment.
"This is going to be the best shower of my life!" This thought drove him forward.
*****
"Where the hell were you?" Lily asked as soon as Zaroth sat down in his seat.
"Forest, slowly getting stronger," he replied.
"And the result?" Roran asked, raising an eyebrow.
Zaroth simply nodded with a grin—it was pretty clear that his journey had been a success.
"Never mind that," Zack spoke as he put his hand on Zaroth's shoulder.
"What are we going to do? We both failed our test!"
"Ah," Zaroth opened his mouth a little in surprise.
'This is why I had a feeling I was forgetting something!' he thought as he massaged his forehead.
"The second test will be held in what, one, two days? We don't have much time to study the material. But if there was somebody that had gotten a good passing grade on the test, and that somebody was generous enough to teach us the material…" Zaroth spoke as he glanced at Lily and Roran.
She raised an eyebrow. "So, what, I'm a teacher now?"
"I would really appreciate it," Zack interjected with a grin.
Roran shifted his gaze to Zaroth as he spoke. "The drinks after the test is over are on you."
Zaroth breathed out a sigh of relief as it seemed that he had gotten somebody to teach him the basics.
'There's no way Roran is worse at teaching this stuff than the professor, so I should be fine,' he thought as he shifted his gaze to the said professor who had entered the lecture room.
He leaned back in his chair, trying to hide his inward thoughts.
'These lectures are akin to torture,'
*****
"Why the hell didn't the professor teach the material like that?!" Zaroth exclaimed in frustration.
He, Zack, Lily, and Roran were sitting at the table in his assigned apartment, reviewing their notes… okay, they were reviewing Lily's and Roran's notes, as Zaroth's and Zack's handwriting was so bad it was borderline unreadable.
This was the first time he had invited his friends to his home, so it was fair to call it a little weird.
But at the same time, he didn't hate it—it felt kind of nice.
The only downside was that Luna was in a bad mood, as Zaroth didn't want her to speak to his friends face-to-face just yet, so he had kept her in his soul.
Curiously enough, Silverfang appeared to still be evolving, as Zaroth wasn't able to summon the wolf no matter how much he tried.
Though he tried not to worry, he was sure that once the evolution was complete, his wolf would be much more formidable than before.
"No idea, maybe they're not getting paid enough?" Lily theorized.
"They're teaching in the most prestigious academy! There's no way they aren't getting paid a shit ton," Roran countered.
"No, but really!" Zack agreed with Zaroth. "This is ridiculous! I mean, more than ninety percent of the material we've been studying during the lectures isn't even on the test!"
"I guess we have to be grateful that Roran and Lily agreed to teach us, huh?" Zaroth spoke with a grin.
"Flattering won't get you anywhere. Just don't forget that after the test is over, the drinks are on you," Roran immediately spoke as he shifted his gaze to Zack.
"That includes you as well."
"Hey, when did—"
"God, shut up!" Lily's voice cut through the conversation.
"This is why you have such bad grades! You can't focus for shit! Not only that, but you're dragging Roran down as well! Just memorize the goddamn material!"
Everybody wanted to retort, but as they all knew she was technically right, they could only returned their gazes to the material.
*****
"As you all know, once you fail an test, you have the opportunity to take it again. As such, I will require your utmost concentration," the professor spoke in front of the students.
Zaroth observed the room with a smile on his face.
He didn't know how, but it turned out that about half the class had failed the test last time. It was weird to admit, but it felt nice to not be the only one.
Why didn't Elysia do something about the issue? The professor was clearly an incompetent fool…
Suddenly, his eyes narrowed as he realized something.
Or maybe she was letting him teach, and once a large portion of the students failed, she would have evidence that the man couldn't teach for shit. Using that information, she could press the Emperor to get rid of his lackey.
It wasn't a far-fetched theory. Zaroth suspected that Elysia had used that strategy in the past—especially when it came to Roderic and Sylvia. From what he had observed, the two acted with the utmost respect towards Elysia… not that everybody didn't.
In fact, he was probably the only one bold—and stupid—enough to invite her on a date.
'And even then she blew me off! What the hell do you mean, 'too young for your taste'?! I've seen more things than mo—'
His thoughts came to a halt as the professor slammed the test onto Zaroth's desk.
He blinked a couple of times, startled, and shifted his gaze to the professor.
Usually, you were supposed to say a quiet 'thank you' as you were handed the test, but Zaroth didn't bother as he gazed at the paper and began to think about how to solve the questions.
The professor grunted, most likely annoyed by the lack of acknowledgement from his student, but didn't say anything as he continued to hand out the tests.
Zaroth's eyes widened as he scanned the test, moving from the first question to the second, then quickly skimming through the rest.
"This wasn't something I suspected…" he muttered in disbelief.
These questions that had given him so much trouble…
Suddenly, they were so easy!
'Roran and Lily have to be some kind of miracle workers!' Zaroth thought. 'Or maybe the professor was so bad at teaching that the moment somebody with a shred of competence taught me the material, I understood it like it was the most natural thing in the world!'
Grabbing his pen, Zaroth began to answer the questions one by one with a single thought,
'I'm going to ace this test!'