"Why are you two surprised?" Ken's eyes wandered between them, his tone filled with confusion.
"Well..." Dan and Nina both paused, seemingly unsure how to explain why they were surprised.
Dan leaned forward, meeting Ken's eyes.
"I never really thought you had the patience to teach someone, let alone take a disciple."
Ken's eyes shifted from Dan to Nina, as if silently asking, And you?
"I'm just surprised you took in a disciple!" Nina's excitement was obvious as she continued. "What is his name? Where is he from? Does he have a similar unique mana type as you?"
Dan rubbed his forehead in exasperation.
"Okay, Nina, stop! Let him answer the questions first."
Ken, meanwhile, calmly put three teaspoons of sugar into his coffee and stirred it.
"I already put sugar in your coffee." Nina looked confused as she stared at the cup.
"I know." Ken nodded. "But I like my coffee with extra sugar."
"Oh."
Nina nodded and took out a notebook, scribbling something down as if she were taking notes.
"As for my disciple, his name is Joshua." Ken took a sip, swallowed, then smiled. "And he's from my world."
As soon as Dan and Nina registered what Ken had revealed, they looked stunned.
"Did I hear that right?" Dan muttered. "He is from the same place as you?"
"Yeah, you heard me right," Ken answered. "Shocking, right?"
"He's just like me. He accidentally stumbled into a dungeon. Fortunately for him, some knights found him before he died in there. Of course, they needed someone to teach him. Apparently, he has the same mana type as me, although it's not confirmed yet. But I don't think she would lie about that. Anyways, they asked me if I would take him as my disciple, and I did."
As Ken finished describing Joshua's situation, Dan and Nina wore completely different expressions.
Nina looked sad and concerned, while Dan looked mildly amused.
"Poor guy," Nina sighed, her expression full of pity. "Accidentally coming to a place where he doesn't know anyone. The only person he can somewhat rely on is you, Mr. Ken."
"Yeah," Dan nodded. "Poor kid. In an unfamiliar world, and the only person he can rely on is this guy."
Both Ken and Nina stared at Dan speechlessly.
"What!? Why are you two looking at me like that? It was just a joke."
"It wasn't funny," Ken sighed. "You're still cracking this kind of—"
Nina silently nodded in agreement.
Dan, feeling embarrassed, snorted and shot back,
"It was funny. Anyways, why are you here again? Aren't you supposed to teach your new disciple?"
"Oh yeah, about that. That's why I'm here. That's also why I need the favor."
"Huh?" Dan looked confused.
"You see, basically, Joshua needs at least four weeks to adapt to this world and become capable of using magic. So I want him to enroll here for that time and learn the basics."
Dan furrowed his brows.
"Why do you need him to enroll here? You can just teach him yourself, can't you?"
Ken stiffened for a moment.
"Well, I would, but, umm... I'm busy."
"Busy with what? Don't you live in the middle of a forest because you don't want to do anything?"
"No way, I—of course I have things to do. Besides, there are other reasons too for Joshua to enroll here!"
"Really?"
With a look that clearly said I know you're bullshitting, Dan asked,
"Well then, tell me. I'm curious. What are these other reasons?"
Even Nina had a doubtful expression.
"Why do you need to know that?" Ken shot back defensively.
"Well, if you want me to enroll someone in the middle of a semester, I need to know what the reasons are. Especially if the student in question can't even perform magic for the duration of his enrollment. You know this is the Hermes Academy of Arcana, right? We teach magic here."
Irritated by Dan's sarcasm, Ken shot back,
"Of course I know! It's just that Joshua needs to learn... the language, and also the culture, and also how people with mana behave, and all that stuff."
"You were just making those up, right?"
"You didn't even—"
Shaking his head, Dan let out a sigh.
"You know, Ken, this is why I'm really worried about this kid. He only has you as a person he can rely on."
Even Nina silently nodded in agreement.
"Okay, whatever. Just enroll him already."
"Sorry, Ken, but I can't."
"Why? Do you really care so much about him not being able to use magic?"
"No. Well, not exactly. If I do this, I'd have to inform the Headmistress, and she won't allow it."
"What!? Why? Since when did Joseph start caring so mu—wait, did you say Headmistress!?"
Ken looked baffled at Dan, as if asking whether he had heard him correctly.
"What? You didn't know?" Dan looked equally confused.
Ken blinked in surprise, but then his eyes widened.
"Wait, don't tell me that old fart suddenly woke up one day and realized he's actually a girl trapped in an old man's body."
Both Dan and Nina were stupefied.
They couldn't help but imagine such a scenario: an old man with a head full of white hair and a beard giving a cute pose and saying, I'm actually a girl...
Shiver.
Shiver.
Shiver.
All three people in the room felt a shiver run down their backs.
"Are you here to give people nightmares, you crazy lunatic!?"
Dan glared at Ken furiously.
Even Nina nodded while wiping the cold sweat from her forehead. She even took out her notebook and jotted something down that Ken didn't want to know.
"Okay, that was on me."
Ken shook his head.
"But then why did you call him Headmistress?"
"I didn't call him Headmistress, you idiot!"
Dan's voice rose with his temper.
"Then?"
"We have a new Headmistress!"
"No way."
With a look that said Are you kidding me?, Ken continued,
"Like hell that guy would ever step down from the Headmaster position."
As if understanding Ken's doubts, Dan gave him an expression that said, I understand what you're feeling, bro.
"I know it sounds impossible, but it happened. Almost three years ago, Joseph suddenly decided he was going to retire and gave up the Headmaster position."
"What, did he finally kick the bucket!?"
"What does that mean!?"
"I mean, did he know he was about to die or something?"
"I don't know. We haven't seen him since the election ceremony. He pretty much vanished. Maybe only the Headmistress knows where he is."
"Okay, so who's the new Headmistress then?"
"You actually know her really well."
Dan wore a mysterious smile that gave Ken a bad feeling.
"Her name is Miss Elisabeth Elliot."
"That name sounds... familiar."
"But?"
"Of course it's familiar. Remember that strawberry-cookie girl?"
"Huh?"
At those words, a sudden image flashed through Ken's mind: a nerdy-looking girl wearing black-rimmed glasses, holding a box of cookies and a letter while crying.
"Oh shit..."
At that, Dan smiled a genuine devil's smile.
"Oh shit indeed."