Noah’s clenched fists slowly relaxed as he walked beside Alia.
The anger was still there, simring quietly beneath the surface, but he forced himself to calm down. Losing control now wouldn’t help anything.
After a mont, he turned his head toward her.
His expression softened slightly as he looked at her.
"Don’t worry," he said quietly.
His voice was calm, but there was a firmness behind it that made the words carry weight.
"This will be the last ti."
Alia looked up at him when she heard that.
For a second, she simply stared at his face.
Then she nodded slowly.
"I know..." she muttered.
Her voice was soft, almost a whisper.
Even though she knew Noah was only an apprentice magus.
Even though she knew everyone always said he barely had any talent.
Even though she knew how he was often looked down upon by other students at the academy.
Yet despite all of that, she found herself believing his words completely.
It was a strange feeling.
A warm sense of reassurance settled inside her chest, replacing the fear and unease she had carried for months.
She didn’t know why exactly.
But when Noah said sothing like that—
It sohow felt absolute, like a promise that couldn’t be broken.
Alia nodded to herself again.
Just as Noah said.
Sothing like this would never happen again.
The two of them continued walking quietly until their house finally ca into view.
A few minutes later, they stepped inside.
The door creaked softly as it opened.
Inside the house, the familiar scent of cooked food still lingered faintly in the air.
Their mother was still seated at the dining table.
She had clearly been waiting.
The mont she heard the door open, her head lifted quickly.
Her eyes landed on the two of them standing at the entrance.
For a brief mont she simply stared.
Then she sighed deeply in relief.
Her shoulders visibly relaxed as the tension left her body.
"Now where are you two coming from...?" she asked.
Her tone carried a mixture of curiosity and mild concern.
Alia imdiately turned her head away.
Her gaze dropped to the floor as guilt crept onto her face.
She avoided eting her mother’s eyes completely.
The earlier confrontation and the things she had done—sneaking out, lying about where she was going—suddenly made her feel ashad.
Noah, on the other hand, stepped forward.
He let out a slow breath.
"Mom..." he said.
His voice was serious.
"We need to talk."
The mont those words left his mouth, their mother’s expression changed.
A downcast look appeared on her face almost imdiately.
Her eyes lowered slightly as worry crept into them.
"Is this..." she began slowly. "...about you getting expelled from the academy?"
Noah blinked.
His brows drew together slightly.
His eyes narrowed as confusion flashed across his face.
’What... expulsion?’ he thought.
Then he looked at her.
"No," he said. "What made you think that?"
Their mother exhaled softly the mont she heard his answer.
The tension in her shoulders loosened again.
"You were back very early from the academy today," she explained.
Her voice sounded relieved, but there was still a faint trace of worry lingering in it.
"I thought..." she paused briefly. "...they expelled you."
Their mother’s relieved expression lingered for a mont after Noah denied being expelled.
She had always known about Noah’s situation at the academy.
His lack of magical talent wasn’t exactly a secret within the family.
From the ti he had first enrolled, it had beco obvious that he struggled with the practical side of magic far more than other students.
While most young magi advanced steadily through the ranks of apprentice spells and mana control, Noah had remained stuck at the lowest apprentice magus rank for far longer than expected.
It wasn’t that he didn’t work hard.
If anything, he worked harder than most.
But magic talent was sothing people were born with, and unfortunately, Noah seed to have almost none of it.
The only reason he had managed to remain in the academy this long was because of his academic brilliance.
In written tests and magical theory classes, he perford far better than many of the more talented students. His understanding of magical principles, spell structures, and mana flow often impressed even the instructors.
Still, theory alone could only carry soone so far.
Everyone knew that practical ability mattered more for a magus.
And because of that, Noah’s place in the academy had always been hanging by a thin thread.
Their mother was painfully aware of that fact.
So when she had seen him return ho far earlier than usual that day, her mind had imdiately jumped to the worst possible explanation.
She had assud that the academy had finally decided he was no longer worth keeping.
That his lack of talent had finally caught up to him.
She had even begun to suspect that his strange behavior earlier—the way he had avoided answering her questions—was because he was trying to hide the truth from her.
Thinking about it now made her chest tighten slightly.
But hearing Noah say that he hadn’t been expelled brought an imdiate sense of relief.
She turned her full attention toward him again.
"Then what..." she asked slowly. "...is it you want us to talk about?"
*
A few minutes later, the three of them were seated around the dining table.
The food that had been prepared earlier was still sitting there, but none of them touched it.
A heavy silence hung over the table for several seconds, the only sound in the room being the ticking of a clock sowhere in the house.
They had already explained everything to their mother.
From the issue of Noah’s suspension at the academy...
To the situation he had walked into when he followed Alia earlier.
Alia had reluctantly told the entire story.
How the three girls had been bullying her for months.
How Tou had gotten involved.
How he had threatened her.
And how Noah had intervened when he found them.
Through the explanation, their mother’s expression had gradually darkened.
But Noah had been careful about what he said.
There were certain things he made sure to leave out in his explanation.
For example, he never ntioned how he had died a few days ago.
Or how he had been buried by Lloyd and sohow co back to life.
That revelation would be far too shocking.
Dropping sothing like that in the middle of this conversation would only create chaos and confusion.
There was no way his mother would calmly accept sothing that unbelievable right now.
So he kept that part to himself.
He also didn’t say anything about the system also.
The mysterious interface that had appeared before him.
The thing that had changed his life completely.
Explaining that would only raise even more questions, ones he didn’t fully have himself yet.
So instead, he simply told her the parts of the story that he felt were necessary.
The silence at the table stretched on for a few more monts after the explanation ended.
Then finally—
Their mother spoke.
She turned her gaze toward Alia.
"You should have told at least..." she stuttered softly, gently clenching her fists.
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