Professor Berdus looked at him with contempt. “Can’t even breathe? Baby?”
“Gah, huff. Shut up!”
Ketel snapped at Professor Berdus as he tried to catch his breath.
Who would’ve thought a newcomer's breath would fail him like some first-year in Einlogard just arrived on campus? It was humiliating, but Ketel had his defense. ‘Anyone who saw that scene would’ve been out of breath,’ he thought.
A first-year who’d been listening to the Skull Headmaster’s moral lectures had brought an army of elementals and was waging war in the depths of a punishment chamber...
Even for Einlogard, where anything could happen, this was too much.
“Aren’t you surprised by that? A first-year! A first-year, an iron-headed brat, made it this far!” Ketel protested.
“Not surprised. I told you he’d come,” Berdus said as if the sun rising and the moon setting were nothing unusual.
Only then did Ketel remember—the first-year had recognized Berdus and called him.
The shock had been so great he’d erased the moment from his head.
“See? I told you. He’d come.”
Ketel stood there dazed for a moment, then it hit him. ‘I get it now.’ At last, he understood.
That freshman was... ‘being deceived!’ He didn’t know exactly how Berdus was fooling him, but Ketel resolved then and there.
Maybe it was fate that kept him trapped in this cell even after he graduated.