"Ah~ So relaxing~" Caius sighed contentedly after taking a sip of the steaming floral tea.

  Holan chuckled, also taking a sip, then propped her chin on her elbow and asked, "How's your promotion coming along?"

  "Just three more Gold-ranked missions to go. I should be able to wrap them up in five days." Caius replied.

  "That fast?" Holan was surprised.

  "Of course. I'm a man determined to become a Legendary Mercenary." Caius said confidently.

  "Is that so? Well, that’s quite the difficult dream to achieve." Holan smiled.

  No matter the profession, anything associated with the word "Legendary" was never easy to attain.

  Caius said, "Exactly. Finding a woman who can become a Legendary Mercenary is even harder."

  Holan: "???"

  "So that's what you meant?" Holan was momentarily stunned before realizing his meaning, playfully giving him a light slap.

  "Haha." Caius laughed without dodging.

  A little physical contact at the right time could sometimes enhance an interaction.

  Like right now.

  After some playful banter, Holan seemed much more relaxed, as if the burden of being an Instructor didn't exist when she was with Caius.

  Hmm... had it ever existed?

  Although this big guy kept calling her "Instructor" with utmost respect, he had actually flirted with her quite a few times.

  But his teasing was just the right amount—so much so that instead of calling it teasing, it was more like "flirting." Of course, Holan herself hadn't realized this.

  Lazily resting her head on the table, she asked, "Do mercenaries have a lot of free time?"

  "Not bad. As long as we don't take on missions, we're free all the time." Caius replied.

  "Doesn’t that mean no income?" Holan asked.

  "Haha, exactly. That’s why some lazy mercenaries take on a mission and then slack off for days. Only when their pockets are emptier than their stomachs do they think about taking the next job." Caius leaned back into the soft sofa.

  "Slack off?" Holan’s eyes lit up at the term.

  "More or less means—‘I quit.’" Caius explained animatedly, making Holan giggle.

  "That’s quite fitting. Sometimes, I feel like slacking off too." Holan said softly.

  "Oh? You don’t like being an Instructor?" Caius asked.

  "It’s alright. I don’t love it, but I don’t hate it either. What I truly enjoy is focusing on magical research, not being an Instructor who has to balance research and teaching." Holan stirred her tea with a silver spoon, speaking slowly.

  "How so?" Caius appeared to be listening intently, but inside, he was delighted.

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  When a woman was willing to share her life and interests with you, it meant she had a good impression of you.

  And he liked that feeling.

  "Academy rules. If you want to conduct magical research, you have to be an Instructor."

  "Unless you reach the level of a Professor or an Archmage, you have to juggle both."

  "Magical research alone is already exhausting, and on top of that, I have to look after a bunch of fearless young students."

  "You saw it just now—truly exhausting."

  "It really is." Caius nodded in agreement. At times like this, the best approach was to empathize, no matter what the other person said.

  "Right?" Holan sighed. "But they’re my students, so I have to take responsibility."

  Caius looked at her with admiration. "They’re lucky to have you as their guide. Not every gardener of knowledge possesses both wisdom and responsibility—let alone being such a beautiful gardener."

  Holan’s eyes brightened.

  She really liked the analogy of a "gardener of knowledge." Her eyes curved into a smile. "Thank you. Hearing that makes it all feel worthwhile."

  "Haha, no problem!" Caius laughed heartily.

  "By the way, have you been in contact with Belle?" Holan asked.

  "Of course. She asked me to bring you her letter and badge—she said she doesn’t want to attend the Academy anymore." Caius nodded, speaking leisurely.

  "What?!" Holan immediately stood up, her face full of anxiety. "Did you agree to it?"

  But Caius remained calm and relaxed. "Of course not."

  Holan let out a breath of relief, then looked at Caius with slight annoyance. "Why did you only bring this up now?"

  Caius blinked. "Because I’ve already taken care of it."

  Holan blinked as well. "Taken care of? What do you mean? How?"

  "Have you ever truly understood her?" Caius asked instead of answering directly.

  "Of course!" Holan nodded. But under Caius' unwavering gaze, she hesitated slightly and added, "Of course… I know some things."

  "She’s talented—born to be a magic researcher. She’s a genius!"

  "Every magical research task I gave her, she completed flawlessly. She—"

  Before she could finish, Caius shook his head. "She’s been struggling."

  Holan was stunned. Then she said, "I know her situation. She’s an orphan who grew up in the Orphanage, taking care of an old lady and several children. Life has always been difficult for her. That’s why I set aside part of my research funds to support them."

  "But that’s not the main issue," Caius said, looking Holan in the eyes.

  "Financial hardship isn’t the real problem. She’s lived through it all these years, and your support doesn’t change much."

  "In fact, she saves the money you give her. Their lives remain difficult because they are used to it."

  "Especially after the new district plan in Ocean City was finalized, they lost an important source of income. The money you give them—they don’t dare spend it."

  "So their lives don’t improve. They continue to be frugal."

  "And your recognition of her only added more pressure on her academic life."

  "She’s grateful for everything you’ve done for her, so she does her best to complete the tasks you assign."

  "But do you know what her life at the Ocean City Academy is really like?"

  Holan shook her head and listened quietly.

  Caius spoke slowly.

  "You came to Ocean City Academy to recruit students for your team. For the students, it was a rare opportunity, so many competed for it. But you chose her."

  "That was the beginning of her ostracization."

  "If I’m right, after choosing her, you didn’t stay at the Academy but returned to Hydis. You communicated via letters, sending and receiving tasks remotely. You rarely met her, right?"

  Holan silently nodded.

  Caius continued, "Because you chose her and not the others, those students grew jealous. They bullied and harassed her, trying to stop her from coming to Hydis Magic Academy."

  Holan’s hands trembled slightly, but she stayed silent and listened.

  Caius lowered his head, looking at the still tea in his cup, as if seeing the reflection of that mushroom-hatted girl.

  "During class, they would use Magic to toss her books away, kick her chair, and never stop for the entire lesson."

  "She didn’t fight back. She just endured it until the class ended—but even then, it didn’t stop."

  "On the road, they would deliberately bump into her, making her fall and get hurt. And that’s only what I saw in a single morning."

  "Even outside the Academy, they framed her for things she didn’t do. If not for kind-hearted people and a good-natured shop owner, the compensation for an expensive magic potion alone would have made her already difficult life unbearable."

  "To protect herself, she started wearing a mushroom-shaped hat to prevent head injuries."

  "She knitted her own sweater so she wouldn’t ruin the clothes the old lady made for her."

  "The entire class, following the lead of those bullies, isolated her, shunned her, mocked her."

  "And despite all this, she still completed your tasks excellently. Do you think…"

  Caius raised his head and looked Holan in the eyes.

  "Should you be happy about that?"