"Vlad...food," Chloe murmured, tugging at his sleeve and pointing at a restaurant with a board sign shaped like a sausage.

"We need to enroll first," Vlad said, shaking his head. "We’ll eat your favorite dishes after that, okay?"

She nodded without any reluctance, which surprised him.

"All meat~" she sang, skipping forward.

"No, you need to eat vegies as well," Vlad called from behind, stepping after her.

Unlike their visits to Barton City, they had no time for sightseeing. It was already evening, and orientation would begin the following day. They needed to enroll before it started.

"I think we should follow that," Vlad said, pointing at a large banner strung overhead, its ends fixed to the buildings on either side of the path.

Welcome to the Arcane Academy, Freshers! Enroll yourself at the Convocation Hall of Velarum before orientation begins!

After memorizing the route from the city map posted on the notice board at the entrance, Vlad and Chloe arrived before the Convocation Hall.

It was a massive stone building with rows of glass windows running parallel across its many levels. A wide entrance with a semicircular arch and a clean stone staircase sat at its centre.

Surprisingly, there were far fewer people than Vlad had expected, coming and going through its doors.

"The place isn’t crowded because today is the last day before orientation," Vlad murmured. "Everyone must have already enrolled."

"Stop spacing out. Hurry," Chloe said, pulling him by the arm into the building. She was oddly excited, enough to surprise even Vlad.

They passed through a hallway lined with rooms on either side, which opened at its far end into a large central hall. Rows of wooden benches with soft cushions were arranged across the floor, a handful of people seated among them.

"Welcome Juniors, you must be here for the enrollment," an excited soft voice echoed, gathering both of their attention.

A short girl stood before them, barely reaching Vlad’s chest. She had curly sea-green hair, large circular glasses, and a cute smile. In her hands she carried a clipboard stuffed with papers, though Vlad could hardly see it from his angle, what with the large mounds blocking his view. Forget the clipboard, he couldn’t see anything below her chest at all.

If not for them, he would have assumed she was just a child playing around.

"Yes, we are here for enrollment," Vlad replied politely.

"Alright. Then let me introduce myself first," the girl said, her eyes gleaming with excitement.

In a proud, boastful tone, she announced, "I’m Sophia Leone, second year from the Research Department and vice president of the Student Council."

"Nice to meet you, Miss Sophia. I’m Vlad," Vlad introduced himself, quite pleased with his own politeness.

Unexpectedly, Sophia’s face scrunched into a pout, though she said nothing and shifted her eyes to Chloe, waiting for her introduction.

"Stare..."

"..."

"Stare..."

"..."

"Stareeeee..."

"Ch-Chloe," Chloe murmured, made awkward by Sophia’s relentless staring.

Yet another surprise for Vlad. Someone had actually managed to make Chloe speak first, without food or his intervention.

"Great," Sophia grinned with a sense of victory. "Please show me your identity cards to confirm that you two are eligible for enrollment."

"This is her identity card," Vlad said, taking out the Black Card from his inner pocket.

"A B-Black Card!?" Sophia gasped loudly, drawing the attention of everyone seated on the benches.

"Haha, I-I’m sorry," she said to the people staring at her, before turning her focus back to the two of them.

"N-not just S-Rank, she is actually S+," Sophia gasped again, reading the details. She barely managed to keep her voice down this time.

Turning to Chloe, she grabbed her hand and began blurting at an insane speed, brimming with excitement.

"Chloe, do you want to join the Student Council? You won’t have to do any real work. You’d only need to discipline students, and even that would be rare. I’ll give you a thousand credits if you join right now, and five hundred credits every month after that. Should I sign you up? What do you say? Tell me, alr—yap-yap-yap..."

"Vlad," Chloe murmured, looking at him.

Vlad could tell that her introverted self was being completely overwhelmed by Sophia’s overpowering energy.

He knew that she was begging him for help.

And yet he didn’t.

He still hadn’t forgiven her for making fun of him when he puked.

Not that he would ever admit it, but yes. He was very petty.

Only after Chloe looked on the verge of fainting from Sophia’s unstoppable barrage did Vlad finally step in.

"Umm, Miss Sophia, shouldn’t she enroll in the academy before joining the council?"

"Oh, right...haha, I got carried away again," Sophia chuckled awkwardly, releasing Chloe’s hand and returning the card.

She fished a pen from the chest pocket of her blazer, uncapped it with her teeth, and wrote Vlad and Chloe’s names into the list.

’She looks like a panda,’ Vlad thought, stifling a laugh.

"I’ve written down both your names. Enter that room when you are called," she said, pointing to the only locked door on the far wall of the hall.

"Wait, you haven’t confirmed my eligibility," Vlad said, confused.

"Oh, I forgot!" She knocked her tiny fist against her own head and stuck out her tongue.

"But I’ve already written it down and I can’t have crossings in the papers or the president will scold me," she muttered, pressing the cap between her teeth. "In that case..."

She fixed Vlad with a sudden, earnest stare from behind her emerald eyes and said, "I will trust in your humanity that you wouldn’t come here without being eligible. Please take a seat."

"Ehh?" Vlad was completely baffled. How someone as irresponsible and scatterbrained as her had secured the position of vice president was utterly beyond him. He kept those thoughts to himself, though, and settled onto the bench beside Chloe to wait for their turn.

It was only now, with some distance between them, that Vlad took in her appearance properly. She wore a plain white shirt underneath, its buttons clinging on for dear life. Over it sat a black blazer, and on her legs a thigh-length skirt over black leggings.

On the chest pocket of the blazer, Arcane Academy was stitched in golden embroidery, with a small metallic badge pinned above it reading Vice President, Sophia Leone.

"Is she that beautiful?" Chloe muttered, her eyes narrowed at Vlad.

"Oh, it wasn’t because of th—"

"Whatever," Chloe muttered, bringing her heel down on his toe.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"Guess, genius?"

"Oh, because I didn’t step in sooner when she was overpow—"

Smack!

She stomped on his toe again, harder this time, and muttered, "Idiot Vlad, just die!"