An excellent toady shouldn’t just be rigidly obedient to their master’s orders; they should learn to take the initiative.
Nothing to do? You should find something to do.
So before Mu’en arrived at the academy, Aemon had already planned this challenge.
Before everyone, to severely bully and insult Ariel, whom Young Master Mu’en despises, is the best gift he could give to Young Master Mu’en!
Young Master Mu’en would definitely be very pleased! After all, he had spent the entire last year mired in the frustration of being constantly counterattacked by Ariel.
As long as he pleases Young Master Mu’en, the son of a duke, how could he worry about not soaring to great heights in the future?
“……”
Seeing Aemon’s silly grin, Mu’en could already guess his thoughts.
If it were the old Mu’en Campbell, he might really have been happy about this.
— The premise is that Aemon can really beat Ariel.
“I see, I think I understand now.”
Mu’en said:
“You did well, Aemon.”
Hmph.
See, Young Master Mu’en really praised me.
Aemon thought with his nose held high.
“But—”
Mu’en continued:
“There’s no need.”
“Eh?”
Aemon was also stunned.
“What does Young Master mean by that…?”
“It means that…”
Mu’en picked up the gloves on the ground, brushed off the dust, and stuffed them into the stunned Aemon’s palm:
“You don’t have to do things like that anymore.”
“No need to do these things… but these things…”
“These things were all done because of me, right?”
Mu’en patted Aemon’s shoulder:
“So I appreciate you, but from now on, you don’t need to waste your time on these foolish matters.”
“W-why?”
Aemon was confused: “Aren’t these things what Young Master wanted to do?”
“Because…”
Mu’en smiled, his blond hair reflecting the sunlight, making him seem exceptionally radiant.
“In the future, I will not bully others with my status, I will not tease girls, I will not be a scumbag, and more importantly…”
Mu’en turned and looked at Ariel, saying seriously:
“Ariel Bugarde, I will not trouble you anymore.”
“… Are you serious?” After a long pause, Ariel managed to squeeze out those words.
“Of course, I’m serious.”
Mu’en tilted his head in confusion:
“Am I not serious enough right now?”
“But…” Ariel still maintained a skeptical attitude.
And besides, after everything you’ve done to me, you think saying you’ve changed could just erase it all? How is that possible?
“Surely it can’t be that easy to resolve, right?”
It seemed like Mu’en could see through Ariel’s thoughts, and he smiled helplessly.
Then, he walked up to Ariel again.
About two steps away.
Stood up straight.
Took a deep breath.
And then…
Bowed at a ninety-degree angle.
“Although it’s rather insignificant compared to what I did to you before, please allow me to apologize now.”
Mu’en kept his head down and said seriously.
“I sincerely apologize for the excessive things I did to you before, Ariel Bugarde.”
“… Ah… you…”
Ariel’s eyes widened even more, her mouth agape.
She could almost fit an egg in there.
She began to feel that she really wasn’t dreaming.
Instead, perhaps when she was training earlier, a bizarre entity had put a hex on her.
That Mu’en Campbell, the one who looked down on everyone, was actually apologizing to her, actually bowing down to apologize!
“Could it be that the world is ending tomorrow?” Ariel thought, somewhat fearful.
“I originally planned to make more preparations, to bring a gift and sincerely apologize to you, but things happened suddenly.”
Mu’en raised his head, rubbed himself shyly, and smiled:
“Right now, aside from the one million yen pocket money I swiped from An, I have nothing else on me. But offering money as a gift would surely be an insult to you, so I won’t do something so vulgar.”
Mu’en looked around and ultimately stuffed the half-eaten skewer in his hand into Ariel’s hands, saying earnestly:
“The skewers from the third shop on the left when you leave the school gate are very delicious.”
“……”
Ariel looked at Mu’en, then at the skewer in her hand, and said nothing.
“Well, I will make up for the gift another time, I’ll be leaving now.”
Mu’en prepared to leave, but just before departing, he leaned closer to Ariel and whispered:
“You don’t have to struggle with whether to forgive me; it doesn’t matter if you don’t.
I apologize simply because I did wrong before, nothing more.”
“Goodbye, Ariel Bugarde.”
“I hope our relationship can become that of ordinary classmates, not enemies.”
“……”
Mu’en left without looking back.
But even after he had walked a long way, the area remained silent.
The onlookers were silently stunned and then wordlessly dispersed.
It was only when Ariel was left alone that her body suddenly shivered as she reacted.
“Eh? Wait, Mu’en Campbell, you could use a million as a gift, that would also be fine! I’m quite mundane!”
……
At the bell tower, in the office.
Professor Plon, the head of the magic department, with a dignified appearance and a white beard and hair, stood by the window, gazing at the students coming and going at the school gate.
“Any promising talents this year?”
A light laugh came from behind.
Professor Gran, also from the magic department, walked over to stand next to Professor Plon, looking into the distance beside him.
“The new students will enroll in the afternoon.”
Professor Plon glanced at him:
“As a professor, shouldn’t you show a bit more concern for your students?”
“Haha, I really care about my lovely students!”
“Say that again after you improve the average grades of your own subject.”
“I can’t help it; the subject of magic potions is so dull and doesn’t directly enhance combat power. Nowadays, very few kids are willing to study it.”
Gran shrugged helplessly.
“So, since the new students enroll in the afternoon, what are you looking at?”
“If I can’t look at the new students, I’m obviously looking at the old ones.”
Professor Plon said expressionlessly:
“On the first day of enrollment, you can see a student’s spirit and demeanor; from just looking at their expressions, I can tell roughly whether they have wasted their holiday or spent it with some meaning.”
