Syon approached Rotsard's room after sunset, as has become part of his daily schedule. As always, he made sure that no one saw him, even though the bleached-blond-haired youth told him many times that it really doesn't matter… but Syon did not share that sentiment.
Rotsard might have not cared whether everyone saw him as a cheat and someone who bought his way to good grades, but the more those kinds of rumors spread, the more tilted Syon would become, getting angry on Rotsard's behalf.
Being a homunculus, that is the miracle of magic engineering, Syon saw Rotsard as a creature far surpassing him in every possible way, and the more he studied the youth, the more certain of that he would become.
That, also, was exactly why Syon couldn't comprehend why Rotsard was fine being treated so unfairly…
With that in mind, Syon decided this time around, instead of studying the perfect mana unity, he would confront the bleached-blond-haired youth about those issues directly.
He reached out to the door and knocked on it stealthily, glancing back to make sure that he remained unnoticed.
*click* *creak*
"Hi, we've got a lot to… HUH!?"
At the sound of the door opening, Syon immediately stepped forward, expecting Rotsard to be making way for him as always… but this time around, he almost slammed his nose against someone's towering figure blocking the door, and couldn't keep down his voice as he stumbled back.
The hallway was basked in a bluish white light for a split second and…
…nothing else happened…
"...?"
A bit startled, Syon hunched down, trying to take a peek through the door to maybe catch the face of the giant he almost walked into, but no one was there anymore.
"Are you not going to enter…?"
"Wh-wha…!?"
Keeping that in mind, it wasn't surprising that when Rotsard poked his head out and asked, he ended up spooking Syon into letting out a high-pitched whimper.
"Well?"
The youth said, raising his brows at his guest's peculiar behavior.
"F-first of all, who…?! What...? What was that!?"
"...?"
Syon, although still taken aback, quickly regained most of his composure and asked hastily while pointing in the general direction of the door Rotsard was leaning through, but the bleached-blond-haired youth merely tilted his head and looked at him with concern.
"No! Do not try that with me! What was that?"
"A spell. Illusion one. Sorry, I didn't expect you to be that scared. I'll be careful from now on."
Syon pouted and scoffed angrily… and Rotsard immediately straightened his back and nodded at Syon while acting suspiciously earnest…
"..."
"Hey, my eyes are up here."
That caused Syon to squint his eyes and carefully stare at Rotsard until the youth snickered at him.
"I guess that's it for the night, then? Well, goodni…"
"N-no, no, no! W-wait…! I'm…! I'm coming, I'm coming!"
Finally, it took Rotsard acting as if he was going to close the door in Syon's face to make him flinch and hurry in while whining pitifully.
"Before we start. How did the headmaster react to our suggestion?"
As he closed the door behind his sulking guest, Rotsard asked, completely moving on from the previous subject.
"The idea of remedial classes felt a bit redundant to him, considering that Royal Academy doesn't accept those with subpar talent, but he ended up agreeing with it. In his words, it will serve both as an additional consequence and a lifeline for those who mistakenly took their duties as a student too lightly."
Syon sniffled a couple of times but ended up answering properly while giving the bleached-blond-haired youth a grumpy side-eye.
"And while we're at it, Young Lady Saria expressed her dissatisfaction with the Academy's request for her to stay until the results are posted. She wanted to return home for the winter break after all."
"She wouldn't be able to take the remedial classes if she went, though."
Syon added, making Rotsaard raise his brow and chuckle.
"...wha….?"
That remark made Syon lean back and stare at the bleached-blond-haired youth with absolute confusion.
"While I did expect the connection with those requests, are you ACTUALLY convinced that your cousin, the genius and prodigy of the Vallhall family, failed in one of the exams…?"
He shook his head before taking a deep breath and asking in a doubtful voice.
"One? Don't be silly. Saria failed ALL theoretical exams."
"..."
Rotsard snickered and rolled his eyes with an amused expression, stunning Syon into silence.
Syon continued staring at Rotsard in silence. He opened his mouth only to close it and place his hand over it, then he moved back his hand and opened it only to close it again as he fidgeted, trying to find the right words.
"R-Rotsard… umm… There seems to be some sort of miscommunication between us... because, if I was supposed to assure that outcome in the same way I made sure you would be ranked below the commoner student… then… I… I didn't…"
Syon did find the right words, and he did express them while feeling incredibly awkward, looking at the bleached-blond-haired youth with a worried expression. He really did look like a child who forgot about a chore they promised their parent to do.
"Pffft No, no. There was never a need for you to interfere in grading her exams. She's an idiot."
Rotsard snorted before continuing to chuckle as he reached up and ruffled Syon's hair in passing.
"...your cousin, the genius of the Vallhall family, is an idiot…?"
Taken aback, Syon furrowed his brows and inquired, blinking repeatedly.
"Oh, she is a genius, alright. Although the word that describes her, not perfectly, but at least better at the moment, is savant."
"!"
Rotsard shrugged his shoulders and pointed out, causing Syon's brows to shoot up.
"Saria showed great talent since she was basically a toddler, but precisely because of that, she was coddled and hailed as a faultless prodigy, which ended up causing her confidence to reach the highest heavens and never bother to pay attention to her surroundings. She doesn't look at the world the way an average person does, and if she sees a solution that's better than the one anyone else came up with, in her eyes at least, she will just do her own thing without looking back. She was never scolded for cutting corners or dismissing an assignment given by any of her tutors and doing a completely different task, so her attention span on something she finds boring or bothersome is almost nonexistent… not because she can't focus, mind you, but simply because she doesn't care enough to do so. You can say that the Vallhall family's affection has wasted her potential for fifteen years and ended up raising the laziest of geniuses. You will see. Her answers, although interesting and correct in their own sense, will have nothing to do with the questions asked… or even with the general subject of them, simply because she can't even see herself needing to adhere to the rules of the exam itself. What she needs is a wake-up call to realize that she must start to pay attention to tasks and problems in front of her before doing her own thing."
"...oh…"
As Rotsard went further and explained the situation in more detail, Syon's eyes kept widening, and a short gasp of baffled understanding escaped his mouth.
"That said… the spell that almost broke through my earth wall, did you figure out whether you want to teach it to me or not?"
"...don't you have more than enough power at your disposal as you are…?"
Rotsard asked, causing Syon to look to the side and grumpily grumble in response.
"Is that a no, then?"
"...I wouldn't say that... Not a no, no…"
The youth tilted his head, wondering, to which his guests let out a defeated sigh and shook his head. Slightly disappointed with himself and how spineless he was when Rotsard requested something from him.
"Because it will make for interesting research material?"
"...hmph…! Yes… Yes, it will."
Rotsard chuckled, already certain of the outcome, while Syon scoffed softly before nodding as he pouted sulkingly.