Ascension Of The Failed Mage

"He really is different today..."

Perhaps Richard was trying to play a mystery game with her. After all, he must have known she was going crazy with curiosity as to how he had managed to resolve the whole incident in one night. With the strange behavior he was exhibiting, her curiosity was even more piqued.

'Richard has some explaining to do!' Ciara smiled to herself.

After the homeroom teacher's return speech, as well as a slight admonition, he left the classroom without looking at Ciara a second time.

However, the girl didn't have time to worry about his strangeness since she was more focused on class. Richard's matter could come later. At the moment, more important issues were at stake.

Making sure she didn't mess up with an impromptu enhancement test.

"Ahh... I suck at enhancements so much!" She wailed.

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Ciara's plans to see Richard was defeated one way or the other. Who would have thought that on this very day she would be so busy?

Her Class Rep duties were surprisingly even more than usual, and it appeared nearly every teacher needed her assistance for something.

"At this rate, I'm not going to have the time to see Richard," Ciara grumbled as soon as the final class ended.

"What do you mean? It's already closing period. Go see him now." Serah said with a nonchalant shrug.

"I can't. Miss. Camilla asked me to help out with the rune books, Mr. Hogwig asked me to bring out the materials we would be using for our next enchantment class, and-"

"Yeah yeah. I got it already. You're busy." Serah interrupted with a sigh.

She looked at Ciara, shackled by the responsibility she held that she couldn't do what she had been looking forward to for so long.

A smile formed on Serah's face instantly.

'What manner of friend would I be if I didn't help her out now?"

"Don't worry, Ciara. I can handle that. You should go see your boyfriend." Serah smiled mischievously.

Ciara's face instantly became red due to her friend's snarky comment.

"H-he's not my boyfriend, idiot!" She burst out.

This only furthered Serah's laughter, and Sam had to join in as well.

"Not you too, Sam... you guys are so..."

"Relax, I'm just teasing. Jeez." Serah smiled.

Ciara calmed down, though her blushing face indicated that her guard was still up.

"I know how much you owe him for helping you out with the rumors and stuff. Plus, he's your friend. You deserve to see him." Serah finally gave a reasonable comment.

"Yeah. Exactly!" Ciara agreed instantly.

"Plus, you've been working yourself to the bone all day. You should rest a bit." Sam added.

Apparently, her friends had her back as well! Hearing such reassuring words, Ciara felt a mix of both happiness and worry.

'Is this really okay?' She thought.

"You're right. But... will you really be okay doing everything on your own?" Ciara asked, looking at Serah with worry.

"Oh, don't worry about that. I'll have Sam with me." "

Immediately he heard this, Samuel looked in Serah's direction with shock. As far as his memories went, he didn't remember agreeing to anything of the sort.

"Hold up, when did I ever-"

Serah returned his surprised gaze with one of her scary ones. With her grin extended as wide as possible, she narrowed her eyes.

"What was that?"

Sam instinctively knew there was no escape. And so... he accepted his fate.

"N-nothing..."

He felt like he would tear up, but he decided to accept the responsibility forced upon him by his friends.

"I'm not even a Class Rep..." He mumbled.

Still, since it was for Ciara's sake, he wasn't feeling too bad about it.

"You guys... Thanks a lot. Really!" Ciara looked at her friends with an emotional gaze that made them uncomfortable.

"J-just go!" Serah looked away, not wanting to be flustered by her sudden display of affection.

Ciara smiled and nodded, taking the gift she had prepared while rushing out of the hall as she made her way toward the office of her dear teacher, mentor, and friend...

"Richard!!!" Ciara said out loud, flinging the door open out of excitement.

She regretted her actions as an afterthought, believing it to be a little too rash.

"S-sorry... hehe..." She laughed, expecting Richard's usual light reprimand.

However, to her surprise, she didn't meet anyone to give her such a reaction. Ciara looked around her critically and found no one present in the office.

It was deserted, unusual for a man like Richard who liked being holed up in his office, doing research.

"Hmm, where did he go?" Ciara muttered.

Perhaps he was hiding somewhere? No, his office wasn't so large as to prevent her from at least seeing him while looking all around.

Besides, a man like Richard wouldn't stoop to such means.

"Well, it looks like he's not here..."

As she sighed in disappointment, Ciara considered leaving and perhaps returning the following day to deliver her present and thanks to her teacher.

However... something about that didn't sit right with her.

"I can't postpone this any longer. Besides, who knows what I'll be stuck with tomorrow... I can't keep relying on Serah and Sam for my duties!"

With her eyes now lit up with resolve, she decided to wait. However, doing some whole standing would be no good, so she proceeded to sit down.

While hearing the chair, an idea came into her head. A naughty smile formed on her face the moment she thought of this.

Ciara's eyes darted toward Richard's chair, leaving the visitor's seat and rather choosing that instead. She dropped her present on the table and sat on Richard's side of the desk, feeling slightly nervous.

"Since I've been coming to this office, this will be a first. Hehe... why do I feel so satisfied doing this?" She giggled to herself.

Despite her usually capable and mature demeanor, Ciara was still only a budding youth. Sometimes, her excitement took over her.

As she played around Richard's desk, enjoying how it felt to be a temporary lecturer on her desk, Ciara flipped through some of the materials on the table.

They were a little dusty, indicating that no one had touched them all day.

"Hmm? Weird... Richard never leaves a book idle for long..." She mumbled.

However, that wasn't the only strange thing Ciara discovered. On the ground, directly beneath the desk's flat surface, was a small mark.

"What's this?"

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