Angry

Flax Mounten had been ordered around by his “friends” for three years.

At first, he thought such things would soon end, so he endured and conceded.

Then, he thought his friends would eventually get bored, especially since he was so obedient.

Who would have thought this waiting would last until now?

“Is the packed food here?”

“Pa-packed food is here…” he answered cautiously.

He had once tried to show displeasure, and immediately became the sandbag in a game of sandbag tossing.

Now, he didn’t want to be beaten for nothing.

“Wait, why is there one missing?”

“No, none is missing. I’ve meticulously recorded everything…”

He quickly pulled out his notebook to check.

“I said one is missing, and you dare to talk back, you brat?”

He was kicked from behind and sent flying, and a good portion of his own food spilled onto the ground.

But he didn’t intend to resist. The reason was similar to before… silently enduring was best.

“You ask about his bodyguards?”

His family couldn’t afford good bodyguards.

He once had a knight-level bodyguard… but the man broke his leg falling in the bathhouse in the middle of the night.

So after that, he didn’t let his family assign him bodyguards, lest he harm others.

As for telling his parents… setting aside the fact that his father was merely a baron from an underdeveloped region, incomparable to the nobles of Mondstadt.

Moreover, he really didn’t want to see his parents worried and sad.

When he entered Mond Academy, his family had been so proud and happy.

If they were to know how poorly he was doing in school… he really didn’t want to see his parents worried and sad.

Of course, he didn’t intend to just swallow his pride.

Over these past few years, he had been diligently studying and practicing.

His mage level had already reached advanced, and if he reached Grand Mage before graduation, no one could say he wasn’t relying on anything.

If he reached Grand Mage level, these people would surely not dare to treat him this way… Or so he should hope.

After all, his “friends” were clearly the type to bully the kind and fear the strong; they would definitely back down.

As long as he became stronger.

The goal of Grand Mage was indeed a bit too distant, so he also tried to find a shortcut… such as joining the Azure Knights.

As soon as the last semester ended, he went north to take the assessment…

However, he failed the physical test, and his magical ability was evaluated as having only enough magical power, but being practically too weak.

“Go back and practice more, young man.”

The assessor said.

He wanted to practice, but…

“This food is too dry… Flax Mounten, go buy us some drinks.”

“Please wait a moment, I’ll be right back.”

He immediately turned to leave, not forgetting to cast an acceleration spell on himself as he went.

The reason was simple: there wasn’t much time left.

With a double trip, by the time he finished eating, lunch break would be over.

If his “friends'” homework and projects weren’t assigned, he would have to shift some of his eating time to between classes… of course, there might be other tasks then.

The worst time was when he only ate lunch after school in the afternoon.

Not eating wasn’t an option either.

He had chosen many courses related to magic crafts, which consumed a lot of mental and physical energy.

And he wanted to save a little more time to do other things…

He heard from seniors who had successfully passed the Azure Knights assessment that they spent at least thirty-five hours a week on practical magic exercises and close-quarters combat training for mages.

He, on the other hand, spent less than ten hours a week.

The gap was too wide.

It wasn’t that he was lazy, but his “friends'” homework and projects all needed his help to complete.

He had tried to speed up as much as possible, but the higher the grade, the harder the questions, and he also had to avoid the teacher realizing it was all done by one person.

He had tried staying up late to solve it, but the next day, his efficiency in both class and exams would decrease… a pure act of robbing Peter to pay Paul.

To be honest, he was nearing his limit.

Between wholeheartedly serving his “friends” and gritting his teeth, hoping to luckily make a name for himself, he could only choose one.

But he still wanted to grit his teeth and persist.

The reason was simple and overbearing—

Why should he serve these scumbags for free during his seven years at school?!

But he only dared.

He dared not say it aloud.

Nor did he think saying it aloud would be useful.

Teachers who relied solely on good family backgrounds and top talents, needless to say, other classmates would never get involved in such troublesome matters.

One wrong move could even implicate others…

He knew all too well how serious such things could be.

“Student Flax Mounten, were you… were you being bullied by those people?”

Hearing these words, he abruptly stopped.

The voice was not unfamiliar.

That morning, the entire classroom could hear her greeting others.

He slowly turned his head.

Sure enough, it was that blonde girl named Flora.

Seeing her concerned and worried expression, he decisively shook his head.

“No, no, nothing’s wrong. I was just playing around with my friends…

It’s nothing, I have to go now, I have things to do.”

He sped off.

The more he thought about it, the more ashamed he felt.

His embarrassing side had actually been discovered by a newly enrolled girl!

Honestly, what he found most unbearable on weekdays wasn’t his “friends'” teasing, but the unintentional mockery of passersby when he made a fool of himself.

‘I must pass the assessment as soon as possible and join the Heavenly Knight Order… Not only that, I will become a Grand Mage…’

He wanted to hold his head high and make everyone who looked down on him see him in a new light!

But what Flax Mounten didn’t know was that just as he left, gritting his teeth, Flora slowly withdrew her intentionally displayed, barely disguised look of pity, and sighed mockingly:

“He truly is a child with strong self-esteem…”

She had secretly hoped her ‘arrogance’ theory was wrong, and that she could simply extend a helping hand to him to end the matter.

But the reality was, as expected, troublesome… and this kind of trouble was also the main reason others were hindered from helping Flax Mounten on a daily basis.

Her words couldn’t really be considered wanting to help him; it was only for the impure reason of currying favor with Ryan that she bothered.

And similar to before, her pursuing him this time was only to discover that Flax Mounten was being bullied; she had no immediate intention of solving the problem.

In fact, she would even need to escalate the conflict later, making Flax Mounten suffer even more.

“She truly is too despicable.”

‘(Never mind, overthinking won’t help solve the problem. I should go back quickly.)’

Flora quickly rushed back to the cafeteria.

Soon, she met Ryan at the entrance.

“Let’s go, we’ll eat somewhere else.”

Ryan, holding the food he had packed for her, walked out without another word.

Flora noticed that the students leaving the cafeteria in twos and threes looked at them with considerable anger and dissatisfaction…

“Your Highness, what happened?”

“Nothing happened.”

Ryan said coldly.