Vol3 Chapter 22 Who Lets the Cat In?

The weekdays that followed settled into a rhythm so ordinary that, for Amos, it almost felt miraculous.

Morning bells echoed across Arianne Academy, students flowed through the marble walkways with books tucked beneath their arms, and lecture halls slowly filled with conversations ranging from magical theory to complaints about homework that had somehow already begun piling up despite classes only just starting.

Their first class was Mathematics. The professor walked in with a lively stride, remarkable for his age. Amos knew who he was right away.

"Professor Fred."

The very same professor responsible for the written examination. Fred beamed at the class.

"Good morning, everyone!"

His voice alone was enough to make several students from the entrance examination visibly tense. Fred looked around before suddenly laughing.

"Oh! I see quite a few familiar faces!"

Nobody looked particularly happy about that. Fred ignored it.

"My name is Fred."

He proudly scrawled it across the massive blackboard.

Then, just below—

Professor of Applied Mathematics and Magical Calculations

He turned back with an impossibly bright smile.

"I love mathematics."

A collective feeling of unease spread across the classroom.

"You should too."

Nobody answered. Fred nodded as though they had enthusiastically agreed.

"Excellent."

He clapped once.

"Let's begin with something simple."

Several students visibly relaxed. Fred wrote on the board.

"A merchant purchases thirty-six enchanted crystals. Twenty-five percent are defective. One-third of the remaining crystals are sold at a fifteen percent loss. The rest are sold with compounded magical tax based upon regional transportation laws. Calculate the final profit after..."

The equation went on.

And on.

...and on.

Someone let out a quiet whimper. Fred just smiled.

"A warm-up."

Across the room, Chester's confident expression slowly disappeared.

Willow dove straight into her calculations, while Aurelia calmly jotted down formulas. Elodie had already finished, and Edith was quietly filling half a page with neat work. Meanwhile, Amos just stared at the board.

"..."

He slowly raised his hand. Fred smiled.

"Yes?"

"Professor."

"Yes?"

"How is this a warm-up?"

Fred blinked.

"It isn't?"

He looked back at the board.

"..."

"Oh."

He scratched his head.

"I accidentally wrote tomorrow's example."

The entire class collectively sighed in relief.

Then Fred smiled again.

"So, let's solve it anyway."

The relief vanished instantly.

***

History followed lunch, and the professor slipped in so quietly that most students barely noticed. He was a thin, middle-aged man balancing an absurdly tall stack of books, heavy enough to pass for weapons. With care, he set them down on the desk.

"..."

Dust rose dramatically. He adjusted his glasses.

"My name is Steve."

He paused.

"I teach history for this class."

Another pause.

"I love history."

He smiled—a knowing grin belonging to someone who had willingly absorbed six thousand years of recorded history. Steve opened the first book.

"History is just dates."

He opened a second.

"It is understanding people."

A third.

"The rise of kingdoms."

A fourth.

"The fall of kingdoms."

A fifth.

"The tax policies of kingdoms."

The room became quiet. Steve's eyes sparkled.

"Did you know—"

The students instinctively knew they were about to receive information nobody had asked for.

"—that during the reign of the Seventh Emperor, an entire trade dispute nearly caused a civil war because someone accidentally mislabeled something?"

Nobody had known. Nobody had even wondered. Still, Steve kept going—for nearly fifteen minutes. By the time he finished, everyone somehow grasped how one small bookkeeping error had managed to reshape regional commerce for almost the next two hundred years.

"Fascinatingly weird."

Willow unconsciously whispered it. Steve smiled with obvious satisfaction.

"Indeed."

Then he spent the next twenty minutes explaining how a label had become politically significant.

Even Amos found himself listening.

"History is weird."

***

The rest of the professors were just as unforgettable. One spoke so quietly that even the front row strained to catch his words. Another taught combat theory with such passion that half the class was ready to spar on the spot. An elderly magical ecology professor somehow managed to make monsters sound endearing, despite frequently noting how many people they’d devoured over the centuries. Arianne Academy certainly attracted some unique characters.

As for Amos, his days settled into an easy routine. He arrived early, stayed attentive during lectures, and answered questions whenever they came his way. His assignments were always handed in on time. If classmates needed help, he explained things with patience. And when discussions grew tense, he simply stepped back.

Professors quickly formed a unanimous opinion.

"Excellent student."

"As expected from a Kyros."

"He even naps less than the reports suggested."

Amos considered that last one unfair.

Among the students, his reputation eventually became something unremarkable. Most just acknowledged that Amos was gifted. After all, this was Arianne Academy, where being a genius was almost commonplace—and Amos liked it that way.

One afternoon between classes, he sat under a tree, reading a borrowed book as a gentle breeze drifted through the academy grounds. Nearby, students chatted, others rushed to their next lecture, and some practiced magic in the training fields. The scene was peaceful—wonderfully, gloriously peaceful. Amos closed his book for a moment and smiled.

"This."

He leaned back against the tree.

"This is exactly the academy life I wanted."

For now...

It seemed the world had finally decided to leave him alone.

At least until the next inevitable headache arrived.

***

The afternoon sun streamed through the tall windows of the Hall of Stars, filling the quiet common room with a warm golden glow. It was one of those rare moments when the place was completely empty. Most students were still in electives, training, wandering the academy grounds, or killing time somewhere else. Amos had come back early with a book under one arm, ready for a calm, lazy afternoon.

Instead...

"..."

He froze in place.

Across the room, lounging casually on a sofa, was a cat. A green cat.

The color green. Like someone had glanced at a regular cat and decided it could use a little more chlorophyll.

"..."

The cat wore tiny round spectacles, despite not reading a thing. It sat with flawless posture, gazing into the distance like a retired scholar pondering the meaning of existence. Amos blinked once.

"..."

He blinked again. The cat remained.

"..."

Amos slowly rubbed his eyes.

Still there.

"..."

He glanced around the deserted lounge.

No one.

Just him...

...and whatever this might be.

His thoughts immediately began spiraling.

"Whose cat is that?"

"More importantly... how did it get inside?"

The Hall of Stars wasn't exactly open to random animals.

"When did it even enter?"

He had walked through the front entrance moments ago. No cat. Now there was a cat.

"Why is it green?"

Magic accident?

Rare species?

Someone's artistic decision?

"And... why is it wearing glasses?"

Cats didn't need glasses.

...Probably.

Hopefully. But he wasn’t so sure anymore. He had never actually asked one.

The cat slowly turned its head, and their eyes locked.

"..."

"..."

For a few long moments, neither of them moved. Amos couldn’t shake the feeling he was being judged. The cat calmly adjusted its tiny spectacles with one paw.

"..."

"It adjusted its glasses."

Amos stared.

"I refuse to believe I actually saw that."

The cat blinked lazily, curling its tail snugly around itself. It seemed completely at ease, as though this were its home and Amos the unexpected guest.

"..."

Amos considered asking someone.

Then paused.

"How exactly am I supposed to phrase that?"

"Excuse me, does this academy happen to have an unusually intellectual looking green cat wandering around?"

No.

People would question him instead.

He sighed.

"...Maybe the academy is just... like this."

Perhaps...

A scholarly green cat wearing glasses wasn't even in the top ten strangest things here.

"...I should stop questioning things."

The cat let out a single, dignified meow that somehow carried a hint of mild offense, prompting Amos to frown at once.

"Did that cat just disagree with me?"

"..."

Amos slowly walked toward the strange green cat. The cat remained seated with perfect composure, its tiny spectacles reflecting the afternoon sunlight.

"...You're surprisingly calm."

The cat blinked once.

Amos crouched before it.

"...May I?"

The green cat simply stared at him. Amos took the quiet as a sign of approval and softly scratched under its chin.

"Mrrp."

"..."

"It really is a cat."

"...Definitely a cat."

His hand moved behind its ears, earning another satisfied little sound.

"..."

"...Cute."

The cat leaned ever so slightly into his hand.

Amos couldn't help smiling.

"I get it now."

Eventually, Amos stood.

The cat looked up at him.

"..."

"You know..."

He tilted his head thoughtfully.

"You kind of remind me of someone."

The cat's ears twitched.

"I can't quite put my finger on it."

He frowned in concentration.

"..."

"Nope."

"I've got nothing."

He gave the cat one last gentle pat on the head.

"See you around, mysterious green cat."

With that, Amos yawned, stretched lazily, and headed upstairs toward Suite One without another thought. The cat watched him disappear.

"..."

"..."

Once his footsteps had faded away, the green cat silently padded across the Hall of Stars. It climbed one staircase, then another, before stopping at Suite Two. The door creaked open, and the cat slipped inside, moving past the shared lounge and into the bedroom where Aurelia slept.

Click.

The door quietly shut.

"..."

In the middle of the room stood a green cat, soft mana shimmering around its body. Its small frame stretched upward as green fur dissolved into countless particles of light. Tiny paws shifted into slender hands, the spectacles still perched in place as the illusion faded. Moments later, where the cat had been, stood a beautiful girl with long green hair cascading over her shoulders, elegant violet eyes, and her usual calm, almost expressionless demeanor.

"..."

Aurelia slowly dispelled the illusion. Her calm demeanor held for only three seconds before her cheeks turned a vivid red. In an instant, she buried her face in her hands.

"..."

"..."

"...I should not have done that."

Her voice was barely above a whisper.

"What was I thinking..."

She slowly sank onto the edge of her bed.