Akira, Cleo, Liza, and Zhenzhen passed through the doors of RIU. Zhen didn't say much as they walked, true to his nature, just as he was in the Dreamscape. He gave Akira the impression that he only spoke when something truly mattered. Yet what puzzled Akira even more was how no one seemed to mention, or even glance at, Zhen's forehead tattoo. Not a single comment, not even a curious stare. It was a mystery.
The entrance hall of RIU stretched into three wings: left, right, and forward. A short black marble staircase met them first, bathed in morning light from arched windows. At the center stood Mia Walker, before the Schedule Desk, surrounded by first-year students. On either side, two tall obsidian-hued columns rose. Beyond her, a long corridor led into the campus. A security guard near the entrance was lounging at his desk, entertained by a humorous video on his phone.
Liza pointed at Mia with her long-nailed finger.
Liza: "Look, it's 4-eyes again!"
Cleo glanced at her and gently tugged her sleeve.
Cleo: "Liza, shush! Miss Walker is the council president of RIU. You don't want to be rude to her!"
Liza grinned.
Liza: "Really? 4-eyes be our senpai, then? I can't believe someone who's a first-year like us could become president."
Akira joined the conversation.
Akira: "Aye, but it's no coincidence, Liza. I told you before, when we took the entrance exams, it's because of her mother."
Liza: "Mother—shmother! Like I care! I'm never gonna follow her orders in my life!"
Liza was so loud that even after they passed the security guard, the poor fellow jumped from his stool.
Security Guard: "Not so loud, Miss!"
Cleo whispered to her.
Cleo: "Told you, Liza."
Liza groaned and whispered.
Liza: "Fine, I'm sorry."
Zhenzhen: "We'd better check the schedule board and get assigned to our duties for today."
Akira: "Aye, let's talk to Mia."
Another group of students finally left Mia in peace. She looked worn out from the first morning attending to her duties as council president. Although her mother had naturally blond hair, Mia's was light brown. Her clothes resembled Cleo's and Liza's, except her skirt was longer than theirs combined.
Seated on the small blue sofa before the schedule desk, Mia covered her face, clearly worn out.
She raised her eyes.
Mia: "You again, great..."
Liza: "Wha? And that's your welcome to us all, Prez?"
Akira: "Sorry for the trouble yesterday, Mia."
She eyed him through her fingers, her voice creaking like an out-of-tune violin as she spoke.
Mia: "Hello there, Yamauchi. How's your condition after yesterday?"
Akira: "I'm perfectly fine. Again, sorry for your trouble."
Mia: "Those two caused the trouble."
She pointed at Liza and Cleo.
Cleo bowed deeply in front of her.
Cleo: "I'm sorry, Miss Walker. I didn't know we weren't allowed to be there!"
Liza: "Huh, we didn't do anything wrong by visiting Senpai at the infirmary! If you think I'm gonna apologize, you're gravely mistaken."
She stood with her arms crossed.
Zhenzhen gave his trademark smile and lowered his head slightly.
Mia narrowed her eyes behind her glasses, staring at Liza.
Mia: "Pavlenko... Are you here to give me another headache? Just seeing you already makes it double."
Liza: "Ha! It was Senpai's idea, after all. For SOME reason, he needs to talk to you, stupid!"
Cleo playfully poked Liza's arm.
Cleo: "Liza! Rudie!"
Liza stood proudly among them with her usual fox grin.
Akira: "I just wanted to check our morning study assignments, if possible."
Mia: "It's right behind me, Yamauchi. Don't be a stranger. I'm here to help, even a menace of a human being like—Pavlenko."
Liza widened her eyes, then looked back and forth at Cleo.
Liza: "You hear that? Who's Rudie now, huh?!"
Zhenzhen made his own statement in a stone-cold tone.
Zhenzhen: "I will abide by my morning studies then. Akira, if possible, we need to talk during the lunch break."
Mia stood up.
Mia: "I also need to 'talk' to Yamauchi. But not here—I've got my hands full with all these rookies. You know about the gardens on the left and right sides of RIU, right? You two can go there. I do gardening on the left side from time to time. While I'm at it, you can talk. And I also need to confirm some information. Deal?"
Akira blinked at Mia, then gave Zhenzhen a puzzled look.
Akira: "If you say so."
Zhenzhen didn't move a muscle.
Zhenzhen: "After morning studies, at lunch, then."
Mia Walker: "Then I'll see you two later."
With her free hand, she flashed them a goofy salute.
They left Mia behind just as another large group of students swarmed her. She stood with a tired sigh and resumed answering questions in her usual stiff manner.
Liza: "What was that?!"
Cleo looked more embarrassed than Liza, as if everything that had just happened was somehow her fault.
Liza glared at Akira.
Liza: "You got some explaining to do, Senpai."
He threw up his hands.
Akira: "I don't even know what this is about. Maybe it's about yesterday."
Cleo: "Maybe we can meet at lunch too, then!"
She sounded enthusiastic at first, but her face quickly fell with regret.
Liza: "Whatever. So, Akira and I are in Group A, right? And you two are in D? Where are we supposed to go now?"
Akira: "I think it's left for us, Liza. And right for them."
Zhenzhen: "Until we meet again."
He nodded politely and followed the path to the right corridor.
Cleo jolted upright.
Cleo: "Oh! Wait for me, Mr. Zhenzhen!"
He turned his head toward her, as he was inviting her to follow him, and they left.
Liza: "Are you hiding something from me, Senpai?"
Akira: "I swear to you, Liza, after everything that's happened recently, you're one of the few people who know the truth. And I'm not just talking about Merlina being connected to your mind. How's she doing, by the way?"
Liza looked upward as if trying to remember.
Liza: "She surprisingly went silent after we crossed the gates. Funny, but I think she's asleep in her cat form—in my mind! Crazy, right?"
Her usual beam of a smile returned.
Akira chuckled.
Akira: "Aye. It is possible, I myself still don't really understand how Merlina got trapped in the Dreamscape in the first place."
Liza: "Didn't you ever try asking her yourself?"
Akira: "I am, but she told me that she doesn't remember. That part of her memory seems completely sealed. If somebody among us is hiding something, it's her."
Liza narrowed her eyes again, smiling like an echidna.
Liza: "You, Dodger!"
She playfully slapped him on the back.
Akira jolted forward.
Akira: "I'm not hiding anything from you, Liza, I swear!"
They followed the corridor, blending into a stream of students headed in the same direction.
Liza: "Do we need to go up?"
Akira: "Aye. Got lost here the first time, too. Still remember us wandering around looking for where the exam was."
Akira and Liza headed up the first stairs to the next floor.
Liza beamed at him again.
Liza: "Good times!"
Akira: "Aye. But now you know I can visit this place at Dreamscape. Merlina and I visited RIU more than once after."
As they headed up halfway, Akira and Liza overheard a squabble between two young men.
Akira lowered his voice to a whisper.
Akira: "But we also need to keep it a secret from other people."
Liza nodded, still beaming at him.
Two foreign-looking students came down the stairs toward Akira and Liza. Both were still wearing matching purple sports uniforms with numbers, a little sweaty from their morning practice on campus. They were speaking in English.
Black student: "What are you going to do now, you idiot!"
Student with bleached hair: "Shut up, Taylor! I will figure something out."
Both of them stood out, especially here in Japan. Akira recognized the one with bleached hair from the previous day. Up close, his hair formed thick, wide spikes that jutted out and sagged slightly at the tips, as if they had fallen that way on their own. Hard to believe they were natural. The other student had sharp, flat-top hair. The second student was completely unfamiliar to Akira.
Taylor: "Oh, so you're figuring something out now, eh? How I even got stuck with you, Igor, you are an absolute clown!"
Bleached hair student named Igor: "I warned you, Aberash. If you think you can talk to me like that, don't expect mercy next time we're at practice."
Aberash Taylor: "Whatever, Blinov! The moment I saw your name on the list, I knew your dumb Russian ass wasn't gonna lead me anywhere good!"
Igor Blinov: "It's a half-Russian arse, you goon. Anyway, you need to stop yelling. As you can see, we're not exactly alone."
He shot a look at Akira and Liza, and the Japanese students behind them.
Aberash just waved him off.
Aberash: "Meh."
As the two passed by Akira, Liza, and the rest, Akira noticed their eyes on him and Liza. The black student lost interest after a quick glance, but the bleached-haired one gave Akira a faint, snake-like smirk. He was taller than Akira, one of the rare few who actually stood taller than he did.
Just as when Akira met Cleo Williams, a brief vision played inside his head, then his eyes met those of the bleached-haired stranger. In the darkness, shadows cloaked a skeletal figure wearing a twisted crown atop its skull-like head. The undead-looking creature turned its gaze toward Akira and slashed at him with a dreadful-looking scythe, as if it were aware of being seen and didn't like that Akira was watching.
Akira felt a sharp prick in his chest, even though nothing had touched him, as the vision in his head collapsed.
Akira: "Ouch!"
Akira brought a hand to his chest.
Liza: "What happened, Senpai?"
Akira tried to pretend that nothing had happened.
Akira: "Nothing. I saw this tall person with bleached hair yesterday. I think he's an Ars Goetian like us—maybe even more powerful. I hope you and I never run into him in the Dreamscape."
Liza: "Those two looked like two dorks to me!"
Akira: "Liza..."
Liza crossed her arms with a pouty huff.
Liza: "What? You know I am right!"
Akira: "You said it yourself, it is bad to judge people before you even know them."
Liza: "Ha! Not gonna happen, Senpai! Mel tells me I need to trust my intuition!"
Akira: "So it's Merlina who started to spoil you rotten."
She tugged at his sleeve.
Liza: "You are in the same group as me, senpai, you are blessed!"
Akira: "I can tell Merlina's influence has already started to corrupt your soul, Liza."
She giggled as they both proceeded toward their lecture hall after heading up the stairs.
As they attended their morning classes, Akira and Liza split up when Liza had to continue her Japanese language course. At lunch break, Akira went straight to the garden to meet Zhenzhen and Mia Walker.
Just beyond the main building, nestled between the wings, lay the university gardens. The gardens on the left and right sides of RIU were once identical, albeit with different plants growing there. For now, the left one had become an area for botanical research, quiet study, and rest. The right one was an open area for walking.
Upon entering the left side, the "conservatory", Akira was awestruck by its beauty. Paths meandered between trimmed hedges, stone benches, and clusters of seasonal flowers that soaked in the sun. A half-enclosed glass structure — part greenhouse, part sunlit atrium — housed more delicate flora, its glass roof arching overhead like the shell of a luminous dome. The air inside was warm and humid, filled with the scent of orchids and damp earth.
In the center of the "conservatory" side garden, Akira spotted a glass pavilion, where Mia was watering some pink plants in front of it. She crouched with a watering can in her hands.
Akira moved toward her.
Mia seemed happy as she watered another plant behind her. Preoccupied, she noticed Akira but didn't acknowledge him right away.
Akira approached and stood in front of her.
Mia: "Well then, Yamauchi. Care to share what happened between you and Professor Kikuchi yesterday? Everybody who witnessed you is still talking about it. My mother didn't want any troubles with people 'going crazy,' but it seems to be happening all across the country these days. What do you think?"
She had the full right to know what happened. Although she was not completely native to the land, as she was half British, half Japanese. Mia talked to him with the tone of a teacher, almost like Zhenzhen at Dreamscape, but significantly differently. Same manner, maybe, but much more obnoxious.
Mia stood up and turned back to face Akira.
Mia: "I invite you here to discuss an 'Ars Goetian' business."
Akira looked puzzled.
Mia laughed and continued.
Mia: "What? You thought you were the only one who was the son of an influential person and had this sort of power? I may not appear to be as strong as you are now, but I recognized my talent recently as well."
Akira hadn't felt it before, but now it was completely clear that Mia had somehow concealed her talent to enter the Dreamscape just like he did. Even though Akira and Merlina knew the names of all the people with the potential to be an Ars Goetian, Mia stood there as if she already knew exactly what she was doing.
Another vision flickered right before his eyes. Covered in leaves and lianas, a figure of a beautiful woman hid just behind them, laughing shyly at him. Surrounded by singing nature, trees, and fairies, she took a step closer, trying to introduce herself. She made a reverent bow toward him. One of the fairies seemed to dart to the right of his ear and whispered a name: "Deianira". Then the vision collapsed.
Mia stood before him and tilted her head. She laughed again.
Mia: "Say something, Yamauchi. Or are you stunned by the beauty of my inner self, Deianira?"
Akira was a little shocked, but quickly regained his composure.
Akira: "Mia, I need to know if Professor Kikuchi is alright. I heard he isn't coming today, and people are skipping his class. What's his condition?"
Mia: "Oh, he's perfectly fine, Yamauchi. I reckon that's your doing after yesterday. You really are good at not answering direct questions and asking your own, aren't you?"
She grinned—almost sinister, like Liza.
Akira: "I am. Sorry, Mia. I suppose it's useless to try hiding the truth from you now, since you're already involved. It was me, Liza, and Zhenzhen who defeated the creature that possessed—or, to be clear, captured—the poor professor in the Dreamscape."
Mia waved her hand at him.
Mia: "Finally, I cracked that skull of yours to spill some beans for me, Yamauchi. Let's go into the glass room over there—I left some hot tea behind. I think we'll need it while you tell me everything about your adventures in the Dreamscape and how you managed to rescue the professor.
Akira: "Rescue? Please, Mia, just tell me he's alive."
Mia sighed heavily, rolling her eyes.
Mia: "He's fine, Yamauchi. For someone who keeps company with irresponsible people like Pavlenko, you worry too much about others."
Akira let out a heavy sigh of his own.
Akira: "Lead the way, Mia. I'll try to tell you everything. Though I know about your mother's connections with my father, don't expect me to trust you fully from the start."
Mia: "Is that so, Yamauchi?"
She chuckled.
Mia: "I assure you, I'm not going to trust you either."
Both of them advanced toward the small glasshouse in the middle. Behind the black wooden doors with windowpanes stood a bistro table with side chairs. As Mia had mentioned earlier, a delicate teapot waited on the table, accompanied by two petite cups, just ready for tea and conversation.
Mia: "Make yourself at home, Yamauchi. Sit."
She waved him toward the side chair.
Akira hesitated as he tried to sit.
Akira: "Are you expecting someone else? Although, if I'm not mistaken, Zhenzhen is on his way here."
Mia sat down across from him, adjusting her long skirt.
Mia: "Shaolin monks..."
She took a cup and sighed, closing her eyes.
Mia: "If someone had told me before that we'd be educated under the same roof, I'd never have believed them. How did someone like him even get here in the first place?"
Akira stared at her as if he'd just been schooled right then and there.
Mia glared at him over her glasses.
Mia: "Y A M A U C H I! Hello, Houston, we've got a situation!"
After she spelled it out, Akira laughed along and raised his hands in surrender.
Akira: "I'm just listening to what you have to say."
Mia: "And I thought you were still stuck thinking about Deianira's appearance. Can you answer the question already?"
Akira shrugged.
Akira: "Beats me. But I think it's obviously connected to the Dreamscape. Still can't believe you and your mother are involved too."
He looked at the full cup of tea Mia had offered him a moment ago.
Mia glanced at him.
Mia: "Do you think it's poisoned or something?"
Akira awkwardly takes a cup.
Akira: "N-no. But funny thing is, I remember this story about Deianira from junior school. The myth itself, I mean."
Mia barked at him, amused.
Mia: "So you think you're my Hercules, eh? We've met each other a few times since we were kids, but we're not that close, Yamauchi."
Akira took a sip.
Akira: "And I'm no Hercules either. I just mentioned the legend's origin. It fits as a reference here—the poison part, and the fact you have that leaf woman as your summon."
Mia: "Nevertheless, you mentioned my mother was involved?"
She narrowed her eyes behind her glasses.
Mia: "How do you know this again?"
Akira: "From my father, of course."
Mia nodded.
Mia: "Aye, I heard he broke a leg this morning. A noodle company car. Extraordinarily stupid people get a driver's license these days."
Akira: "I got no pity for him."
Mia paused for a long moment, hiding behind her cup of tea.
Mia: "Old wounds, eh?"
Akira set his cup back on the table. He stared at his clenched fist, then slowly opened it into a flat palm.
Akira: "Old and new ones as well."
Mia sighed quickly, as if trying to change the subject.
Mia: "In any case, how about we wait for our friend with a tattoo on his face, and you tell me the FULL story of what happened there?"
Akira: "You mean in Dreamscape?"
Mia: "Aye."
Akira: "I still can't understand why nobody seems to notice the tattoo on Zhen's forehead. Like it's invisible to everyone but us."
Mia shrugged and set her cup of tea down.
Mia: "You can ask him yourself when he gets here."
After a brief pause, Zhenzhen finally showed up, wearing the same expression he had that morning. Akira stepped out of the glass room and waved at him. The little monk looked a bit lost in the left wing of RIU's garden complex. Judging by his face, though he usually concealed his emotions, his eyes clearly showed he was annoyed, unsure of where to go within the walls of RIU.
Akira shouted.
Akira: "Zhen, here!"
Zhenzhen finally spotted Akira and dashed toward the glass room at a fast pace.
Akira: "It's easy to get lost here. I'm sorry."
Zhenzhen began speaking as soon as he closed the distance between them.
Zhenzhen: "You don't need to be, Yamauchi. This entire university looks formidably impressive. I'm not used to crowded places myself — this area feels like a whole other world compared to the monastery."
Akira gave him a friendly smile.
Akira: "Funny how you mention that, I've been asking myself since yesterday. What are you doing here in the first place? Mia asked me too."
Zhenzhen: "Though I am not allowed to reveal it to strangers, for you, I think I can make an exception—after all that happened last night. It's because of my Order's business."
Akira: "You mean the Shaolin Monastery Order?"
Zhenzhen nodded.
Zhenzhen: "Aye. And I don't want your council president overhearing us while we're speaking about it."
Akira made a guilty face, as Mia had just left the glasshouse before he could say anything.
Mia: "I can see your tattoo, you know, Mr. Mao. I'm an Ars Goetian, just like you two."
She tapped her forehead right after mentioning the tattoo.
Zhenzhen looked puzzled.
Akira: "She knows everything, Zhen."
Zhenzhen: "You told her?"
Mia: "No, he didn't. But since a few of us can enter the same 'majestic' world at night, it's obvious I can connect a few facts and draw a conclusion."
Zhenzhen appeared slightly pissed at Akira, as it was Akira who gave away all the secrets, but then bottled his emotions right back.
Akira: "Zhen, I swear I didn't tell her anything in detail. She knows it was we who saved Professor Kikuchi."
Zhenzhen: "I understand."
He said this as if he accepted Akira's excuse, but then glared right at Mia.
Zhenzhen: "What do you want from me?"
Mia: "Oh, nothing in particular. Since it concerns our university, and since I'm both an Ars Goetian and council president of RIU, I think I have every right to know what's happening."
Zhenzhen crossed his arms.
Zhenzhen: "My lips are sealed."
Mia shook her head.
Mia: "You act like it was me who entrapped the poor professor."
Zhenzhen glared at her again.
Zhenzhen: "Clearly not you, but you're hiding something. Something truly wrong, like a sin stuck deep within your very soul, girl."
Mia looked angry, but made an effort to control herself.
Mia: "We're the same age, Mr. Monk. I'd appreciate it if you addressed me properly. My name is Mia, and I am the president of this university council."
Zhenzhen nodded.
Zhenzhen: "It was no insult. I was stating what I see in your heart."
Mia stood still for a moment, then hissed through clenched teeth.
Mia: "How could you possibly know what's inside my heart, monk?"
Akira never thought someone like Mia could make an expression like that — it even terrified him a little.
Akira stepped closer to Mia.
Akira: "Mia, sorry to ask, but are you all right? I've never seen you this irritated before."
Mia swallowed her rage and anxiety toward Zhenzhen, adjusted her glasses, and made a gesture as if she had a headache.
Mia: "I'm fine, thanks, Yamauchi. And I owe an apology to our foreign friend here as well. Sorry, Mr. Mao. The only thing I want to know is how you two handled things in the Dreamscape and managed to save the professor. A short version is fine — if there are details you need to keep hidden, I understand."
Akira glanced at Zhenzhen, silently asking for his permission.
Akira: "I, myself, got nothing to hide, although it is madness for me to talk about it like that in the middle of the day."
Mia rolled her eyes.
Mia: "Tell me about it."
Akira: "Zhen, I think since it's connected to the university, Mia, as president and also being an Ars Goetian, has a right to know."
Zhenzhen: "You're free to tell her everything, Yamauchi. I've said what I have to say."
Akira nodded.
He told Mia the full story of what happened that night between him, Zhenzhen, and Liza, and how they defeated Alloces. He deliberately left out anything about Merlina, which earned him a silent nod of approval from Zhenzhen.
When Akira finally finished, Mia crossed her arms.
Mia: "Extraordinary, Yamauchi. Simply extraordinary! I can't believe a Duke fell for your bait that easily."
Akira: "It wasn't like I was cunning like a fox or anything. I just knew Alloces was truly greedy for hidden knowledge."
Mia blinked.
Mia: "What exactly is this 'Memory of the Blade' you mentioned?"
Akira: "It is..."
He got cut off by someone else's voice.
A student with bleached hair approached them from behind.
Igor Blinov: "Sup, Mia. Am I interrupting something here?"
Like before, he spoke seemingly casually, but something in him was diabolically sinister. He stood in front of Zhenzhen. The only thing different from his morning appearance was his uniform—black with a red emblem on his chest, like the ones Zhenzhen and Akira wore. RIU symbols.
Zhenzhen instantly turned his head toward the bleached-haired student, then leapt back beside Akira.
Zhenzhen: "You."
The bleached-haired student raised his head in confusion.
Igor: "What's with the bald one, Mia? Are these the two you told me about?"
Akira's mind: "What have I gotten myself into?"
Mia ran to the bleached-haired student's side, like a dove returning to its perch. Akira never imagined that Mia, in all her stiffness, could ever act like this.
Mia: "I told you, Igor. You should've come later."
Though Mia hissed at him aggressively, Akira could still sense some warmth in her voice.
Akira leaned over and whispered to Zhenzhen.
Akira: "Who's he? Do you know him, Zhen?"
Zhenzhen didn't even blink, still staring, standing with the posture of someone ready to fight the bleached-haired student right here and now.
Zhenzhen: "That's why I tried to talk to you before we ever met this one. I called you here to tell you why I'm really here, Akira Yamauchi. I didn't come all this way to gain knowledge from your universities. I came for a powerful artifact—bracers that are vital to my order. But this one with the bleached hair is hunting Dreamscape artifacts too, only to gain power from them. I can feel his sinister energy even now, Yamauchi. You'd be wise not to trust anything he's about to say. Same with your president. Their kind cannot be trusted."
Akira sighed with concern.
Akira: "Funny how you said that I was 'evil' just tonight."
Zhenzhen nodded.
Zhenzhen: "Aye. You turned out to be a noteworthy companion during our encounter inside the Megaron. But even you can sense it now—the presence of something truly unholy in the one standing before us."
Akira didn't understand what was going on, standing there clueless.
Igor: "Hey chaps, I don't know what you two are whispering about, but I came here to make a reasonable proposal."
Zhenzhen: "Whatever you've got in stock—I refuse."
Akira sensed a powerful aura around Zhenzhen once again. It was almost like a gust of wind sent toward the student with bleached hair.
Igor raised the back of his hand, shielding Mia with a single smooth motion, and drew her behind him, blocking Zhenzhen's mental strike like it was nothing.
Igor: "Uh-oh. Very scary, bold one."
Zhenzhen glared at him menacingly.
As the four of them stood there, Akira couldn't shake the feeling — this would not end well.