Chapter 69
Sylas looked at her unhappily and said, "She has written many papers. Won't you tell me the keywords?"
Virgil semi-laid on the couch, tapping his feet on the coffee table. He snapped his fingers and a ball of water jumped into his mouth from the teacup.
"Hmm~ That's her graduation paper, we definitely have it at home. Don't mention that I told you. I'm leaving!" He clapped his hands, and all the water in the teacup jumped out. He tilted his head back, caught the ball, pretended to chew on it, then suddenly jumped up from the couch, put on the hood of his cloak, and walked out the door.
"No need to walk me out! I'll go by myself!"
Virgil came and left like a gust of wind. Sylas hesitated for a moment, then turned and ran up the stairs.
He probably came to find Xerath because, as he said, he only comes every three to four months. But his last appearance was just over a month ago. Previously, Sylas may not have had a clear understanding of the passage of time, but over the past month, she had been remembering the days.
She had evidence to mark these days.
She ran into the library, but didn't know where to start looking. Graduation papers should not appear in journals, but in a special collection of graduation papers. Xerath should have the one with her own paper, but Sylas had no idea.
Where should she start looking?
The difference between the library at home and the library outside is that all the indexes of these books exist in Xerath's mind. She didn't even make index cards for the books at home. Sylas could only wander around the library, constantly dissipating the fog and increasing her visibility. In fact, she had some impressions of some books she had handled and organized, but other than that, it was all darkness.
The library books have cabinets full of index cards, placed according to their index numbers. The cards also have keywords. Sylas had suspected more than once that Xerath had used some kind of small magic to create the index cards, but she never saw it with her own eyes.
She first looked at the cabinet where the journals and paper collections were kept – it was only half a shelf, not much. She quickly scanned through it, but there was no sign of Xerath's paper.
The other side of this cabinet was where Xerath stored her drafts. She was very good at organizing work records, notebooks, and draft papers. They were all bound neatly with hardcovers and placed in order from beginning to end. However, what surprised Sylas was that none of these records were papers she knew about.
Their titles were all quite strange, like natural codes. She flipped through them all morning and finally determined that the research related to her, the one she had participated in, was titled "How to Catch a Unicorn."
With an indescribable feeling, she recognized the second project, carefully discerning the extremely brilliant sparks of inspiration that Xerath had written on paper. Other than recognizing that these analytical methods were ones she had once taught herself, only much more complex, there was no relevant revelation.
So many records, analyses... just to write one paper? One to two thousand words, far less than the thick drafts bound here...
She felt like giving up because even if she stayed up all night to read these documents, it's unlikely that she would finish them all before Xerath returns. Unless she got really lucky and all of Xerath's paper drafts were here, she might not be able to figure it out quickly.
Maybe a better idea is to ask for help from the Rost Family twins to search for the graduation thesis collection at the state library in Withered Leaf City. They must have them, right?
She yawned, suddenly feeling tired. She looked at the clock and realized it was almost midnight.
Should she sleep in Xerath's room today? She strongly felt that she should stop this inappropriate behavior. However, once desire is aroused, it's impossible to stop its growth. She paced on the staircase, sweet poison slowly seeping into her heart. When it was completely soaked, Sylas opened Xerath's room again, lifted the covers, and crawled in like a little bug.
Sensing a change in the scent inside the covers, Sylas sniffed hard, wondering how she should greet Xerath when she returns.
The clothes have been washed and dried in the drying room, but not yet put away. Her assignments were completed ahead of time, and all the books were sorted and labeled, just waiting for Xerath to come back and check...
When will she come back? In the morning or at night? Sylas felt that she wouldn't be able to focus on anything tomorrow.
Sylas fell asleep quickly and unaware, but Titus was awakened by the sound of crisp footsteps, because it liked to sleep with its ears up.
The sound was coming from the library. Titus immediately stood up, pushed open the living room door, and ran upstairs with all its might. Unfortunately, its legs were too short, and it couldn't go upstairs smoothly. It was quickly caught up by the archmage.
"What's wrong, cutie? Are you coming out to meet me?"
The stool whined and ran back and forth at the door. Xerath reached out and opened the room door. Titus stood at the door, chirping incessantly and hesitating to leave. Xerath always had a headache with the little animals. She sighed and said, "Cutie, you shouldn't be eating at this time. Go back to sleep."
"Whimper..." Of course, Titus couldn't say that her little friend was still inside.
Xerath entered the dressing room to change clothes and when she walked out, she had already decided to go straight to bed and sleep. It wasn't that the journey made her so tired, but dealing with people was never her strong suit.
When she lifted the blanket, the warm air that spilled out made her feel a bit strange. She raised her hand and, with the faint light that overflowed with magic, she could see a slender figure sunk into the mattress.
The fluffy mattress made her appear even more delicate. Her loose hair and pure side profile made her look like a lost elf. If it weren't for the burn marks exposed on her collar, she could hardly remember that little wild beast from back then.
Xerath let out a faint sigh and was about to put away the light in her hand when the little wild beast moved. Its animal-like vigilance made her quickly sit up, and its sharp gaze pierced straight towards her, then softened and became unsure in the moment they locked eyes.
"Teacher... um... um... sorry... I... I'll get up right away..."
Xerath sighed again, perhaps tired beyond measure. There was even difficulty in rising up with that sense of dissatisfaction of her own territory being invaded. She slowly pressed down her shoulders and said, "Forget it, let's talk about it tomorrow."
Speaking, she let down her hair and lay down beside Sylas.
Sylas froze completely as Xerath blocked her way.
After a while, she cautiously planned to speak up, but Xerath interrupted her upcoming words, "Considering that we are independent individuals, I should have questioned you for entering my room without permission. But today, I feel extremely exhausted, so I specifically summoned you to keep me company. Let's sleep."
"... Teacher, is having a meeting tiring?"
Xerath shrugged, "Generally speaking, yes."
Sylas gently held her hand and softly said, "I don't know how... to make you feel more comfortable, would you like something sweet? Elvis always says that."
"I think having someone warm my bed is a good choice, that's enough, let me sleep, my little beast."
"Okay, okay! I won't make any more noise..." She scooted back, pulled Xerath and gave her the warm spot to sleep, seeing no response from Xerath, she pulled twice more.
Xerath had no choice but to move her body over. The warmth relaxed her and made her feel comfortable. The little one had a cute scent, light and lively like the wind wandering for miles in the best weather on the desert.
She didn't intend to blame Sylas for entering her room without permission, but she couldn't help but wonder why she rushed up there. However, thinking about Titus's unusual reaction today, he probably knew that his little friend had jumped onto her bed. This combination of people reminded her of how Sylas used to sleep at her door when she first arrived in Aimekotes, carried by Titus. What surprised her was how these old memories became strangely warm.
Maybe she was just afraid of the dark. She tightened her grip on her own hands.
The archmage had a good sleep. Maybe it was because she hadn't been outside for a long time, she wasn't used to the noise of the outside world. Even though she stayed in a high-end hotel, she was constantly startled by "shouldn't be there" sounds.
Going home... Going home was really a good choice.
When she opened her eyes, she also saw Sylas looking at her drowsily. She inexplicably found her cute and playfully poked her delicate nose. The little girl was completely startled, her green eyes widened, and her eyelashes fluttered like butterfly wings in the breeze, uncertain and curious.
"Good morning, let's get up. The classes are rescheduled to the afternoon and evening. How about taking a little rest in the morning?"
"Of course... Of course, that's great!"
The sunlight shone into the room from behind Sylas, completely illuminating Xerath's face. Her golden hair spread out on the pillow, breaking down the sunlight at subtle angles. Sylas stared at her blankly and only let go of her hand after a while, as if it was burning.
Xerath sat up sideways, with her back facing Sylas, and casually ran her fingers through her hair. Her golden hair was truly dazzling, it made Sylas's eyes blur. Suddenly, she lunged forward, wrapping her arms around Xerath's waist.
Xerath was startled but didn't want to struggle. She gently touched Sylas's head and softly asked, "Missed me?"
Sylas nodded and said sadly, "Mmm."
Xerath replied formally, "That's normal, but I hope you can feel the same when I need to check your homework."
Sylas giggled, "I've finished writing it, and I also wrote the reading notes according to the plan. I even wrote the statistical analysis questions that I don't really like..."
As she spoke, Sylas let go of Xerath, her little face wrinkling up. "I'm still afraid you won't be satisfied with my homework..."
"You'll only know after seeing it. Do you need to use my bathroom?"
She seemed unaware of her own charm, casually – at least, that's how Sylas saw it – relaxing and showing off her body wrapped in a layer of fabric. Her hair was temporarily tied up with a string, hanging loosely behind her, a completely different kind of beauty from her usual sophisticated image.
