The halls of Silvercrest Hall were eerily quiet as Noah and Liliana made their way through the grand dormitory.
The walls were adorned with intricate tapestries, and the scent of polished wood and expensive perfumes filled the air.
Silvercrest Hall was known for housing the students from the empire's most prestigious noble families, a place where wealth and power were as abundant as the arrogance that seemed to come with it.
Liliana walked beside Noah, her cheerful nature radiating through the silence as she bombarded him with questions.
"So, Noah, I've been curious," she said with a light tone, "What really happened back in the first semester? You know, with that whole demonic corruption incident? There are so many rumors, and I mean, a lot of students still talk about it."
Noah sighed, feeling the weight of the question.
He had expected this topic to come up eventually, but it still bothered him to talk about it.
His hands were stuffed in his pockets, and he walked a bit slower, his mind drifting back to that time.
"It wasn't really my doing," he began, his voice low but steady.
"I was corrupted, you know, the typical final boss type of thing. My body was possessed, and I didn't have control over what was happening. It's not like I orchestrated the deaths or anything."
His words came out almost mechanically, as if he had explained this a hundred times before.
Liliana tilted her head, her expression soft but inquisitive.
"That's not what the students are saying, though. They talk about it like... well, like you planned it all."
Noah rolled his eyes, clearly fed up. He didn't feel like justifying himself to people who barely understood what had happened.
"Yeah, well, rumors have a way of twisting the truth. It's easier for people to hate something they don't understand."
The conversation could've ended there, but Liliana, being her lively and talkative self, continued to ask him more questions, most of which Noah either brushed off or answered curtly.
She was kind, no doubt, but her energy was a bit overwhelming for him at times.
At one point, Liliana got a bit too close, nearly brushing up against him.
"Hey... personal space, please," Noah snapped, a bit harsher than he intended. His words were sharp, and he saw the emotion flicker in her eyes for a brief second before she quickly turned away.
"I'm sorry," Liliana mumbled, her cheerful demeanor dimming as she moved forward, no longer talking.
She focused on the task at hand, walking ahead of Noah without a word.
Noah sighed, rubbing his hand across his face in frustration. He didn't mean to upset her, but being around so many people lately had drained his patience.
He quickened his pace, coming up next to her.
"Let's just get this patrol done, alright? No need to make it more complicated than it is."
Liliana nodded but remained silent, her bright energy subdued for the rest of the walk.
As they continued through the hall, the moonlight streaming through the windows cast long shadows on the floor. The night was quiet, and the only sound was the soft echo of their footsteps.
Just as they reached a junction in the hallway, a group of noble students stepped out of one of the rooms, laughing loudly.
Their fancy robes and smug expressions made it clear they were used to getting what they wanted.
They spotted Liliana and immediately turned their attention toward her, their laughter turning into sneers.
"Well, well, what do we have here?" one of them, a tall boy with sharp features, said as he sauntered toward them.
The nobles' faces twisted in anger.
"You think you can cuff us?" the tall boy spat.
"Do you know who our families are? Do you know what they would do to you if you even tried?"
The arrogance and entitlement were palpable in the air.
The nobles, confident in their status, reached for their wands, the magic within them beginning to hum as their eyes glinted with danger.
Noah, who had been watching all this with a blank face, finally stepped forward.
"This is such a cliché scene," he muttered to himself.
"How does it go again? Uhh... I protect the girl, we fight the cocky nobles, and then... yeah, something like that."
But Noah didn't have time for this nonsense.
He stepped in front of Liliana, his expression unreadable.
"You know," he began, addressing the nobles, "for a bunch of kids who rely on your family names so much, you sure know how to embarrass them."
He flashed a small, almost condescending smile.
"What would your parents think? I mean, they sent you to this academy to become respectable, didn't they?"
The nobles glared at him.
"Just because you're from a count family doesn't give you the right to act high and mighty," one spat, his voice dripping with disdain.
His eyes narrowed as he stepped closer to Noah, a dangerous glint flashing in them.
"You're still just a fucking commoner staying in that piss-poor excuse of a dorm, Ironwood Hall," the other sneered, venom in his words.
"You think you can tarnish our names and get away with it? We'll make sure you regret every second you spend breathing the same air as us."
Noah's smile widened slightly, but his eyes remained cold, unaffected by their bravado.
"Actually, I'm only in Ironwood Hall because there weren't any rooms left in Silvercrest."
He paused for a second, then added, his voice sharpening, "But honestly? I'd rather stay there than with a bunch of entitled idiots who think with their asses just because they have money and status."
Both nobles' faces flushed with rage at Noah's words, their hands twitching as they reached for their wands.
The taller one's eyes wavered with fury as he growled, "You piece of shit! You have no idea who you're dealing with.
You think your pitiful count family will save you after this? You're not even fit to lick the boots of someone like me. I'll make your life a living hell!"
His wand sparked to life in his hand, glowing with the beginnings of a spell.
Before they could even cast a single spell, Noah moved.
In one swift motion, he struck the pressure points at the sides of their necks, knocking both nobles unconscious. They crumpled to the ground, limp and powerless.
Noah stood over them, holding both by their collars before casually dropping them onto the floor.
"I wasn't going to deal with that," he muttered, brushing off his hands.
Thanks to his [Constellation's Insight], he knew they were nothing more than third-rate crooks in noble clothing.