Chapter 90: Cornelia Defeated By Her Desire (long Chapter)
"Uh, no, we're from Class A," Cornelia replied, appearing very nervous when facing a new acquaintance. She stuttered in her speech.
"Huh? Class A? How many classes did you skip to be required to attend makeup classes then?" Flora asked with surprise, her eyes gradually growing more serious, as if she had stumbled upon a truly problematic student.
This made Dekan's mouth twitch. How dare you say that about us? We are the face of the Knight College!
"I, ah we..." Cornelia began to explain.
However, Flora leaned on her desk, observing Cornelia with a smile on her face.
"Hehe, feeling guilty, huh? But no matter how many classes you've skipped, I'm confident I've skipped more. When it comes to skipping classes, I'm the best!" Flora's tone was filled with pride.
"I, I..." Cornelia was utterly bewildered. She didn't know how to explain to Flora that they were actually diligent students who followed the school rules. Moreover, she had never experienced such friendly treatment from a fellow female student since she arrived at the college. She found Flora very likable but was unsure how to interact with this type of classmate. Not everyone could understand her as quickly as Dekan.
She felt increasingly panicked and struggled to find the right words. "D-Dekan, help me!"
Cornelia desperately clung to Dekan's clothing for support.
"Uh..." Dekan had initially considered explaining the situation, but then he thought it was a good opportunity. Cornelia needed to practice her communication skills, and her anxious appearance was quite rare.
Flora didn't give them a chance to explain and continued with a laugh, "Hehe, no need to explain. Those in the know, knows. Who would dare to claim to be a top student in the Knight College? Which class doesn't have any bad students? From now on, the three of us are the 'Class Skipping Group'!"
"No! Cornelia, Cornelia didn’t skip class!" Cornelia managed to blurt out.
"Hahaha, stop being stubborn. But your poor acting is so adorable! Dekan, don't you think so?" Flora laughed and seemed to have already bonded with these two.
"Indeed," Dekan nodded, agreeing with a grin.
"Haha, you admitted to it! You two are indeed the kings and queens of Class A's class skipping!" Flora seemed to have misunderstood Dekan's "indeed" response, or perhaps they were not on the same wavelength.
Cornelia seemed to have found a way to explain the situation to Flora. She decided to organize her thoughts on paper and hand Flora a written statement.
So she bit her lip and wrote a passage on paper, seemingly quite frustrated.
Flora watched Cornelia write with an amused nod, seemingly satisfied. Sure enough, it seemed like they were all struggling students.
"By the way, are you guys really willing to stay here for the whole day? The weather today is exceptionally nice!" Flora was clearly the type who wouldn't let her desk partner study in peace. She never stopped talking.
Dekan asked with a smile, "Do you have any ideas?"
"Well, initially, I was planning to take a nap during this class. But seeing you two, my free spirit is stirring once more!" Flora suddenly stood up, her gaze flickering as she looked at Dekan and Cornelia.
"What do you say, let's skip class together!"
Cornelia quickly put down her pen and tried to persuade, "No, no, we can't skip, skip class!"
"Let's go together! Dekan and Cornelia! we'll have a buffet, bask in the sun, and play with cats!" Flora was now almost dancing under the sunlight pouring in through the classroom window.
"Uhh..." Cornelia would never have considered skipping class. However, having finally found a friend so enthusiastic about her, she didn't want to reject her. And the most critical part, playing with cats! What to do?
She was in extreme turmoil. "I... I..."
Cornelia seemed to become increasingly confused and looked at Dekan again. She needed a decision-maker.
"We're not required to attend this makeup class, so technically speaking, even if we leave, it won't be counted as skipping class," Dekan explained with a helpless smile. Seeing Cornelia in this state, he knew that if she didn't go out and have some fun today, she'd regret it all day long. Even if she stayed to study, she'd likely be unproductive.
Sometimes, it's like that. When you encounter friends who share the same interests, the temptation is irresistible.
"Ding-ling-ling!" The bell rang. Even though the teacher hadn't arrived yet, their time to consider was running out. If they were going to escape, it had to be now.
However, before they could make a decision, Flora had already opened the window and jumped from the third floor. Her decisiveness once again astonished Dekan and Cornelia.
She truly deserved the title of someone who didn't even recognize her classmates after two months of school!
Cornelia: "Do?"
Dekan: "Go!"
Cornelia nodded, feeling a mix of excitement, fear, and a bit of exhilaration. She immediately stood up and ran to the window, prepared to jump out.
Dekan summarized his impression of a person from his memories and asked.
When he first saw Flora in the classroom, she seemed somewhat familiar to him, especially her eye color and hair color, which were almost identical to someone he remembered.
"Yes, yes! Have you met my brother?"
"... Is his name Mauleon?"
"Yes! Are you a friend of my brother's?"
"Shit! Fuck! Ah, no... let's say we're acquaintances. He stayed in our little town for a while back when I was still at the borders.”
Dekan gritted his teeth when he thought of that guy.
That damn merchant!
The only person in the world who had dared to provoke Dekan like that!
He purchased the batch of "Goblin Gangster" cards at a price of 100 cast coins each!
Then this guy dared to risk being brought back by his family and came to the capital, a place with a diverse crowd, to sell this batch of cards. Moreover, he hadn't been discovered by anyone yet!
That bastard valued money more than life.
Just thinking about that guy, Mauleon, made Dekan unconsciously clench his fist.
"By the way, does your family have any rewards, like how much they would offer to bring your brother back?"
"Of course, if you can bring my brother back, my father might be so delighted that he'd consider marrying me off to you!"
Flora extended her index finger to lightly touch her lower lip, appearing innocent as she said this with a smile.
"No, no, don't joke about that."
Dekan quickly waved his hand. He didn't want to establish any connection with the family capable of raising siblings like Mauleon and Flora.
After a brief pause, Dekan asked, "But are you sure your father would be that happy?"
After all, from Flora's response, it was evident that Count Hanover placed great importance on capturing Mauleon. Perhaps the Count would be willing to pay a reward equivalent to the value of this foolish daughter.
Flora nodded, "Yes, my father always says that if he were to pass away with regrets in this lifetime, his biggest regret would be not catching my brother and giving him a good beating."
What a coincidence!
My thoughts align perfectly with your dad's!
That unscrupulous merchant - if we let him continue his carefree life; it's against all that is right!
I, Dekan, am not doing it for any bounty. I'm just doing it for justice!
"Flora, you can rest assured. Helping the Count capture Mauleon is our duty!"
"Another, another job!"
However, Flora shook her head regretfully, "Don't joke around. How can the three of us possibly capture my brother?"
"No, I have an important lead. Heh heh, we'll go find someone first, and then we'll go to the dessert shop together."
Dekan's lips curled up, and he chuckled.
In theory, Mauleon had sold the popular card, "Goblin Gangster," in the capital back then. If someone knew that Mauleon had a large stock of it, they would definitely ask him about the card's maker.
And that would lead them to the border town.
But the actual situation was that despite "Goblin Gangster'' being popular in the capital for a while, no merchant found Dekan's border town, where Mauleon was staying.
This indicated that Mauleon was exceptionally cautious when selling the cards. He wouldn't easily engage with many people.
However, in the end, the impoverished noble Miss Theresa was the one who found Dekan in the border town. She bought the "Goblin Sheriff" from him and brought him to the capital.
This suggested that Theresa likely met Mauleon and that Mauleon trusted Theresa enough to share so much with her!