Abel figured that with Ted's personality, it just might actually happen. All he wanted for himself was to get through each day quietly and graduate without any trouble.
After finishing the adjustments to his own uniform, a wave of tiredness came over him. He decided to take an afternoon nap. But just then, shouting erupted outside.
He opened his door to find Ted surrounded by a group of students. Ted's face was a picture of confusion and innocence. Abel suspected the bun diplomacy had run into some kind of trouble.
One of them was screaming at Ted, demanding to know if he was mocking them. Ted hastily explained that he only wanted to make friends and meant nothing by it, but another one hurled a nastier insult, calling him an invasive species and sneering that they wouldn't be friends with something that came out of a gutter.
Abel had heard enough. He knew they were referring to a type of fish that destroys its ecosystem.
Ted kept his smile and held out the bun that represented his hometown, but the other person simply smacked it aside. The bun hit the ground and rolled into the dirt. Ted's expression went dim in an instant.
Anger rose inside Abel. These people had no right to trample someone's goodwill like this. He was about to step forward, but he saw Ted quietly bend down to pick it up.
Then another figure moved first. Alyssa stepped in and picked up the bun. Under the stunned gaze of everyone present, she calmly took a bite and gave it a score of seventy.
The group immediately laughed, mocking her for having no class, picking food up off the ground. Those words set Alyssa's fury completely ablaze.
Abel thought, this isn't good. Ted might let it slide, but Alyssa absolutely wouldn't. He stepped forward decisively and told the whole sorry scene to stop right there.
Ted called out to him in delighted surprise, adding that he didn't really mind, but Alyssa turned on Ted furiously, asking if he had any self-respect at all.
Abel suddenly understood. Even among nobles, the discrimination ran this deep.
When the group saw Abel stepping up, their mockery grew even more vicious. They sneered that someone with inferior eyes who couldn't use magic had no business calling himself anyone's master.
Those words hit Ted's rawest nerve. He refused to let anyone speak ill of his master. He grabbed the person by the collar and demanded an immediate apology, but the other person shoved him away in disgust, telling him to let go.
A memory suddenly flashed through Ted's mind. Two years ago, he himself had mocked Abel's chick eyes in exactly the same way. He finally understood just how much pain he had caused the person he had hurt back then. Guilt and anger tangled together. He wanted to apologize, but this was not the time.
The one he had grabbed began to struggle. Another person grabbed Ted by the shoulder. Then something unbelievable happened. Wherever they touched Ted, a sudden burst of light exploded. A powerful force detonated, sending both of them flying hard through the air. They crashed to the ground in a heap, utterly bewildered about what had just happened.
Only Abel knew the truth. The inscription he had applied had activated. The reflective inscription would strike back against any act of violence. The timing was perfect. Abel exhaled quietly with relief.
The group scrambled to their feet, threw out a parting threat, and fled the scene.
Ted stood there frozen. Then the next second he came rushing over in excitement, convinced he must have some kind of hidden power. Abel was internally speechless. This kid's level of reasoning was genuinely concerning.
But Alyssa grabbed Ted sharply by the arm and pulled him in to examine his uniform closely. She looked it over and exclaimed in amazement that it was the most perfect inscription she had ever seen. Ted said without hesitation that it was all his master's doing.
Abel's heart lurched and he rushed forward to clap a hand over Ted's mouth, but it was already too late. Alyssa had heard every word perfectly clearly. Abel grabbed Ted and hurried away.
Alyssa stood there, still reeling. Abel was capable of magic at this level of difficulty? Just who exactly was he?
The next day, the entrance ceremony was about to begin. The two of them sprinted down the corridor at full speed. Ted apologized for having said too much. By the time they reached the hall doors, Ted was already gasping for breath, but Abel noticed something unusual about the doors. He studied them carefully and realized it was not a trap. It was a welcome ceremony.
To keep a low profile, he nudged Ted to go first. Ted was too afraid of some punishment waiting for latecomers and refused to budge. Abel simply gave him a firm shove through the doors.
In an instant, the sound of mechanical gears and cheerful music filled the air together. Ted stood there with his jaw hanging open at the dazzling spectacle before him. Confetti rained down and intricate little wooden puppets danced along with the music. Abel explained to him that it was all just magic, a mechanism designed to sense the magical energy of whoever opened the door and set itself in motion. They looked up to see wooden puppets several stories tall, all playing and welcoming together.
The other new students turned around, their eyes locking onto Ted. Everyone assumed he had been the one to trigger the grand ceremony. Even the rarely heard knight's march had apparently been played in his honor. The group that had mocked them yesterday turned a shade of green with barely suppressed fury. Even the teachers became convinced Ted was the strongest new student of the year.
Ted started grinning like an idiot all over again, completely forgetting his earlier fear and reluctance.
Just then the headmaster appeared, calling the hall to order. He too was pleasantly surprised that the knight's march had been heard this year.
Abel stood quietly in the crowd, sizing up the new students around him. About two hundred students per year, a larger scale than he had imagined.