Colin furrowed his brows... he didn't recognize the young wizard standing before him.
He wanted to ask questions out loud, but remembering Lillian's earlier advice, he kept silent, expressionlessly watching Herard to see what he would do next.
But to Colin's surprise, Herard regained his composure and coldly handed over a piece of Magic Stone, saying at the same time, "Here is your subsidy Magic Stone, take it."
Colin was confused, but nonetheless, he couldn't refuse the subsidy Magic Stone.
He reached out to take the Magic Stone.
But the next second, as he saw the Middle Magic Stone being handed over by Herard, his hand stopped mid-air.
"What do you mean by this, sir? Could it be that you can't tell the difference between a High Level Magic Stone and a Middle one?" Colin's heart sank as he asked expressionlessly.
"Herard?" Lillian's face immediately turned cold.
Seeing both Colin and Lillian questioning him, Herard felt not anger but rather a surge of pleasure.
Past suffering fueled anger, and now that anger turned into pleasure because of Colin's and Lillian's reactions.
He stared at Colin.
In a trance, Colin's slightly hardened expression seemed to gradually merge with Atbolde's originally indifferent and uncaring expression.
A hint of a smile appeared on Herard's face as he coldly said:
"It's just a fee for some wound medicine, you should understand, Lillian."
The three of them had already attracted the attention of other wizards around them, but no one spoke up.
Although Herard was just a First Rank Wizard like the rest, his mentor was the Wizard Eugene, who was sitting in the chief seat.
Herard continued to speak, his tone gloomy yet smug:
"I haven't forgotten the pain that Atbolde inflicted on me..."
"So you came looking for me?" Colin finally spoke.
Although he still didn't know exactly what happened, why Atbolde had caused Herard pain, and why Herard was looking for him...
But after so much time had passed, he had come to understand that some issues couldn't be resolved by avoidance.
It was clear that Herard was looking for trouble with him, and constant retreating would only fuel his aggressive arrogance and possibly worsen the situation.
He glanced at the scarred face of Herard and continued:
"I once heard a fable in the land of the High Level Elves, about a grey ground rat, ugly in appearance, that frequently visited to destroy the nests of brown-feathered finches."
"One day, the finches couldn't stand it anymore and sought the judgement of the venerable Ancient Tree of Life."
"The spirit of the Ancient Tree asked the grey ground rat, 'Why do you always trouble the brown-feathered finches?'"
"The grey ground rat said: 'Because of the grey tits, grey tits are always hunting us!'"
"The spirit of life asked in surprise: 'But what does that have to do with the brown-feathered finches?'"
Having reached this point, Colin looked at Herard, and asked word by word:
"Do you know how the grey ground rat responded?"
Herard was momentarily confused by Colin's unexpected narrations, his original anger slightly dissipated, and he subconsciously asked:
"How…"
But it was only for a moment, he quickly gathered himself, closed his mouth, and glared at Colin.
Colin smiled and responded:
"The grey ground rat said, 'Because the grey tits are too terrifying.'"
"It doesn't dare to confront the grey tits, so it only dares to trouble the brown-feathered finches."
Herard's expression abruptly darkened, Colin's words stabbing sharply at his sore spot like lethal arrows.
Atbolde's bizarre tactics were deeply etched in his memory—he even felt he had developed a psychological shadow!
Every time he saw flowers blooming on the roadside, he would recall those bizarre flowers that had sprouted from within his own body, breaking through his skin to grow out.
The scent of the flowers mixed with the scent of blood, bringing an almost will-sapping pain and itchiness, lingered at the tip of his nose for over a month.
Although later, with the help of mentor Eugene, the pain and itchiness were suppressed and his battered body had recovered… the fear in his heart seemed like a festering wound on the bone, never dispersing.
Although he was reluctant to admit it, he… indeed no longer had the courage to face Atbolde.
When Lillian heard the words that Colin uttered, she couldn't help but be a little surprised.
Usually, Colin was gentle… Disliking conflict, he had never shown such a sharp demeanor.
But… she whispered to Colin through a transmission:
"Previously, when the mentor went to request a spot for you at the Alus Association, he had disciplined Herard, who offended him. I fear it's because of that he harbors resentment."
Colin was slightly startled, not expecting that the cause of the matter was because of himself...
In that case, it was understandable for Herard to seek him out… No, the words had already been spoken; even if there were reasons, the fact that Herard didn't dare to trouble Atbolde—the ones who had harmed him—was also true.
On the other hand, Herard's face was gloomy as he glared furiously at him.
Colin's expression remained calm, his heart indifferent.
It was a taboo to kill fellow school members internally; he and Herard were members of the same school.
Moreover, from the look of Herard, this conflict didn't seem to be a matter of life and death—otherwise, Herard would have probably challenged him, a newcomer and freshly Advanced Official Wizard, to a deadly school duel.
Of course, even if Herard had proposed a duel, he could just ignore it.
"Herard, why don't you continue distributing the Magic Stones?"
At that moment, another middle-aged looking wizard sitting beside mentor Eugene suddenly asked.
Herard didn't answer but instinctively turned his head to look at Eugene sitting in the principal seat.
Seeing that he didn't care and was still playing with the lychee ball in his hand, Herard slightly relaxed.
"Olaf, could you help me distribute the rest of the Magic Stones?" he asked the middle-aged looking wizard.
Although mentor Eugene usually didn't care about these things, if it delayed the task of distributing the Magic Stones assigned by the mentor… it might not be the same.
Olaf put down his knife and fork, watching Herard with a frown in his heart.
This Herard didn't know the importance of urgency, whatever the grievances, completing the task assigned by mentor Eugene was undoubtedly more important!
He sighed inwardly, stood up, and walked towards Herard.
Seeing Olaf approaching, it was as if he no longer had any worries.
Herard turned his head towards Colin and extended his arm once more.
He continued coldly, "This is all there is for your subsidy, if you don't want it, I'll take it away."
"Herard, do you dare to withhold the school's subsidy?"
Just then, Lillian suddenly stood up and asked coldly.
Her voice rose high, drowning out all the noise of conversation in the room, and immediately brought silence.
Colin also stood up.
But before he could say anything, an unexpected voice suddenly came from the side.
"Lord Herard, Master Eugene is watching, if there's any medication expenses, they should be discussed after issuing the full subsidy.
Why not distribute the subsidies first and then discuss this matter?"
Silear, mature in demeanor and carefully styled in hair, also spoke up.
He wore a smile, appearing as a mediator.
Colin's impression of him slightly changed… At times like these, it's not everyone who has the courage to speak up.
Snap.
At the principal seat.
Eugene gently placed the lychee ball on the table, covered his mouth, and yawned,
then spoke indifferently: "Herard, complete the distribution of the subsidies first."
Putting a final note on the matter.