Five days have passed since the announcement of the mock examination, Sigrun jumps in joy as he saw his passing marks. It’s not that it is something within the set standards of the academy but, a passing grade is still a passing grade and none can change that fact.

What his overall rank among the first years didn’t matter, it’s a victory solely for him to celebrate as he conquered the test even with a mediocre result.

In Alisa and Reed’s case, they tied at second place with Amaryl toppling both of them by a margin of one point.

Alisa didn’t show any frustration and Reed laughs it off normally. It was comical enough to make them sigh in relief about being so gung-ho about it.

Also, Nio started her school as a grade schooler to learn more about the world.

Seigen Llyod still visited Sigrun and hanged out with him, especially when Sigrun showed a favorable result from his guidance. Sigrun wouldn’t have passed the test without Seigen’s careful teachings. They even started meeting up after school in Café Riria since Reed is still busy with Nio and Alisa is still under house arrest.

However, among every one involving with Sigrun, Meld was the happiest.

And so, upon seeing Sigrun’s effort, he immediately ordered a set of high spec personal computer. A high-end gaming computer with Virtual Reality mod ready, equipped with the latest model of processor and RAM of eight gigabytes and knows how many terabytes of memories. It comes with a compact thirty-inch flat screen and a branded keyboard, mouse, speakers, and even the gaming seat sees no end of splurging.

However, the unit is there but there’s no one to set it up. Even the internet provider is troubled by it so even Sigrun himself don’t know what to do.

In the first place, he didn’t take so many interests in gaming and internet. He just listened to Reed and Alisa blabbers about blogs, posting, and social media.

And so, Saturday morning, Sigrun seats in front of the unassembled units with a long face.

“I know Seigen is good at technology and whatnot but, of all the free day, he is busy for today. He said something about consulting a relative about something.” Sigrun lay down on the sofa, sulking.

“Ahh…I want to hang out with Reed and Alisa. Well, this is the repercussion of our actions so we need to endure it a little bit more. After that, I’ll play with them as much as I like. Seigen can play with us but I feel like he is more of a person I’d like to hang out with, sipping coffee, looking at cute girls.” Sigrun said as he recalls the time he is with Seigen, pointing at girls walking outside of the coffee shop. Well, most of the time, it was him doing the pointing.

“I have money but, I don’t have grasps of monetary value yet. A normal meal costs around one hundred Zeni. A cup of coffee in Riria costs four hundred fifty Zeni. How come does a coffee cost more than a meal?! Is it because they are using a premium grade coffee bean or something?! Is that it?! Not that it matters since I have still had around fifty thousand Zeni…” Sigrun monologues to himself and ponders a lot of things.

Suddenly…

“Hmm? Hey, you can come out you know? You are already aware that I can feel you there.” Sigrun suddenly said towards the direction of the window.

From the window, two rabbit ears hang and slowly, the blond hair follows and then the blue cerulean eyes. The owner of such features is none other than Ezili Clear.

“As expected of the Hero of Aldieas. Even my ninja skills are nothing in your presence!” Ezili then comes inside through the window with swift and smooth movements. The clanking of chains reverberates before disappearing into shadows again.

“What brings you here?” Sigrun immediately asked as he started preparing for a drink to serve for Ezili. It was something Sigrun learned upon Seigen’s frequent visit.

“Ah, thanks for the this! Actually, you see, father sent me here knowing that you are completely oblivious to these things.” Ezili said as she takes a sip of the drink. “Cola? Who the hell serves cola on their guests?” Ezili thought as the bubbly sweetness spreads throughout her mouth.

“Wait, about what?” Sigrun tilted his head quizzically.

“About that, the unit lying over there.” Ezili pointed at the unassembled computer resting in front of the sofa.

“Ah…well, that’s…I don’t know…do we really have to? I mean, isn’t playing on a console more efficient since it’s just setup then plugin?” Sigrun said with a stiff smile.

“That’s just being narrowminded at this age. Through the computer, you can do extensive research that you can’t do with books nowadays. You can watch videos all you want on the internet, play more games and download music. It will be super convenient.” Ezili explained as she started reading the specifications of the unit.

“Ugghhh…this is too high spec!! I’d like to get this one for myself but…” Ezili’s deadpan face showed a flabbergasted countenance upon seeing how much money is splurged on the unit.

“I guess I can have that one then. For convenience purposes as that.” Sigrun said while reluctantly agreeing.

“No! We are definitely going to make full use of this! You are even provided with a really fast internet! What in the freaking hell is this?! Let’s set this up immediately!” Ezili’s expression changes greatly to an aggressive one.

“Eh? Ah, yeah, okay…the job is yours though. I doubt I can help you with anything.” Sigrun said while gently pushing Ezili away who peered closer to him in her frenzy.

“Really?! Okay, I’ll do my best! Where do you want me to set this up?!” Ezili rushes Sigrun for answers.

“My room I guess? I’ll help you carry it.” Sigrun said as he started lifting the boxes singlehandedly.

Ezili started setting up the unit, assembling it step by step according to her experience without even looking at the manual. Sigrun can only watch in amazement as Ezili connects the ports and wirings. She even skillfully lines up the cables so they won’t get in the way.

Carefully looking at the video card, the hard drive, the processor, even at the exhaust fan, everything is meticulously arranged.

After for a while, before lunch, the unit was assembled without a cinch.

“Done, and done!” Ezili said as she booted the unit.

“Eh? Already done? Is that all? Not that I get most of what you did but that took was shorter than I expected, given how complicated it looks.” Sigrun said as he stares at the unit booting up, however, it didn’t show the desktop yet.

“Here, we are going to installs a lot of software. After the hardware comes to the operating systems, you know? That’s where the real work begins. We need to download a lot of app—so fast!” Ezili once again sprouted a troubled and flabbergasted countenance.

“What’s fast?!” Sigrun took notice of Ezili’s discomfort and also peered his sight on the screen.

“Seriously, your internet is not commonplace, but, it’s almost lunchtime...” Ezili said as she rubs her belly in a gesture of her hunger.

“Ahahaha, well, I’ll whip up something really quick for you since you are going through all the trouble for me. For now, make yourself at home.” Sigrun said as he politely left the room.

“Wait, I’ll come.” Ezili followed along.

Ezili comes at Sigrun’s kitchen. Upon arriving, she saw that Sigrun’s fridge isn’t as pathetic as hers. More like, Sigrun knows how to stockpile meats and vegetables. He even has stocked eggs and dairy products and he has more cooking utensils.

“Errr…I thought you lived in the mountains for thousands of years…to know cooking…” Ezili asked while watching Sigrun cooks.

“Hmm? Ah, I cook as a hobby you see. Even back at the mountain, I have a lot of plants the grew spices. As for salt, I have a mine for that. Don’t know how something like that came to be though.” Sigrun said as he started stir-frying meat mixed with vegetables.

“Yeah…Err…that pink apron looks good on you. You look…pretty?” Ezili tried to change the topic.

“You don’t have to be that awkward. I want you to set aside my title as the hero. In fact, don’t even think that I am one.” Sigrun as he started meticulously adding spices.

“That’s really hard to swallow. Reed Chelle and Alisa Hertuclaire aside, Seigen and I have our own misgivings and woes about your identity. The reason Seigen hanging out with you is…” Ezili pauses for a second.

“I’m sorry…for barging into your peace then…” Sigrun said as he started serving rice at front of Ezili.

“No, it’s not that of a problem. In fact, Seigen has frequently visited the library for the past days. He keeps looking for a lot of records about the sacred mountain and some lingering history that even the internet doesn’t have. Perhaps, you said something to him?” Ezili asked bluntly.

“He is researching?” Sigrun reaffirmed.

“Yeah, thesis, olden records, unpublished documents that are only exclusive to our academy. All of it, Seigen is skimming every part of it. The only thing in play that I can think of is because he started hanging out with you.” Ezili said as she started eyeing on the food.

“Haha, well, I already knew that he has a motive for helping me and I already told him what he wanted to hear. However, I didn’t expect him to start looking deeper into these matters.” Sigrun said as he sat down in front of Ezili with his own plate.

“Do you want him to stop?” Ezili quickly asked.

“No, I really don’t plan on keeping secrets, however, I don’t plan on telling anything more than necessary. It’s just a matter if one really wanted to know or not. After all, I still don’t like that fake fairy tale book written about me.” Sigrun said as he started serving Ezili with the meal he prepared.

“Haaa…if you say so, although, keep in mind that what you have will bore countless interests from a lot of people. For example, Seyren Aern.” Ezili gave a warning.

“Noted. Well, for now, let’s eat our meal uninterrupted, okay?” Sigrun smiled as he started eating.

From Sigrun’s urging, Ezili also started moving her spoon and gently ate with him.

“This…the flavor is too strong…” Ezili said inwardly.

After eating, Ezili once again operated the installation of software necessary for Sigrun’s unit. And was faster than she thought it would be that it didn’t even take an hour to completely finish the job.

“This is just too incredible, to be honest. I want one of this for myself if I can but this is too expensive.” Ezili said as she longingly stares at the unit.

“Can’t you just ask Sir Quarts?” Sigrun asked the question that made Ezili jerks on her place.

“No…it’s just that…we are not allowed to use a computer at our house for my mother’s safety.” Ezili said with a complicated face.

“Your mother, right? Well, it can’t be helped. For now, about this…” Sigrun pointed at the unit with the screen displaying the desktop.

“Ah, let’s see. You open this application called Giggle Home. From here on out, you can browse pretty much a lot. Just enter any keyword on this site called Giggle.com. and you will be set. For example, is there anything you want to see in particular?” Ezili asked as she demonstrated to Sigrun while typing.

“Yeah, well, there’s this game that I stopped midway back in Reed’s house. I’d like to see if I can get a clue of how the game ended…” Sigrun said.

“A, then a playthrough in Eytube will do, right? Wait a sec.” Ezili started typing on the keyboard and in an instant, the result came up videos featuring about the game Sigrun is talking about came up.

“This is…umm…Why is there are a person in the video too?” Sigrun asked as he pointed at the person voicing over the game with weird commentaries.

“Ah, these kinds of people are called Eytuber. They make videos pretty much about a lot of things and posts it online for people’s amusement and entertainment. This also boosts their popularity in the race, gaining them a lot more subscriber on their channel.” Ezili explained the mechanics about Eytubers.

“A-Amazing…! That’s really something else…Do you think I could try that?” Sigrun asked while showing eyes full of interests.

“My…of course. Let me show you the ropes then!” Ezili said with glee.