novelbin Chapter 125 : Chapter 125
Chapter 125 : Chapter 125
Chapter 125. Ashley
Logaris exhaled a ring of smoke, which quickly dispersed into the cold air.
He turned his head slightly, his gaze passing through the half-open window.
The room was warmly lit.
The girl named Ashley had not yet gone to sleep.
She was wearing a set of cotton pajamas and was kneeling on the bed, trying to arrange the bedding. Her movements were a bit clumsy—she tucked in the corners only for them to slip out again, clearly unaccustomed to doing such chores.
Suddenly, it seemed she could not find the pillowcase. She spun around twice on the bed in a fluster.
At the moment she turned to face the window—
the hand holding Logaris’s cigarette trembled abruptly.
That golden hair.
Not a dazzling gold, but rather a pale, slightly faded hue, like aged silk under the light.
And those eyes.
Azure blue.
Not the deep blue of the ocean, nor the bright clarity of the sky, but a muted, gray-tinted blue, like a precious cat’s-eye gemstone.
Too similar.
She looked almost identical to the woman in his memories—the one who would always sit at the doorway in a daze, waiting for a man who would never return.
“Damn it.”
Logaris muttered under his breath. He threw the half-smoked cigarette to the ground and crushed it beneath his shoe.
He took a deep breath, and the cold composure of a top-tier spellcaster returned to him.
He adjusted the slightly wrinkled hem of his coat and stepped out of the shadows.
Knock, knock, knock.
The sound of knuckles striking glass was especially abrupt in the quiet night.
Inside, the girl jolted in fright, the pillow in her hands dropping straight to the floor.
She turned her head in panic, like a rabbit caught in the sights of a hunter’s rifle.
When she saw the person standing outside the window, her fear turned into confused bewilderment.
A strange young man stood outside.
He wore a well-tailored black coat, a pair of gold-rimmed glasses resting on his nose, and he stared at her expressionlessly through the thin pane of glass.
The calm yet oppressive aura emanating from him made Ashley instinctively hold her breath. After hesitating for a few seconds under his indifferent gaze, she could only nervously step forward and open the window.
She stammered, “Um… may I ask who you are?”
“I am a professor of the magitech engineering department at Saint Arcadia Academy, Logaris West.”
Logaris’s voice carried no emotion—neither warm nor harsh—like a routine statement. “I did not disturb your rest, did I?”
“N-No!”
Ashley twisted the hem of her pajamas with both hands, her face flushed red. “I… I was making the bed… um… Professor, what do you need?”
Her mind was already racing wildly.
Had she filled something incorrectly in her enrollment forms earlier? Had she been too noisy just now? Or was this legendary professor about to conduct some kind of midnight surprise assessment?
Logaris did not waste words.
His habit of getting straight to the point, cultivated through research, was on full display.
“You are from the Northern Territory?”
“Ah? Y-Yes.” Ashley nodded blankly. “My home is in a small town at the southernmost part of the Northern Territory…”
“What does your family do?”
“We… we used to be in the fur trade.” Her voice lowered, sounding somewhat uneasy. “But later, for certain reasons, business became difficult. Now we are just an ordinary barony…”
A barony.
The corner of Logaris’s mouth twitched into a faintly mocking curve.
It seemed that over the past twenty years, that so-called family had not been doing well at all.
“Have you heard the name Elvira?”
Logaris suddenly threw out the question.
His eyes were locked onto the girl’s face, capturing every subtle change in her expression.
Ashley clearly froze.
In that instant, a trace of panic flashed in her eyes, like someone who had just touched upon a forbidden topic.
“H-How do you know that name?”
She instinctively took half a step back, her voice trembling. “That… that is taboo in my family. My grandfather forbids anyone from mentioning it.”
Taboo?
Logaris felt a sharp tug in his chest.
“So you do know her?” He stepped forward, the invisible pressure around him making the air feel thinner.
“I… I have never seen her.”
Ashley was on the verge of tears, completely unsure how she had offended this powerful figure. “I only heard my grandfather mention it when he was drunk… no, mutter about it. He said she was his younger sister…”
“Your grandfather came as well?”
Logaris took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the turmoil in his heart. His tone returned to that unsettling calm.
“H-He did.”
Ashley nodded timidly, answering every question out of sheer fear. “He brought me here to enroll. He said he was worried, so he would stay in the capital for a few days and only leave after I settled in.”
“Where is he staying?”
“On the street outside the academy’s south gate… it’s called the Wisteria Inn.”
Having obtained the answer he wanted,
Logaris nodded.
He glanced once more at the girl, who looked as timid as a quail.
Those eyes… they were truly too similar.
He rummaged in his pocket for a moment and took out an unremarkable small metal piece.
It was an amulet forged from mithril and black iron, engraved with extremely complex defensive spellwork. It was something he had casually made during an experiment, yet it was sufficient to block any attack below the third tier.
“Take it.”
He tossed it casually onto the windowsill, as if throwing a coin.
“A meeting gift.”
“Huh?” Ashley was stunned, unable to keep up with the sudden turn of events. “Th-This is too valuable, I cannot—”
“If I give it to you, then take it.”
Logaris interrupted impatiently. “Behave yourself in the academy. Do not embarrass me… do not embarrass our department. If anyone bullies you, smash this thing in their face.”
With that, he did not give her a chance to refuse. He turned and left.
The black coat fluttered sharply in the night wind, his back carrying a sense of decisiveness and cold intent.
Ashley held the slightly warm amulet in her hands, standing by the window in a daze.
Why did she feel a strange sense of familiarity from that cold, rigid figure?
…
After leaving the academy gates,
the streets in the early hours were empty, with only a few stray cats rummaging through garbage bins.
Logaris raised a hand and hailed a night carriage still looking for fares.
“Where to, sir?”
The driver, a middle-aged man with stubble, asked with a yawn.
Logaris opened the carriage door and sat inside, his figure sinking into the shadows.
He removed his glasses and rubbed his slightly aching temples. His heterochromatic eyes—one blue, one red—glimmered faintly in the darkness.
“The Wisteria Inn.”
“Got it!” The driver cracked his whip. “Heading to an inn at this hour—visiting a friend?”
Logaris stared at the rapidly retreating scenery outside the window, his expression blank.
“Perhaps.”