The Eclipsed Order

Chapter 158: Chapter 158: The Price of Talking Too Much

After returning, I made my way back to the academy.

Naturally, disappearing for several days without informing anyone had consequences.

My professor was not particularly pleased when I finally appeared in class again, and I ended up receiving a rather lengthy lecture about responsibility, attendance, and the importance of informing the academy before taking an extended absence.

I listened quietly.

I apologized.

I even managed to put on an appropriately regretful expression.

Apparently, I did it a little too well.

By the end of the conversation, my professor had started wiping tears from his eyes while telling me that he understood how difficult things must have been for someone my age to deal with family matters alone.

I felt slightly guilty.

Not because I had lied.

Well...

Maybe a little.

Still, the problem was resolved, and I was finally allowed to return to my normal school life.

Which, unfortunately, meant dealing with Rhal again.

The moment I entered the classroom, I barely had time to sit down before someone leaned over from the neighboring desk.

"Just what did you have to deal with to disappear for that long?"

I glanced toward Rhal.

He was looking at me with the sort of curiosity that suggested he had been waiting several days to ask that exact question.

"As I said before, it was a family matter."

"Family matter, huh?"

Rhal narrowed his eyes slightly.

"That’s what you told me before you disappeared, too."

"Because that’s what it was."

"You’re surprisingly good at avoiding questions."

Rhal stared at me for a moment before sighing.

"Fine. I won’t pry."

He paused.

"Actually..."

A grin slowly appeared on his face.

"Actually, I have something prepared for you."

I already knew that expression.

Whenever Rhal smiled like that, trouble was usually close behind.

"What is it this time?"

"Rumors."

I sighed internally.

There he goes again.

Apparently, nearly a week without seeing him hadn’t changed anything.

If anything, it had probably given him even more time to collect information.

"So, what kind of rumors are you talking about this time?"

Rhal leaned closer and lowered his voice as though he were about to reveal some classified information.

"I’ve got quite a few."

He tapped his fingers against the desk.

"They’ve been piling up while you were gone. I was going to tell you earlier, but since you weren’t here, I had to keep all of them to myself."

"You make it sound like you’ve been suffering."

"I have."

He nodded solemnly.

"Do you have any idea how difficult it is to hold onto good rumors without immediately telling someone?"

"I somehow doubt that was difficult for you."

Rhal ignored the comment.

"Anyway, I’ll tell you everything after class."

"Why not now?"

"Because class is about to start."

He glanced toward the front of the room.

"And because there’s something else."

I already disliked the sound of that.

"What?"

Rhal smiled.

"You owe me a meal."

I stared at him.

"Why?"

He folded his arms with an expression of complete confidence.

"I spent almost an entire week collecting information while you were gone. You should at least provide compensation for my hard work."

"You weren’t collecting rumors for me."

"That’s beside the point."

Rhal’s grin widened.

"So, are we eating together after class or not?"

I sighed.

"Alright, alright."

His expression immediately brightened.

"Perfect."

"As expected."

"When it comes to rumors, you’re remarkably easy to negotiate with."

"You agreed to sell me your entire collection of rumors for one meal."

"That’s because I was going to tell you anyway."

Rhal opened his mouth to argue, but the classroom door opened before he could respond.

Our professor entered.

The conversations around the classroom immediately died down as everyone returned to their seats.

Rhal straightened himself and lowered his voice.

"We’ll talk after class."

"Yeah, yeah."

"And don’t forget the meal."

"I get it."

He smiled.

"Good boy."

I turned toward the front of the classroom.

For a moment, everything returned to normal.

The professor began the lesson.

The students opened their books.

The familiar sounds of pages turning and pens moving across paper filled the room.

I rested my cheek against one hand and listened.

After spending several days on Earth, returning to the academy felt strangely ordinary.

Which was probably a good thing.

At least for now, I could simply attend class, deal with Rhal’s rumors, and pretend that nothing unusual had happened.

Although, judging from the expression on Rhal’s face whenever he glanced in my direction...

I had a feeling those rumors were going to make my afternoon considerably less peaceful.

The rooftop had become our usual place whenever Rhal had something particularly interesting to talk about.

There was a wooden bench near the edge of the roof, positioned where we could see most of the academy grounds below. The afternoon breeze was pleasant, and with classes already finished, there was hardly anyone around to bother us.

Rhal sat beside me with the expression of someone who had been waiting all day for this exact moment.

"So you’re saying a professor and a student were caught having an affair?" I asked.

Rhal nodded immediately.

"Mm-hm."

He somehow managed to make that sound far more proud than necessary.

"And what happened afterward?"

"Well..."

Rhal leaned back against the bench.

"Because the student was the daughter of a noble family, the academy couldn’t simply handle the matter quietly. The professor was arrested, and the student was expelled as well."

I looked at him.

"You really do know a lot."

"Told you."

He smiled proudly.

"I don’t just hear rumors. I’m a collector master of them."

"Collecter master?"

"Of course. Information is valuable."

He tapped his temple.

"You never know when something you hear today might become useful tomorrow."

I couldn’t really argue with that.

Rhal’s ability to gather information was genuinely impressive. Somehow, he always knew what was happening around the academy, whether it involved students, professors, nobles, guilds, or people who probably wished nobody knew what they were doing.

"So, what’s the next rumor?"

Rhal’s eyes immediately lit up.

"Don’t get too excited."

He paused dramatically.

"Because the next batch is even better."

There he goes again.

I sighed internally.

Rhal leaned closer.

"You know the professor who teaches advanced elemental theory?"

"The one with the terrible beard?"

"Exactly."

"What about him?"

The conversation continued from there.

One rumor became another.

Then another.

Some were ridiculous.

Some were surprisingly believable.

And a few were so absurd that I had to wonder how anyone had managed to invent them in the first place.

By the time the sun had begun sinking toward the horizon, Rhal was still talking.

I glanced at him.

"Are you planning to rest at some point?"

"There’s no need."

He waved his hand dismissively.

"Besides, you’re enjoying this too, aren’t you?"

"That’s true, but..."

I looked at him.

"Doesn’t your mouth get tired?"

Rhal stopped.

"What?"

"You’ve been talking for hours now."

I stared at him seriously.

"At this point, I’m starting to wonder whether your mouth has an independent source of mana, it might explode you know."

Rhal’s expression twisted.

"Hah, you..."

He pointed at me.

"Alright, fine. We’ll continue tomorrow."

After that we left the rooftop.

Rhal headed home while I returned to my dormitory, and for the first time that evening, the academy became quiet enough for me to enjoy some peace.

I had no idea that Rhal would regret ending our conversation the next morning.

---

The next morning, something was wrong.

I realized it the moment I entered the classroom.

Rhal was already sitting at his desk.

He looked furious.

His fists were clenched tightly against the surface of his desk, his eyebrows were drawn together, and every few seconds he would open his mouth as though he were about to say something.

Nothing came out.

I stopped.

"...What?"

Rhal looked at me.

His expression immediately became even angrier.

He opened his mouth.

Nothing.

He tried again.

Still nothing.

I stared at him.

For a moment, I honestly wondered whether something had happened to his throat.

Then I activated True Sight.

The information appeared immediately.

I almost laughed.

Almost.

No.

I definitely laughed.

"Pfft..."

Rhal’s face turned red.

He slammed both hands against his desk.

He couldn’t speak.

Rhal pointed furiously toward his throat, then toward me, then toward the classroom door, as though he were trying to explain an extremely complicated situation through hand gestures alone.

I had to turn my face away.

This was bad.

Very bad.

But it was also incredibly funny.

Yesterday, this man had spent several hours talking without stopping.

Today, he couldn’t produce a single sound.

I looked at him again.

His eyes met mine.

I laughed.

Rhal’s expression became murderous.

He grabbed a sheet of paper and began writing furiously.

He shoved it toward me.

WHY ARE YOU LAUGHING?!

I covered my mouth.

"Sorry."

I wasn’t sorry.

Not even slightly.

Rhal snatched the paper back and wrote again.

FIX THIS!

I looked at him.

"How?"

He froze.

Then his expression became even more furious.

He clearly hadn’t thought that far.

I sighed.

"Don’t worry. It probably isn’t permanent."

Rhal stared at me.

Then he pointed toward his throat.

I nodded.

"I know."

He narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

I had to suppress another laugh.

The problem was that his expressions were becoming increasingly dramatic.

He would glare at me.

I would look at him.

He would clench his fists.

I would look away.

Then he’d glare again.

And every single time our eyes met, I couldn’t help myself.

I laughed again.

"Pfft..."

Rhal slammed his forehead against the desk.

The other students had started noticing.

One of them looked over.

"Is Rhal sick?"

Another student shook his head.

"I don’t know. He’s been strangely quiet all morning."

A third student looked at him.

"Wait."

The student smiled.

"Isn’t this the first time Rhal has been quiet since we met him?"

Someone else laughed.

"You’re right."

The room gradually became more amused.

Even the professor eventually noticed.

He stopped in front of the classroom and looked at Rhal.

"Rhal."

Rhal immediately looked up.

The professor waited.

Rhal opened his mouth.

Nothing happened.

The professor blinked.

Then his expression became strangely thoughtful.

"I see."

Rhal’s eyes widened.

The professor nodded solemnly.

"This is a remarkable development."

Several students immediately started laughing.

Rhal’s face became bright red.

He stood up and desperately waved his hands.

The professor raised one hand.

"Please don’t worry."

He smiled.

"For the first time since the semester began, I can finally finish an entire sentence without being interrupted."

The classroom erupted.

Rhal’s shoulders dropped.

He slowly sat down again.

I covered my mouth.

This was getting worse.

Much worse.

And yet, somehow, I couldn’t stop laughing.

Rhal looked toward me.

Our eyes met.

He glared.

I laughed again.

"...Sorry."

His expression clearly said that he didn’t believe me.

As I looked at him struggling to communicate through increasingly exaggerated gestures, I couldn’t help thinking that this was probably karma.

Yesterday, he had talked for hours talking about other people.

Today, the world had apparently decided to return the favor.

And judging from his expression...

Rhal had learned absolutely nothing.

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