A small crowd filled the inside of the pavilion; Mel walked past a bunch of empty benches and sat down on one holding just a few people.
During all this time, a single pair of eyes watched his every move closely; the moment the young boy sat down, the man turned to his right and spoke to his friend, who was watching the trial with deep interest.
"Hanry, you already grabbed the boy! I would expect no less from you!"
Holding his long beard between his hands, the old man smiled as he watched Cantankerous Hanry, who was scanning the stands right after those words. At that exact second, a young voice cut in from his left side.
"He's just a commoner in the end; his limits are clear! He is a perfect match for Master Hanry!"
The young Master of the Gloove lineage, Louise, was showing off the peak of his arrogance; as the Third Commander of the Botanical Division, he looked down on everyone beneath him.
"This is not the time or place, Louise; you will not bicker in front of the Alchemy Division!"
When the old man gave his warning, Hanry spotted exactly where Mel was sitting; his face showed huge surprise at finding the boy inside this place.
"Mel, how did you get inside? After we heard the rules at the gate, we were really worried that we disrespected you!"
It looked like someone else knew Mel was there; ignoring the dark night, Edgan walked over, his crisp blue clothes blowing behind him.
"I was surprised at first too, but when I showed them Senior Master Hanry's token, they thought I was his student and let me in."
"What did you just say? You have the token of the Second Commander of the Botanical Division?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
"What do you mean, what about it? Do you even know what kind of treasure you're holding? That token in your hand is a key that will open almost any door in the Green Shadow Academy. You don't need tests anymore; the master has already picked you as his student!"
Mel finally understood how huge the token in his hand really was, and right then, a voice echoed in his head.
"Brat, I didn't expect to see you here!"
Hearing the voice, Mel whipped his head from left to right like a lost duckling, looking for Master Hanry; he found him laughing out loud, his mouth open wider than ever before. He could hear the voice, but judging by his confused look, he had no idea how to talk back.
"Right, you don't know voice transmission. If you push your energy into the token just like you do with the plants, you can talk to me. As long as we're in the settlement, we can talk like this anywhere!"
Slowly pulling out Cantankerous Hanry's token, Mel did what he was told.
"A friend of mine entered the trial, and I came because she invited me to watch!"
"Which one? Point her out!"
Doing a quick scan of the trial grounds, Mel spotted the desk where Marvina was working. On the desk sat a bunch of different alchemy bottles, a burner, and a small pot bubbling hard over it.
"The girl in the red dress, with her hair tied in two round buns."
There were a lot of girls dressed in red down where the candidates were; honestly, almost everyone taking the test was a girl. But out of all of them, Marvina was the only one wearing twin buns; it didn't take Cantankerous Hanry long to spot her.
"You sneaky bastard, you brat! What kind of devil are you hiding behind that innocent look of yours?"
Cantankerous Hanry had no filter on his mouth at all; when his voice reached Mel, the robust boy's face turned bright red.
"It's not what you think, we're just friends!"
Since his face was just as red as Marvina's dress, Mel's voice transmission came out broken and stuttering.
"Cut the bullshit, you sneaky bastard. You found a kid just like yourself. Look around, you're completely surrounded by Alchemy Division students!"
Master Hanry's loud laugh stretched across his face, while Mel was busy checking to see if his words were actually true.
He wasn't lying; the bench that had been empty when he got there was now packed, and if that wasn't enough, there wasn't a single open seat on the benches in front of or behind him. His weird behavior had caught the eye of the girls from the Alchemy Division, and they didn't hold back from talking about it among themselves.
"Is that ugly brute looking at us?"
"I can't see the boy's face next to him because of his huge body. He's like a bear, blocking my view!"
The words they used were totally ruthless; shrinking his shoulders, Mel tried to hide himself.
"You got it wrong again! They aren't here for me, they're only looking at my friend!"
"You really think I'm an idiot, brat! You'd have to be blind not to see they're after the pretty boy next to you. But do you want me to teach you a little lesson about the Alchemy Division members?"
Hanry's voice had a weird tone to it; it sounded a little bit playful and a little bit angry.
"You're going to do exactly what I say, or you can forget about getting into the Botanical Division!"
While Mel listened to Cantankerous Hanry with total focus, the whispers around him started to get louder.
"He still has the nerve to stay in that seat!"
"You're right, look at him! He's muttering something while staring at the Botanical Division bosses. He's trying to trick us by pretending he knows someone!"
"Let's go make him stand up! We can introduce ourselves to the handsome boy while we're at it!"
Four of the older girls stood up from the bench Mel was sitting on. Judging by their talk, their real target was the robust boy.
"Mel, stand up right now and give me a huge bow. Make damn sure everyone around you sees the token in your hand!"
Cantankerous Hanry's voice was deadly serious; the young boy had to follow the order without saying a single word.
He jumped to his feet like he was launched, and then, like his spine was broken, he bowed deep, pointing his respect right at where Cantankerous Hanry was sitting.
"Look at the idiot; he's really playing the part now that he sees us coming!"
One of the girls, who was almost right next to Mel, spoke with a mocking laugh; but just a second later, the color completely drained from her face.
Cantankerous Hanry, sitting in the exact spot Mel was bowing to, raised his hand, making a clear move that proved he accepted Mel's salute.
Right then, not just the people nearby, but every single person sitting in the stands locked their eyes completely on where Mel and Edgan were standing.
This sudden chaos must have caught the attention of some people sitting right next to the bosses of the Botanical Division; a man wearing a black cloak narrowed his one good eye and jumped in.
"Hanry, who is this kid? This is the first time I've ever laid eyes on him."
As soon as the man finished talking, the woman sitting next to him—wearing clothes with a really deep neckline—spoke with an enchanting laugh.
"Seeing as how he bowed specifically to you, he must be out of his mind!"
Because of her laugh, the glass bottles down on the trial grounds shook a little; everyone waited to hear Hanry's answer.
"Him? No one too important! Just the kid who matched the record I set a century ago in today's Botanical Division trial!"
Time seemed to stop in that exact second; as Cantankerous Hanry's voice echoed out of the huge crater and hit the dome-shaped ceiling, it swept across every single bench in the stands.