Roa's words did not have a very good effect; Est's eyes still carried sadness, and she remained silent.
Seeing Est like this, Roa spoke, "Well, you can probably sense it too. I actually have a special constitution. Whether your curse can affect me is another matter."
Roa's words were half true and half false; he himself did not know if he could be immune to Est's curse.
Upon hearing Roa say this, Est's expression became hesitant. She raised her gaze to meet Roa's eyes. Roa blinked and smiled at Est.
Roa's smile was very charming; the young man's handsome features, combined with his gentle smile, made Est feel a bit dazed.
With the same golden hair and dazzling eyes, the young man's figure gradually overlapped with her memories.
Est closed her eyes, seemingly seeing her first friend from long ago.
That was her first friend, and even after more than a hundred years, she had not forgotten that person.
Roa did not rush to wait for Est's response; he simply sat there.
Time passed little by little, and past memories surfaced in Est's mind. When she opened her eyes again, her gaze was filled with determination.
Est stood up and reached out to touch Roa's cheek.
Roa was slightly taken aback, but Est had already leaned in closer.
Roa, experienced in matters of the heart, understood Est's intentions perfectly; this was mostly a precursor to a kiss.
If you ask how Roa knew, it was because he often did this with Roxy and the others.
Being treated this way by a girl for the first time made even Roa's heart race a bit.
But now was not the time to think too much; Roa wanted to push the girl away.
However, when he raised his gaze, that thought vanished.
The room was brightly lit, sunlight streaming through the window, illuminating the small room.
The morning light shone on Est's face. She still wore that cold expression, and while the light illuminated her right cheek, it could not brighten her delicate face, which concealed a shadow of pain. This pain surfaced with the awakening of memories.
Est's expression made Roa feel pity; he could understand her helplessness.
But the past was already gone, and all Roa could do was help Est forget that pain as much as possible.
A warm sensation came from their lips as Est kissed Roa with a somewhat inexperienced technique.
This was an unprecedented feeling, a tingling sensation that made Roa feel a bit dazed.
Soon, their lips parted, and Est's slightly hurried breathing made Roa's heart race.
But that feeling quickly faded, leaving only the warmth lingering on their lips and the fragrance on their teeth.
However, a strange thought suddenly appeared in his mind.
Oh no, I've really become a loli lover.
For some reason, he had been having excessive contact with these adult little lolis lately.
Est reached out, touching Roa's cheek with her finger, and with an unusually serious expression, said to him, "Master, promise me, please don't die before me."
Est's solemn words reflected her deepest worries.
Roa smiled and reached out to stroke Est's forehead, her silky hair sliding down his fingers.
Roa said to Est, "I won't die so easily."
Est nodded.
Ellis came as usual to wake up Roa. This time, with yesterday's experience in mind, she didn't barge in directly but instead knocked on the door.
The door opened in response, and Roa was already dressed, while Est was smoothing out the wrinkles in her sleeves.
Watching Est's movements on the bed, Ellis's eyelids twitched, and a malicious glint flashed in her eyes. She looked at Roa with a disdainful expression and said, "You can't be that desperate, can you? Even your own contract spirit isn't off-limits."
Roa glanced at Est, who was already putting on her shoes and preparing to get out of bed, and replied seriously, "What's the problem?"
"What's the problem? It's a huge problem, okay?" Ellis said, looking exasperated.
Est stepped forward, walked to Roa's side, tugged at his sleeve, and directed her gaze at Ellis, saying, "This is how I interact with my Master."
With just that one sentence, she completely shut down Ellis's argument. Ellis opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end, she just sighed and nodded, saying, "Fine, let's go eat."
On the table were bread, milk, and fried eggs, a very standard Western breakfast. Roa sat beside them, picked up his knife and fork, and began to eat.
Although the ingredients weren't particularly expensive, Ellis's cooking skills were superb, and the food tasted quite good.
After they finished eating, Roa waved goodbye to Ellis with Est in tow.
Last night, he had made an appointment with Claire to practice their teamwork, so Claire had proposed a joint training session.
Roa didn't refuse and agreed. This time, the meeting point was at Rinslet's dormitory entrance.
The training destination was the Astral Zero, which not only spirits could enter but humans could as well.
This training session was quite formal, as it was organized by the Areishia Spirit Academy for a team competition.
With a competition, there would naturally be rankings, and these rankings would, to some extent, determine which teams could participate in the Spirit Blade Dance Festival.
Both Claire and Rinslet were not weak in strength, but since they hadn't formed a team, their rankings were naturally quite low. While they weren't at the bottom, they were still below average.
The abilities of spirit users are varied; as long as there is a mature team, even if the spirit users in the team are quite mediocre, they can still defeat Claire, who is at least two or three levels above them.
This is also why the Areishia Spirit Academy requires each team to hone their teamwork.
In team competitions, what is tested is not individual strength but team synergy.
After all, not everyone can pull out a spirit user's strength like Roa does.
Rinslet's dormitory wasn't far away. Although it was the Raven Class, the dormitory was no different from the Weasel Class. After walking for a while, they arrived at Rinslet's door. Roa hesitated for a moment, knocked on the door, and expected that the maid he had seen before would answer.
But to Roa's surprise, a clear voice came from inside, "Coming."
It was Rinslet's voice. The girl seemed to be busy with something, and soon footsteps could be heard at the entrance. The door opened, revealing Rinslet's delicate face. When she saw Roa, she was momentarily taken aback, and a slight blush appeared on her face.
Rinslet stepped aside to make way and looked behind Roa, seemingly searching for another target.
The red-haired girl who used to enjoy bickering with Rinslet was not there, which made Rinslet feel a bit regretful.
After the moment of regret, Rinslet began to feel nervous.
This was her first time interacting with a boy. Although they had met once before, being alone in a room still made Rinslet anxious.
Roa smiled at Rinslet, noticing her nervousness, and joked, "I won't eat you, don't worry."
Roa walked into the room, and Est followed behind him, nodding at Rinslet. With her characteristic cold expression, the little girl spoke to Rinslet in a flat tone, "I'm here."
Rinslet was taken aback and quickly replied, "It's a great honor to meet the legendary Annihilation Holy Sword; there's no such thing as disturbing."
Rinslet's words made Est feel quite comfortable. No one dislikes compliments, and as long as they aren't overly flattering, many people will accept praise with a smile.
Roa began to survey the room. The dormitories were all of the same standard, but there were slight differences in layout.
The room was very tidy, everything was clean and organized, even better than Ellis's room.
Roa casually sat on the sofa and curiously asked, "Where's that maid? The one named Carol?"
Rinslet pointed to a nearby room and casually said, "Carol? She's still sleeping. I've called her several times, but she hasn't gotten up."
Roa fell silent.
Why was the maid Carol not waking up her Master Rinslet but instead being urged to wake up by Rinslet?
Looking at the food on the table, Roa curiously asked, "Did you make this?"
Rinslet nodded, her face showing a look of course it's obvious. She said, "As a perfect young lady, cooking is just a matter of course."
The food looked good; while it might not compare to Ellis's cooking, it was clear that Rinslet had put in a lot of effort in this area.
But this was too strange, right?
Roa looked at the spotless floor and hesitantly asked, "You don't do the cleaning around here, do you?"
Rinslet nodded again.
Roa became interested and curiously asked, "Then what does that guy Carol usually do? Isn't she supposed to handle these simple tasks? Why are you the one doing them?"
Rinslet asked in confusion, "What are you talking about? Carol doesn't need to do these. As the Master, isn't it my duty to take care of the servant? Besides, doing housework will make her fingers rough. It's better for me to handle it."
There were so many points to criticize that Roa didn't even know how to respond.
The Master was more like a servant, and the servant was more like a Master.
This was completely upside down.
Est cast a glance at Roa, who, in annoyance, tapped the little girl's head.
Perhaps because Roa and Rinslet's conversation was too loud, Carol rubbed her eyes and walked out of her room.
Seeing Roa and Est sitting in the living room, she was slightly taken aback, but compared to the young ladies from other academies, Carol appeared much more indifferent.
She casually found a spot and sat down.
Rinslet said irritably, "Carol, you're too slow; the food is getting cold."
Carol sighed and yawned, saying, "Master, I haven't had enough sleep."
Rinslet scolded, "You still need to eat; you can continue sleeping after breakfast."
Carol could only respond, "Alright."
After saying that, she picked up the food on the table and started eating it in small bites.
Rinslet brewed two pots of black tea and served them to the two.
Roa took a sip and found the black tea a bit bitter, with a hint of sweetness. He wasn't used to drinking black tea, so he only took a few sips before stopping.
Est was even simpler; she only took a sip from the beginning and then frowned, ignoring the remaining tea in her cup.
Rinslet noticed their actions and began to ask if they needed sugar.
Both of them declined Rinslet's offer, and their refusal hit her hard. Rinslet felt that she hadn't hosted her guests well.
After chatting for a while, Carol finished her meal and ran back to her room to sleep again.
Roa thought she was just joking, but it turned out this was indeed her daily routine with Rinslet.
Following Rinslet, they chatted casually, with most of Rinslet's questions being about Est.
Roa casually shared some simple information about Est.
As they were talking, there was a knock on the door.
Rinslet had few friends, just like Claire, and the only one knocking at this time was Claire.
Rinslet went to open the door and found Claire standing there.
The two exchanged glances and simultaneously snorted.
Rinslet said, "You're late, Claire."
Claire replied unhappily, "Do you have a problem with that?"
Rinslet showed an annoyed expression and said, "What do you mean? You're clearly late, and your attitude is still so bad."
Seeing that the two were about to argue again, Roa rubbed his forehead and intervened, saying helplessly, "Come on, let's not waste any more time."
In the Spirit Forest, a group of people moved through the paths, with Rinslet closely following Claire, the two of them bickering with each other.
Roa walked behind them, and Est held his hand. To match Roa's pace, she jumped slightly and took a step forward. Est's movements were like a little cat, which amused Roa.
The training teams had already been found, and the two teams headed to the Spirit Forest, with the leading teacher facilitating the process.
The leading teacher was named Freya. She separated the two teams and walked in the middle, looking back at Roa and Est, casually saying, "If you want to participate in the Spirit Blade Dance Festival, you need to form a team of five. Why do you only have three people?"
Roa explained, "We just haven't gathered enough people yet. Besides, didn't they say that even if the team isn't complete, we can still participate in the academy's arranged competition?"