Chapter 217: He is an Herbalist
Two-thirds of the herbalist class’ students were Beastfolk. Apparently, hair care products containing herbs had turned them into herb maniacs.
And here they were, enrolled in this class with such enthusiasm, but minimal knowledge.
"What is your name, young man?" Aura approached Gara, unconcerned by the Beastfolk’s mocking laughter.
"Gara, Professor."
"Gara... Oh! I remember. Among all the students enrolled in this class, only three people are already herbalists. And you’re one of them—" The small professor gave him a nod.
Vania and her Beastfolk cronies stared wide-eyed.
Aura’s next words showed how wrong they had been. "That’s why you’re so knowledgeable about herb plants, Gara. I like how you don’t shy away from every potential of a herb."
Aura then returned to the podium. "Let’s give an applause for our friend, Gara. In the future, I believe you can come to him to ask about herbs."
Hearing Aura’s words, Vania was stunned. But she realized her friends were one by one beginning to clap. Aura herself was also clapping. Reluctantly, Vania clapped as well, her face sour.
"It is our duty as herbalists to find out the function of every herb to assist us in our daily lives. And that includes poisonous herbs. Every herb has its own potential."
Aura turned her head to Gara. "As for Gara’s question, we will discuss that in the next session."
The students realized that poisonous herbs could indeed be used, and that material had already been prepared and was scheduled for the next class.
This meant that they were the foolish ones for being so narrow-minded. Automatically, their heads turned to Vania.
They didn’t say anything, but Vania felt their judging stare. If she wasn’t in class, she would have lashed out.
After another hour, class came to an end. "Next week, I want you all to find out about the uses of a herb called Niskara. That’s all for today. See you next week, everyone."
The class was dismissed. Vania stormed out of the class like she was being chased by a predator.
Meanwhile, Gara took his time, chatting with another herbalist in the class. She was a Harefolk and apparently wasn’t one of Vania’s cronies.
Just as Swargaloka differentiated people by their nobility, in Nozama, there were also rankings based on their clans.
"Who is the other herbalist in this class besides us?" Gara asked.
"The druid boy. I think his name is Lio."
"A druid..." Gara didn’t know how to respond.
"Well, I’m going to my next class. See you next week, Gara." The Hare girl left.
Like the other day, Gara and the others had agreed to meet in the cafeteria. He had almost reached the pillar for the floating stone when a handsome, silver-haired man stepped out of it.
Gara’s steps halted. He wished he had super reflexes so the man’s gaze wouldn’t meet his, but they were already locked in a match of eye contact.
And Gara would never back down from such a match with that man.
"I’m sorry."
Those words made Gara cough, too shocked to speak.
Langga took a step toward him, with a solemn but sad expression. "Now I know why you were upset with me. It’s understandable. It’s clearly my fault."
Langga moving closer made Gara want to retreat, but his pride wouldn’t let him. Plus, the corridor was empty, only the two of them were left.
"I don’t care what you think. Everything is over and done with. Just leave me alone!"
Returning Langga’s gaze with a sharp one, Gara stepped forward, shouldering past Langga and moving toward the floating stone.
"I don’t expect to be forgiven."
Gara’s stride stopped at Langga’s sincere words. He felt a moment of dilemma but then shook his head and continued to enter the floating stone.
But—
The pillar suddenly closed without warning.
Gara stepped back—
His foot caught on his robe, and he completely lost his balance. Before he could save himself with his water, a hand pulled him.
Plop.
He fell into an embrace— Langga’s embrace.
When Gara looked up, Langga’s handsome face was right there. They had been in this close position before, so the sight wasn’t unfamiliar.
However, this view only made him remember that night’s incident.
Shame filled Gara’s head.
He immediately stood up.
"Don’t come near me again!" Gara snapped. "I don’t want anyone to know what happened between us before."
"Gara, it’s—"
"Especially with you clearly having a fiancée waiting for you," Gara continued, his face flushed, whether from shame or anger.
He immediately turned around, stepping onto the floating stone, which thankfully was open again.
As the pillar closed, Gara saw an unhappy expression on Langga’s face.
"If you’re unhappy, I’m even more so!" Gara muttered.
...
Gara truly did not want to meet Langga, at least for a week.
Unfortunately, after lunch, his next class was Strategy. And the teacher for that class was Langga.
"Damn it, I completely forgot I had Strategy class today," Gara cursed.
"I actually like it!" Andine chirped. "I want to see how Professor Langga teaches."
Gara didn’t say anything else. Beside him, Madha seemed to understand that something was troubling the pretty young man.
"If anything is wrong, tell me, okay?" Madha said with full understanding.
But every time Madha acted like that, Gara felt like he was cheating. ’Should I just be honest with Madha that Langga is the triplets’ biological father? But he will definitely be disappointed, right?’
Tap.
"We’ve arrived," Madha gently patted Gara’s shoulder, leading him to sit in the second row on the left, near the door, knowing Gara disliked sitting in the front.
This class was also quite popular; not as crowded as the Offense class, but not as small as the Herbalist class.
"This class would be perfect, if only—" Andine looked toward the front row on the right, "—they weren’t here."
There, Vania was sitting with several Class A Beastfolk students. Miki, Revan, Lysa, and Jet were there too. But they weren’t speaking to each other.
It seemed they only chose that spot because some Class S students had sat there first.
They didn’t notice Andine and the others’ presence. Andine, for her part, had no intention of letting them know.
The noisy classroom fell silent after the professor who would teach the class entered. Professor Langga.
...