A brave man may not live, but he cannot die

Chapter 195 The Hero Reappears (Part 2)
Among the "pipes" leading out of Broom Lane is an airport connecting to the whole world. This triangular building, which can accommodate two-way traffic lanes, is the bus station of Axwell City. The cable car at the foot of the mountain ends here. The small square inside the station is also full of chocobos and horse-drawn carriages, all of which are blocked by the surging crowds on Cloud Avenue during the Arcane Festival.

Quinn emerged from behind a ticket booth marked with a broom sign, straightening his collar as he walked, which had been ruffled by the updraft. Behind him followed three lower-year students from the academy.

One of the boys was quite handsome, with a tall and straight figure and eye-catching wine-red curly hair. His silk clothes contrasted sharply with the civilians crowded in the chocobo carriages around him. He was Allison from the first-year demon defense class.

Compared to the freshmen who ranged in age, education, and family background, Allison, who came from a noble family, had a rare easy-going personality among arcanists. His good looks and teenage years quickly made him the most popular boy among the first-year students, as evidenced by the two third-year girls who followed him.

Quinn took two steps, and Allison followed suit, as did the two girls behind him. He felt like a corpse-driving man from western Hunan.

After reaching a less crowded intersection in the station, Quinn finally stopped and turned back to look at him calmly:
"Allison, is there a divination question you didn't understand?"

He actually knew what Allison wanted to do. Before the time rewind, the kid had asked him about his relationship with Celia, but Quinn thought the two would never see each other again, so he answered rather bluntly.

The timeline shifted at this point. After getting off the train, the sixth-grade students surrounded the mascot little girl. Quinn, who was in the crowd, didn't give Allison a chance to speak, but he was very patient and went straight to the exit of Broom Alley to wait.

Quinn was a little confused. Did Celia and I seem to have such an ambiguous relationship?

Isn't it just occasionally taking a walk together in the college, eating together in the cafeteria, sitting together in class, and playing the piano together after school?
Sigh, judging people with prejudice makes me angry and cold.

Allison didn't answer Quinn immediately. Instead, he turned to the two girls behind him and said, "I have something private I'd like to discuss with Mr. Quinn. Could you give us some privacy? Just a moment."

With a natural and unpretentious tone, the child, who had received social education, made everyone feel comfortable no matter what he said. Naturally, the two girls did not refuse and told him to wait at the station exit.

After the two had walked away, Allison turned to Quinn, but the question he asked was somewhat unexpected.

"Mr. Quinn, are you a superhuman?"

Quinn stared at him with great interest. Apart from Hemo and Amamiya Nene, the only people in the academy who knew about this were the school leaders who could access the staff files. It was only discovered when the school doctor examined him after he fell into a coma outside the abyss.

Why do you think I'm a superhuman? Is it because of what happened in the Abyss?

An ordinary arcanist couldn't possibly kill several Abyss Transcendents in the Falling Layer and then bring back four incapacitated students.

Therefore, there are speculations that Quinn is a student of a superhuman, and there was even a fifth-year student who wanted to have him conduct research on superhuman traits, which he naturally refused.

Allison shook his head seriously.

“More convincing evidence is needed to make judgments about mystery.”

"so?"

“I was right behind you when you returned the gold pound to Senior Judith.”

He was referring to the money Judith had paid for the donuts Lynn had bought for Quinn.

“You toss a gold pound to her from at least fifteen meters away, and the pound lands perfectly in her hand. You didn’t even need to glance at it before throwing it with the perfect trajectory. I don’t think an arcanist would have the time to develop such superb power control and aiming skills.”

Quinn nodded slightly, neither confirming nor denying, praising, "Very observant."

As expected of Grindelwald's student, even Allison was able to glean so much information from a single coin. What about the sixth-grade students?
I've been too relaxed during my time at the academy. I need to be more wary of these geniuses that have been gathered from all over the world in the future.

The identity of a superhuman is irrelevant; even if Grindelwald and the others figure it out, they won't be interested. What's more, the exposure of a demon spy would be fatal.

“I’m very confident in my judgment, but there’s one thing I’m not so sure about,” Allison looked at him intently: “What’s your relationship with Celia?”

“Ha,” Quinn laughed.

"Child, you asked too bluntly."

Allison was annoyed by being called "kid," so he deliberately addressed Quinn as "you" instead of "you" to make it seem like they were equals.

Please answer me.

"You like her, don't you?"

Allison was slightly taken aback, then Quinn put his arm around her shoulder, and the two walked and talked, "If you like her, just go for it. I believe in you and am willing to give you all the support you need except help."

Allison almost got swayed. What did he mean by "all support except for help"?

Quinn felt sorry for the poor guy. After Celia said she would stay away from Allison last time, he probably received a lot of rejections from the girl. Frustrated by repeated setbacks, he came to his love rival to show off. It felt like he was about to make a scene.

Allison was stiff as he was held, trying to break free, but Quinn was incredibly strong, making him feel like a little kid being lectured by his father.

"We knew each other before we came to the academy, which is why we were a little closer back then; she was working at the time."

".work to earn a living?"

Allison was taken aback. Upon hearing those two words, he stopped struggling and looked at him with some confusion.

Without in-depth interaction, it's difficult to determine a student's family background in Grindelwald in a short time. After all, they always wear school uniforms, there are no places to spend money within the academy, and they have a spending allowance from the academy, so it's normal for arcanists to behave somewhat strangely.
Allison had assumed that Celia came from a family of similar or at least wealthy background. After all, the girl's manners and demeanor were unlike those of an ordinary family, except for a slight lack of confidence in her speech—which Allison took as modesty. Poor grades didn't mean she was truly bad; none of Grindelwald's students were stupid.

But working? That word seems so distant to a boy who doesn't need to open the door himself when he gets home.

"Yes, her family isn't well-off. Her father drinks, she dropped out of school, her brother is missing, and her mother is gone. So don't ask me where she lives. It's a matter of student pride, I can't tell you."

Allison was speechless.

"Where does she work?"

"Where else could it be? Westwell, of course. How could a skinny, frail underage girl like her find a job in Eastwell?"

Allison instantly conjured images of sewage-filled streets, violence and crime brought by refugees, and rude, undocumented immigrants who didn't even own a silver fork.
"It's a place called Demar Tavern. The owner is heartless; he drinks day and night. Besides underage child laborers, the only other workers in the tavern are a ninety-year-old woman and elderly, disabled people."

Allison's hands trembled as he listened; he couldn't bear to imagine the kind of abuse the girl had suffered before entering school.

"I just happened to be passing by and rescued her, so now you know why we became good friends, right?"

Allison stared at him in astonishment. Rescue?

No wonder the way Celia looked at Quinn irritated him.
"So, you don't have those feelings for her?" The form of address changed from "you" back to "you" (formal), which is how a teacher should behave.

Quinn smiled slightly, thinking it was better to avoid trouble. His wish was to be invisible in the academy, preferably without anyone paying attention to him.

However, to admit that he was completely innocent towards Celia... Quinn looked at the brightly lit and bustling city and said casually:
"Your approach to picking up girls is wrong. This month you can discuss arcane arts with her, next month you can say you fell and can't walk and need someone to accompany you to the school clinic, and the month after that you can talk about your family of origin and childhood memories. You need to be patient with difficult women."

Allison felt as if he had drunk nectar. No wonder his request to walk home with him after school was rejected. Was he too impatient and too obvious?
Master.

"So what is your relationship with Professor Cavendish?"

"Ah? Oh, we were discussing arcane magic."

Allison's gaze towards Quinn instantly became incredibly friendly. So that's why he and Celia are both similar and dissimilar.
The girl might have a slight crush on him, but since Quinn's heart is with someone else, Allison is confident he can win her back.

“I was originally planning to invite her to the Arcane Festival and then confess my feelings to her.” Allison smiled helplessly: “Now that you mention it, let’s take it slow.”

"Don't be discouraged, maybe you'll run into her at the Arcane Festival," Quinn casually joked.

"Now I can only watch the fireworks alone."

"Aren't there two other girls?"

"There are very few people in the academy who are seriously dating. One of them just wants to have a one-night stand, and the other is researching the arcane arts of vampire blood. She probably wants to see how men react to arcane arts when they are aroused. I wouldn't dare to do that for her."

Allison was surprisingly innocent. "I don't have those kinds of thoughts. If I like someone, I'll have to be prepared to get married."

When Quinn heard Allison's statement, the abstract words that were on the tip of his tongue suddenly became impossible to utter.

Wholeheartedly?
The evening breeze ruffled his hair, and his dark eyes reflected the brilliant night sky.

Quinn chose to forget the sudden thought.

After arriving in another world, my morals have deteriorated.
The atmosphere between the two became much more harmonious. After meeting up with two girls waiting at the station entrance, the four of them walked together toward the airport.

The girl who had been eyeing Allison for a one-night stand casually remarked, "Is this your first year at Aishwell, both of you?"

After receiving an affirmative answer, she smiled and said, "There is a mysterious legend about the fireworks after the party."

"Confessing your love under the fireworks means you can spend your life together, right?"

"Wow, Mr. Quinn, you actually knew that?" The girl looked at him in surprise.

“I also know that this tradition is related to heroes.” Quinn sneered, “There’s a similar legend about the fireworks at the academy’s opening ceremony. It’s because he had too many girls to keep up with during the holidays.”

"I'm not sure about that, but it's a recent phenomenon. Many couples in the academy's history confessed their love during the Arcane Festival, and quite a few of them got married."

Quinn thought it was just survivor bias.

But he figured out why the sixth graders were the most numerous at the Arcane Festival.

Having lived at Aiswell for six years, I should be incredibly tired of these annual events, but they still came in huge numbers to Sweep Alley and watch the party, showing even more solid community spirit than the younger students.
I'm about to graduate.

Even arcanists, who are generally considered to be mostly eccentric, would, during the best six years of their lives, encounter equally eccentric and talented companions. Even such people, before parting ways, would think about leaving behind some memories without regrets.

Will anyone confess their feelings to Lin?

That's probably even worse than Allison's situation. Allison would have learned from Quinn's teachings that although Celia may seem weak, once she's made up her mind, she won't change it; if she says she won't give him a chance, she absolutely won't. Colleen is different. If Colleen heard "I like you," she probably wouldn't even react; it would be far too hurtful.
After entering the airport, Quinn declined Allison's invitation to watch the party with the three of them. He first scanned the audience at the party venue. The Thief's ability to distinguish was like a super-fast slideshow flashing through his mind, showing thousands of audience members and the stage setup.

Basically unchanged, Elon, dressed in a suit and tie, was surrounded by a crowd at the front of the stage, preparing to take the stage to give a speech; the Eye of Grindelwald soared into the clouds, its azure light illuminating the area below; and the chairman of the city council had already stepped forward to announce the program in a speech with a thick northern accent.
After glancing at Elon one last time, Quinn turned and walked into the airport's warehouse area. He climbed the steps, and the surroundings were just as dark and deserted as he remembered, with only the rumbling of steam, gears, and chains.

On the tenth floor, near the airship dock at the top of the tower, he saw Ike again.

Holding two glasses of red wine, his neat and elegant white suit softened the stereotype of his dark skin, making him appear like a debonair jazz gentleman.

But Quinn, who had fought to the death with him, knew he could not treat the man before him as a mere pushover.

The dialogue is exactly the same as before the time rewind: opening, small talk, invitation and rejection.
Quinn then took out three starflowers that weren't in glass jars, his eyes fixed on Ike, waiting for his reaction.

Before the time rewind, one of the variables in the plan to hunt down the hero was that Ike saw through the arcane magic in the glass bottle. If Merlin's immobilization technique hadn't been so powerful, he would have died at the hands of this Sequence Six [Jonin], and wouldn't have been able to wait for anything that followed.

Sure enough, Ike's expression changed subtly.

But this change had nothing to do with Starflower. His attention wasn't on Starflower at all. It was as if the two of them were conducting an illegal transaction in private, and suddenly a hundred-ton truck drove by on the road, honking its horn repeatedly, startling him.

Soon, he took the Star Flower in his hand, glanced at it twice, and then put it aside, chatting casually with Quinn.

Apart from missing two casual questions about the bottle, the subsequent conversation between the two was almost identical to that before the time rewind.

Regarding the Academy's investigation into the Golden Wind, warnings followed immediately by attempts to recruit Quinn, offering him a salary of 10,000 gold pounds per year. Quinn indicated he needed to consider it.
Throughout the conversation, he kept a close eye on Ike's reactions. Apart from the change in his expression when he handed over the Star Flower, the black man's performance was flawless.

I will give you an answer within a week.

Ike nodded slightly. "What are you planning to do next?"

"Waiting for the students."

"How about we listen to Mr. Elon's speech here? It's quite simple for us, isn't it?"

This time, Quinn didn't leave immediately, but instead leaned against the railing with him, ready to chat a bit more.

But at this moment.

Elon's exhilarating voice, amplified by arcane loudspeakers, echoed throughout the airport, resonating in the ears of both men—

"I promise that I will dedicate my life to building an Eswell where wealth is distributed according to work, social resources are allocated fairly, and everyone can receive the same level of education and healthcare—a place without oppression and class distinctions!!"

(End of this chapter)