"Both of you should know by now who I am. I'm an earth magician, who’s just like you, from a village not far from here, and I also awakened my powers on my own like you did," said a stern voice of a young man. Ellie and Nara were together, while other villagers stood at a distance, deeply respecting the magician who was just 18 years old.

    He glanced at Nara and Ellie with disbelief. This village was too lucky to suddenly have kids who could awaken powers on their own. In the future, he was sure that they would make this village as great as what he had achieved.

    "You might think that after this, you'll become great magicians and gain a lot of respect, but that's just a dream! Having gone through it for two years, I know just how strict that place is."

    "Let me tell you, learning there is not easy. It's not a place for fun. If your resolve isn't strong enough or you're afraid of hard training, then don't waste the professors' time. You can still back out now." After hearing these words, everyone looked at Ellie, who seemed hesitant, but they sent her their encouragement, and finally, she did not back out to everyone's relief.

    "Alright, since you're not backing out, we must prepare for a long journey. Let me tell you, you don't need to bring everything. Ultimately, the clothes you will wear are those provided by the institute. Old clothes that you bring will have to be discarded," the young man shared his experience. These mud-stained clothes would certainly make others in the institute disdainful. If one wanted to live comfortably in the institute, one should try to blend in and keep quiet.

    "Bring as much money as you can, but if you don't have any, it's alright. The institute offers various missions to earn money. I've made a lot of money myself by taking on numerous missions."

    "Does anyone have any questions?" the senior asked. Nara shook her head, her shaken twin tail hair making her look even more adorable, while Ellie watched Nara and stayed silent.

    This wasn't a scene where she had to interfere. A friend of the heroine's role was just to attack enemies on behalf of the heroine occasionally or to create minor conflicts for the heroine to resolve with the hero. Beyond that, she just needed to stay calm, be happy, and not get too involved with the main characters.

    "If that's the case, we can go to the city. There is a travel portal there that will send us directly to the institute’s gate in 3 seconds. But it's very expensive to use; we as scholarship students get to use it only twice a year, that is, to go and come back. That means if you don't want to be exhausted from traveling too much, you go and come back just once a year. Understand?"

    "I understand," Nara replied obediently. The young man's eyes studied Nara; his eyebrows furrowed before he looked over at Ellie, who sat quietly.

    "Your attitude is commendable. You'll do well in the institute if you maintain this demeanor," he complimented when he saw that Ellie was not trying to assert her presence.

    That was the experience he had, too. Someone like Nara could easily become a target due to her cute and outstanding nature. We ordinary villagers, poor and plain, if too prominent, could be easily attacked. Thus, Nara, adorable and distinctive, would definitely not have an easy time at the institution.

    People like this, he'd rather not get too involved with them.

    His voice was neither too loud nor too soft, but loud enough for the villagers to hear. They were still concerned whether Ellie would do well in the institution, but hearing this praise, they all voiced their support.

    "Isn't this great, Ellie, keep it up!"

    "Take good care of yourself, Ellie, and just come back to visit us once a year. Don't overdo it."

    "Don't push yourself too hard, and make sure you eat well from now on."

    Their encouraging words filled the air, smiles spread across the villagers' faces, and seeing this, Ellie smiled contentedly. She never expected that she, as the friend of the heroine, would receive such excellent care from this village. Her bond with the village slowly grew without even the old spirit like her realizing it.

    While everyone was voicing their encouragement, Nara clenched her fists in dissatisfaction. She figured that in the future she should keep her distance from Ellie a bit more. It seemed that whenever they were together, Ellie managed to steal all the attention! And to think, she was just an insignificant girl.

    "Let's go then," the young man said, leading the way.

    In front of the village entrance, there were 2 more people from the institute. They were practice instructors sent to assist with these small tasks by the institute, but even as mere practice instructors, they held a high status. One was the son of a prominent noble family, and the other was similarly well-off. If it weren't for the fact that the path to becoming a professor at the institute required them to first serve as practice instructors, they wouldn't have to handle such challenging duties.

    "All set, sir, ma’am" said a young student at the institution, knowing that his status was much lower, approaching the practice instructors with a respectful demeanor, even using the formal language typically used among nobility.

    "Both professors, I pay my respects," Nara approached, her ponytail swaying as she bowed cheerfully. However, while the young male practice instructor found her charming and adorable, the female instructor grimaced in disgust.

    "Let's get going. We're wasting too much time with these low-class people," the woman said and immediately turned away as if unwilling to face the filth any longer. The male practice instructor shook his head but followed her lead.

    The young man who welcomed them sighed and looked at Nara as if seeing a future disaster in the making. Ellie understood his thoughts quite well—if the story in the novel was anything to go by, it seemed the heroine was indeed a disaster waiting to happen.

    Yet it was all just the innocent nature of the girl. There was no reason to blame Nara for being the way she was; it was only because she was born into poverty that many saw her as from a different class. Many kids had personalities like Nara, but because they came from great families, they were respected.

    "Let's go," he said sternly before hurrying after the instructors. Nara looked back at Ellie, seemingly asking what was happening. Ellie shook her head slightly, playing dumb, acting as if she understood nothing.

    Soon after, they arrived at the travel portal...

    In this city dominated by the Setter family, entering or leaving the city was heavily guarded by the family's soldiers. Ellie felt a bit nervous, as this was her first time in the city without being disguised as an old man. However, just as she was about to enter the travel portal, the head of the Setter family appeared.

    The two practice instructors quickly descended from the travel portal and paid their respects to the country's number one noble. The head of the Setter family was unlike any other day Ellie had seen him; he appeared very dignified and arrogant, not showing any of the humility he usually displayed.

    Behind him was a young man, clad entirely in covering clothes. Ellie was very familiar with his gaunt, frail form, and yes! It was indeed the eldest son of the Setter family.

    Next to him was a strikingly handsome young man with white hair. Ellie had never seen him before, but as far as she knew the story in the novel, the person who would follow the leader of the Setter family with a handsome face and the family's characteristic haughtiness could only be the second young lord, "Aman Setter,” one of the heroes of this novel.

    The man's scrutinizing gaze was fixed on everyone. Ellie, trying to blend in, positioned herself discreetly behind Nara, attempting to appear as insignificant as possible. However, as her gaze wandered to the man under the cloak, she accidentally met his intense look.

    Ellie felt like that gaze seemed to say, "I know you." But there was nothing she could do. She lowered her head deeply, mimicking the practice instructors' respectful posture, trying to ignore the piercing gaze that seemed almost predatory from the sick man, feigning ignorant, though she could always sense the murderous intent from that stare.

    "Are you about to travel, Lord Steven?" the female instructor asked politely.

    Although she too was a descendant of nobility, her status did not compare to the Setters. Moreover, she tried her best to send a full smile to the second young lord Aman, despite his consistent disregard for her.

    Aman, at 18, and the female practice instructor, only 3 years his senior, was not too much older to hope to be matched with him romantically.

    "Mmm, I am about to head to the city of Erel."

    "The city where the institute is located?" the female instructor asked, a bit surprised. Although the Setters occasionally had business in Erel City, it was not an ideal place for setting down roots. Erel was a city governed by the top-ranked institution, backed by the royal palace, while other cities allowed nobles to dominate.

    The Setters in Erel City were not the ruling class but had established their influence through trading valuable assets. Yet, as they were not full-time merchants, their power was limited. It was unusual for the family head to visit the city of Erel himself like this.

    “..............” The head of the Setter family did not waste time with those frivolous questions. He moved forward, passing by the group of 5 just like that.

    Although they were snubbed in such a dismissive manner, no one dared to express their discontent. They could only wait for the Setter family to leave first.

    “What do you think the head of the Setter family is doing in the city of Erel?” The young male practice instructor asked the woman after the distinguished group had left.

    “How would I know?” She replied curtly and then briskly walked away. The young male instructor just shrugged at her attitude and followed her.

    No one here knew why the Setter family needed to travel to the city of Erel, which did not house their base of power, except perhaps for Ellie alone.

    Going back in time a bit, she had visited the Setter family in the guise of an old sage to avoid their suspicion. Her recent visit had been merely to deliver a slightly longer than 1 palm young Tezetrons plant, for which the Setter family had paid her a substantial amount of money, after she declared that all she wanted was money.

    Furthermore, she had informed them that she intended to travel to the city of Erel to research better cultivation methods for the Tezetrons plant. This was almost 1 month ago while waiting for a response from the institute. Perhaps they thought that the old sage had stayed in Erel too long, or they assumed that a sage who wished to travel by foot would have reached Erel by now, so they were going to look for him there. Considering they were transporting the body of a frail person, there could only be one purpose in mind!