***

The Antares dining hall was buzzing with many voices. Students who had returned from morning training and classes took their places at the tables, banged trays, ate lunch and talked loudly.

Lear was standing at the entrance, looking around for Meyde and his group, when a tall guy who looked to be in his twenties approached him from behind.

"You're Lear, right?" he asked in a businesslike tone instead of a greeting.

It took a bit of a memory search to remember who it was. Kieran Shin, a senior and the chairman of Antares. Lear knew almost nothing about him, since they had never interacted before. He was dressed in casual clothes and looked shabby, as if he had just gotten up.

"Yeah, so you're Shin?" Lear asked, more out of politeness.

"Yeah, but my friends call me Shinki. It's a stupid nickname, but I've come to terms with it." Kieran's voice was already much friendlier. He ran his hand through his disheveled head of brown hair. "And for the younger guys, like you, I'm the captain."

"Okay, boss." 

Kieran snorted good-naturedly and motioned for Lear to follow him. Shin greeted everyone on the way to the table. Once they were seated, Kieran began helping himself to food and continued:

"Do you know how surprised I was when I found out first thing this morning that that kid from Fomalhaut had defected to us?"

"'That kid'?"

"Yeah," Shin muttered with his mouth full, "the same one that Ruan dragged in at the beginning of the year. I thought you were completely loyal to him." Seeing Lear's face, he added, "Sorry if I was wrong."

"Eh, no, nothing, I just didn't know I was that popular." Lear quickly defended himself, but in his heart it angered him terribly when someone reminded him of his former fanatical devotion to Ruan.

Kieran chuckled.

"I think mostly only the chairmen and some of the administration know. In short, those who personally know Richrass. We were a little surprised when he returned from his charity trip with some child."

Lear wanted to interrupt him and say that he was not actually a child, but an adult, but he remembered in time and kept quiet.

"Of course, everyone knows that he is unusual, but to take a whole person from somewhere. And then we learned the details and understood him completely."

Lear's face unintentionally darkened. He did not like to remember the past, especially his childhood and the events leading up to how he ended up at the Academy.

"Oh, sorry about that. I wanted to answer the question, but I went somewhere else." Kieran put toast on Lear's plate. "Actually, I'm very curious why you joined us."

Ignoring the food on his plate, Lear fidgeted on the bench, trying to find a more comfortable position.

"Well, I've noticed for some time now that Fomalhaut isn't a good fit for me, but I didn't want to make such a big decision too quickly," he began, choosing his words with difficulty. Even if it was half true, he was terrible at this kind of thing. "Then it became clear that I wasn't in the right place, so I took matters into my own hands and transferred."

Perhaps he should have consulted someone first, at least for the sake of appearances, but given Lear's terrible speech skills, that would only have made things worse.

"Hmm... that was very independent of you, kid. I'd like to ask what event specifically cause you to change your mind, but I have to go now..." Kieran turned and grabbed the sleeve of a passing boy. Only then did Lear notice that it was the man he was looking for. "This is Meyde Boenetri, the first-year prefect."

"Oh, Lear, hello again," Meyde said simply.

"Oh, hi." Lear replied in the same spirit.

"Have you already managed to meet? Excellent. Meyde, please help him catch up. Start as soon as you eat."

"What about my classes? What about training?" the first-year looked slightly puzzled.

"You are excused from them for today. Explain to Lear what we have and how, and then I will figure it out myself. Consider it almost a day off for you." Kieran winked at the first-year. "Bon appetit, don't be lazy". He said goodbye, getting up from the table.

Lear and Mayde watched him go, and then turned to each other.

"Do I really need to explain everything to you?"

Lear shrugged.

"Is there some kind of beginner's guide to the servant of Antares?"

Meyde looked at him like he was an idiot.

"Then I have to", he sighed.