Liam's face still carried that strange, quiet sadness.
It was rare to see genuine emotion on him. Years of loss had slowly carved that calm mask over his expressions. Yet watching Jack sit there, brooding over being brought to the academy, had somehow pushed Liam to speak more than he normally would.
"And here you are," Liam said, lightly tapping his spoon against the edge of his tray before taking another bite. "All sad and depressed."
He glanced at Jack.
"About what? That you'll have to stay in this place for a few years?"
Jack didn't answer.
Liam shifted slightly on the bench, his legs moving restlessly beneath the table — a habit he had picked up after coming to the academy.
On Liam's tray sat roasted potatoes, a bowl of thick stew, and a piece of warm bread — a simple meal that reminded him faintly of the food he used to eat back in Ireland. Across from him, Jack had a meat pie, a bowl of hot soup, and a side of potatoes on his tray.
Saturday was one of the academy's "choice days," when students were allowed to request food from their own cultures instead of the usual nutrient-designed meals.
"Dear Jack," Liam continued, his voice softer now, "at least you have somewhere to go back to."
He picked up his glass and took a slow sip of water.
"A family that's waiting for your return."
Jack stared at his food but didn't touch it. His mind was still trapped in the story Liam had just told him.
He couldn't find the words.
Liam sighed faintly and leaned back a little.
"Jack, look around."
Jack slowly lifted his head.
The cafeteria was teeming with life, a sprawling hall containing ten massive, long tables that felt like they belonged in an ancient castle.
Every single student wore the academy's standard issue—a sharp, deep green coat worn over a crisp white undershirt, complete with a sleek dark green tie. The matching green trousers and polished black shoes gave the entire student body the faint appearance of a young, elite diplomatic unit.
Yet, despite the strict uniform, no two students looked exactly the same. Some had their coats unbuttoned and ties loosened casually, while others had the sleeves of their white shirts shoved aggressively past their elbows.
Each table was flanked by sleek Rudramite benches, long enough to seat fifty students at once.
"There are one hundred and sixty-seven people in this cafeteria right now," Liam said, casually nudging a roasted potato around his tray with his fork. "Including you."
A few students nearby were quietly talking among themselves while others simply focused on their meals.
"That," Liam continued, "is the number of students this academy is protecting right now."
He glanced across the hall for a moment before speaking again.
"Many of them, like me… have nowhere to return to."
Liam's leg kept bouncing under the table.
"No home. No one waiting for them."
He looked back at Jack.
"But look at their faces carefully."
At the table beside them, a few younger students were whispering while sharing something from one tray. A girl across the row quietly read something on a small tablet while eating.
"You might see some sadness," Liam said. "But you'll also see something else."
He tapped the table once with his finger.
"The strength to deal with whatever comes next."
Jack swallowed quietly.
"You're lucky, Jack," Liam added after a moment.
He gave a small, almost amused smile.
"Very lucky."
Then he looked down at his tray again.
"And for that… I truly envy you."
For a few seconds neither of them spoke.
Jack shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
"Senior Liam…" he finally said quietly.
Liam raised an eyebrow but didn't look up yet, tearing a small piece from his bread and dipping it into the stew.
"I'm sorry that something like that happened to you."
Jack hesitated before continuing.
"And… because of me you had to remember all those things again."
Liam shook his head lightly.
"Why are you apologizing?"
He finally looked up.
"As I told you… after what Ms. Amelia did to me, the loss never really bothered me that much anymore."
He shrugged as if the matter wasn't very important.
Jack stayed silent for a moment, gathering his thoughts.
Across from him, steam slowly rose from the soup beside his meat pie while students around them continued eating their meals in quiet groups.
"So, Senior Liam…" Jack said after a moment.
"What power do you have?"
Liam didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he leaned back slightly and stretched his neck before taking another bite of the stew-soaked bread.
"My ability?" he said casually.
"It's related to precognition."
Jack frowned.
"You mean… like déjà vu?"
"Haha, something like that."
A vibrant hum of hundreds of conversation filled the brief silence between their words.
"So you can see the future?" Jack asked.
His voice carried a mixture of curiosity and disbelief.
"Is that why you were seeing that black-coat guy in your dreams?"
Liam paused for a moment.
Then he slowly shook his head.
"Well…"
He picked up his glass again.
"That was a special case."
He took a sip before setting the glass back down.
"Since then," Liam said calmly, "I've never had dreams like that again."
"But there is something I still don't understand…" Jack said slowly.
He had been quiet for a while, but the question had clearly been circling in his mind.
"If it was night… and you were inside a forest…" he continued, trying to picture the scene Liam had described, "then how did Ms. Amelia and Mr. Vidot suddenly appear there?"
He looked genuinely puzzled.
"How did they even know you were in that forest in the first place?"
Liam didn't answer immediately.
He picked up his glass and took a slow sip of water, thinking about the question as if he had heard it many times before.
"That," Liam finally said, "is something I never really figured out."
He set the glass down and leaned back slightly on the bench.
"At that time I was even younger than you are now."
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"And honestly… questions like that never even crossed my mind during that time."
Around them the quiet cafeteria continued its steady rhythm.
"Questions like that only start appearing later," Liam continued. "When the danger is already over… and you finally get the time to think."
Jack nodded slowly.
"And by that time…" Liam added with a small shrug, "Mr. Vidot and Ms. Amelia were already gone."
"Gone?" Jack asked, tilting his head slightly.
"Where did they go?"
Liam tore a small piece of bread and dipped it into the last bit of stew remaining in his bowl.
"Well, the academy and the NGO they work for are separate organizations," he explained casually. "They're not part of the same structure or anything."
He took another bite before continuing.
"But they sometimes cooperate with each other."
"So after bringing me here," Liam said, "they went back to their NGO work."
Jack seemed to think about that for a moment.
His spoon hovered over his soup as another thought appeared.
"And Mr. Vidot…" Jack said curiously.
"If he works for an NGO then how could someone like that fight the black-coat guy?" Jack continued with genuine curiosity. "You said trees were breaking and the ground was getting torn apart."
He blinked.
"Didn't he get hurt?"
Liam let out a soft chuckle.
"Well… I don't know what his actual job title is," he admitted.
"But at least to me, he definitely gave off strong soldier vibes."
Jack laughed quietly at that.
The tension that had hung over the conversation earlier had slowly faded, replaced by something lighter.
Liam looked down at his tray again and finished the last roasted potato.
After swallowing, he pushed the empty bowl slightly forward.
"I'm done," he said.
Then he glanced at Jack's still half-finished meal.
"Go on, finish yours."
Jack nodded quickly.
He took another bite of the meat pie and then added with a small smile,
"There's a lot more food here than I expected."
Liam leaned back comfortably, waiting.
"Once you're done," he said, "I'll take you to meet my friends."
His tone carried a quiet warmth.
"Our graduation is coming soon anyway… but we'll help you with whatever you need while you're settling in."
Jack nodded gratefully and continued eating.
A few seconds passed before his curious eyes began wandering around the cafeteria again.
"Senior Liam…" he said between bites.
"Hmm?"
"There are a lot of cameras here."
Jack subtly pointed toward one mounted high along the wall.
"Are they watching us right now?"
Liam followed his gaze and smiled faintly.
"Those cameras are mostly for safety," he explained.
"When you gather more than a hundred ability users in one place…"
He shrugged.
"There's always the chance of accidents."
Jack nodded slowly.
"That makes sense…"
Then Liam tilted his head slightly.
"Look over there," he said quietly, pointing toward the food counter.
"Do you see that?"
Jack leaned a little to get a clearer view.
"…Yeah," he said after a moment.
"That looks like a robot."
He glanced back toward the entrance.
"Wait… I think I saw one near the door when I came in."
Liam nodded.
"You did."
He rested his elbows casually on the table.
"They are robots."
"But not ordinary ones."
Jack leaned forward a little, suddenly very interested.
"How many are there?"
Liam subtly gestured across the room.
"Three in this hall."
Jack slowly scanned the cafeteria again.
The robots stood perfectly still, almost blending into the background like silent statues.
"What do they actually do?" Jack asked.
"Well…" Liam said thoughtfully.
"Let's just say they help keep things peaceful."
Jack raised an eyebrow.
Liam chuckled.
"Once two groups here started arguing pretty badly."
"At first it was just words being thrown around."
He tapped the table lightly.
"But the moment one of them tried to use his ability…"
Liam snapped his fingers softly.
"One of those robots appeared behind him almost instantly."
Jack blinked.
"Wait… appeared?"
"Yeah, no one saw it move. One moment it was near the entrance door, and the next, it was right behind the boy." "And then?" Jack asked.
"It arrested him."
Jack nearly dropped his spoon.
"Arrested?" he repeated in disbelief.
"Like… a real arrest?"
"Like how police arrest thieves?"
Liam laughed.
"Pretty much."
Jack looked both shocked and amused.
"So what happened to him?"
"Well…" Liam said, trying not to smile too much.
"The punishment here is… a little creative."
Jack leaned forward.
"What kind of punishment?"
"The guy had to make one thousand dung cakes."
Jack froze.
"…One thousand?"
"In a remote part of the academy where almost no one goes," Liam added.
"It's basically a punishment zone."
Jack stared at him for a moment before bursting into quiet laughter.
"You're serious?"
"Completely."
Liam shook his head, still amused.
"When he came back, he smelled so terrible that for an entire week nobody wanted to sit beside him in this cafeteria."
Jack laughed again.
Then Liam leaned slightly closer and lowered his voice.
"Okay… don't look immediately," he whispered.
"But if you glance at the table behind you…"
He pointed subtly with his chin.
"Other side of the table."
"Fourteenth student from the left."
"That was him."
Jack instinctively turned his head.
"Shhh," Liam whispered quickly.
"What are you doing?"
"I told you not to look immediately."
Jack froze.
"Oh—sorry," he whispered awkwardly.
He waited a few seconds before casually glancing behind him.
After a moment he found the student Liam was talking about.
The boy looked completely normal—laughing with his friends while eating.
Jack turned back.
"He looks pretty happy," Jack said quietly.
"I thought people might avoid him after something like that."
Liam shook his head gently.
"That kind of thing doesn't really happen here."
He glanced around the cafeteria.
"Out there in the world… maybe."
"But here… we try to take care of each other."
His voice softened a little.
"After all… many of them have nowhere else to go and no one else to rely on."
Then he smiled again.
"And besides…"
He raised an eyebrow playfully.
"Bullying is strictly prohibited."
Jack grinned.
"Unless you want to go make a thousand dung cakes?"
"Exactly."
Jack laughed once more. The heavy shadows of fear and despair that had once clouded the boy's features were finally beginning to lift. In their place, a gentle light emerged, manifesting as a faint, hesitant chuckle that broke through the gloom, signaling a fragile but beautiful return of hope to his once-troubled soul.
He finished the last of his soup and potatoes and pushed his tray forward.
"Senior… I'm done."
Liam stood up from the bench.
"Good."
He stretched his arms slightly.
"Then come on."
He nodded toward one of the massive central tables, where six students were already seated, bantering and bickering with each other.
"Let's go meet my friends."