"The moment I stepped out, they forcibly dragged me here. I do not even know them, and now they are trying to gang up on me!"

  Ryan rushed behind Evelyn, who had just landed, carefully tugging at her sleeve. His eyes were slightly red, his voice filled with grievance and complaint, looking exactly like someone who had suffered a tremendous injustice.

  This pitiful display enraged the already furious female apprentices even more. One after another, they lost their composure, faces flushed red, pointing at Ryan yet unable to utter a single word in rebuttal.

  It was clearly this bastard who had been arrogant and provocative first, so how did it end up looking like he was the one being wronged?

  "You handle it yourself." Evelyn's tone was calm, with no intention of protecting him at all.

  After saying that, she stepped a few paces aside, leaving Ryan standing alone and fully exposed to the gazes of the female apprentices.

  Seriously? Evelyn, you cannot do me like this.

  Ryan complained wildly in his heart. This woman had actually sold him out in public. However, his reaction was swift. Taking advantage of the momentary daze of the apprentices caused by Evelyn's attitude, he turned around and ran.

  "Look! The Headmistress is not helping him at all. He has no backing anymore. Chase him!"

  The female apprentices reacted, delight flashing across their faces, and once again surged forward like a dark mass.

  "Help! Mentor, you cannot just stand by and watch me die!" Ryan did not run far before circling back to Evelyn, clinging to his last shred of hope as he cried for help.

  "Do not let him run!" Furious shouts followed closely behind. Ryan glanced back at the approaching crowd and no longer dared to stop, breaking into another sprint.

  Evelyn stood where she was, a barely perceptible smile flickering in her eyes as she silently watched Ryan dash past her again and again with a swarm of female apprentices in tow. The scene was chaotic and ridiculous.

  "Where did he go? Where did he go?"

  After another round of pursuit, the female apprentices discovered that Ryan's figure had vanished into thin air, leaving only a mess of footprints on the ground.

  "Disperse." Evelyn spoke calmly, looking at the apprentices who were panting heavily and nearly out of their minds.

  In the end, she could not stand it anymore. That brat kept mocking them verbally even while running. If this continued, something was bound to go wrong.

  With Evelyn's order, even though the apprentices were full of unwillingness, they could only leave resentfully, not forgetting to glare viciously in the direction where Ryan had disappeared.

  "Come out." Evelyn's voice sounded again.

  A mud smeared hand emerged from the snow not far in front of her.

  Then Ryan burst out of the ground, his head covered in snow and dirt. He vigorously slapped the grime off his face, baring his teeth as he grimaced.

  "That is disgusting," Ryan muttered as he cleaned the dirt from his body.

  He then drove a trace of mana, shaking off all remaining mud and frost, instantly restoring his neat appearance.

  "Many thanks to Mentor for saving me." He flashed Evelyn a fawning, foolish grin, completely lacking the earlier embarrassment.

  Then he turned toward the distant female apprentices who had not joined the chase and whose mana levels were all at Senior Mage or above, raising his voice as he spoke:

  "If you have time, you are welcome to visit the Holy Ice Hall. Just remember to bring gifts. I will treat you with Mentor's treasured coffee."

  His tone was respectful, and his manners could even be called polite.

  Yet paired with that blunt request for gifts, it instantly shattered the atmosphere, leaving the distant apprentices' faces ashen with anger.

  "No wonder everyone hates him so much." A few female apprentices in the distance looked at Ryan's mischievous, grinning face and could not help but complain to their companions, their tone full of disdain.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  "Ah! It hurts!" Ryan's words had barely fallen when Evelyn extended her slender fingers, grabbed his ear, and dragged him toward the Holy Ice Hall.

  From behind came the female apprentices' unrestrained laughter, loud and deliberate, clearly meant for Ryan to hear, venting their resentment from being teased earlier.

  Evelyn finally released her grip when they reached an empty corridor.

  "Have you really forgotten everything?" she asked.

  "I woke up right beside Mentor. I really do not remember anything from before." Ryan answered calmly, his face betraying no emotion.

  He then shifted the topic."But the strange thing is, my mind somehow contains the contents of a few magical tomes, almost as if they were innate."

  He deliberately mentioned this to plant a subconscious thought in Evelyn's mind: even if he had amnesia, he could still wield some unknown magic.

  Since his resurrection in the ninth life, Ryan had been extremely careful, never daring to use the magic he wielded against Evelyn in his eighth life, for fear of revealing the slightest clue.

  It must be understood that after nine lifetimes, Ryan had collected countless magical tomes, covering multiple systems. Simply drawing a few high-level spells would suffice to handle any situation, and his strength was by no means weak.

  "Mentor, if you are interested, I can copy the contents of those tomes for you to see," Ryan said sincerely.

  He had long understood Evelyn's personality: proud and tsundere, she would never actively ask for someone else's magical tomes. That was why he could speak so openly.

  Of course, even if she did want them, he was not afraid. He had more than enough of such tomes anyway.

  "No need."

  As expected, Evelyn showed no curiosity, neither asking about the type of tomes nor their level, seemingly indifferent to everything.

  The two walked side by side through the corridor, the atmosphere unusually quiet.

  Ryan found the silence too stifling and broke it once again."Mentor, have I been to the Glacial Arcana Academy before? Are you hiding something from me?"

  "So what if I am?" Evelyn said, lifting her slender chin lightly and turning to look at Ryan.

  Ryan was taken aback. He had not expected her to be so direct, almost as if she had tacitly acknowledged it.

  He suddenly felt that Evelyn, though extremely sharp in combat, was somewhat naive in worldly matters, overly sincere.

  This thought immediately filled Ryan with guilt. To deliberately deceive someone who had given herself to him without reservation was despicable. He truly deserved to be damned.

  But he had no other choice. This act of feigned amnesia was not only to stabilize Evelyn, but more importantly, to deceive the three elders of the academy.

  Evelyn had given him a storage ring originally full of magical resources, but those resources had long since been converted into Origin Value via the Grimoire.

  If the three elders discovered that the resources in the storage ring had vanished without reason, given their suspicious and ruthless natures, they could at best imprison him for severe interrogation, or at worst execute him to eliminate future trouble.

  Thinking of this, Ryan could not help but feel a headache coming on.

  He cursed himself for being so impatient back then. In the future, he would need to act more cautiously, leaving himself a few backup plans to avoid such risks.

  "Then Mentor, I'm definitely not being forcibly brought back to Glacial Arcana Academy by you, right?"

  Though Ryan clearly understood the whole situation in his mind, he still put on an innocent expression, asking the question as if he had no idea.

  "Something like that," Evelyn replied, offering no further explanation.

  Hearing this, Ryan pretended to be stunned, freezing in place with furrowed brows, as if he were pondering the deeper meaning behind her words, his face full of confusion and bewilderment.

  Evelyn turned and walked toward the Holy Ice Hall without using mana to fly. Her steps carried a barely perceptible hesitation, as if she were waiting for the person behind her.

  Ryan, meanwhile, stood there foolishly, caught up in his own thoughts. Unknowingly, Evelyn's pace slowed slightly.

  Observing this little change, Ryan could not help but smirk inside. This woman, tough on the outside but soft on the inside, was obviously waiting for him, yet pretended otherwise.

  Feigning sudden realization, he hurried to catch up and moved to Evelyn's side.

  Sensing the footsteps behind her, Evelyn adjusted her pace back to normal. Her expression remained unchanged, as if the earlier hesitation had been an illusion.

  "Mentor, have we met before?" Ryan asked, keeping pace with her, his tone carrying just the right amount of curiosity.

  "Yes," Evelyn replied lightly.

  Ryan immediately covered his mouth, eyes wide in disbelief, as if her answer had completely overturned all his understanding.

  "Then were we close before?"

  Faced with this question, Evelyn remained silent, continuing her walk, letting Ryan chatter beside her.

  "Or were we on bad terms?" Ryan probed further when she did not respond.

  Evelyn still did not answer.

  Even she could not clearly define their past relationship. This man in front of her had been personally slain by her six times in past lives.

  Yet in this life, upon reuniting, he could casually hang around her with a mischievous smile, and she did not immediately feel the urge to strike him down again.

  "Mentor, outside the academy, were we old flames? Is that why you deliberately brought me back to Glacial Arcana Academy and personally taught me?"

  Ryan shifted his tone, throwing out this bold speculation.

  If he were truly suffering from amnesia, he would never speak so bluntly and ambiguously. Since he was not actually amnesiac, this question served both as a test and a teasing provocation.

  Upon hearing this, Evelyn's steps abruptly halted. She slowly turned around.

  Her veil covered most of her face, so Ryan could not see her expression clearly. Yet after nine lifetimes together, he could guess without looking.

  Her brows were surely furrowed, her expression displeased, and her gaze coldly fixed on him, without a trace of amusement.

  Evelyn stared at him silently for a moment, then turned back in silence and quickened her pace, clearly not wanting to engage with this matter any further, to avoid unnecessary annoyance.

  The two continued walking toward the Holy Ice Hall, with Ryan staying close to Evelyn's side, chattering endlessly in her ear, question after question, most regarding speculation about their past.

  Throughout the entire walk, Evelyn did not speak once. She simply listened silently, remaining a quiet observer. Even though all the questions were directed at her, she refused to say another word.