The Divine Armor of the Old Century（Book 1）

Chapter 177

"Hello, teacher!"

"Hello, student!"

The train car fell into a stunned silence as these booming greetings echoed through it. Unperturbed by the stares of others, the two men sang and danced like lunatics, clinking glasses and toasting each other.

After the initial excitement, Oscar seemed to remember something. "Oh right, this is Buscalo, my friend. He's a doctor," he said, introducing Buscalo, who stood awkwardly with a strained smile. Before anyone could say more, Lloyd quickly interjected.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Buscalo!" Lloyd's friendly hand extended, but his face was marked with an expression that said, "Say anything and I'll kill you."

Buscalo nodded shakily and muttered, "Nice to meet you."

Nice? Well, it was indeed nice. At least this time, Lloyd, the lunatic, didn't have his damned shotgun pointed at Buscalo's head. Wiping the sweat from his bald forehead, Buscalo remembered the dramatic encounters he'd had with Lloyd before. It was amusing how Lloyd always had different girls with him each time.

"You don't look too good," Oscar observed, noticing his friend's flushed face and sweat.

"Maybe the air's a bit stuffy," Lloyd quickly answered, throwing Buscalo a meaningful look.

Buscalo hesitated for a moment before nodding vigorously. "Yes, the air must be stuffy."

The carriage was sealed to keep warm, and while the temperature was comfortable for most, it was oppressive for Buscalo.

"By the way, I never expected to see you again, Lloyd. Did you drop out?" Oscar sighed after the brief introduction.

Lloyd had been a notable figure at the academy, disappearing suddenly one day without a trace. His name vanished from lists, and no records of him remained. He existed only in the memories of teachers and students. Without a few handwritten assignments as proof, Oscar might have thought everyone had shared some collective hallucination.

"Sort of," Lloyd replied vaguely.

Lloyd used to audit classes, learning odd things, and would vanish mysteriously once he had his fill of knowledge. Today's encounter was truly unexpected.

"Hmm?" Oscar stared at Lloyd for a moment but decided not to press further. Maybe he thought Lloyd was the child of some bigwig who enrolled under a false name for safety, as had happened before. The headmaster had a list of such cases.

Oscar smiled kindly and turned his attention to Seryu. Lloyd tensed up; Seryu was the future duchess of Stuart, and he didn't want her recognized.

"And who might this be?" Oscar asked, finally noticing the silent girl.

"She is my—"

"Seryu!" Seryu cut Lloyd off, not giving him a chance to explain.

Lloyd feared the twisted hostage relationship would be exposed, making everyone think he was a kidnapper. Despite his prowess as a demon hunter, he had moral limits.

But what happened next surprised Lloyd.

"Seryu, Seryu Holmes. I'm his sister. Nice to meet you," she said.

Both Lloyd and Oscar were stunned. Oscar examined Lloyd's unkempt stubble and then Seryu, as delicate as a doll, shaking his head like he was evaluating something before sighing.

"Why are you sighing?" Lloyd couldn't help but shout.

"Nothing, nothing," Oscar hurriedly replied.

Seeing Lloyd's irate reaction reminded Seryu of what he'd told her about Oscar—a highly eccentric teacher, formerly a playwright who loved comedy. If you made him laugh, you'd get high marks in his class.