Weakest Beast Tamer Gets All SSS Dragons novel Chapter 202

"Harold," Klein responded, frowning as he shuffled through his notes. "He's disappeared. I haven't seen him in classes, he doesn't come to the dormitory, and I have no idea where he is."

Feng Zhao, who was practicing partial manifestations of his serpent by the window, shrugged with evident disinterest. "So what? The guy was always creepy. Honestly, it's a relief not having him following us everywhere."

"You don't understand," Klein placed a hand on his chin, his lion briefly manifesting under his skin in response to his anxiety, golden fur rippling across his forearms. "Kassian specifically ordered me to look after him, help him adapt."

"Your brother and his projects," Astor closed his book with a sigh, the leather binding making a satisfying thump. "Always complicating everything."

"Harold never wanted to adapt," Feng added, the scales on his arms gleaming under the setting sun. "He just asked questions. About the academy, the professors, the mines... It was obvious he was gathering information for your brother."

"I know," Klein stood to pace around the room, his expensive boots making soft sounds against the polished floor. "And that never bothered me. I knew he was Kassian's lackey and would report everything we did. It was... expected. But now that he's disappeared..."

"Now you're in trouble," Astor completed, always direct, his serious expression unchanging.

"Exactly," Klein collapsed onto his bed, the silky sheets rustling beneath him. "If something happened to Harold, Kassian will blame me. Just what I need right now, with final exams approaching and after that disaster in the tournament."

The three friends had grown up together in Yano's aristocratic circles. Astor, from the ancient Blackwood house, and Feng, heir to the Zhaos, had been Klein's inseparable companions for as long as they could remember. They had attended the same tutoring sessions, learned to invoke together, and now shared the weight of enormous family expectations at the academy.

Their houses weren't as grand as Klein's...

But neither envied the additional pressure that came with being a Goldcrest, especially with a brother like Kassian.

"Maybe you should report it to the administration," suggested Astor, always the most sensible of the three.

"And admit I lost someone under my responsibility?" Klein shook his head, his golden hair catching the light. "Kassian would kill me."

"So what's your plan then?" asked Feng, dissipating the scales from his arms with a subtle shimmer. "Wait for him to magically appear?"

Klein heard someone knocking at his door...

"Didn't I say not to disturb me?" he growled from his bed, his fangs partially manifesting in response to his irritation, sharp points slowly pressing against his lower lip.

"Lord Klein, I'm very sorry, but..." the servant's voice sounded unusually nervous.

'A strangely familiar situation...' Klein thought.

The door opened before the servant could finish his apology.

"Kassian?" his older brother's name escaped as a surprised whisper.

"Speak of the abyss(Devil)," Astor murmured, straightening instinctively.

"I see you're still Iron rank. Time is running out, little brother," Kassian Goldcrest, at twenty-two, emanated an authority that made even some professors carefully choose their words in his presence. His immaculate appearance, from his perfectly tailored uniform to his precisely styled hair, spoke of a person who accepted nothing less than perfection.

Without waiting for an invitation, Kassian entered the room, nodding briefly toward the other two. "Astor, Feng. As inseparable as ever, I see."

"Kassian," both responded almost in unison, with the formal respect demanded in the presence of the Goldcrest second heir.