The greater the parent’s achievements, the greater the expectations they will have for their child. For those lucky enough to have been born to overachievers, they know very well how heavy the burden can become.

Even when the parents themselves are lenient, society is a tough customer. They will only see you through the lens of your parents and you will always be judged by their achievements.

“Wow, good job, young master. You're just like your father.”

For Dante Eliv, that was the first time in his life that anyone had praised him. At the time, he never thought much about it other than how amazing his father must have been even at his age. He idolized him and wanted to become like him, but over the years, his feelings started to change.

“… just like your father.”

“… like your father.”

“… your father.”

“… father.”

Over the years, his sense of self started to slowly fade, and it was then that he realized, ‘Anything and everything I achieve will always be attributed to my father.’

For Dante, who was talented in his own right, it was a bitter pill to swallow. Even if he did something better than his father, he would still be overshadowed by him. Just as their ages were far apart, the size of his shadow could never reach beyond his father's. That's why he made a vow to himself:

‘I will achieve something so great that my name will be the one that overshadows my father's.The name Dante Eliv will be inscribed into the history books, not Khal Eliv, but Dante Eliv.’

He entered the academy with this momentum and only saw it as a stepping stone for his future endeavors. In only the first few days, he had met several interesting individuals, and a few of them were clearly a level above everyone.

Yesterday's meeting flashed in his mind; the girl's dark, hollow eyes gave him chills each time he stared at her.

“I think you might lose this one, but I can still help you win if you want,” Precious reported to him with a smile. He had sent her to bait Ian, but she returned empty-handed. And yet, she still had the confidence to make such claims?

He dismissed the demon-like girl without a second thought at the time, but right now, her words continuously played in his mind.

“Democracy. You just gotta love it, am I right?”

The moment Ian said those words, Dante’s thoughts seemed to slow down. His anger dissipated and his rationale took over. He then slapped Ian's hand away and left the classroom without saying a word.

‘A good commander knows when they have lost, whether they still hold a thousand troops or none at all.’

---

Young people learn from losing; the bittersweet taste of defeat is something that should eventually cross their mouths before they can grow. What the young ones have is a resource greater than anything in the world—time. Wounds heal with time, and although the scars may remain, only those with the will to move forward will become stronger. Through despair and depression, there will always be light at the end of the tunnel.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

So long as Dante moves forward, he will become a stronger version of what he was in the future I knew of. I had used my authority to slow down his thoughts so that he could think more clearly. It was more or less the same effect as smoking a cigarette.

I hope he doesn’t suddenly start smoking because of this.

In the future, Dante never smoked or even drank, so this must have been an unfamiliar feeling to him, though he probably thought he did it on his own, so I might be worrying for nothing. The students all watched the door in surprise without saying a word. It had happened so fast they didn’t know what to make of it.

I decided to take the opportunity to announce my first order as class leader. The following week, we would be having our first practical exercise, so the teams had to be finalized today. As I walked to the front of the classroom, many of the students watched me with complicated expressions, as if I'd just killed someone in front of their eyes.

“As per the rules that everyone agreed to, I will now be your class leader. For the first order of business, I will allow everyone to make teams with whomever they want. That’s all for today.”

I started walking to my seat before they could even react, and it was only when I sat down that the words finally clicked.

”Wait? So we can choose anyone?”

”Eh? That’s all?”

They seemed confused and excited at the same time, but they never objected and immediately started to sort themselves out. Eliana, who was still staring at me, let out a sigh, but despite this, she still let the students continue with their team selections and basically gave us a free period.

“Wow, so you really won.” Roran started to clap the moment I sat down, and I simply shrugged my shoulders.

The moment Dante agreed to my terms, I was already sure of my victory. All I had to do was force him into a situation where he would break the anonymity rule. He had mistakenly thought that the anonymity rule was placed there to protect the voters who voted against him.

As for Eliana, I had a hard time convincing her to do as I said since she didn’t want to help a student cheat their classmates. But because she almost killed me and stuff, I managed to get her to agree to my very vague favor.

All she had to do was announce a false result as a ‘joke’ and just wait for 5 minutes before revealing the real ones. I never told her exactly what I was going to do, but I’m sure she was able to catch on when I was reaching the end goal.

“Oh, right. Roran, how about we team up?”

“Sure, I was already planning on it.”

“The other 2 will be chosen randomly though.”

“Eh, why? I’m sure we can find some people.” He asked in confusion. As the class leader, I could probably pick the best of the best in this class and put them in our team, but...

That won't make us stronger.

"As the class leader, I believe its my duty to stand with everyone, including outcasts. So its only natural that I choose from the unchoosen."

That was a lie. Roran looked at me with a complicated expression as he asked,

“Ah, I see. Will we be fine though?” He asked anxiously, but I gave him a confident smile and spoke without a hint of hesitation.

“Of course, the tests will be easy.”

That was another lie. But Roran nodded his head and accepted my proposal. My method of sorting out the teams was a way to make it harder for the class to win. With this, I would also be able to push myself when it came to strategy.

The other classes would surely follow a more ordered approach for their teams, or to be more precise, High class B, lead by the fifth prince of the empire would surely do.

As for class A, under Precious Tink, I really had no idea.

I'll have to ask Lily.

After sorting out the teams, the rest of the day went on as usual. Even though it was a Friday, the classes were dismissed at the same time as always.

The only thing that was left on my mind that day was the eventual dorm meeting with Tim and his goons this Sunday.

Maybe I should just drop out.

It would probably make my life much more difficult, but it was something I had to consider in the near future if I wanted some freedom of movement.