Tim, the eighth king of Rezen Academy.

Attribute: Water magic.

Even among the four basic elements, water was always considered on the weaker side compared to the other three, but despite this fact, Tim was still considered one of the most powerful upcoming talents of the 'golden generation.'

As one of the two second-year students who were able to cement their place among the Kings of Rezen, his aptitude was sometimes compared to the likes of Eliana and the other leading members of the golden generation. However, because he was seen as a 'commoner' among the higher classes, he wasn't as well respected outside the academy.

If I were to fight him one-on-one in an official match, I would probably lose regardless of my authority. As a long-range fighter, he was already at a massive advantage, similar to Eliana, who had almost killed me before I managed to even close the distance. Lily was already stronger than I was, and if she wasn't able to close the distance on Tim, then my chances were even lower. Thinking about it this way, an individual's authority made a huge difference in combat. Tim may have won against Lithe but lost to Lily, who at this point in time was inferior to Lithe. Although it was just an assumption, I had very little doubt about my theory.

"Looks like he's getting up." Lily's words snapped me from my thoughts as I turned my head. After the fight ended, Tim had lost consciousness and was currently lying on the floor. I watched as he slowly opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling with a distant expression. I couldn't tell what he was thinking, but I didn't really care. Instead, I stood up and stood in front of his body as I spoke,

"You lost."

At those words, Tim's expressionless face changed into a smile as he looked up at me with a calm expression. It wasn't the face I was expecting to see, which made me feel uneasy. His next words cemented this discomfort:

"And?" he said with a calm face, causing a frown to form on my face as I responded,

"That means you have to follow our de—"

"I refuse," he retorted before I could finish. I knew he seemed arrogant, but I didn't think he would be the type to go back on his word. I knew too little about his personality, both from his academy days and even from the future. As I contemplated what to do with him, he suddenly spoke up again,

"Tell me, green newbie. What exactly do you think it means to be King?" he said in a calm tone, but I could feel the sharpness in his gaze as he waited for an answer. I didn't need to think too deeply about it, but I still paused for a few seconds before answering,

"I think it’s just a useless title used to inflate the students' egos."

Tim chuckled at my blunt reply and turned his head to look back at the ceiling as he said,

"That’s exactly why I can’t meet your demands." He seemed to be reminiscing about something as he continued to speak,

"What I love the most about the academy is this hierarchy the students have created. The status of your parents outside doesn’t matter here. The strongest decide how things work." He paused and turned to look at Lily for a split second before continuing again,

"Sorry to say this, but I hate all the big shots in the empire. I hate their guts and everything they present. I’m sure as someone born a commoner, you understand how I feel."

Lily looked down at him with pity as she nodded her head, but at the same time, she couldn't let his remarks go unanswered as she spoke,

"I understand how you feel, but there are still those that—"

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"Those that present themselves as the kindest are usually the worst. They're capable of committing atrocities while keeping a clean image even with their fellow nobles." Tim cut her off as he retorted with a strong tone. Lily seemed at a loss for words as she made an uneasy expression, likely thinking about her adoptive family. Seeing this, I decided to take back control of the conversation and spoke up,

“Well, I think you're wrong. What do you suppose would happen if we cut off one of your hands and reported it as an injury from this duel?" I asked with a straight face. Lily had been smiling at the first half of my sentence, thinking I would come to her defense, but she was now openly glaring at me. I tried to ignore her as I focused on Tim's response,

"Lily would only receive praise and a nobody like myself would be made into the villain that tried to take down a first-year student."

I nodded at his reply as I added,

"That’s right. That's why I think this whole system you people created is all an illusion. You cry out against oppression, yet you oppress others yourselves. If the system you used to measure people’s value were used outside the academy, the roles between oppressor and oppressed would only switch, and the once-called nobles would be oppressed while the powerful begin their reign of tyranny.”

> Any kind of system that attempts to measure every individual's aptitude will always have a hierarchy, and in every hierarchy, there will always be an oppressor and the oppressed.

It was a fundamental rule when it came to building a functioning human society.

"Isn’t that how it should be? In a dangerous world like this, shouldn’t strength dictate the hierarchy?” Tim retorted with what seemed like a good point, but his thinking was flawed.

"If you think a person’s birthright into power is an unfair measure of value, then strength would be exactly the same. No one chooses how strong they will become at birth, so using such a concept to form a hierarchy wouldn't make you any better than the nobles you hate so much."

Tim looked at me with a smile as he replied,

"You talk too much."

Whether or not he understood my point, it didn't seem like he wanted to continue the conversation. Did he have the same values in the future? I wondered. Thinking about this, I started to recall every memory I had of how he behaved in the future.

I see.

The hierarchical concept he talked about was something that was already applied to a certain kingdom, or as they call it, the military state of Godlana. The only other superpower with comparable capabilities to the Empire, and often viewed as the kingdom keeping the empire in 'check'. A kingdom where the strongest in the whole kingdom can become King and every position after that is also decided by strength. In the war, it seemed that Tim would occasionally choose to be allocated to teams with people from this kingdom. Since he harbored similar ideologies, it was no wonder they got along.

A small sigh escaped my lips as I looked down at him and asked,

"So what’s it going to be, King?"

"I already gave my answer. I won't repeat myself," he replied without giving it a second thought.

"I see. Lily, lend me your sword for a bit," I said in a casual tone, causing the two of them to freeze as they looked at me. Lily wore a worried expression as she repeatedly looked down at Tim and back to me until she eventually spoke up,

"Why?" she asked, giving me a suspicious gaze. I simply shrugged as I replied,

"Just lend it to me. I will wash it after." Lily flinched at my words as she looked at me with a frown. She looked back at Tim, who didn't seem fazed by what I said, and tried to speak to him,

"I know this might be hard for you, but can you please reconsider?"

She looked genuinely worried as she asked, but the prideful Tim simply smiled as he responded,

"Do whatever you want. I won’t change my mind."

A sigh left Lily's mouth as she looked back at me with a somewhat puzzled expression and said,

"I don’t know why you're doing all this, but I don’t think Tim deserves this," she said while looking me straight in the eyes.

Her reaction wasn't outside of my expectations. Seeing her comply with most of the things I'd asked of her would make one think that she wouldn't go against anything I said, but that wasn't really the case. Her moral compass was just as normal as anyone else's, but whenever I was in danger, she couldn't hold herself back.

If I pushed this further, she might even try to fight against me, so I decided to abandon the idea for now. Instead, I reached into my pockets and took out my cell phone, then proceeded to take multiple pictures of Tim, who was still lying on the floor with a bloodied shirt. He seemed to have an idea of what I was trying to do as a small chuckle escaped his lips.

This should do.

"Let's leave. We're done here." I immediately started to walk away, and Lily followed behind without question.

What a shitty week.

It seemed like nothing was going as planned, but it wasn’t a train smash. Like all other helpless situations I'd been thrown into, I'll use this to my advantage somehow. Even in the aftermath of a lost battle, there's always profit in collecting the swords of your fallen predecessors. As they say, you can lose the battle but still win the war.

I'll just have to adapt.