"Due to some personal matters, Professor Bloodthorn will not be in attendance today," a chubby-built professor announced as he stood at the podium. The students around me immediately broke into whispers, and I could feel a few of their gazes turn in my direction.

After the 'incident' outside the classroom buildings, one of her colleagues had approached us and immediately taken her away. Luckily, the same professor had a healing skill and managed to close up my wound.

Since I was using [Object Perception] to stop the bleeding, it didn’t need much attention. The small incident reminded me of my last moments in the future; when I was able to mimic healing magic by reversing time.

I wonder how long it'll take to get that skill.

Anyways, some minutes had gone by since the incident with Eliana, and it was now time for homeroom.

"I'm only here to pass on her important announcements, so I'll make this quick. I'm certain you're all well aware of the tragic incident involving one of your classmates. Because of this, the academy has decided to postpone the combat classes until next week," Professor Tom said as he looked around, gauging the students' reactions.

Worry, sadness, and confusion were evident on their faces, each student processing the news in their own way, but the overall mood was negative. As he scanned the room, his gaze suddenly stopped on me.

"Take the time to fully integrate into your teams. It’s my understanding that Ian is Class C's leader, is that right?" he asked aloud, causing everyone's gaze to turn to me. Under their curious stares, I spoke up,

"Yes, I am."

"Good. Then I’ll leave you in charge of homeroom for the time being. I’m sure as the leader, you have plenty to say to your classmates," he said in a condescending tone while moving toward the entrance. It seemed he was done with his task, but just as he was about to leave, he paused as if remembering something and spoke up again,

"Oh, right. I almost forgot. Make sure to visit the student council after school for your hearing. Now then, I will take my leave." He walked out before I could even respond, clearly having no intention of engaging further.

So they’re dumping this on the council?

Considering how busy many of the professors are due to the mess with Dante, the delegation made sense. A lot of the senior professors, including the headmaster, were probably not around campus, so dealing with a small 'student-teacher' problem wasn’t worth their time.

Many students looked at me curiously, wondering what Professor Tom meant. Since the student council is usually associated with 'student disciplinary action,' they seemed curious about what I did.

"Mmh. What happened with you and Professor Bloodthorn?" Roran asked bluntly from beside me. I turned to look at him as I stood up,

"I’m not sure. She just started talking about Dante while crying," I said with a calm expression, making sure the eavesdroppers around also heard.

"Mmh. I guess it must be hard on her as a teacher and all," he said with a serious expression, causing a small smile to form on my face as I replied,

"Yeah, her reaction is reasonable."

I then started to walk to the front of the classroom, causing the class to go silent as their attention shifted to me.

"Well, as the professor said, I think we should use this week wisely, so try and train with your team to prepare for the combat classes. If you need any kind of help, you can contact me anytime. Oh, also, I want you to choose two students among you who will act as my second-in-command. One girl and one boy. I don’t really care how you choose them, but tell me your decision by Friday."

I concluded my announcement, and the reaction was as expected. Since the other class leaders always had an entourage around them, including people who could sometimes act as their representatives, it was necessary to follow the norms, if only to soothe the nobles' egos. It was a way to spread their influence at the academy by being seen as the 'trusted aides' of a particular class leader. Because of this, I was already 100% certain that the two chosen would be nobles, but that didn’t mean I was against it.

With that, the rest of the homeroom period was spent casually bantering among friends. I also took the opportunity to send a message to the other two members of our team, arranging for a meeting during lunchtime.

***

The four members of Team 22 arrived at the cafeteria a few minutes after lunchtime. I wasn’t personally used to eating multiple times throughout the day, so I only bought something to drink and waited for the others to order food before settling down.

As we sat at one of the tables, I could feel the gazes of the students around us. It was the first time that Roran and I had come to the cafeteria, so the reaction was inevitable. Since he also said he 'prefers' not eating during lunch, we’d always just stay seated in the classroom. Though for him, it was more of a financial issue than a preference.

"I guess we never formally introduced ourselves. I’m Rin, and this here is Ruby," the girl sitting opposite me said with a smile. She had short, dark green hair and a mischievous glint in her eyes. It seemed like the two of them were friends as the other girl bowed her head.

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

"Um. Hello, I’m Ruby," she said in a timid tone. She had the same colored hair, but hers was much longer. It also didn’t seem like she was comfortable talking to us.

"Yeah, no shit. That’s what I said. Oh," Rin said with a shrug, but suddenly covered her mouth with a worried expression, realizing her words.

"Oh, haha, It’s fine, we’re all commoners here, right Ian?" Roran said with a smile, trying to console her.

No, it’s not fine.

"Right. Sorry about that, I’m not really used to speaking formally," Rin said, scratching the back of her head in apology. I picked up my drink and took a sip, causing everyone to turn their attention to me.

"I can see why no one wanted to team up with you," I replied casually, though it didn’t seem to faze her much as she wore a self-deprecating smile.

"Ouch. Right where it hurts, huh? Though you’re probably right; no one likes an outspoken woman these days."

"Really, I don’t think you’re that bad," Roran retorted.

"Oh, thanks," she smiled at him, then looked back at me. I took another sip, then placed the cup down before saying,

"You’re right. No one likes outspoken women."

"Well, excuse me for existing," Rin retorted casually, her stare slowly turning into a glare.

"Oi Ian, is there a problem? Don’t you think you’re being rude?" Roran said with a frown. I looked at him, then back at Rin, before breaking into a light laugh.

"I was just joking around. Sorry if I offended you."

"Oh, I see. Hahaha. It wasn’t funny," Rin said with a straight face, but Roran seemed surprised as he scoffed,

"Heh. I didn’t know you could joke around like this."

"That’s rude. I’m also human. Anyway, I called everyone here to discuss our powers," I said to the rest of the group. I wasn’t sure whether I could rule out the possibility that the two girls were spies, but because of the postponement of the combat classes, I couldn’t do anything at the moment.

Rin seemed like she could match my psychological wordplay, so I probably wouldn’t get much out of her through normal conversation. As for Ruby, she was born and raised in the Empire, so I didn’t think I had to worry about her.

"Oh, if it isn’t green newbie," a loud voice suddenly interrupted my thoughts, and I turned around. A boy with blue hair tied into a ponytail walked up to our table and casually sat down in one of the empty chairs. Everyone stared at him with confusion, but he didn’t seem to care as he continued casually,

"It’s been a while, hasn’t it?" Tim said as he looked at me. It had only been a day since the fight with Lily, but it seemed he was already back to full power. As expected of False Peace. Their doctor, who was currently working as a spy at the academy, was second to none.

"Is this guy your friend or something?" Rin casually asked, looking back at me, causing Tim to chuckle lightly as he looked at her. He seemed to be having some strange ideas in his head as he spoke up,

"Hehe. Not bad, you’ve got good taste, newbie."

At this, Rin looked back at me with a suspicious gaze. I shrugged as I explained,

"This is Tim; he's one of the so-called kings."

"Eh, really? So he's super strong?" Rin asked as she stared at Tim. She didn’t seem impressed or disappointed—just indifferent. Ruby, on the other hand, appeared a bit intimidated, watching the scene with cautious eyes.

"King?" Roran asked in confusion. Everyone, including Tim, momentarily looked at him like he was a madman.

"Hahaha. You’ve got some unusual friends, newbie. Right, I see there aren’t any weird rumors floating around," Tim said as he stared at me. He was likely wondering why I hadn’t spread the news of his defeat to Lily. I looked at him and said,

"That can be arranged if you don’t leave right now."

"Oh, scary." Tim made an exaggerated face before reaching into Ruby’s plate and chugging down some of her fries. He then placed both his legs on the table, next to everyone’s food.

"Then do it. I’ll take all four of you at once," he said casually, without a trace of worry in his voice. If it were anyone else, they would have sounded like a joke. But for the eighth king, it wasn’t an exaggeration. Since Lily wasn’t around, he didn’t seem to think he would lose, but with Roran here, his defeat was certain.

"That’s enough." Another voice broke into the conversation just as I was about to call on Roran. We all turned to the source of the voice, where a girl with long, black hair approached us, followed by a small group of students. She exuded an aura of excellence, and the students in the cafeteria all went silent, watching her in awe.

Student council president, Shiro Leyvil. She stood next to our table, causing Tim to smile as he greeted,

"Oh, Shiro. It’s been a while." He continued with the same attitude, even as the members of the council glared at him. His feet remained stretched out on the table as if he were lounging in bed.

"This isn’t the place for this, Tim. You should know better," Shiro said with a glare, causing him to shrug as if what he did wasn’t a big deal. Shiro sighed and turned to face me.

"And as for you, Ian, don’t forget to come to our office after school. We have a lot to discuss about your conduct," she said in an intimidating tone. There were certainly a lot of things I was linked to in the short time I’d been attending, but instead of agreeing to her words, I looked up at her and said,

"I refuse."

"Oh," Tim muttered in surprise, while a grin crept across his face.

"I’m sorry, but this isn’t a request. You will come to the council, whether you like it or not," Shiro replied in a calm tone, as if it weren’t her first time dealing with something like this.

"Or what?" I responded casually, causing the tension in the air to rise.

"Ho, hahaha. That’s right, we refuse! What will you do, Shiro!?" Tim laughed maniacally as he addressed her, causing a spike in the mana around her. The other council members behind her charged up their mana, as if preparing for battle. I could feel my vision waver as possible futures started to play out in front of me—the result of [Future Sight] activating on its own.

Everyone seated at our table seemed to have also prepared for battle. Tim marked Shiro, while Roran marked the boy standing next to her—the vice president. Even the two girls in our group seemed ready to provide support.

How did they even coordinate that quickly?

"You low-born bastard—" the vice president began as he stepped forward, reaching for his sword. Roran’s hand moved closer to his sword, as if waiting for a signal. It would take less than a second to render the vice president incapable of fighting, which would give Tim the opening he needed to launch an assault against Shiro, but...

Are they actually insane?

"That’s enough," Shiro stopped him before he took another step, as if she already knew what Roran would do. She then turned to look at me.

"I hope you heed my words, Ian. As for the rest of you, let that be the first and last time you show that level of aggression toward the student council."

She immediately turned around and started to walk away. Tim seemed disappointed, but his face was still smiling. As a fellow king, he must have been itching to test out her strength.

That’s right, while others referred to her as the student council president, many knew her by another title: the tenth king of Rezen Academy.

She’s annoying.