‘Special Instructors.’

That was the academy's explanation after most students were brutally taken down by the intruders from [Ten Tedious]. With that in mind, it made sense why I never learned about this in the past timeline — the students thought it was just a surprise exercise to test how they would handle themselves. The casualties were handled separately, their deaths attributed to "a mana beast attack in a dungeon," and since all three deceased students were from the Empire, the academy easily contacted their families and silenced them about the incident.

Of course, due to my intervention, some students now knew it wasn't staged and that the attack was real.

From the reports, none of the other two groups managed to take down even one intruder. But unlike them, I had killed one, which would obviously raise suspicions about the ‘mock intrusion’ story—especially considering how the Giant Killer, supposedly an ‘instructor,’ reacted as if we had just squashed a bug on the side of the road when the masked woman died.

Thanks to this cover story, the academy was able to downplay any news about the dungeon incident. Part of the reason I remained mostly relaxed during the invasion was my suspicion that I hadn't heard of this event in the past because it wasn't that impactful to the students or the academy. This made it seem unlikely that many students would die, as the whole thing needed to be swept under the rug.

It’s almost time.

A few hours had passed since I gave the student council president my letter, and it was finally lunchtime. I entered the cafeteria, scanning the room before spotting the people I had invited. The cafeteria was full of students, but the loud atmosphere drowned out their conversations. Still, I could tell everyone was paying close attention to one particular table — the one I was heading to.

“You sure took your sweet time,” a stern voice came from one of the seated students, belonging to a blonde-haired boy. I greeted him with a slight bow before taking a seat. No one at the table had ordered any food, though I doubted the cafeteria food would match their high standards.

“Is it true you got suspended?” The blonde-haired boy, commonly known as Liam, eyed me curiously as he spoke.

That’s one way to start a conversation.

“No, I’m just on a short vacation,” I replied with a shrug, watching him nod as if realizing the stupidity of his question.

“What was it for?” he continued. He seemed to have a lot of questions, as he was the only one talking while the others simply observed our exchange.

“Do you really want to know?” I asked, meeting his gaze. After a few moments of holding my gaze, I could see discomfort gradually appear on his face. Just as the silence thickened, another voice cut in.

“Torture. Was it for that?” A girl with long white hair said with a smile, though her eyes didn't reflect that emotion. We all turned to look at her, and she seemed to take it as a cue to elaborate.

“I got the feeling you’d do that to me if we ever met in the dungeon. So, I figured some unlucky soul took my place,” she said, prompting me to use [Recall]. The scene from just before we entered the dungeon replayed in my mind. Ah, right. I had indeed considered torturing her if we ever crossed paths inside the dungeon. But I hadn’t thought I’d released enough bloodlust for her to pick up on it, which meant…

“Is that what Leven told you?” I asked, and she chuckled, replying sweetly,

“Hehe. Busted.”

Leven had been the only witness in their class to see everything from start to finish, so it was obvious Precious had gotten most of the details from him.

Did he share everything he saw? I’ll need to pay him a visit soon...

I hadn’t debriefed anyone about what they might have heard or seen, which likely made them even more afraid to speak up. Though they might tell the professors, I doubted they’d share anything with their classmates.

Thinking this, I shifted my focus to the matter at hand.

“I’m sure you know why I called you here,” I said, glancing at each student gathered around the table. They might not have been the strongest at the academy, but in terms of influence, they were definitely untouchable.

“Um, I’m not really...” one of them said, slowly raising her hand.

“Ah, right, Lily. You can leave if you want,” I said, watching her furrow her brow. There were three classes among the High-Class first years, so only three people should have been seated at this table.

“Huh? Are you sure? But, you said—”

“Doesn’t matter. You can leave if you want,” I cut her off, and she fell silent as she stood, preparing to leave. I was the one who called her here in the first place, so I bore responsibility for this situation. I shot Precious a sidelong glance as Lily prepared to leave., and as if sensing my gaze, she spoke up.

“No, it’s fine. She can stay,” she said at last. Lily looked conflicted, glancing between me and Liam as if seeking confirmation.

“A-are you sure?” she asked, likely worried about the fifth prince.

“I don’t mind,” Liam said, showing no sign of disapproval. Relieved, Lily sat back down. I had made sure to call her ahead of time, giving them an opportunity to interact and get used to each other in my absence. It wasn't enough for them to become friends, but enough for Liam to feel guilty about kicking her out of the group when I arrived. Seeing this, I nodded and spoke up.

“Let’s start with Lily, then. Can you tell us what happened on your floor?” I asked, causing the other two to look at her expectantly.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“Uh, me?” she said, turning to Precious, who nodded in confirmation. Lily took a deep breath to calm her nerves and began.

“I guess when we first entered the fl—”

“—Actually, I changed my mind. You should leave,” I interrupted her before she could say anything more. She glared at me, giving me a ‘what are you doing?’ look, but I ignored it. Precious’ expression changed for a brief moment before returning to normal—a change noticeable only through my use of [Recall] to analyze the subtle alterations in her face.

Interesting.

“That won’t be a problem, will it?” I asked, directing the question to Precious, who responded with a smile.

“Have you always been this paranoid? It doesn’t suit you,” she replied in a soft tone.

One of us at the table seemed lost, and after watching our interaction, chose this moment to interrupt.

“Uh, sorry, but I don’t think I’m following. What’s going on? What are you two talking about?” Liam asked, glancing even at Lily for clarity, though she shrugged and turned to look at me.

Mind manipulation Authorities are notoriously difficult to handle, but because of that, they usually come with significant restrictions. One of the most common limitations is that you can’t reuse the same skill on a second person without a kind of time lag.

It’s the same with my Authority, [Time Perception]. Unless I use it on a group of people simultaneously, there’s usually a short delay—typically up to two minutes—before I can apply it to another person.

For example, if I used it to speed up Person A’s thoughts, I’d need to wait about two minutes before I could use the same skill on Person B, assuming both are already ‘registered.’

Of course, I could use it on both Person A and Person B at the same time, but they’d have to experience the same effect. Like when I demonstrated the skill with the bottle cap, quickening Roran, Rin, and Ruby’s thoughts simultaneously so they saw it in slow motion. I can’t make one experience quickened thoughts while another's thoughts are slowed down at the same time.

In a real battle, it’s impractical to expect multiple people to benefit from the same effect at the same time. That’s why I usually apply it to just one person at a time.

What I just did now was a small experiment to test Precious’ Authority, which I strongly suspect involves mind-altering abilities. I turned back to the confused prince and shook my head as I replied,

“It’s nothing. We’re just waiting for Lily to leave so we can begin.” Everyone suddenly turned to look at Lily, whose face flushed red with embarrassment.

“...”

She shot me a quick glare before walking away.

I’ll have to apologize later.

“Now then, I just have a few questions. I don’t really care what happened to all of you. I just want to know: were all the ‘instructors’ wearing masks?” I asked, and both Precious and Liam nodded. I wasn’t particularly interested in the minor details since they relied heavily on individual perception.

“Yep, but unfortunately, they managed to escape us,” Precious said, though her voice didn’t sound as disappointed as her words implied. I was a bit surprised they couldn’t take down any of the intruders, even with Lily by their side, but it also showed how much effort was put into the operation. After all, Lily was one of the Dragnoks.

Their floor might’ve been harder than ours.

“I see. And you?” I turned to the fifth prince, and he let out a sigh before admitting,

“Same on our end.” His frustration was clear. One student had died on each floor, making three deceased students in total. It was likely a tactic to escalate the situation and force the students to take the threat seriously. I imagine [Ten Tedious] used their spies to gather information on the social hierarchy of the higher classes, choosing the ‘least important’ student in each class as an example of how dangerous the situation was.

“How long is your suspension? We might have an interclass exercise soon. It’d be boring to face a leaderless class,” Precious said, snapping me out of my thoughts. The reason we were told to choose a leader before the end of the month was that there would be several combat exercises pitting the three classes against each other in the coming months.

“I can still beat both of you without leaving my room,” I said casually. Neither of them flinched—especially Liam, who didn’t seem to doubt my words. Based on my memories of the past, I was certain my suspension would be over by the time the interclass exercise occurred.

“Hehe. How about we make a bet, then? You can join too, Your Highness,” Precious said, giving Liam a provocative smile. He remained unfazed and nodded.

“I don’t mind. As long as it’s reasonable, I’ll do my best against the two of you,” he said, sounding noble, as if this were some kind of duel.

Precious Tink.

I turned to look at the white-haired girl. Due to her early death in the past timeline, I didn't know much about her abilities. Depending on her performance in the interclass exercise, I'll determine whether she is someone worth saving or if it's better to let her die.

I guess that means I shouldn't hold back.

“Of course, the terms I have in mind are reasonable,” Precious said, and they both turned to look at me.

This wasn’t what I had come here to discuss. I thought to myself as I spoke up,

“I don’t really ca—”

“—It’s you,” a voice suddenly cut in from the side. Everyone turned to look at the source, a few feet away from our table — a girl with long, pink twin tails stood there, her face expressionless.

Checkmate.

Without warning, she walked over to our table, grabbed my collar, and brought her face close to mine.

“You’re the one who sent that, aren’t you?” she asked calmly, her tone and expression neutral, making it hard to tell she was angry. However, her grip on my collar conveyed her feelings clearly enough. I glared back at her, my face hardening with anger as I tried to pry her hand away.

“What the hell are you doing?” I growled, a hint of bloodlust in my voice. As if realizing where she was, she glanced around the table. Upon seeing Liam, the fifth prince, watching her, she quickly released her grip. After a few moments of thought, she said,

“Sorry, but can I talk to you in private?” Her calm request seemed to catch both Precious and Liam off guard. After such a public display of hostility, why would anyone accept such an offer? She’s insane, is probably what they were thinking.

“Do I know you? What makes you think you can come here and push me around?” I snapped, not bothering to hide my hostility. She hesitated for a moment, looking around as a few students watched the scene unfold, their voices lowering as if giving us center stage.

"That's…" she said, reaching out to the table and grabbing one of my hands. She brought it closer to her body, her soft, delicate fingers wrapping around mine as she looked me in the eyes and muttered,

"Please," she said softly.

Her face was devoid of even an ounce of emotion, making her actions feel disturbingly inhuman. I pulled my arm away, clicking my tongue in annoyance as I looked away from her and muttered,

"Dumb bitch."

"What did you say?" she snapped back quickly, though it seemed she was the only one who heard me. Precious and Liam simply stared at her, their expressions a mix of pity and confusion. I was confused as to why they showed pity. Did they think there was a chance I was in the wrong and that the poor girl was the victim here...?

"You're still here?" I said, dismissing her. After another glance at Liam, she seemed to give up, bowing slightly to him before walking away as if nothing had happened.

Just like that, I was able to confirm that [False Peace] was indeed involved in the incident at [Golem's Nest]. It wasn't her outburst, nor Liam’s presence, but simply the fact that she had approached me at all. The message I had sent to Eva was very simple:

‘Y did that cripple hire gk? I hope he’s dead:)’

Now, all I had to do was wait for their response.

This strategy served a purpose beyond just confirming their involvement. Depending on how they responded, I might be able to maintain a mutually beneficial relationship with them (use them).

Of course, I wasn’t naïve enough to expect a potential ally out of this. Without absolute control, I couldn’t count their power as my own.

The meeting between the class leaders continued, and throughout it all, I kept a close watch on Precious.