A day before the professor finally managed to get back the perfect attendance score under his KPI, another thing happened with the rest of us in Black Rose Classroom.

Wow, I said ‘us.’ Hard to believe as it was, with each passing day, I had started to fit into the classroom. It wasn’t difficult, I only had to sit back and act like a dead man.

That was me, Atlas Whisper. A little dog in this den of lions. How did I end up in a den of lions despite being a little dog? Well, let’s say that the respectable vice-principal of this academy is not as respectable as he is punchable.

Returning to the point—something was happening in the Black Rose Classroom.

It started with an announcement from our instructor for battles, Professor Barnum, who had very recently injured his back.

“There is an assessment between multiple classes for our subject from tomorrow. Every class will be competing with another class. You guys are paired up with the Dahlia classroom, so prepare well.”

Some of us gasped and some of us were excited. It was shocking.

We were being pitted against other classes for a fight. It was an unexpected situation, and many of the students were looking forward to it. They wanted to see how they would fare in the academy that curated the best of the best.

but that was the end of it.

It should have been.

The classes for the day ended. The students were about to head out of the classroom when the door opened with a bang. I flinched at the loud noise. Being in this classroom for the last few weeks wasn’t without its benefits. I had developed my own ‘trouble’ senses and I could tell—this was trouble.

A group of students stormed into the classroom. Four students, all dressed neatly in the school uniform, anyone would believe they were members of the class from their confidence alone, but one thing set them apart from us, the badge of a red dahlia that gleamed on their blazers.

“This is the Black Rose classroom…” A man with a sly smile stepped forward. His narrow eyes behind his glasses glanced over the classroom.

“How quaint. For a building made in a rush, they went the extra mile,” a girl from the group crossed her arms and made a note. “It almost feels unsuited for people like you, Lady Scential.”

The girl with brown hair stared daggers at Lady Rosentea Il Scential, one of the most powerful figures in our classroom.

I had no idea what was going on. That was when someone next to me smirked. To my side, my seat partner and the only other person who sat this far back, Lady Elara Danube leaned ahead on the desk and smiled at the sight.

“How funny. That girl is the heiress of the Dragon’s Eye Merchant group, they are a competitor of the Scential.”

“Oh…” I muttered. Lady Elara glanced at me for a moment before looking ahead. She asked, “What do you think is going on?”

It didn’t matter what I thought. I was just a little bird stuck inside an airplane race. Making it out alive was enough.

“You are right,” Lady Rosentea raised her paper fan and covered her face below her eyes. “This place is quaint, and your crude presence ruins it. Speak your purpose and leave.”

“You!” the girl clicked her tongue. She was to charge ahead in rage, but someone stopped her. The girl from the Dragon Eye clicked her tongue and stepped back.

The sly man from before stepped up again.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

“I apologize for the misconduct. I am Tynor Doors, a member of the Red Dahlia class.” The man bowed and introduced himself to the classroom. “You all know of the assessment scheduled between our classes. We just came to suggest a friendly competition as students.”

“Competition?” Prince Ier interjected Tynor’s words. He was the only one here who could match up to him. “It is rude of you to storm our class and say all this. We don’t have any reason to compete with you.”

Tynor bowed again. I had heard that the academy policy was to not treat students as students despite their status outside of the academy, his actions were very formal for this place.

“What if I say there is a reason? Have you heard of the Chalice of the Fallen Heaven?”

Gasps rang out through the classroom.

Chalice of the Fallen Heaven? I had no idea about this. I looked around and my gaze landed on Lady Elara, who too, had straightened her back.

“Um…”

Lady Elara looked at me, her gaze incredulous, before it shifted to a smile.

“Right. You didn’t grow up in a palace or something.” Thankfully, she was ready to explain. “You know about items, right?”

I did know, though only a little. Items were the objects that we made to counteract the lack of our power. Demons who could wield great destructive magic held the upper hand when it came to war, but that was changed with items.

Using the expertise and talents of many disciplines, the people of this side of the world created items imbued with different abilities. It was the easiest way to increase one’s strength without sacrificing anything.

I nodded at Lady Elara.

“The Chalice of the Fallen Heaven is an item made with the blessing of the first saintess. If you drink from the chalice, your mana permanently increases by leaps and bounds.”

I gasped.

Mana was something that could never be enough, and there was a way to increase it.

“Hoho… You might not know this, but the Chalice of the Fallen Heaven will be sent to the academy soon.” Tynor’s voice rippled through the class. Now everyone was paying him attention. “I have heard that they might let an exceptional student use it once, and this test is the beginning of the search for that exceptional student.”

A lot of us couldn’t believe our ears, most of us couldn’t.

Lady Elara immediately deflated at Tynor’s words.

“Haah,” she sighed. “I thought it would be something interesting, but this guy is here with only rumors.”

She dismissively waved her hands and plopped down on the desk again, as if she couldn’t bother with this anymore.

Unfortunately, everyone else wasn’t of the same opinion.

They all gulped in anticipation.

“There is no better way to show your skill than with a fight. A round for best of five, whoever wins will not only be considered to get a chance to use the Chalice, but can also make the other class follow any one of their orders… how does it sound?”

Tynor raised his hand… he pointed ahead, past Prince Ier and Lady Rosentea, past the Saintess candidate, even past Lady Elara… and straight at me.

“The true leader of Black Rose!”

“W-w-what?!” I yelped in surprise.

Tynor smirked.

“It is no use hiding your identity. I saw clearly on the very first day. Everyone in this class has been following you since the entrance ceremony itself.”

I was not someone particularly religious.

Even more so after the events that had landed me in this classroom.

But this… this had to be a trick of god. This was punishment. What else could it be?

Tynor smiled, convinced of his narrative.

“When we win, we will deal with you first, Atlas Whisper, the true leader of Black Rose!”

As they had stormed in, the four students all stormed out.

COME BACK!!

I could only stretch my hand, but no one was going to help me.

Ah, I get it.

This world had forsaken me.

Just when I thought I was adjusting to this classroom, this happened. It was all just a twisted joke. Yes.

Life was bleak. I am sorry, mother, father, the world hates your son.

Without a word, Lady Elara tapped my shoulder and Princess Aegean shook her head.

Soon, the other students in the classroom also came over to console me.

“We are sorry, you’ll probably die in battle tomorrow.”

“We’ll win the other four for you, Atlas.”

“Don’t worry, I am sure the professor will let us build a memorial for you.”

“Your heart was kind, Atlas Whisper. This Seren will remember you with joy.”

Ah yes, do that. Just write me off as dead, won’t you?

No one was going to back out of this challenge for me.

I swallowed my tears.

And before I knew it, the next day rolled around. It was a day filled with tenseness and a day when even the last member of our classroom had rejoined class only to see me get cooked today.

I wrote a letter to my parents and left a will. The students in Dahlia classroom were going to kill me.

Or so I thought.

Professor Barnum stood at the front, looking at the gathering of Black Rose and Red Dahlia.

“Why are you all dressed in battle gear for a written assessment?”

“It’s not a fight…?”

“Why would I make you fight with students from Black Rose, and when I am injured? I never said it’s a fight.”

“But… you teach… battle…”

I didn’t die that day.

Not completely, at least, since embarrassment killed a part of me.

I looked to the side and found Tynor on the ground, his soul had left his body.

Embarrassment had claimed more than one victim.