A charismatic man, dressed in pristine white attire and wearing glasses, walked through the crowd. "What's the commotion over here?" he asked, his voice stern and deep. He noticed Ric and Halberd and inquired in a serious manner, "What is going on here?"
Ric replied politely, "Oh, sir—" Ric glanced at the badge displaying the council member's name and continued, "Rasmond Ross, I am just massaging the young master!"
He commanded, "This is not the appropriate place for that!"
"What can I do, sir? I am a peasant, and Mr. Halberd commanded me to massage him!" explained Ric with a saddened expression.
Halberd was astonished and complained, "W-When did I—". Ric tightened his grip on Halberd's head, causing him to yelp in pain. Ric looked at him with a forced smile and asked, "Young master, did I massage it too tightly?" Halberd understood that Ric wanted him to play along and said, "Y-Yes, I told him to do it."
"I will give you five seconds; get lost from my sight within that time!" Rasmond ordered them.
"Five."
Ric replied, "With pleasure~." He then whispered to Halberd, "Whenever you want to meet with God, come to me. I will arrange an appointment for you."
"Four."
Halberd quickly ran away without looking back, and Ric also departed from the scene. He met up with Yota later, who asked him, "Hey, Ric, why did you do that?"
Ric sighed and replied, "Haa… I didn't want to do that either, but that guy disrespecting my parents got me slightly angered."
Yota asked with a confused face, "That was slight?"
"Well… Ugh, forget that! And let me tell you something before we reach our dorm," said Ric.
"What is it?" asked Yota.
Ric halted their walk and said, "Yota, there are people you should not mess with in this academy until—"
"Until?" Yota questioned.
"Until you become someone so precious that the academy can't replace you!" Ric confidently replied.
"But the academy is an equal ground for everyone," said Yota.
"Yes, but that's only within the academy. I know you do what's right, but just try to avoid the three great families, okay?" said Ric.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"T-The three great families… Uh… Um… Yeah, I will," stuttered Yota.
"Wait, you know about them, right?" asked Ric suspiciously.
"Well… Yeah… They're great families… Right?" Yota mumbled nervously.
"Sigh… You slacker, let me tell you. Aside from the imperial family, there are three great noble families in the Kingdom of Alcra: the family of swordsmen, the Jin Family; the family of tanks, the Trevor Family; and the family of knights, the Ross Family. These families were the ones who contributed greatly during the human-demon war, which earned them the authority they hold today. If they wish, they can wipe us out of existence, and no one would know. So, just try to avoid people from these three families, okay?" Ric explained seriously.
"Don't worry, buddy, I gotcha," replied Yota confidently.
"OK, then here" Ric took out clothes from his bag and handed them to Yota.
"Wait, if you had clothes why didn't you give them before?" asked Yota.
"Where will you wear them? On the streets?" replied Ric.
"Haha… you're right," said Yota.
After that, they went inside the dorm,
all the students present there were commoners and looked at them seriously. The dorm was surprisingly large and had 5 bunk beds in it. Ric thought, "Not bad, I think it's true that the academy treats everyone equally." A timid boy wearing glasses came towards them. Ric asked him seriously, "What do you want?"
The boy replied, "T-T-Thank you! For helping me before!" He bowed and thanked them. "W-what are you saying?" Ric asked in confusion. Yota, who recognized the boy, stepped forward and asked, "Oh! It's you, what was your name again?"
"M-M-My name is Jimmy, Mr. Hero's," the boy replied and praised them.
"Oh~ come on~ Mr. Hero? I'm not that great~" replied Yota proudly.
"It seems you are the guy Halberd was bullying, right?" Ric asked.
"Y-Y-Yes!" Jimmy replied in a timid manner.
"Then, are you done?" interrogated Ric.
"Huh? Y-Y-Yes, thank you for–" Jimmy replied as Ric interrupted him by commanding, "Get lost! If you're done!"
"Hey, Ric! That's rude!" Yota said angrily.
Jimmy slowly went to his bed. Yota, who was angry, asked Ric, "Hey! Why did you do that?!"
"Yota, we're not here to play games. Everyone here is a challenger and an enemy we need to overcome, that includes Jimmy and everyone present in this dorm. If you want to achieve your dream, then you need to trample on others. Otherwise, you will be the one to get trampled on. That is the reality of this world. Remember it from now onwards," Ric explained seriously and advanced towards a bed.
"Then… are you also included in 'everyone'?" Yota asked seriously. Ric stopped after hearing this, a silence swept through the air, Then breaking the silence Ric replied in a daunting tone, "Yes, try to trample on me if you can!"
[https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/952a01aa-e384-401c-a0f2-be8702666a5f/dg1li7v-9f0b4c12-9fd2-4aeb-8cf9-0d4c3ebf84d2.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzk1MmEwMWFhLWUzODQtNDAxYy1hMGYyLWJlODcwMjY2NmE1ZlwvZGcxbGk3di05ZjBiNGMxMi05ZmQyLTRhZWItOGNmOS0wZDRjM2ViZjg0ZDIuanBnIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.Z5FPu9z5oIdptTIp-5rc20WnSoOdrWJmzrBrWJC1Hzw]
After that, Ric and Yota didn't talk to each other, and time went by. Then the time for the exam came near.