[At the Starting Line]

As Ric shot off the starting line, a member of the student council named Rudd approached Reinhardt with a curious look. "Sir, may I ask why you helped that guy?"

"Why use 'may' when you've already asked?" Reinhardt retorted in a stern tone, causing Rudd to falter and fall silent. But Reinhardt wasn't finished. "I helped him because he proved himself. Everyone heard the rules, but he was the only one who not only understood them but also turned them to his advantage," Reinhardt explained. The other council members nodded in agreement as Reinhardt continued. "That student possesses potential. With the right guidance, he could become the most formidable demon hunter ever."

These words stunned the four council members. Hearing such praise from one of the most respected demon hunters in the field was unprecedented. Leon thought, "This is the first time Sir has spoken like this about a student," while Silvia pondered, "What is so special about a rude guy like him?" Similar questions raced through their minds. Unable to contain his curiosity, Raon finally asked, "Sir, is there something exceptional about him that we don't know?"

Reinhardt, addressing their curiosity, posed a question of his own. "Firstly, do any of you know how we manage to grade the papers of 400 students in a mere 5 to 6 hours?" The council members exchanged puzzled glances, unaware of the answer. Seeing their ignorant gazes, Reinhardt let out a sigh and explained further. "As I suspected, none of you are aware. Since, Your role as student council members is to only monitor the students. You wouldn’t have known about it. Well, let me enlighten you. There's a room known as the 'Dome of Time,' a magically engineered chamber where time's flow can be altered. Although it's physically taxing, we have teachers specially assigned to this task." The council members listened attentively to Reinhardt's words.

Capitalizing on their attention, Reinhardt continued, "Now, let me tell you about what happened last night. You're all aware that the headmaster includes an optional question in the annual exam, correct?" The council members nodded in agreement, prompting Reinhardt to elaborate. "Last night, the headmaster summoned me to his office. I knocked and entered to find him gazing out of the window. I inquired, 'How may I assist you, sir?' He didn't turn to me but said, 'Reinhardt, you're here. I called you to discuss the optional question I placed in the exam.' He then turned and handed me a question paper and an answer booklet from a student, saying, 'Read the optional question from the paper and then examine the student's answer.' He seemed tense, so I read it aloud, 'If your family is kidnapped and held hostage by a criminal demanding a huge ransom, what would you do? Now, the answer... huh?.’ I was astonished, So I rechecked the answer again."

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Rudd was puzzled and asked, "Sir, may I interject?"

Reinhardt responded firmly, "You already have!"

Flustered, Rudd apologized, "Uh... umm... I'm sorry, sir." His shoulders slumped and he fell silent. Reinhardt gestured for him to continue. Rudd hesitated but proceeded, "Sir, was the answer so lengthy that you needed to recheck the paper?"

Reinhardt replied, "Quite the contrary," leaving the council members perplexed. He then added, "There was just a single word written as the answer." The council members were astounded that a question could be answered with a single word. Responding to their confusion, Reinhardt explained, "The answer to the optional question 'If your family is kidnapped and held hostage by a criminal demanding a huge ransom, what would you do?' was simply… 'If' "

"Huh? How can that be an answer?" Raon questioned, voicing his confusion.

Responding to him, Reinhardt said “You don’t get it, do you? it means that either he is arrogant, or has the ability to protect them. The head master told me to find out what it was, But…” Reinhardt activated his skill. An orange aura covered his eyes, he saw how Ric was torturing Jimmy and Vivi before he added “From what I am seeing, It seems the latter is the truth.”

[At the Exam]

After he was done with his torture, Ric left Jimmy behind and hurried toward Yota. He bounded from pillar to pillar along the path he had taken earlier. However, one nagging thought persisted: "Where is Yota?” as he was moving around, he surveyed the surroundings, looking for Yota as he thought “He should've been looking for me by now. Why haven't I seen him yet? He's not dumb enough to get lost. Something might be wrong; I need to find him!"

Ric picked up his pace, rushing back to the spot where they'd separated. But just as he neared the destination, he heard Yota's voice shouting, "Get lost!" Ric stopped in his tracks, puzzled but relieved. "Yota? I can hear his voice, but where is he?" Ric concentrated on his ears, trying to pinpoint the source of the voice. Then Yota's voice came again, "I don't trust you!" This time, Ric located the sound. He turned left and dashed toward it, leading him to a pillar, with cracks on the ground and with rocks and rubble lying around. Surveying the scene, Ric thought, "This looks like a battle occurred here. Yota was already hurt! He also didn't had enough mana to activate his fire suit."

Ric followed the tracks of the battle, which led him to find Yota, standing with one knee on the ground, and being surrounded by three guys. This sight, even though it annoyed him, Ric controlled himself and stealthy hid behind a boulder on another pillar and started to eavesdrop on the conversation between them.