I arrived at the academy with Ziona shortly after leaving the restaurant.
"...I just got a text from Ayla saying they're in the Archery grounds, waiting for us," Ziona said abruptly.
"Huh? what for? Are they not intending to attend the classes?" I asked.
"I have no idea either, she didn't mention anything about it, but your next class is usually Archery, so you'll have to go there eventually," Ziona remarked.
"...Well, you're not wrong," I said as I followed her to the archery grounds.
We soon arrived at the archery range and noticed that it was empty even though it was class time.
"Why are there no students on the archery range? Did we miss something significant by skipping just one class?" Ziona spoke as she focused her attention on me.
I shrugged in response, and we soon moved into the professor's private room, which we are now using as our meeting space.
Clink!—
As soon as we walked inside the room, I saw Lucas, Ayla, Diana, Claude, Kevin, and Livia lounging on the couches, calmly munching on snacks and enjoying beverages while gazing at the enormous hologram screen.
When they heard the door open, they all simultaneously turned to face us.
"...."
'When did they all become such good friends?' I wondered as I watched them hang out and appear to be having a relaxing time.
"Who did you guys beat up this time?" Ayla exclaimed, as soon as she saw us.
!?
"...How can you tell?" Ziona asked, surprised.
"...Just because, we can clearly see the blood stains on your uniforms," Ayla responded.
Ziona checked her uniform as soon as she heard her.
"Ah Fuck, I have to apply for a new uniform yet again, I already requested dozens of uniforms in just a matter of this month, it's a good thing they don't charge us for them," Ziona lamented.
"Why don't you just wash them? And why do you need to request for so many uniforms again? Didn't they already provide us with enough uniforms to last us a month?," Ayla asked perplexed.
I ignored their conversation and sat beside Livia, who had been staring at me since I walked into the room, and I had previously found numerous missed calls from her on my phone.
"Chips?" Livia said, gesturing with her bag of chips in my direction.
"...Thank you," I said as I took a chip from it.
"I have to because Ares ripped the majority of my uniforms," Ziona explained to Ayla.
Cough! Cough!- Cough!-
I choked on the chip I was eating when I heard Ziona.
"What the fuck!" I murmured silently.
And noticed everyone in the room was now staring at me ominously.
"Would you mind explaining what she's on about?" Livia inquired with a smile on her face.
However, I felt a chill come over me as I observed her face.
"...Perhaps she's talking about her uniform being ripped during our sparring," I quickly clarified.
"I saw her wearing her safety gear during her sparring sessions with you, so that doesn't explain why her uniform is torn," Ayla inquired curiously.
"Yeah, what kind of spar is it that rips so many of her uniforms?" Diana wondered.
"Why don't you spar with me and find out for yourself?" I sarcastically reacted.
"...S-Sparring with Ares? Where can I sign up for that?" Diana blushed and muttered.
"...."
"Wow! They twisted the sparring into something lewd," Irethiel chuckled and remarked telepathically.
As soon as Diana spoke, everyone turned to face her and simply stared.
"A-Ahem, Stop making unholy assumptions, you perverse beings. Naturally, I was referring to our actual archery sparring, as he is an accomplished archer as well.
However, he is obviously inferior to me," Diana clarified.
"Sure, but no one is buying your justification," Claude remarked abruptly.
I ignored their illogical presumptions and turned to stare at Ziona, irritated that she wasn't correcting her statement.
But I observed her enjoying the conversation that sparked because of her poor word choice.
And when she saw I was staring at her, she winked before giggling.
"....."
When I noticed her behavior, I was left speechless. But after a sudden realization, I turned toward Livia and saw her still staring at me.
"Who were the people you two fought with?" Livia asked out of nowhere, turning a blind eye to everything that everyone was discussing, as if she had already deduced what Ziona was intentionally trying.
!?
Everyone stopped talking when they heard Livia's voice.
And Ziona approached the sofa, sat beside Ayla, and spoke.
"I apologize for my misinterpreting utterances previously; what I meant was that my uniforms were ripped during our sparring sessions because I wore safety gear on top of my uniform.
And Ares' attacks are so decisive that my safety gear could not always reflect them, and as a result of my uniforms were damaged," Ziona explained.
"...Haha, I knew that would be the case," Kevin, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up.
When we heard Kevin, there was only silence for a few moments.
I broke the awkward pause by responding to Livia,
"We fought the members of Zerix's faction."
!?
"...So the third-year faction leaders have already made their move, huh?" Ayla remarked.
"Should we go beat them up?" Livia asked as she continued eating her chips.
"We ought to choose which faction leader we will deal with first before proceeding, correct?" Diana wondered aloud.
"...Claude, are you okay with them beating up Erina?" Ayla inquired of Claude.
And everyone turned to look at him to hear his response.
"...As long as she doesn't sustain severe injuries like Aretrus, I'm okay with it," Claude said as his gaze fixed on me.
"I can't believe you're okay with your sister getting beaten," Lucas said abruptly in a disappointed tone.
"Yeah, dude, why don't you suggest that they talk this over? ...And, by the way, is your sister beautiful?" Kevin made a remark.
Ziona and I just sat back and watched them argue while munching on snacks, not bothering to tell them about our deal with Erina.
"Look who's speaking, your sister was eliminated by being brutally punched in the guts, and what did you do afterward? Shamelessly joined forces with the same person who had beaten her," With a smirk, Claude responded to Lucas.
"Yes, Claude is correct. You did nothing to retaliate against the person who beat your sister, so you have no right to pass judgment on him," Kevin made a remark while repeatedly nodding.
"Shut the fuck up, you stupid twit! My sister is way out of your league," Claude abruptly stated as he smacked Kevin across the face.
!?
"You fucker!" Kevin scowled, and they began arguing again.
"Hey Ziona, Pass me that popcorn will you?" Diana exclaimed.
"Here," Ziona said as she handed Diana the popcorn.
However, when they heard Ziona, Claude, Lucas, and Kevin ceased their arguments.
"...Umm, don't mind me, and please keep bickering," Diana said as she quickly popped a popcorn in her mouth.
"...."
Meanwhile, Ayla simply shook her head as she observed them acting childishly before speaking.
"Brother, please stop making yourself look foolish. As I've already told you, not everyone shares your beliefs.
Whether or not Claude cares about his sister shouldn't matter to you, should it? And does it make a difference even if he cares about his sister?
...Because he still has no choice, as it all comes down to Ares' decision on how he wants to handle her," Ayla made a statement.
There was only stillness in the room after hearing Ayla's words since everyone recognized that everything hinged on my decision and that they had no choice but to comply.
"Don't be concerned! I am not an unreasonable person.
If you guys want me to talk to Erina before making a move on her, I'll do so and do my best to persuade her to join forces with me.
...And even if she refused to cooperate with me, I would leave her in Claude's hands and not bother with her," I proclaimed.
When they heard my statement, they were all surprised and just stared at me.
Even Ziona was staring at me in shock but for another reason, as she listened to my nonsense.
"...Didn't Erina pay you a visit during our Advisor training class?" Kevin asked abruptly.
"...."
'Ah fuck, how did I forget this bastard was also in the class at the time,' I pondered inwardly.
"...She wanted to talk about something, so she invited me to her faction's stronghold.
Of course, I had no intention of wasting my time with pointless meetings.
So I chose to ignore her because it could be the same trap meeting as the second year.
...But now that you've asked me to speak with her, I believe I should pay her a visit," I elaborated.
"...."
"...Is that right? Should we accompany you to the meeting with Erina?" Ayla asked with skepticism.
"Oh, so you want to join me so you can record another video of me to upload online? I didn't know you liked me so much," I replied to Ayla with a smile.
!?
Ayla was rendered speechless when she heard me, and everyone turned to stare bewilderedly at her.
***