"And the last part was fairly simple; it was the same as how when one person claps, all the other pupils follow suit and begin clapping as well," Ayla explained.
"What does that mean?" Irethiel inquired telepathically.
"She is talking about the surrender part," Ares answered.
"I truly like how you concluded everything so quickly; it would have taken me a long time alone if it hadn't been for you," Ares told Ayla.
"Yeah, so you better be grateful, and don't let my brother find out about all this, he still hold grudge against you for how you eliminated me in the entrance examination," Ayla stated.
"...."
"...How stupid, it was a competition; how should I have eliminated you then? By kissing you goodbye?" Ares muttered as he sipped his coffee.
"Shut it you, I didn't forget about it either, and I'm going to come back at you for it in the future, so you better watch your back," Ayla said.
'...Now that's concerning,' Ares thought to himself.
"You know I truly like you for your brains," Ares said while smiling.
"Huh! Don't mistake me for one of the other adolescent females you've enchanted with your good looks and sweet talks," Ayla said.
"But it's true, I genuinely like your intelligence," Ares said.
"Don't even try to impress me with those meaningless compliments since my intelligence pales in comparison to yours, and I know precisely how you are," Ayla responded.
"She doesn't even want to hear a complement from you," Irethiel chuckled.
"...."
"You know how I am? Even I am unaware of this; could you please enlighten me?" Ares inquired, fascinated.
"Do you know why most Harem anime protagonists are dense?" Ayla inquired.
"...No, I don't," Ares replied.
"Having a harem protagonist who is clueless about the affections of their harem members removes any notion of drama, conflict, or, worse, realism from the interactions.
And What if the protagonist ignores everyone else and picks one female from among those that adored him? What do you believe will happen?"
Ayla spoke, pausing to hear Ares respond, but when she noticed Ares' expressionless face, she continued.
"Of course, if the girl isn't nuts, she'll try to move on; however, what if the girl has a crazy obsessive personality?
She will either try to kill the female you choose or, in the worst-case scenario, come for your life." Ayla said and glanced at Ares with a smile.
'Why does she remind me of Aegis?' Ares reflected after hearing Ayla.
"...And why are you describing this harem protagonist to me again?" Ares questioned.
"Because you're "Acting" like one, but what makes you more dangerous than them is...you're aware of their affection for you and are exploiting it."
"In short, You're a crafty bastard who plays with the girl's feelings," Ayla remarked and started drinking her orange juice.
"...."
"...Wow, She's good," Irethiel commented.
"Do you even understand what anime is?" Ares questioned Irethiel.
"Hmm, I'm not sure what that is, but I agree with her assessment of you," Irethiel said.
Ares questioned Ayla while ignoring Irethiel.
"What gives you that impression? Apart from Livia, who did you see me with?" Ares queried, his face amused.
"Your master Mika Amami and your fiancée Silvia Ursula," Ayla replied while her gaze fixed on her drink.
"...."
'...Fuck, she's scary, I don't know how she found out about them.' Ares kept a blank look as he thought to himself.
"Oops, I wasn't supposed to know that, was I?" Ayla spoke while covering her lips with both hands.
"But don't worry, I'm not criticizing you, since I appreciate your cleverness, and maybe I may fall for you as well, seeing as we're similar in some ways,...after all, I'm a teenager too," Ayla stated sarcastically and started giggling.
"What would happen to your fiancee if you fall for me?" Ares asked bluntly.
Ayla stopped laughing as soon as she heard Ares and just gazed at him.
"Oops, I wasn't supposed to know that, was I?" Ares exclaimed with a wide grin.
Yes, Ayla had a fiancee, and when he was introduced in the novel, that was when the true personality of Ayla was known.
It was a stark contrast to her innocent appearance, as was known to others.
As she devised a massive plot to deal with her fiancee, while even manipulating Lucas.
She is not qualified to criticize me because she too uses people for her own gain, just like I do.
"...."
"We even?" Ares spoke out seeing Ayla's expression
"...Sure," Ayla said shrugging.
"Shall we get to the main point now?" Ares stated.
***
"I don't know why you want to represent the Academy in this tournament, but dealing with the second and third years wouldn't be simple," Ayla said.
"What makes you think that?" Ares questioned.
"Of course because, there are numerous royals in the second and third year as well, so it would be impossible to make them work for you easily,
And, we can't just beat them all up as well since they have some powerful people, like Beastman's Kingdom's prince 'Zerix Madlock', who is also Ziona's brother,
Princess 'Erina Valdemar' from the Kingdom of Aloctona who is also Claude's elder sister,
And from the Kingdom of Escratia your 2nd eldest brother 'Aretrus Von Rothstaylor' as well," Ayla explained.
"...."
When Ares heard about his second-eldest brother, he was rendered speechless.
Ares knew that he has two older brothers and one younger brother from previous Ares memories.
His younger brother is the offspring of a concubine, while his two older brothers are the sons of the queen.
And His eldest brother, who is also the crown prince, and the queen are the ones who want him dead.
However, he is also aware that his second older brother also did not think highly of him and might perhaps want to see him killed as well.
Ares was thinking to himself when Ayla spoke up again.
"There are a lot of other strong Elves as well, but dealing with them won't be a problem now that Diana is on our side," Ayla stated.
"Yeah, it would have been difficult if Diana had played clever and utilized her authority to go against us with all the Elves from the Academy," Ares remarked while smiling awkwardly.
"I know right, I see the Elven Kingdom's future to be terribly grim with Diana as their future Empress," Ayla stated and laughed.
'I can't agree with her on that, as Diana will get a huge character development in the future and she will become one of the strongest Elf ever lived, and she will also lead the Elven Kingdom to the most affluent times they've ever seen,'
Ares was pondering to himself before he heard Ayla.
"So, The first thing we have to do is go after the second year's representative, because they are unified under only one person,...which is your brother," Ayla said, looking at Ares.
"So, my brother is already the second-year representative?" Ares questioned.
"Yes, and I know you're not on good terms with your brothers, so you don't mind dealing with him, right?" Ayla inquired, intrigued.
"You're right, I don't care about them, so let's just beat the shit out of him," Ares said casually.
"You are pretty bold, aren't you afraid of upsetting the Queen and your eldest brother?" Ayla said with a large smile on her face.
"...."
"I think she already knew they wanted you dead," Irethiel said telepathically.
"...Yeah, she is just enjoying this," Ares replied.
Ares ignored Ayla's previous statement and inquired.
"The faction leaders for the third year are only Zerix Madlock and Erina Valdemar?"
"Yeah, the fight between the two factions is still raging on a regular basis, and they still haven't settled on the third-year representative.
which is a good thing because if they had, they would have come after the first and second year's representatives," Ayla explained.
"So we have to quickly deal with my brother, the 2nd year representative before the 3rd year representative is decided, right?" Ares spoke.
"Yes, that's right," Ayla agreed.
"Do you have a plan?" Ares inquired Ayla.
"Well, we simply have to wait a little longer because I believe your brother will soon ask you the first-year representative for a meeting," Ayla replied.
"What if he doesn't invite me as you said?" Ares questioned.
"No, I'm sure he will," Ayla stated confidently.
"...."
I'm not sure why she's so certain about this, but I've decided not to question her judgment since I believe she knows what she's doing.
"So he'll want to deal with me at that moment," Ares said.
"Yes, and of course, he'll be well prepared," Ayla stated.
"Do you mean it'll be a trap?" Ares asked.
"Yes, but if we are already aware that it is a trap, it ceases to be a trap... and becomes our playground instead, isn't that right?" Ayla said with a smirk.
"...."
"...I like her attitude," Irethiel added.
"I'm not sure from where you acquired all of this information that gives you such confidence in it," Ares wondered.
"I have my own ways," Ayla remarked, smiling.
"...I must say, you have a good information source then," Ares stated with a smile.
***