Monday, [10:00 AM]...
I already finished my daily morning routine, including the light trainings I do every morning.
The stretches, the push-ups, the slow jog around the whole academy — everything done with the kind of rhythm my body was already used to.
Of course I didn’t forget my daily morning hygiene... brushing my teeth until they feel like polished glass, splashing water on my face until I’m fully awake, and fixing my hair so it doesn’t look like I just got into a fight with a wild animal.
Anyway, right now— I’m on my way to the classroom.
And while I was walking...
I mumbled as soon as I noticed that there’s this strange silence following me like an invisible shadow.
It was so quiet around me that I could actually hear the sound of my own footsteps bouncing off the walls. Even the faint creak of the floor as I did.
Even Yuki, who’s resting on top of my head like a fluffy crown, noticed it too. Her little voice was full of confusion. And cute, of course.
It’s not like there’s no people around me. I’ve seen quite a lot of students and staff in my path — some walking by, some chatting.
It’s just... it’s like they become silent whenever I get near them. Conversations cut short. Laughter dies down.
They glance at me, they stare, then they look away quickly whenever I look back at them all!
Also, they’re looking at me more weirdly than usual today!
’Is there something on my face...?’
’Except from handsomeness of course.’
[You shameless bastard, there’s nothing on your face.]
Then Sariel appeared and replied to me, his voice carrying that dry tone that said he was already rolling his eyes.
"Then, what’s the problem? Why do people keep looking at me like that?"
I asked Sariel, slowing my pace just a little.
But he didn’t say anything in response!
So I squinted my eyes and looked at the floating transparent window in front of me where he usually hovered like some smug notification.
Then I asked him again, my suspicion sharpening.
And Sariel still didn’t answer!
Him remaining silent just convinced me that he definitely knows something! And I swear I just felt like he was trying not to laugh!
"What the fuck are you hiding?"
I asked Sariel again, this time in a much more serious voice, lowering it so no one around could overhear.
At my question, Sariel responded, but I called his answer bullshit instantly.
’Fucker, you don’t sound convincing at all!’
I exclaimed to him inside my head.
There’s quite a number of students and staff walking nearby.
And I don’t want to appear like I’m shouting or talking to myself in the middle of the hallway.
I don’t want to be nicknamed the crazy dog. Or something much worse.
Anyway, coming back to Sariel...
[You will know about it sooner or later anyway!]
He still doesn’t want to tell me what he knows.
’If I’ll know it sooner or later anyway, why not just tell me now?’
I asked him. The frown on my face deepening a bit.
[If I tell you, then it’s not gonna be interesting anymore!]
Then Sariel exclaimed like what he said was completely reasonable, even though it sounded like a complete dogshit to me.
’If it’s something that endangers my well-being, I’m sure Sariel would immediately tell me about it.’
After all, he disappears when I die.
I thought, trying to calm my curiosity before it got the better of me.
Actually, I could just read Sariel’s mind and end all of this right now.
But Sariel and I had an agreement that we should give each other privacy.
So except when we really need it and there’s no other choice, we wouldn’t read each other’s minds or thoughts.
"Fine, don’t say it if you don’t want to."
So in the end, I decided to just let it go and not pry about it any longer. I shrugged my shoulders and continued on my way.
Tap- Tap- Tap- Tap- Tap—
I increased my walking pace, my steps echoing faster in the corridor, to get to the classroom as quickly as possible and ignore the people around me.
’If I get there, I can just ask Adelle, Alec, or Blake.’
’I’m sure they’ll know something about it even a little.’
I said to myself while on my way, all the people I encountered were still looking at me funny. Some tried to hide it, others didn’t even bother.
But I decided to ignore them all still. I didn’t really care much to begin with.
It just really annoys me because I can feel their gazes.
Inside the classroom of [CLASS A-1]...
Everyone was chilling and talking to their own circle of friends.
Including Blake, Alec, Eve, Adelle, Curtis, and Aoi.
They’re all sitting near each other just like usual, chairs pulled slightly closer so they could talk without raising their voices.
A small and peaceful conversation broke out among them from time to time, accompanied by the occasional laugh.
And while everyone in the room was having a peaceful and relaxing morning...
The classroom’s door in the front suddenly opened.
Then an individual with an overwhelming presence came in!
It was, of course, Raven.
Everyone knows it’s him. He always exudes a weird presence whenever he arrives.
Though in reality, the presence Raven was releasing wasn’t actually that strong.
But because of the image of what he had done in the assessment test being carved deep into the heads of everyone in the room...
Raven appeared to be a giant that had entered a house full of dwarves!
"He’s unnecessarily hard not to notice, huh."
Eve mumbled when she saw that almost everyone was looking at Raven, their attention snagged like moths to a flame.
And after that, she just went back to her phone as she was reading a novel, scrolling slowly.
"What are you reading, Eve?"
And on the other hand, Curtis didn’t really care about Raven’s arrival as he was only focused on Eve.
It was the same for Blake, Aoi, and Adelle.
They had already gotten used to Raven’s strong presence, so they just continued doing whatever they were doing.
He was silently holding the right side of his torso!
Alec was still not completely healed yet, and when he saw Raven, his injury just ached! It throbbed where he got hit by him!
Anyway, it was then— Raven’s eyes shifted to them.
And immediately after that...
Raven walked to them, ignoring the silence surrounding the room like it didn’t even exist.
Raven called out to everyone as soon as he reached Alec and the others.
The others looked at him. Except for Eve and Curtis, of course.
But they were listening, just in case Raven was about to say something important.
"We were given access to enter the private dungeons owned by Lunar."
And their decision to listen appeared to be right as Raven just gave them super important news!
He basically dropped a bomb that casually!
Moving on, at his words— Alec and the others were shocked!
"Are you sure? We didn’t receive any news about it."
Eve asked Raven, her voice calm but her eyes narrowing slightly.
Raven looked at her and nodded his head confidently.
"I stumbled across Sir Kendy on my way here, and he just left an ongoing important meeting because he was bored."
Raven said, his statement containing a lot of unnecessary details, but no one really cared about them.
"Then when he saw me too, he said that our request to access Lunar’s dungeons was discussed in the meeting."
"Sir Kendy said that because all of us are important talents... most of the officials agreed to give us permission."
"And he said that we should receive news about it today."
Raven explained that to everyone, his tone casual like he was talking about the weather.
After that, Alec and the others looked at each other.
Then immediately, a determined expression appeared on their faces!
"Oh, and also, there’s a condition."
But then, Raven spoke again.
"What’s the condition?"
Curtis asked Raven with a frown.
Then, with a frown too... His brows burrowing...
"We are required to enter as a group."
Raven answered Curtis’ question.
The others had different reactions about what he just said.
But at the end of the day...
It wasn’t that big of a problem, so no one spoke a word about it.
Then randomly, at that moment—
"And here I thought you were gonna ask about the article about you online."
Blake suddenly declared that, smiling a bit and mumbling!
Hearing his words, Raven looked at Blake.
"What did you just say?"
Then he asked that with a deep frown on his face!