"Wait... him, the one who got suspended within the first week of school??"
"Why does she want someone like him to show her around? I mean, I'm right here!"
"How does she know him...?"
Forcing a smile on my face, I replied.
"It would be my pleasure."
Pleasure, my ass... how did I end up having to guide a villain who infiltrated the academy around?
In a way, it was a good thing.
By being with her and guiding her around, I can keep track of her actions and prevent her from noticing Liam and the other main cast members as enemies.
One misstep, though, and the entire story is over.
Interrupting my train of thought, Zia let out of sigh before speaking.
"If that's what you want..."
After Zia left the classroom, leaving us free study time, I was immediately bombarded by questions from both Han and Jin.
A minute ago, these guys were talking about how much they needed time to study, yet here they were, wasting the time asking me pointless questions.
Surprisingly, Han took the initiative to question me as he asked.
"How do you know her, Ren?"
Before I could think of an answer, Jin interrupted from my right side.
"I KNEW IT!"
Both Han and I stared at Jin with bewildered expressions.
What the hell did he know?
"From you telling us to leave the nightclub to you ditching us at the amusement park, and finally, your recent trips out of the academy to the capital."
"You know you might be able to fool Han, but I knew it this entire time! You got a girlfriend!"
...well I guess I don't even have to think of an answer.
On my right side, Han surprisingly agreed with Jin's hypothesis, mainly because of his lack of experience in romance and relationships.
Realizing that the two idiots were far too loud, I knocked both of them on their heads before saying.
"What happened to desperately needing time to study?"
"Oh, come on, we can study later. Tell us about her! She must be quite a person to make you get over Lily."
Ignoring the two's questions, I glanced at "Scarlett," who was surrounded by students asking her questions.
"Where did you transfer from?"
She used her dark web of connections to bribe the higher-ups within the academy to allow her transfer.
"What clubs are you planning to join?"
Probably, the Sinister Society and Villains United.
"Do you have any plans later?"
Maybe assassinating every important figure in the academy?
After hearing that last question, Ruby turned around to stare at me, causing the bystanders to flood her with even more questions.
After class was over, I headed out the back entrance of the classroom and waited for the crowd around Ruby to disperse.
Letting Ruby wander around alone with the main cast and protagonist could only cause problems, so even if I didn't want to, guiding her through the academy was the best choice.
After a moment, I saw Ruby walking towards me with a huge grin plastered all over her face.
Taking the lead, Ruby walked past me, forcing me to follow behind.
Wasn't I supposed to be the guide?
"You were pretty surprised, huh?"
"Would you be surprised if your boss showed up to your school?"
"I told you, call me Ruby. Also, I'm quite interested as to how you discovered it was me. This disguise is a magical artifact, so seeing through it is quite the accomplishment."
Lying outright to someone like Ruby probably wouldn't work, so I relinquished part of the truth.
"... your hands."
Breaking into laughter, Ruby stopped and stared at me.
" *PFFT* Was that experience so memorable for you? If you wa-"
Taking advantage of her stopping, I walked in front of her and interrupted.
"The cafeteria is beside us. You can get all your meals here throughout the day. Simply walk up to a kiosk, let it scan your face, and then place your order."
"You can pick the ready food up ov-"
Making her tone more serious, Ruby looked at me before saying.
"Do you know how hard it was for me to transfer into this academy? Do you think I spent all that time and effort to look at some cafeteria?"
Now, I was at a crossroads.
If Ruby had personally infiltrated the academy, the importance of her mission would have been great, so it would probably be an assassination of an influential figure in the academy.
Do I let her or risk my life by attempting to stop her?
Trying to gather more information on the victim of Ruby's mission, I asked.
"What exactly do you want to do?"
Reverting to her playful tone, Ruby once again took the lead and said.
"What do you think I'm here for, Ren?"
"A mission?"
"Nope, no missions."
... Didn't she just mention that she had put in a lot of effort to infiltrate the academy? She did all of that without even being asked to by her superiors?
After pondering for a second, I answered.
"Recruitment for the Ruby gemstone group.?"
"Well, that wasn't exactly my reason for coming, but now that you mention it..."
... Did I just convince her to recruit people from the academy?
Changing the topic, I interrupted.
"Is it perhaps because of some personal reasons?"
Combining her instant realization that I was Ren by just seeing my face and her ambiguous background, it was possible that she had some personal matters to settle with an important family inside the academy.
"hmm, you could say that. That's a good enough answer for now."
As she led me through the halls of the school, with no clear destination in sight, I followed while continuing to ponder her true intentions.
By now, we were far from the first-year building, so even I was beginning to become lost. Well, my job was simply to ensure that she didn't do anything to the main cast, so I was fairly happy with just following her around and wasting time.
Snapping me out of my thoughts, I saw Ruby had paused up ahead, so I quickly caught up to her.
In front of Ruby stood the student council president, Astrid, with an angry expression. Looking down at Astrid's uniform, I saw a small stain that had been caused by Ruby bumping into her.
Before anyone said anything, I immediately stepped right beside Ruby. Who knew what would happen if Astrid pissed off Ruby? Death, torture, or kidnapping?
Actually, who would win a fight between the two? I had no idea about Ruby's current power level as her power was only shown during her fight against the protagonist in 3 years, but so far, I just assumed she was strong.
Astrid had 2 more years of experience than Ruby, so maybe she could win in a fight?
Glancing back and forth between Ruby and I, Astrid's expression contorted as she asked the both of us.
"You do know this the area for 3rd years, right?"
Not allowing Ruby to speak, I nodded my head and said.
"My apologies, student council president, we will leave now."
Not waiting for Astrid's response, I grabbed the collar of Ruby's shirt and walked the other way, dragging Ruby away from the confused Astrid.
At this point, I was more willing to accept the punishment for dragging Ruby along than to allow them to fight.
As we walked away, I swore I could hear a faint murmur come from Astrid.
"So his number of friends has doubled from 1 to 2..."
After exiting the vicinity of the 3rd-year building, I finally let go of Ruby, who seemed indifferent and unperturbed by what I had just done.
In fact, she completely skipped over it.
Maybe she realized she was in the wrong for bumping into Astrid?
"What exactly do you do after school?"
Well, I can't take her to the training hall because the main cast is there, and there's no point in going to the capital... is there anything else I do after school?
Trying to pass the time, I just showed her around various parts of the academy, such as the park and the coliseum where the ranking exam took place.
Contrary to my expectations, she didn't mind being shown these areas and seemed somewhat interested in the building's history.
Did she just not like the cafeteria?
As the sunlight vanished, I asked while following her as she led me to her dorm building.
"Are you going to have to take the midterms?"
With a laugh, she responded.
"Does it matter if I do or not?"
shameless...While everyone student is here studying their asses off to pass the midterms, she is just going to pull a few strings to pass!
Usually, students study and prepare for exams to maintain their ranking, but does she even have a rank?
"By the way, what's your ranking?"
After pondering for a moment, Ruby responded.
"Oh, that little number they gave to me when I enrolled? I think I just got a random one because they gave me the number 7."
"I mean, I didn't even take an entrance test or anything, so I think they just pulled that number out of their ass."
"..."
Then, I noticed it—the gigantic and lavish dorm building standing in front of us. Her dorm building was specifically only for the top 10 ranks!
Unlimited access to AI dummies, personal saunas, your own personal gym, and the place where all the main cast resided.
As we approached the dorm building, I noticed it was completely separated from the rest of the academy. There were fences all around it except the entrance, where a guard was standing.
Noticing our approach, the stern-faced guard asked.
"Your student-id?"
After fiddling through her pockets for a moment, Ruby took out her student ID, which displayed her rank of 7.
Seeing the guard examine her ID, multiple thoughts flashed through my head, all bad ones.
What if I came back the next day, and the entire dorm building was just gone, and all the main cast members, including Liam, were just lying dead on the floor?
What if Ruby just kidnapped them all and turned them into slaves? What was I even supposed to do in this situation?
Returning Ruby's ID card to her, the guard glanced at me before turning back to Ruby.
" *ahem* Since you're new here, you are allowed to bring a guest in once a week; however, it is already past 8, so he can't come in today."
Before the guard could even finish his sentence, Ruby handed him a card while saying with a grin.
"Ah, don't worry, he has special permission."
Unable to see the card as the guard's hands were blocking it, I could only witness the guard's astounded and bewildered reaction before he stepped back, allowing me entry in as well.
"... did you plan all of this from the start?"
"And if I did?"
"I'd probably say that you could have just asked me."
I mean, there was no way in hell I was going to leave Ruby unsupervised in a building filled with Liam, Alya, Irene, Lily, Kevin, and Zach.
As I opened and held open the dorm building door for her, she responded.
"Then, how would it be a surprise? You know, you're not very bright."
Didn't I just say this to someone else the other day? Why are my words being used against me?
Heading into the building after Ruby, I confidently responded.
"I'll have you know that my IQ is above 100."
"...? What is an 'IQ'? "
Ah, shit.
How was I supposed to know that a world filled with magic and supernatural things didn't have an intelligence-measuring system?
Trying to play it off, I changed the topic by asking her.
"Nothing important. Anyway, can't you see that stain on your shirt?"
Not wanting to anger her, I had ignored the stain on her shirt that she received when she bumped into Astrid, but now, I'd rather her be angry than realize that I was from another world.
Slowly looking downwards, Ruby's gaze paused on the obvious stain on her white shirt for a moment before in an eerily calm voice, she asked.
"... you're thinking just to tell me this now..?"
Not backing down, I replied.
"Why did always reply to my questions with even more questions?"
"... oh, I see how it is."
Turning around after saying that confusing and terrifying sentence, Ruby grabbed her room key and ran up the stairs to her dorm room, leaving me completely alone in the lavish building.