"Hey, brat. If you're reading this, then that means you're fine — otherwise, I wouldn't bother contacting you.
You did whatever you wanted, ignoring the task I gave you. But I know when to back off and admit defeat. You surpassed my expectations by challenging someone way out of your league — and you won.
Both you and the other brat passed the extra activity, so you both earned your points.
If you have any questions, go talk to Goldenlaw.
— Zagressa Beritan."
---
That's the first thing I see when I wake up. A letter from that teacher who barely gives me enough information about what happened while I was asleep.
"I hope I wasn't unconscious for too long…" I crumpled the letter and tossed it into a nearby trash bin.
Unlike the previous times I've fallen unconscious, this is the first time I've woken up alone. Normally, Fran is right next to me when I open my eyes.
"And now I'm missing her," I chuckled to myself as the feeling of waking up alone settles in.
This time, instead of waking up in the nurse's office, I woke up in my own bedroom in the Golden Dragon House.
"I should go look for Theo and Cecil."
With sore muscles and pain in every step, I got out of bed and left my room.
Walking through the halls of the male S-Class dorm, I found a couple of guys leaning against the walls.
As soon as they saw me, they quickly straightened up and stared straight ahead.
I stopped in front of them, and we shared an awkward moment of silence before...
"Uh… hi guys." I greeted the two students awkwardly — they avoided looking at me.
"Hello, Mr. Alen!" Their loud, almost military greeting made me flinch in surprise.
For a moment, I forgot that most students see me in a really weird and twisted way.
"I just… have one question. What day is it?" I asked, my tone awkward as the situation got more uncomfortable.
"Monday morning, Mr. Alen."
Great — I've lost two days of the weekend that I could've used to advance in the fishing spot event.
"Thanks." I quickly tried to end the awkward moment and started to walk away.
"Mr. Alen, Princess Von Themys ordered us to tell you she wants to talk to you before today's classes," one of them said.
I simply gave the two a silent nod and headed out.
I can guess what she wants to tell me. Today is the first day of the second month, and a lot of activities just happen to fall on this specific day: the parents' visits that happen on the first day of every month, and the duels where the lowest-ranked S-Class students defend their positions against the top-ranked A-Class students.
She'll probably tell me she can't attend Atro's duel. By the same logic, Theo and Cecil probably want to tell me the same thing.
I reached the second Golden Dragon House — the one where all the female S-Class students live.
To tell them apart, the male Golden Dragon House's emblem is a western dragon, while the female house's emblem is an eastern dragon.
The house stood tall, its dark oak door adorned with golden accents on the hinges.
I knocked and waited for a long minute before it finally opened.
The one who answered was a girl with bird wings on her back. Her short light-blue hair contrasted nicely with her white feathers.
"Uh… Griffa, right?" I tried to smile and not look uncomfortable.
"Irea, Mr. Alen. We definitely don't have that kind of relationship," she said politely, though her voice was devoid of emotion.
"Yes… Irea. I wanted to talk to Fran."
The girl with the blank expression nodded and went back inside.
"Jeez… she'd be a good poker player," I muttered to myself as the door closed.
The door opened slightly, and Fran's face peeked through.
"Fran? What's going on?" I asked.
Fran kept the door only slightly open — all I could see was her bright red eye, with heavy bags underneath it.
"Alen… I…" She stopped for a moment, her fingers gripping the door tightly. "Listen, Alen. My… my mother's coming today… and she's not… fond of… your class of people." She bit her lip, her voice strained and reluctant.
"Oh… yeah, I know." I forced a smile to calm her down.
"Just… Alen…" Fran lowered her face and began to close the door slowly. "Just for today… let's pretend we don't know each other."
My whole body froze when I heard those words. Just like with my family, I was being asked to pretend I don't know one of the most important people to me right now.
"O-okay… y-yeah, I-I will…" I stuttered, my body suddenly heavy.
"I'm sorry, Alen." Her fingers trembled, and her voice cracked. "I… I still want to be your friend… but my mom… I just want to protect you."
"Fran. You don't have to justify it. I get why you're doing this." I reached out and placed my hand over hers — she snapped her head up to meet my eyes.
"Let's go on a date tomorrow to make up for today. I'd love that." This time, my smile was genuine — my feelings clear. I just wanted to reassure Fran that we'd still be friends no matter what.
But Fran only bit her lower lip harder, drawing blood. "I'm sorry, Alen," she whispered, her voice dry and close to tears.
With a sudden slam, Fran shut the door, leaving me standing outside.
I let out a long, tired sigh before turning around.
But before I could walk away—
"Tomorrow. Just us two. All day. Got it?" Fran's commanding voice echoed through the door.
"I wouldn't have it any other way," I called back with a smile. Even if she couldn't see it, I knew she could feel it.
---
Only for today, I won't be interacting with Fran at all.
"I should see if I can find Theo and Cecil…"
In the end, I decided to wait until classes started to meet them in our classroom.
---
At the entrance of Aurum Academy, dozens of carriages lined the street, their guards and coachmen waiting for their masters' return.
The three main royal carriages — for the kings and queens of Montanev, Raychmen, and Tiasbes — stood out with their lavish decorations.
Guards filled the streets and the entrance.
At the main gate, a familiar figure stood ready to greet the important guests.
"Student Alen, good morning." Goldenlaw gave me a polite nod, her left eye closed as usual.
"Morning. Busy day?" I asked, glancing at the carriages still arriving.
"You get used to it after years of doing this every month," she said with a smile, her gaze fixed on the new arrivals.
"Good luck then… I guess."
"Ah, Student Alen." The blonde director stopped me before I could head into the academy.
"I'm sure you were told about your success with Teacher Beritan's activity — but we'll have to talk about the consequences of what happened there later."
She turned her attention back to the gates and greeted a pair of students who had just arrived.
I made my way inside and immediately noticed the shift in the atmosphere. Everyone looked tense, scanning their surroundings to make sure nothing went wrong.
With so many guards and royals from different kingdoms, it's no wonder the air felt heavy with tension.
Nothing bad should happen today, though.
In the game, this day played out like any other. The high-tier, important characters stayed outside the main character's range.
Add a duel between the A and S Classes to the absent high nobles, and it makes today the perfect opportunity to set up multiple activities. At least, it did in the game.
I'll have the first part of the day taken up by classes and the A vs. S-Class duel.
As long as I don't run into any of the story important characters today, I should have a free afternoon and evening to do whatever I wanted.
What could I do after classes? I could go out and continue setting up for the fishing event to secure the best grinding spot.
I could mayb—
"Alen! Thank god you're here!" Atro came running up and clung to my uniform like he was tackling me.
"I'm the second-to-last fight, and I need your help!" Atro shook me side to side, his eyes brimming with tears.
Behind him, Silva stood silent and expressionless, holding a small letter in her hands.
"Prince Theo, Cecil, and Princess Von Themys won't be in the duel, so you're my only hope!"
He kept going until he ran out of energy. By the end, my hair was a mess and my head spun from all the shaking.
"My opponent is Ximuss Yolte — the top A-Class student! There's no way I can beat him!" Atro fell to his knees.
I don't blame him, honestly. Ximuss is the closest in rank to him, so their duel was bound to happen sooner or later.
Add to that the fact that Ximuss didn't make the cut for S-Class because I got involved in the story — he's probably pretty pissed off.
"Now, calm down, Atro." Both Silva and I placed our hands on his back to comfort him.
"Listen. You've trained a lot for this exact moment, and you've done your research on spells you can chain together. I'll give you one last bit of help by planning a strategy with you," I told him as Silva handed me the letter she'd been holding.
The letter was from Theo. It basically confirmed what I already knew: both he and Cecil would be too busy with their parents, so I'd be handling the duel on my own.