[A/N] : Read the previous chapter, I have made some changes to it, and also, I'll increase the update rate to 2ch/day starting tomorrow... T T
Ignoring the glances of others, Leon stepped inside.
The moment he had been waiting for was finally here.
Glancing around, he searched for a single existence. Noble boys and girls, both highborn and commoners, were all gathered in the lecture room today.
The room was pretty much stacked.
'Where is he?'
His golden eyes, half-lidded in boredom, sharpened as they landed on the boy near the window at the very back.
Light filtered through the glass and cast a soft glow on the strands of his silver-white hair. His ocean-blue eyes were unfocused at the moment. He was staring outside the window, as if he wanted to escape from here.
His face was smooth, with long eyelashes and straight hair. It wouldn't be wrong if someone called him the most handsome guy here.
He looked that divine.
For a moment, all of Leon's other senses stopped, except for his eyes.
The person he was looking at was the main protagonist of this game.
'Ethan Graves.'
That was him.
The one blessed by Light.
The one Leon was supposed to lose to.
But things were different now.
A sly grin spread across Leon's face.
'Found you.' he thought.
Snapping him out of his thoughts, Alice taunted from behind,
"You gonna move or not?"
Leon narrowed his gaze without turning back. He just walked at his own pace.
That made Alice irritated. Clicking her tongue, she took her seat at the third row.
He could also hear laughs and murmurs from the rest of the class.
Ignoring Alice, and all the gazes that flashed toward him while he walked to the very back.
'This would be my very first step to kill Lucian,' he recalled his strategy.
Stopping at the last row, he lifted his gaze toward the lone student near the window.
'Ethan Graves. You're not the only one who wields the Light…'
Leon flashed the most natural smile he could muster, and asked in a polite tone,
"Is the seat beside you empty? Can I sit here?"
Leon had designed Ethan to act polite to others, but… there was a dark chemistry between nobles and Ethan Graves.
The one thing that Ethan hated the most in this world was egoistic noble brats.
But, on the surface, he wouldn't let it show on his face.
.
.
Ethan turned his head and looked up.
His ocean-blue eyes lightly brightened on the surface, and his gaze hovered over the boy calling out to him, as if he was reading something.
Moments later, Ethan's eyes widened in disbelief.
At the same time, Leon's golden eyes brightened, and a translucent screen appeared before him.
———「Status Window」———
◆ Name: Ethan Graves
◆ Level: D
◆ Rank: Ignite
◆ Mana Core: Bright Red
◆ Core Level: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
◆ Race: Human
◆ Age: 17
◆ Affinity: ??
———————————————
After a while in their little staring contest, Ethan came back to his senses.
"Ah….Oh yes, the seat here's empty," the smile on his face returned, "go ahead."
"Thanks."
Leon settled beside him. "Nice to meet you. My name is Leon Valentine."
"Likewise. Glad to make your acquaintance. I'm Ethan Graves."
Leon nodded to his gesture and switched his gaze back to Headmaster Raizen on the podium.
Similar to Leon, Ethan too possessed a 'system'. But unlike him, Ethan could see the [Affinities] of others.
And in that brief exchange between them, he saw Leon's affinity.
Known as the only Light Affinity user in the whole wide world, Ethan carried a deep sense of responsibility within him.
And just now, out of nowhere, he saw one random noble brat possessing it too.
That just didn't make any sense to him.
'Just look at his face,' Leon thought, holding back his laughter.
He was aware of the fact that Ethan would be able to peek at his affinities, but he didn't make any attempts to avoid it.
'Great, now he'll only think about me the whole day long.'
Leon did this on purpose. He wanted Ethan to take note of him.
It was all because…
'He is my key to this victory.'
Leon's fate was destined to end at the hands of Ethan. And the most basic thing to do, if he wanted to avoid it, was to just befriend the MC.
In this way, Leon would get closer to Ethan's life and could track all his decisions.
Focusing on the podium, he heard the headmaster giving his speech. Though he had heard the same thing thousands of times, his mind wandered to the first row.
He noticed a familiar figure stealing glances in his direction.
Wearing the Eclipse uniform, she looked exactly like her big sister.
'Didn't Eula tell her?'
It was none other than Rinna Lunovar.
She must be surprised to find Leon in Eclipse, and even more surprised to find him in her own class.
"Ah," Leon recalled the evening of her birthday banquet.
'She must be thinking I'm stalking her…'
The thought turned his mood off.
Peeking back at her, he noticed Rinna's gaze still lingering on him.
"..."
She was supposed to be looking at Ethan, not him.
'Yeah… let's just ignore her.'
Leon turned his attention back to Raizen on the podium.
"Today's the first day. You all worked hard to get where you are right now…"
Listening to his speech made him sleepy.
"Hwaaa…" he yawned.
"Hwaaa…" next to him, Ethan did the same.
'Why are you yawning? Aren't you supposed to be the protagonist?'
The speech lasted for thirty more minutes before Raizen bid his farewell.
"Haah…" Leon stretched his arms upward in relaxation. "That was boring, don't you think?"
He asked Ethan.
"Hm? Yeah, I was sleeping the whole time."
"Hehe, right? Can you imagine, he's 63…"
Leon started making small talk with Ethan.
In the original storyline, Ethan was lonely for the first month of his academic year.
If Leon made his move now, he could create a good first impression.
He needed to.
If he didn't… then his plan to help Eula kill Lucian would not succeed.