Alyssa sat down in one of the seats while Azariah took his place behind her.
His gaze ran over the room once more, where he saw a variation of second years and third years.
Some of them were even from other committees, shown by the badge on their chests.
At the same time, multiple seats were empty, indicating that not everyone was present in the meeting.
'I guess it's not that important for everyone to be called.'
"Okay, so now that everyone in this room is present, we can finally commence the Academy Council meeting," John announced, looking at his paper.
For a moment, Azariah felt that he glared at him, but then it was gone in a second, so he couldn't really confirm.
His face turned to Amanda the next moment, who was now looking at Alyssa.
"Before we begin, the President would like to say a few words."
Amanda's eyes turned to Alyssa, who was meeting her gaze as well.
"I don't have much to say except that I want to warmly welcome you for your first meeting with the Academy Council, Alyssa Indrath."
At her words, the other members seated across different seats started clapping along with her.
"We all watched your entrance exam performances. You are truly deserving of rank one and this seat in the academy council, so I hope that we can get along well in the future," she passed a warm smile.
As he looked at her smile from behind, Azariah didn't know why he was still getting chills from it.
'What a weirdo.'
Alyssa, however, took her words and smile with gratitude.
"I'm honored by your kind words. It would be a pleasure to work alongside you in this seat at the council."
As the two passed another smile at each other, Amanda sat down, and the meeting went back on its way.
"Now that we're done, I shall bring up the main topic of the meeting today." John passed a sheet to Amanda from his clipboard.
Adjusting his glasses, he continued.
"It's the tensions between the Division 1 and Division 2 students."
At the words, a collective sigh escaped the mouths of everyone in the meeting, but Azariah saw Amanda frown as she looked at the paper.
And his thoughts were confirmed when John continued.
"No, it's much worse this time around, unfortunately. Maybe the worst we've ever seen," he warned.
It seemed to work, as suddenly the sharpness in the room went up by a mile, with everyone furrowing their brows.
It was unusual, now that they thought about it.
Regardless of the tensions that rose up every year with the new entries, it was never enough for the academy council to call a meeting on it.
And their worries weren't put to rest.
"Within a day of the orientation, a total of 50 encounters have been reported between Division 1 and Division 2 students, multiple times resulting in violence."
A tense silence came over the room as they heard the statement. It even made Azariah frown.
Fifty encounters in just a single day was a gargantuan amount. Normally, it would be from five to seven in two days.
"Over thirty of them were reported today, with clashes so fierce that multiple students were reported to be injured—some even recovering in the infirmary."
Everyone listened in hushed silence as John showed no signs of stopping.
"The sudden rise in such fights and encounters has pushed the Regulation Committee to dispatch a high number of its members to control the situation, but it's slowly getting worse with every minute. A request was received from them earlier to allow them to recruit more members."
As John stopped, one of the members at the front-right side of Azariah raised his hand.
"Yes, Samuel," Amanda granted him permission to talk.
"While we have been informed of these encounters, I'm sure Vice-President John must have the information as to the reason behind such a high rise as well," he said, his gaze shifting to Azariah.
It immediately clicked for the latter what he was trying to imply. And so did it for the rest of the members as well.
John, however, was elated that someone brought up such a point.
"Of course, we do. Most of these encounters stem because of a single student inside this academy. One who was supposed to be in Division 2, but by being in Division 1, has not only enraged the Division 1 students but also the Division 2 students at such an unfair treatment — Azariah Indrath."
The dome was once more brought to silence, with multiple gazes now directed toward him.
"Furthermore, his profile from the academy database indicates that he's rank 1947, with an average level of talent in Umbrakinesis and barely any fighting experience. Being in the highest Division 1 class with such a rank adds more fire to the fuel."
With every word that John spoke, Azariah could feel the image of him in front of the members dropping significantly.
Being a Division 2 student was a vague term; it still didn't necessarily define at what level you were.
Including his rank and kinesis level in his words was basically throwing more salt into the wounds.
"After two of his 'vague' encounters against Division 1 students, they have made the other Division 2 students a target for bullying because of him. At the same time, the latter hate the former even more now because of such treatment and student Azariah."
The whole hall was now enveloped in a tense atmosphere as John finished his words.
It continued for a few seconds before Amanda broke the thick veil.
"Student Azariah," she spoke.
He turned to her, meeting her eyes with total calmness.
In all honesty, he wasn't really surprised or bothered about this.
"Yes?"
"Do you have anything to say about what Vice-President John has said here?" she asked.
And the fact that he was so calm about it all showed from his next reply.
"Not really, no."
For a moment, Amanda was silent again before she spoke once more.
"Do you not find yourself at fault for these issues?" She peered her gaze into him, putting some pressure.
Azariah could feel his bones pinching as sweat crawled down his back. She was trying to make him tense.
Fortunately, he had been through these kinds of situations in his previous life.
"I don't. With all due respect, it was not by my wishes that I was placed in the A1 class. At the same time, I don't see how I'm at fault for saving a mother from being slapped or simply doing my task in a lesson." Azariah met Amanda's gaze head-on.
Without holding a word back, he continued.
"If I were standing here as a member of the academy council, maybe I'd still find myself a little responsible for the mess. However, I'm not, and neither am I directly involved in any of the encounters taking place, so if anything, I feel it's more of a responsibility of the council to find a solution rather than putting blame on a student."
At his last words, there was a sudden increase in pressure from everyone in the room as Azariah almost found himself to his knees.
Fortunately, it was stopped a second later by Amanda, who canceled it out by just raising a finger.
Regardless of the pressure, Azariah didn't break his gaze with Amanda, and the silence continued.
A few seconds later, Amanda broke out into a sigh.
"The boy is right, Vice-President John. He is not to be blamed for any incident that he's not causing. In a way, he saved our necks yesterday by not letting the mother incident escalate."
"But Ms.—" John tried to intervene, but Amanda silenced him once more with a finger.
"Enough, it's said as it is. We will prepare to supply the Regulation Committee with more members after this meeting."
Suddenly, Azariah spoke once more.
"If I may speak further, I'd also like to ask Vice-President John how he assumes all of it to be related to me when, in all encounters, there was not a single proof provided of any word being spoken about me?"
Glares were cast upon him as he raised his voice without permission, and anger flared in John's eyes.
Before he could speak, however, Amanda cut through him.
"What are you trying to imply, Student Azariah?" she asked, curiosity in her eyes.
It was also a warning to him that whatever he was going to say next might very well go against her defending him.
"My question is simple. How is Vice-President John or the reports so sure that it's me and not some foreign or unknown entity responsible for such sudden tensions?"