As I savored lunch with Monaka, Akemi, and Shinobuko, their playful "ahhh" attacks drawing envious glares, Vice Principal Yes Man was summoned to Principal Nekodoran's office. The air crackled with fury as Nekodoran slammed his fist on the desk. "How dare that trash ruin our student body president event! I offered my prized Flying Dragon Skin for drama, and he found it? Impossible!"
Yes Man fidgeted, jabbing his fingers together. "It's not right, Principal! The skin was magically disguised on the school flag—only a master treasure hunter could've spotted it!" Nekodoran's eyes blazed. "That's your failure! If a professional couldn't find it, an unemployed nobody never should've! You forgot the disguise magic!"
"But the skin was fifty meters up the castle wall!" Yes Man protested, his voice rising. "Only a ninja, bandit, or sorcerer could reach it! No way that trash climbed it!" Nekodoran scoffed, "Wind blew it off because you didn't secure it! And you called it 'garbage' in front of a top supporter? He's livid!"
Yes Man's face paled. "I said 'perfect one,' not garbage!" Nekodoran leaned in, snarling, "You should've taken it from Leopin! That would've appeased the supporter and kept him from presidency!" Yes Man whimpered, "A Special Training Class reject as president? Unthinkable!" Nekodoran's patience snapped. "Enough excuses! Get that skin back, or you're demoted to assistant vice principal!"
Yes Man flinched, then schemed aloud. "What if we make Leopin destroy the skin? If he tears it to shreds, supporters will shun him as worthless!" Nekodoran's eyes gleamed. "Brilliant! The more they hate him, the easier to discard him. How?" Yes Man smirked, "Leave it to me. I'll trap that idiot soon enough." They exchanged wicked grins, chanting in unison, "This time, we'll crush that trash's ugly face!"
Their plan crumbled spectacularly. Far from destroying the Flying Dragon Skin, I transformed it into a level 100+ coat, its magic amplified by Monaka's heartfelt patch. Yes Man, having lent me "magic" tools to sabotage me, fled the leather craftsman classroom, screeching, "KEEEE! That garbage again! Damn it!" His rampage through the corridor toppled busts of Nekodoran, which he frantically blamed on me when the principal appeared.
"Headmaster, Leopin's a menace! Look at this mess!" Yes Man lied, but Nekodoran ignored the broken busts. "Bigger problem! A supporter inquired about your 'god item' from Leopin's class!" Yes Man stammered, "God item?" Nekodoran snatched the needle and scissors from his pocket, revering them. "These are divine! The Royal Museum wants them for their 100th anniversary!"
Yes Man paled. "They're just school supplies!" Nekodoran, deaf to his protests, declared, "Lending them to trash but not the museum? You'd insult royalty!" The tools were whisked away, leaving Yes Man seething. "It's all that garbage's fault! I'll tear him apart!" Spotting Nick Bakker, he hissed, "Change PE to hand-to-hand combat! Beat that delinquent Leopin senseless!"
This scheme, too, imploded. My martial arts prowess sent Nick Bakker flying, his "advanced techniques" exposed as flimsy excuses. The final blow came when the Royal Museum deemed the "god item" fake, branding Yes Man a "fake educator." Nick Bakker's defeat by a student compounded the scandal, prompting the Pioneer Education Committee's scathing statement: "Fake educators and gym teachers felled by students? The Academy's teachers are a disgrace!"
With teachers ranked like students, the Committee slashed their statuses: Nekodoran from SS- to S+, Yes Man from A+ to A, and Nick Bakker from C+ to C. Informed by the school board, the trio's faces mirrored doomsday, their pride shattered. Yet, they remained oblivious—this was merely the opening act in Leopin's saga of defiance, their schemes destined to unravel further with every step I took.