The ambitious students and teachers nodded their approval. Of course they didn't give a damn about friendships or not hurting the others. They all wanted to win. It was evident in their eyes. Galen seemed to have been able to see through their fakery, and decided to do something to enforce his teachings into their brains. Whether they liked it or not, they had to do it. This was one of those moments when he was actually happy to pull rank.
So, without an ounce of shame whatsoever, he issued a paralyzing injunction;
"So, in this spirit of friendship, I would like all the students and teachers to go around and shake hands with you fellow finalists."
This wasn't the typical thing one would expect from a meeting with the president. There was a slight pause, and a certain palpable tension hung in the air, right up till then, no one had made a move yet. As if they were still unsure if they had heard him right. How were they even supposed to go about it?
"GO ON THEN!" Galen boomed enthusiastically; "Introduce yourselves and take note of each other's faces. You may become comrades one day!"
So, like a bunch of kindergarteners being forced to play together, the lead teachers paved the way, and their students followed suit. A very superfluous exchange followed between the candidates and the teachers. The whole sight was just cringe worthy. The forced smiles, and the antagonism lurking behind the handshakes was very evident, especially from Wallice's and her students. Their rock hard expressions (that made faces that seemed to declare war) had been turned into supercilious smiles and condescending tones. Clearly, they weren't a social bunch.
It wasn't just them, although theirs was a level of anti-social that by far exceeded the others, nobody was eager about getting along at all. But they all had to play house because it was what the big man wanted. Only Sabrina genuinely seemed into the whole thing. They all did their best to get this over as quickly as possible. It was indeed a cringe worthy sight.
After the whole charade, had been completed, Galen proceeded with the next item on the menu;
"Now, in order to maintain fairness and root out any feeling of injustice, we will be drawing lots to determine the next semi-finalists. The names of the four individual high schools will be written on four different slips of paper. They will then be dropped in a closed box and slips will be drawn randomly. Is that all clear?"
The lead teachers chorused their approval. And Galen went on to do as he had said. He did his best to be as transparent as possible with the whole process. As he carried out this exercise, Zavier and the rest of the others understood why Galen had invited those other important personalities to this event. It wasn't like their presence was needed here for anything at all really. And it definitely wasn't that he needed them to help with the congratulating of the students.
The real reason had only recently revealed itself. Clearly, the old man needed these important people here to serve as witnesses as he conducted this selection exercise. As someone who had been in administrative part of academia for such a long time, he knew just how political things always were. Especially in volatile situations like this.
The teachers and students might feel a sense of dissatisfaction or feel cheated, and decide to contest the results of this proceedings. But now that the popular Harry was here, and the royal princess as well, they would serve as the ideal witnesses. Everything was being done right in front of them and the candidates as well. This was the ideal scenario. It was the perfect counter to shut down any of the loser high schools that might claim they had been cheated in the future.
How could they ever say that when the princess and the illusionist had witnessed the transparency of the whole process? Their claims wouldn't hold water. And because it wouldn't, it most definitely wouldn't be a problem to Galen in the future. No one could blame Galen for taking such a brilliant initiative. He simply wanted to cruise through the remainder of his time here with as little hiccups as possible. Hence this gambit.
And so, the selection process began. Everyone's heart was in their mouths as they observed the whole process clearly. The tension was so thick, it could almost be seen in the atmosphere.
But Wallice was the most nervous of all. Her entire character was built on the foundation that she had to prepare ahead of time in order to get her desired results. But this right here was the opposite of what she stood for. She was leaving the fate of hers and students' to chance! She had never truly believed lady luck all her years, and yet, here she was- hoping she would be lucky!
Part of Wallice's worries was that she didn't want to meet Merion High School so early in the finals. In fact, her biggest problem in particular was the Yamata girl. Right from time, even before they had come here, Wallice had always known that Shiranui was the strongest individual not just among Calista's team, but in virtually the entire competition. Basically anyone with a little bit of common sense knew this. Shiranui was strong. Her reputation spoke volumes for her. As well as her terrifying ancestry.
While Wallice marinated in her own Shiranui-based-worries, Calista on the other hand was also praying with the whole of her heart that they wouldn't have to go against the freaks from Melbourne High School! In Wallice's case, she was scared of the other side basically because they had one person- Shiranui. But in Calista's case, the entire Melbourne High School gave her the jitters. No matter where they were, Hybrids were always a problem. They were all strong! Every single one of them!
Nonetheless, the lots had to be drawn. And no matter what the results were, they all had to be satisfied with it. The crafty old Galen had made sure of that by bringing in the most credible witnesses anyone could hope for. Thus, closing every window of appeal.
The hour of reckoning finally came- the moment everyone had been waiting for. Fully aware of the tension in the room, Galen stylishly took his time with the drawing out of the first slip. He lifted the paper closer to his eye and made a great display of squinting his eyes, as if he couldn't see it, even though virtually everyone knew what was happening. Harry in particular who was very familiar with the old man's antics shook his head. Galen would always be Galen.
Eventually, after what seemed like a very long decade, the old man finally announced aloud;
"CAESAR HIGH SCHOOL!"
Rebecca's face assumed a very serious expression. Her own ordeal was over, but for the others, their torture was still very much on. The goddess of anxiety thrashed their hearts mercilessly with the whip of nervousness. Filling every one's lungs with just enough air to sustain them through this ordeal. Zavier couldn't understand why this was such a big deal. But just because he didn't understand it didn't mean he couldn't feel it.
Galen held up the slip high over his head to show everyone the name that was written therein. Then he proceeded to pull out the next slip. The others watched his slow steady moves carefully. Their lingering eyes trailed him like a pilot locking in his missile on a target. Galen pulled now the second slip (somehow even slower than the first time), and flicked it as he brought it to his eyes. He announced the name in an ostentatiously loud manner. Honestly, he seemed to be enjoying this a little too much.
"MERION HIGH SCHOOL!"
Rebecca's face quickly went from serious-anticipation-face, to being downright pale. It was written all over her face that this was clearly what she didn't want. If bad luck had ever screwed a person over, it was definitely Rebecca. Nobody envied her at all, not one bit. She was a lone wolf going up against an ambush of Tigers!
The reason for the sudden dip in her overall vibe was very reasonable actually. According to her current data, Merion High School had four very dangerous girls on their team. They were an outstanding bunch that came from really powerful bloodlines. Every single one of them had proven themselves twice over to be more than capable of handling their own. And of course, there was the elephant in the room- Shiranui! This was every lone finalists' nightmare. It was a bad time to be alone. A bad time indeed.
Also, there was also a demon in their midst that she wasn't even accounting for yet. There was no possible way she could have known that the one person she should be worried about was the person she was also looking down on. It didn't matter really. If she was pissing herself because of Shiranui and her girls, then there was no doubt that Zavier would be something of a demi-god to her.
The poor Rebecca went into analysis mode in a bid to try to mitigate her current circumstance. Right away, she identified Shiranui as her biggest threat. Her mana was incredible. Her physical strength was a whole other matter entirely in the circular relay race. The poor brain was bursting in and out, desperately trying to make the best of the situation.
Foll𝑜w current novℯls on fre𝒆web(n)ovel.co(m)