Chapter 131 Volume III - Chapter 52: An Invitation to Dictatorship
As I walked back to my room with a smile on my face, I thought.
I will help people. I will save someone. Finally... I will be able to walk a little on the path I decided.
An even bigger smile appeared on my face.
For the first time since the day I met Aiden and talked to him on that bench, I'm going to be able to do something I really want. I'm really going to be useful. This time people won't suffer because of me, they'll thank me. I still haven't received a reply to the text message I sent, but I have a good feeling.
Just the thought of it makes me so excited that I can't sit still.
'Adrian, you're too distracted. Pay more attention to your surroundings.'
With those words echoing in my head, I suddenly paused, because Lithoa would never say anything to me for nothing.
I turned around and looked around, silently just waiting.
No one is around... at least at first glance.
"Oh? Did you notice?"
When a skinny boy came out from behind a tree on the right side of the path I was walking, I calmly turned to him. I was so absorbed in my thoughts that I didn't realize that someone was watching me.
"Who are you? Do you have something to do with me?"
The boy who came out from behind the tree had very light brown hair and gray eyes.
I was a little surprised when I saw his eyes, my eyebrows raised. Although the boy's eyes were not as intense, heavy gray as Aiden's eyes, they were still gray. I wasn't getting that ghostly aura from this boy that I felt when I looked into Aiden's eyes, but... It was just a strange feeling.
"Calm down, man. I'm just here to talk to you."
"You don't bring ten or so people with you when you talk to someone."
"Oh..."
The smile on the boy's face widened. Then, about ten students hiding around me slowly came out of their hiding places. They might have attracted a lot of attention if it was a normal day, but it was evening time. And there was hardly anyone outside.
"I didn't expect you to notice that either, you're doing justice to your ranking."
I sharpened my eyes and looked into the boy's gray eyes. He didn't avoid making eye contact with me, and despite being skinny, he kept his posture quite well.
"First of all, let me introduce myself. I'm James, James Laher. I don't know if you've been paying attention, but I'm thirty-ninth in the ranking. And my purpose in coming to you is simple. We are changing this academy, Adrian Caleo. We have decided that we will no longer tolerate the bullying and humiliation that the nobles keep inflicting on us, so we have gathered together to protect ourselves and teach a lesson to the ones who dare lay a hand on us."
He paused for a moment, smoothed a wrinkle in his clothing, and then clasped his hands behind his back.
"You are like us. Everyone knows you are not a noble, even if you are the first rank among the students. I'm sure you've met a noble who didn't recognize you and didn't know your place. So you can understand us, right? Even though some of your friends are the ones who have caused us trouble in the past, our intentions are not evil. We are in the same boat, even if our power level is different, we are both in the same boat. We are both above the stratum we belong to, and we are both responsible for that stratum. So, I ask you to help me on this path."
"Can I ask you a question?"
"Sure."
"If you have no malicious intent, why are there ten people surrounding me when you talk to me?"
"Oh, I'm sorry if this makes you uncomfortable. But you know that your friends Julian Virhen, Lucia Quie, and Celine Potenbea are nobles. So I wanted to take precautions in case you disagree with what I said and attack me. Again, I apologize if I offended you, but I hope you understand. You know, we have to be careful in these times."
All the while, he kept his smile on his face.
"So, what's your answer... Adrian?"
I frowned, a little annoyed by his relaxed demeanor.
"What if I refuse?"
James hesitated for a moment. Then he narrowed his eyes and his smile widened.
"Then it looks like we'd be enemies. After all, you're at the top of the rankings and you're a friend of the nobles who have a problem with us. So... you are in our way."
"Even though I would never do you any harm?"
James rolled his eyes and sighed.
"Imagine there's a thorn in the middle of the corridor you're going to walk down every time. Every time you walk down this corridor, and every time you're careful not to step on it. But you still have to be aware every time, and if you don't pay attention for once and step on that thorn, you're going to get hurt. But what if you pick it up and throw it away? Then you never have to worry about it again. But what if you can get this thorn on your side? Then you can block anyone who tries to cross the road. Do you understand now?"
He narrowed his gray eyes and looked over himself again. Once more, after he'd fixed one more wrinkle in his clothes, he turned to me and continued.
"So? What's your answer? Are you going to help us or are you going to get in our way?"
At his words, a few of the students who had surrounded me stirred. They looked ready to move at any moment.
'Lithoa. Exactly how many students are there and what are their levels?
'I won't tell you. You always consult me. Learn to take care of yourself. Besides, I'm a bit sleepy... I'm going to sleep, just don't wake up and find myself facing the hospital walls.'
With that, I felt Lithoa's presence disappear from my mind.
He was really gone, he had left me alone, but I could do nothing but sigh.
He's right, I made it a habit to ask him for help whenever I was struggling.
"If you really want to help people like you who used to be bullied, yes, I am on your side, but..."
My hand went slightly to my waist. Seeing this, others did the same with me.
"From what I've observed, rather than helping them, you've become their new 'noble'."
James's expression turned ugly.
"Those idiots talked to you, didn't they? I left those bugs to their own accord because they couldn't do anything, but it seems they're a thorn in my side that I didn't realize."
One of the boys drew the sword at his waist, but as soon as that happened James raised his hand. All the boys in the field straightened up and removed their hands from their weapons.
"We can live like kings together in this academy, Adrian. You are not a noble and you are extremely strong, exactly what I am looking for. We could practically rule this academy. Are you really going to pass up this opportunity?"
"Rule the academy?"
My expression turned ugly.
"You're crazy. I'd rather be a normal person that the students respect than a dictator."
I tore my eyes away from James and turned to the students, each of them tensing the moment they locked eyes with me.
"Why are you with him? You knew to hate the nobles when you were bullied, but you liked it when you were on the other side of the bullying?"
I got no response from any of them.
"Tch, you're no different."
I turned back to James and gave a firm and decisive answer.
"No, if your goal is really to satisfy yourself by disturbing the peace of the students, then I'm against it. If I see with my own eyes that you are harming the students, I will take matters into my own hands. I'm giving you an opportunity today, James, give it up. Let's both save each other the trouble."
At my words, James paused for a moment and then burst into laughter.
"Hahahah! An opportunity? You're giving me an opportunity? Hahah...! You're so good..."
He laughed so hard that he almost had tears in his eyes. When he realized this, he took a handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped his eyes.
"I wonder what you trust, and if it's the academy, I advise you not to even think about it because you will be ignored. The academy turns a blind eye to what is going on inside it unless it can confirm that visible harm has been done directly to it or its students. Of course, they have different priorities after recent events."
James chuckled again, then turned to the boys around me.
"Put your weapons back in their holsters, we're leaving."
I got a puzzled look on my face and stared blankly at James, who sighed.
"As I said, I'm just here to talk, Adrian Caleo. Even if we were to become enemies, I'm not going to try anything here."
As the boys around me moved toward him, James turned around and started walking in the opposite direction to me as he raised his hand and waved it slightly.
"But I wonder what will happen the next time we meet."
I narrowed my eyes and continued to study him as he walked away.
Should I take him down now? It doesn't matter if there are ten of them, I can handle it, but...
No, he might use it against me if I attack first. He doesn't seem like the kind of guy who would mindlessly come at me, he's probably set something up in case I attack.
I clicked my tongue and watched James and the boys with him until they were out of sight. Then, with a deep sigh, I too headed back to my room.
I was initially thinking of going straight to him and making him kneel down to settle the matter, but now I'm not so sure... I don't want to move fast and pull the wool over my eyes.
How am I supposed to take James down? If it was Aiden, I'm sure he'd come up with something quickly...
I lowered my eyes and kept thinking as I walked. Then I paused.
Everything I think about is centered on violence... Why can't I think about something else?
~beep!
Huh?
When I picked up my watch and saw who the message was from, I hesitated for a moment but a smile appeared on my face.
<<------------------------------
Alice: What do I get out of this?
------------------------------>>
My smile slowly faded with the message I saw on the screen.
True, Alice is someone who puts her own gain before others. I don't blame her for that, but... I thought she would help me. What am I going to do now? What can I say that will satisfy her?
<<------------------------------
You: So... If we leave the academy as it is, won't that affect you too?
Alice: There are almost forty, fifty people in the group you're talking about. Isn't it obvious that if we fail, we will be the main target for all of them?
You: But if we fail, our life in the academy will become more difficult! And not just our life, everyone's life will be harder!
Alice: I don't care about others. I can take care of myself. Tell me what I can gain personally and I will help you.
------------------------------>>
I stood there blankly staring at the screen, doing nothing for a while, thinking about what I could write, but nothing came to mind.
<<------------------------------
Alice: It seems you have nothing to say. Then I can't help you.
------------------------------>>
I gritted my teeth. I was frustrated, even though I knew deep down inside that something like this was going to happen, the fact that it was actually happening pissed me off.
I couldn't blame her though. I was already aware that this was the way of the world.
And then something came to me. It was absurd, there was no basis for it, but I wanted to try it.
<<------------------------------
You: The debt.
Alice: What debt? You're the one who owes me, not me.
You: I already know that.
Alice: So?
You: How about making that debt two? I'll owe you not once, but twice, and twice I'll do whatever you want.
------------------------------>>
I couldn't think of anything else. I knew I was being ridiculous, but I had no choice.
I put my watch down and looked up at the sky. There was no notification from the watch, I kept watching the stars. This fleeting moment seemed like minutes long. Then, my watch beeped.
I was afraid to pick it up, afraid to see the answer I received. I had no hope. Still, I lifted the watch and looked at the message.
<<------------------------------
Alice: Well, fine.
------------------------------>>
I bumped into someone in the middle of the road, and he yelled at me and said something, but then his voice went quiet. Then I heard him click his tongue and walk away.
I didn't care though, I just kept looking at the screen and smiling.
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