"Hmmm... What should we do now?" Another student asked. His face was a bit pale from all the information that Nia just dumped and he only asked to get information for his own well-being.
"Well, we take measures, and that too strict measures to get everything in order," Adrian raised his head and spoke. His face still had his characteristic smile as he seemed to be free of all the worries.
"But how?" Another student asked.
Slowly, all the students started to join the discussion as they were scared for their own good and had to know what lay ahead. They didn't want to starve or beg for supplies. Instead, they wanted to be in a position of superiority so others would rely on them while they would have control over the supplies.
"Ahmmmm," Ray cleared his throat as everyone's attention was directed to him.
As they all looked at Ray, they found him looking at them with a deep profoundness in his eyes. He stared at them for a while until the whole office turned silent and spoke,
"I have a few proposals if everyone could listen to them and then discuss them,"
"Sure," Adrian nodded and took his side while some others followed his example and nodded subtly.
Ray's friends also showed their approval and support to him as within a few seconds, half of the students in the hall supported Ray. Seeing this, although Hailey seethed in rage, she just grit her teeth and stayed silent.
"So, I propose that we form teams and go looking for medical supplies," Ray had only started speaking when Hailey took his words as a tool and interjected instantly.
"Yeah… we all could think of it. You know, we all are expecting something better from you, Mr. Leader," She said, sarcasm laced in her voice as her face had an expression of disgust and disapproval.
"So, as I was saying," Ray ignored her completely and started speaking. For him, stopping to give attention to this girl was what she wanted and he wasn't going to allow her any chance.
"We make teams and ask everyone in the infirmary to participate in the search for supplies. This way, everyone could earn the piece they wanted," He spoke.
"Although that is good, there are always some who refuse to cooperate. What do we do of them if they refuse to work for their piece?" Asked Adrian.
"Well, we simply let them be. They won't earn anything and would only get a bowl of gruel if they refuse to cooperate," Answered Ray sternly. His cold hard expression made it clear that if someone didn't want to cooperate, they could go and f*ck themselves for all her cared as right now, Ray only had one motive and that was to safely transport everyone out of the academy.
He didn't care if the slackers called for inequality or that sort of sh*t. Then, looking at everyone once again, he started speaking, "As for the teams going for supplies. They will be decided by everyone on their own and there is only one thing to take care of, one team should not be too overpowered and should only have fifteen members at max. Other than that, I don't care for what happens outside this place but if someone tries to cause some problem within the infirmary, they will be taken care of,"
As Ray stopped and waited for everyone's reactions, a hand was raised as a person asked,
"There is no issue with what you proposed but I do need to ask. What of those who aren't fit to fight or are too weak to do so in the first place? How will they participate in the teams to search for rations and medical supplies?" The student's question was right. It struck everyone in their mind as they had not thought of the issue at all.
"Good question," Ray smiled as he asked, "May I know how to address you?"
"Oh! No need for any formalities. Just call me John," Answered John with happy to go smile on his face.
Ray nodded as his eyes turned serious and he spoke, "I have thought of this and what I have decided is that all those who can't fight or are too weak to fight to make a team headed by a couple of members from here and they take care of all the management work required here. Also, some who are too afraid to fight or have any sort of trauma due to the events could also join and help out in the matters here. This way, our worries about cooking and other work would be eased and a lot of issues would be solved,"
As Ray spoke, an aura of a leader formed around him. Subconsciously, everyone nodded their heads in approval while even those who disagreed with him at the start nodded as they felt that whatever Ray spoke of was to be right.
Seeing their reaction, Ray nodded as his teammates smiled. They knew that their leader's charm had done wonders again. As he received the response from everyone, a system notification sounded as a panel popped open in front of his eyes,
[New Stat Unlocked:- Charm]
[Current charm points:- 5],
[Description:- The ability to subconsciously influence people through actions and indirectly make them do work that you propose]
Reading the description, Ray smiled. He had been waiting a long time for this notification to appear but it seemed that for this stat to be unlocked, some conditions had to be fulfilled which he did so right now. As for what the conditions were, he would check them later as right now; he had all these people to lead.
Activating his charm stat, he started speaking again as everyone present in the office had their expressions change. They found Ray more charming as if something within him had changed. As if the flipping of a switch, they were inclined to agree with him more and more.
"So that is what we do. We make teams and search while the others who don't want to go out and fight have the option to help out with the chores here. As for the rest, they are on their own," Ray summarized his points and then paused. He needed everyone's consent to move forwards.
No voices were raised as Ray smiled slightly. His purpose had been achieved and now what was left to do was to form plans and find information about places that had supplies and stuff they needed. Also, with the unpredictable weather, Ray assumed the worst and decided to make preparations for a couple of months to come. As for how they would have energy till then, Ray had an idea but he wasn't going to share it with everyone.
Soon, the meeting ended and most of the students left the office with smiles on their faces. The decisions taken worked in their favor and they were content with what they got.
Outside the office door,
Ray stood along with Sirius, Aella, and the rest as Adrian approached them and spoke with the same smile on his face,
"Nice decisions you took there. I am very hopeful of your leadership and with how you handled everything right now, I am sure that you will be able to pull us out of this disaster. By the way, I do have a curious urge to ask if I may?"
"Yeah sure," Rays smiled and let him be. He was very cautious of these smiling bastards from the big families as who knew what was going on in their cunning minds. Therefore, it was best to be cautious against them.
"Uhmm… I am curious about one thing and that is, what will be the place we all would head to after we teleport out of the academy? Like, we aren't going to end up in some remote and desolate land, aren't we?" He asked.
"Don't worry about it. I can assure you one thing for sure and that is, that you won't land in some desolate place. As for where we will teleport, you will have to wait till we get there as the dean had forbidden me from disclosing this information due to confidentiality reasons," Ray replied with a smile. He had weighed his words carefully so as not to get on the bad side of a potential ally and not to tell too much to a hidden enemy.
"Sure, no worries. I trust the dean and his judgment. If he had hidden something, there must be a reason for it. See you later," Adrian bid farewell and walked away. As he turned around, a smirk formed on his face as he thought,
"The dean sure has got a good puppet. Well, I will find it out on my own," As he thought of this, he disappeared as a cloud of hatred formed over his head.
"Be careful of him. He is sly as a fox and knows how to play his cards right. However, don't be hostile to him as he can be a potential ally but before that, search him up and investigate him clearly. Also, he seems to have some sort of hatred towards the dean. We need to find the reason for that before doing anything," Ray cautioned his teammates through the mental transference technique as they all separated to do their jobs assigned to them.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel