‘Ah fuck.’ Koya thought.

Why the hell were they even here in the first place? For Revenge? Why would ALI take in new students in the damn middle of mid-terms… Koya almost wanted to grab his hair and yank it.

Ryouma and Takeru were the worst combination possible.

He didn’t hate Ryouma but he was most probably the cockiest noble over here from his display back in Familiar Isle, and as for Takeru, Koya just hated him for existing.

“Aha~ Found you.” Ryouma said as he walked over to the table where he and the girls were, cutting through the Cafeteria like someone who had never once considered that people might not want to be approached.

Mio and Misora weren’t moving but Koya could tell from the stillness they had both dropped into that they were ready to act if anything went south.

‘Right, I wonder what’s taking Disguise Master so long today.’ He thought.

She wasn’t at the table. When he went to pick her up from Maid Class, the Head Maid there said that they were all busy doing something and the Maids wouldn’t be available for Lunch Break. ‘I’ll ask her what happened later.’

“Yo.” Koya turned to him and Ryouma surprisingly extended his hand outward at him, making him raise an eyebrow. “What is it?”

“I’ve been trying to see you since our battle back on the Isle.” Ryouma replied. “Your control over blue flames is amazing and you were even able to take me out in one spell… I apologize for underestimating your power, Clan Head really said you were the real deal.”

Koya shook his hand and the noble grinned.

He was sure that this was some kind of ploy from the Kagutsuchi clan or something because he couldn’t imagine that instead of Akari being the good sibling, this guy was.

“I see… I’m glad you’re impressed then.” Koya said, unsure of what to tell him.

“I’ll challenge you to a duel later, a real one where you can see some of my skills this time.” Ryouma said and then glanced at Takeru, who was strangely still at Four-liner status.

When he had been spamming Frame Skip back at their battle in the Isle, he had been on the verge of a breakthrough. “Takeru, are you not going to honor the battle?”

Takeru silently took a step forward and extended his own hand, Koya didn’t take it. He really didn’t want to touch a Kurohane and he wasn’t going to pretend otherwise.

Takeru looked at his own outstretched hand for a moment then he slowly closed it and sighed.

“After our fight, I fell from my current position in the Heir race but I don’t really care about that since I didn’t want to be an heir in the first place… that position belongs to my brother.” Takeru said. “Anyway, I applaud you for using Frame Skip and my clan is very interested in whether you can actually use it naturally. As for the reason why I haven’t ranked up yet since I can see the question in your eyes, after drawing upon my Rank-up energy, I’ve become crippled and it might take several years until I’m able to get enough to reach Blue Crest.”

“I see.” Koya really didn’t know why he was telling him this but Koya hoped he and his clan died before he could rank up.

This crippling made him a much easier target for Yoru to take care of. “I hope you get it sorted.”

“Thank you very much, please treat Miyuki well for me and love her with your heart… She deserves at least that at the end of the day.” Takeru said and then took several steps back before walking to the door that would lead to the deeper part of the Cafeteria where nobles usually dined.

Koya watched his back until the door closed.

“Oh…” Ryouma perked up, but it wasn’t for Koya… instead it was for Mio. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen you. You were the one that kicked my brother in the nuts right?”

Right. Koya remembered that when she had introduced herself back then, she said that she kicked a Kagutsuchi heir in the balls.

“Yes, he was trying to touch me inappropriately.” Mio said with a sigh. “Do you want to get revenge for him?”

“Ah fuck no.” Ryouma said. “He deserved it and I even wanted to thank you… Why don’t you tour me all over ALI? I’m new here after all.”

Ryouma couldn’t lie, he was very interested in the woman that kicked one of the heirs of a Great Clan in the balls while being a commoner, and she wasn’t half bad at all either. He really didn’t mind entertaining her.

“It sounds interesting but I’ll have to decline.” Mio said and Ryouma raised his eyebrow.

“May I know the reason why?”

Mio reached out and took Koya’s hand, sealing their palms together. Her grip was light.

“I’m one of Koya-kun’s girlfriends and he hates when I spend time with other men.” Mio said and looked into his eyes. He could see that she was uncomfortable so naturally Koya intervened.

“She’s right.” Koya said. “Maybe your Class Rep, Shion can help you do the touring… naturally Class Reps have more access than regular students like us.”

“I see.” Ryouma nodded.

He glanced at their joined hands once and said nothing else about it. “Then I’ll ask her. Don’t forget Amagi Koya, we will have a real challenge next time.”

With that, he followed in Takeru’s footsteps and exited, leaving the regular Cafeteria silent as Mio slowly pulled her hand back.

“Thank you, Koya-kun.” She said, angling her face down to hide her expression, though she couldn’t hide that her ears had gone completely red all the way to the tips.

“It’s not an issue. I mean, we’re technically dating after all… we shared a kiss.” Koya said. For once in his life he wanted to be the one doing the teasing. It was a strange feeling, usually he was on the receiving end of whatever chaos someone else had started.

However that simple tease went up several notches in an instant.

“What?” Ichinose blinked, looking at him and then at Mio who was blushing even more. “Both of you… k-k-kissed?”

It was decided, Mio was a homewrecker! How dare she kiss her crush before her?! Ichinose was genuinely offended on a personal level.

Misora on the other hand was silent but the way that she clutched her spoon said a lot. It was hard to tell whether she was annoyed or furious.

“What?” Mirei, who was in her bat form, popped up above him and landed on Koya’s head. “You kissed another woman behind my back?”

The Succubus had listened in on the conversation and chose to show herself at this moment.

She was very concerned about how Mio had managed to pull this off… the last time she had invited him to her Mega Bunk room back on the Isle she had prepared as much as she could, only to get completely ignored.

“The hell? Where did you come from?” Koya asked as he tried to swat her away from his head but it was like slapping bricks.

Her bat body was immensely durable.

“I’ve been stalking you since lunch started… Haah, I’m really hurt. You really went behind our backs and kissed Mio.” Mirei replied as Koya took another bite of his food, apparently unbothered. “You’re a bad person.”

“You’re the last one that should be telling me this.” Koya said.

The Succubus was actively planning to collar him like a pet, use him as a sex toy she could discard when she was done, and he was the bad person for kissing Mio?

“Mio, how did this happen?” Misora finally spoke. “If Koya-kun forced himself on you then I’ll help you exterminate him from the face of the Earth.”

By extermination, she meant she would proceed with Plan C… which started with her kidnapping Koya from ALI and going into an underground spot she had been preparing for a while. She had chosen the location carefully… it was deep enough that mana detection from the surface wouldn’t reach it, equipped with everything two people would need to survive for an extended stay.

She would keep him there for several months or even years if she had to, until all that he could think about was her, and then she would use her Royal magic to place him under her control while letting him keep his sanity.

A man with no will left wasn’t worth keeping so she wanted him to choose her… she would simply remove every other option until the choice was obvious.

‘I’ll remove the memories of all other women from his mind and make sure he’s obsessed with me.’ She thought.

This was the best way to handle and keep Koya all to herself.

“N-no… It was me.” Mio said shyly, placing a hand at her chest. “I invited Koya-kun to my place to watch anime and then it suddenly happened…”

Mio on the other hand couldn’t just straight up say Pale was the one that had started it and she had to finish it.

“But it was just one little kiss.” She affirmed and then Ichinose raised an eyebrow.

“You didn’t enjoy it?” The blonde woman asked and Mio was a bit silent, her cheeks growing even redder.

“I… I did.” Mio replied and before the other girls could even chime in, the bell rang.

“Break Period has been concluded… Please return to your respective class buildings to continue your Mid-terms!”

They all rose up. It was time to continue this hellish test.

…

Koya sat back in the classroom with Ichinose on the side.

She had her face turned the other way like she was trying to tell him that she was ignoring him… the effort she was putting into looking like she wasn’t looking was itself a kind of looking so he left her to it.

Though he was more focused on what the exam would be like, even though he had leaked the questions.

As for the Applied Questions, they had been set aside… Ogata would post them later and overprice them a bit but it would still be bought.

Koya had already made back a lot from this and he had gained the trust of these students as well.

Several people had been buying it while in the Cafeteria, which was why not many people had actually focused on their conversation.

Almost everyone was busy doing last-minute studying on their ALI phones with their heads down and fingers moving too while they read their textbooks as well.

‘Haah… I really need a break.’ He thought but even after mid-terms, he had been booked by Nami for a date. The life of a protagonist really wasn’t easy.

Saki stepped back into the classroom and immediately everyone sat straight, then relaxed when they saw she was holding a big cup of ice cream and looking genuinely giddy about it.

“Hoho~ Welcome back Class 5. I’m glad that the first half of the written exams are done.” She set the cup on the desk and looked out at them with a smile. “I just came back from the marking office and I have to say, this year did quite well for some reason… It’s almost like you guys knew the questions beforehand.”

Her sister had told her about a site that had the leaked questions on it.

After purchasing it, the questions were the exact same ones that had been set. Currently, they were searching for the owner within what they had legal permission to access.

Even Tech Tube, who had designed the UI of the personal Individual Point accounts of the students, couldn’t access those balances since it was illegal and privacy protections covered them.

‘So it’s really hard to trace this individual.’ Saki thought.

They had even tried purchasing and tracking the transaction but the site sent the IP through several different routing points and they eventually lost the thread entirely.

Even Tech Tube, a living AI plugged into ALI’s infrastructure, had been unable to pin it down. ‘The site was most certainly made by the Dealer.’

It wasn’t against the rules, technically. But still… This person was making money off the sweat and knowledge of students and professors who had worked legitimately.

Most probably a million IP was already sitting in their account, and they had even posted on the site that Applied Questions would be released later.

She wasn’t going to waste her mental energy on it, she needed to focus on her Ice cream after all.

“Alright.” She set down her ice cream cup and clapped her palms together, making all of their textbooks vanish at once. “Let’s have a look at the final afternoon subjects for today.”

She tapped the Holo-board and it lit up.

「Afternoon: History, Awakened Physics, Awakened Chemistry, Weapon and Equipment Theory, Mapping.」

Several groans sounded around the class while Saki sat back down in her chair and picked up the ice cream bucket again.

“Activate: Exam Mode.”

Their ALI phones locked and turned into projectors.

“You have ten minutes to revise. If you want to start now, say ‘Start’ as usua—” Saki was interrupted.

“Start.” Everyone in Class 5 said it at the same time and their phones floated out, projecting questions that only each individual student could see.

Koya wrote his name on the booklet again like before and looked at the History section first.

…

1. What was Behe Pass known as before the Apocalypse? (a) Chicago (b) New York City (c) Los Angeles (d) London

2. What type of Alpha Monster attacked Behe Pass? (a) A winged serpent (b) A bear-type monster (c) A tree-type monster (d) An unknown monster the White King refuses to describe

3. What was the White King’s rank when he fought at Behe Pass? (a) One-liner (b) Red-liner (c) Newly advanced Blue-liner (d) Silver Crest

4. What tactic did the Alpha Monster use against the White King? (a) Poison gas (b) Using survivors as a living barrier (c) Burrowing underground (d) Mimicking human form

5. What affinity did the White King use to create angles of attack during the battle? (a) Water (b) Fire (c) Star (d) Lightning

…

He glanced further down to glimpse at the theory of History.

…

ALI Mid-Terms, Class 5 History:

1. Using what you have learned about the early Apocalypse period, explain how the Battle of Behe Pass demonstrated both the limitations and the potential of Awakened individuals in the face of Alpha-class threats. In your answer, discuss the role of the White King, the nature of the Alpha Monster encountered, and what the outcome of the battle revealed about the future of humanity’s survival within the Supercities.

…

There were many other questions but History really seemed tame compared to the several other subjects of today.

She wasn’t trying to make things hard for anyone and he respected it. The History section was the one part of mid-terms that didn’t feel like a personal attack, unlike the Math teacher who had clearly designed his questions with a specific kind of malice in mind.

‘Anyway System, let’s go.’ He thought and the tab appeared in front of his face.

Like usual, he was going to cheat his way through this.

Who needed to study when you could pay your System to do the work for you?

…

Several hours later, an hour after ALI’s usual closing time, students crowded outside their buildings and Koya sighed.

“She can go to the dorms since she’s still not out.” He said. He had been waiting a few minutes for Disguise Master but the Maid Class building was still busy so he let it go.

Instead he wanted to see Professor Sakura right now.

She had been throwing him glances throughout their classes and he wanted to confirm whether she had maybe been sent by Hakai perhaps for a reason.

The glances had been too consistent but then again, Sakura didn’t really act like an Order member.

She was more like a very voluptuous teacher being harassed by the stares of her students but something about the way her eyes kept looking at him specifically in the room made him curious.

He would sort it out today.

However, in an instant, something like a paper plane soared toward him from the right and he turned, catching it.

Was this Ryouma’s way of asking for a challenge? He wasn’t in the mood for fighting so he would probably reject it however when he unfolded it, his eyes widened.

「I’m sure you’re very interested in my plans with the blood of you and everyone, Koya-kun. Why don’t you come over and we have a chat? Also come alone please, without any members of the Order coming with you… I will know. I’m sure you want to reach out to me and find out what happened.

4-7-2 Irongate District, Sub-Level Building C, Keropolis Outer Ring.

— Renji Kusaba.」

Koya was speechless. Question Mark had actually gotten in contact with him first and he needed to come alone.

‘System, is it legit?’ Koya asked.

「Yes, this was written and sent over by ?… Do you want to visit?」

‘Sure. Memorize the address.’ He thought and then with a flick of his finger, the note burned completely as he headed in the direction of the ALI gates instead of waiting for results back in his dorm room.

He wanted to know who Renji… or rather the Question Mark really was and now he was going to find out directly.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep