“ALEX!! ALEX!! ALEX!!”

The crowd of girls kept cheering for Alex, waving their hands, jumping in their spots, hoping to catch Alex’s eyes, but Alex, looking at Lilia, ignoring his greeting, and shaking her head with a sight, jumped down his owl.

*Woosh*

He greeted her again, passing her a charming smile. “How’ve you been?”

“I’m doing fine, mister, but you’re late.”

Lilia, however, unlike any other girl who would be a blushing mess if they had Alex smile like that, just taunted, crossing her arms, making her medium-sized breasts look a bit more pronounced, and Alex, looking at her, just scratched the back of his head.

“Yeah, sorry about that,” he spoke with an unapologetic grin. “I somehow fell asleep… again.” He glanced back at the owl, who was still standing on the stage in its large, majestic form, making people stare at it in awe, and taking the signal, the bird beast shrank in size, returning to its former cute self, perching on his shoulder.

“Yeah, I guessed that—” Lilia, shaking her head with a sigh, expecting that response, but before she could complete her words, a voice rang into her ears.

“You should focus on your job instead of wasting your time chatting, Lilia.”

Those words were only heard by Lilia as she was the one wearing the earring, but as soon as Alex saw the change in her expression—going from a heartfelt smile to a forced and fake smile—he squinted his eyes, knowing perfectly well what was happening.

Lilia, who noticed that, hurriedly changed her expression, returning back to a professional demeanor.

“Shall we start the competition?” She questioned, not engaging in ideal chitchat anymore, as she knew the consequences of ignoring the one whose words she heard a moment ago. Even more so when she didn’t want Alex to question her about it.

She knew that Alex was probably aware of who it was and what was happening—Alex always knew everything. But that didn’t mean she would tell him up front. That would simply mean that she was asking for help, and although she knew for sure that Alex wouldn’t hesitate to help her, she didn’t want to involve him in the politics of the demon empire.

Especially now, when Alex was making a name for himself and was already under the radar of many factions. She didn’t want the demons to start aiming for his life as well.

“Of course,” replied Alex, not asking her anything about what she was trying to hide. He knew what was happening.

They had been friends for 2 whole years, after all. In those years, he discovered many things about her that were not mentioned in the novel.

Yes, she was a heroine as well, and although she wasn’t one of the main heroines with potential higher than the hero himself, she wasn’t someone to look down upon as she was the holder of the best succubus bloodline in the whole demon empire.

She was strong enough to be able to charm every single student sitting in the crowd and use them as she desired.

When he joined the classes, she was the first one to try to talk to him, and Alex, who had decided to not pick up just every girl in the novel, decided to treat her as a friend instead of trying anything funny.

To be honest, he really did appreciate her as a friend, but he knew that soon, her arc was about to start. The protagonist was entering the plot, and her life was about to turn for the worst, but there was still time, so he waited for her to open up about it with him.

He didn’t want to needlessly help her, only to find out that she didn’t really need his help. He had changed many things in this world, after all.

Alex wasn’t even sure about how many changes his action would’ve made; maybe one of those changes made it so that Lilia was now strong enough to deal with whatever was happening in her empire.

She was Lilia Morningstar, the eldest princess of the demon empire, after all. There was no way she didn’t have tricks under her sleeve. She looked easy and outgoing, and that was how she was shown in the novel, but Alex, who knew her very well, was perfectly aware of who she really was.

But if she was really hard-pressed yet not asking for his help, then he would make a move whether she liked it or not. Alex had promised himself that he wasn’t going to let anyone close to him suffer ever again, and Lilia, in the past two years, had entered the category of ‘close ones’.

That time, however, was still a bit far away. For now, she should’ve only met the supposed fiance her father had decided for her without her consent. Nothing serious should’ve happened by now.

[You can always use your system points to check whether your guess is right or not…]

It was then that Sophie’s words echoed in his head, reminding him of the functions of the system that he hadn’t used much even after awakening it. But before his mind could drift further into it, Lilia’s voice echoed through the colosseum.

“Alright, everyone!” She yelled in the sound amplification artifact in her hand, making her words reverberate throughout the area, making the girls cheer for Alex to go down, but their excitement didn’t die; the same could be said for the boys.

With a host as hot as Lilia, no boy would want to miss it, especially when the matches would be interesting as well.

“The referee of the match is here, and guess who it is?!” Gushed Lilia the next instant, a wide smile on her face as she glanced at Alex, and in her reply…

“”ALEX!!!!!””

Every student in the Colosseum roared in response, boys included. It was not because they liked Alex or something. Many boys respected Alex, but that wasn’t the reason for their enthusiasm; it was solely because the one asking the question was Lilia, and Lilia, listening to their response, smiled wider.

“That’s right! The one and only…” She took a step back, turning toward Alex, and then she cried out loud, making the whole area tremble. “Alex Drakathor!!”

“”YEAAAAAHHHHHH!!!””

The Colosseum was once again filled with ground-shaking cheers as everyone raised their hands high up in the air, eager to see some new talents fighting. There were some powerhouses of the world, such as the leaders of many races present today as well, seated in the topmost row, inside glassed compartments.

The teachers from the second, third, and fourth years, along with the members of the student council, were all present, hoping to recruit some new talent under them, each having their own intentions.

There was news in the air that this year there was no shortage of talents, and all who were eligible for the election competition were the best of the best, most of them having some kind of terrifying backing.

“Your turn, mister.” Lilia, under the cheers of the crowd, smiled at Alex, winking at him as she passed the sound amplifier to Alex. Screaming out loud like that really helped her let out some frustration and dejection.

And Alex, who could see a genuine smile on her face, just curved his lips, taking the mic from Lilia’s hand with a chuckle. He knew that the smile on her face right now was not forced but a real one.

Lilia loved hosting shows like this, after all. She wanted to become the best host out there and even had a dream of holding the biggest concert where she would be the only one singing—a silly dream, yes, but it was what she wanted.

She was just very good at singing, and she loved to perform.

“Hmm…” hummed Alex as he held the mic close to his lips, and as soon as he did, the colosseum fell into silence. It was not out of fear or anything like that; it was out of respect.

The students respected Alex for all that he had achieved, as he had set records all over the academy in the past two years—something no one had yet been able to beat in two years.

That, however, wasn’t enough to make people respect him so despite their racial differences; it was Alex’s personality and demeanor—the way he helped anyone in need, or his way of not going back from his words no matter how dire the situation looked—that made people respect him.

“… thank you for such a ground-shaking welcome,” continued Alex as he saw the crowd going silent, pausing a bit as his head turned toward Lilia. Smiling, he added, “And thank you for covering up for me, Lilia.”

Those words made Lilia smile, folding her arms again.

“You better be thankful, mister.” She huffed playfully, making Alex chuckle out loud before he went on with the hosting.

“Now then, without wasting any more of our time, let us invite the participants to the stage!” Jumping down the stage, Alex exclaimed, and as he did, a group of first-year students stepped out of the backstage, walking to the stage in a line, some excited, some concerned, and some calm, but all of them knew one thing: this was their moment.

These 10 students were the focus and the reason for this crowd to gather today.

Soon, as the participants of the competition settled down, staring at the crowd with various expressions, the crowd erupted with cheers and hollers.

“”WOOOOOAAHHHHHH!!!””

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep