Chapter 88: Fate

“Damn it! Why the hell would they create random groups? Isn’t there a thing called making alliances?”

John grabbed his hair in frustration.

“Were you planning to leech off me?”

Hearing my question, his earlier frustration soon turned into a sheepish smile.

“I mean, we are friends, right? And helping each other, isn’t that what friends do?”

“Are we friends?”

I stood up as a notification popped up on my device. The groups had been allotted.

“Kael, hey! Don’t leave me… Can’t we request being together? I will be useful to you, maybe a little bit. Also don’t you—”

I couldn’t bother to hear his grumblings as I scanned the auditorium to search for my… teammates.

Sigh.

I glanced at the notification once again. There were a total of five members in each team.

And I could see a familiar name in mine.

I made my way towards Diana, who was my teammate for this practical session.

The group had already assembled around her.

The perks of being a royal.

Thinking about Diana, I remembered the condition put forth by Alfred while joining D.X., and to meet it’s requirements, I needed her assistance.

Well, not exactly her help, but I needed to get close to her…

Once again.

From Kael’s memories that I had recovered till today, I had a general idea of his relation with Diana.

I didn’t exactly know the details of all his interactions with her—but I knew enough to understand that both of them were childhood friends…

Quite close at that.

But as always, the typical young master story followed—

Kael’s weird behavioural patterns seemed to have offended Diana in some ways.

Since he was ten years old, Kael had grown to become a spoiled noble brat.

Harassing people, his antics with his family, and even alcohol.

Maybe Kael wasn’t an addict, but he had surely begun to engage in all sorts of pleasures—alcohol included—from a young age.

Now that I was Kael, I should have known about his entire life after being in this body for two whole years.

But I still hadn’t received all his memories.

I had a general idea of what type of life he lived… Meaning that though I wasn’t ignorant about Kael’s childhood, it wasn’t like I had a full picture of it either.

And then the typical fights had occurred, with Diana gradually distancing herself from him.

Still, she hadn’t completely abandoned him, which was the only reason I had confidence in my plan to get close to her.

Though I was good at manipulating people… there was a difference between creating loyal servants and getting close to someone—especially a girl.

And I wasn’t someone who had extensive experience in this field.

But the inexperience wasn’t something that could deter my ambitions either.

I had planned to get close to Diana, but not this early.

Was it fate?

But now that the situation had arisen, I could only speed up my plans.

The entirety of the team turned to look at me as I approached them.

It didn’t matter what rumours they had learned about me prior to coming here at the academy.

Right now, I was the best among them.

And it was a fact they couldn’t afford to ignore, as could be seen in their gazes toward me.

None of them tried to downplay me, as the looks they gave me were ones of… respect.

Being a top student at the academy while scoring a near-impossible score of a thousand points wasn’t something to be taken lightly.

Irrespective of my past, it was my present that mattered the most.

And these people at least seemed to have the basic sense not to try offending me in any way to showcase their superiority.

“I guess everyone’s here.”

A boy spoke up, trying to gather the attention of the group. He seemed to be the extrovert type who always made the first effort to lighten the atmosphere in an awkward setting.

He didn’t seem to be an important guy, so I just noted him down as Extro. No point in remembering everyone’s name.

“Umm… How about introducing ourselves? Let me begin. My name’s…”

I let the introductions dissolve into the background as I turned my attention toward a particular gaze that was directed at me.

I had been sensing it the entire time but chose to ignore it.

Though she wasn’t direct about it, Elsa kept giving me glances from time to time.

Sigh.

Returning my attention to the group, I could see everyone looking at me.

Ah, was it my turn?

“Kael.”

My voice wasn’t rude, but nor was it polite in any way.

But none of the members took offense to that. My rank indeed gave me the privilege.

As the initial introductions ended, we waited in silence for the instructors to inform us of the further details.

Clap. Clap.

Elsa clapped her hands to gather the attention of the students.

“Now that the groups have been formed, let’s begin the session. You all will be transported to a specific location designated by the academy for your practical. There, you just have to kill some monsters, and you will be scored according to your kills.”

Some students—commoners especially—had a look of surprise on their faces.

Well… it was a given that we had to engage in combat, so what was surprising about our target being monsters?

Or did they think that the combat would be with other groups within the academy itself…?

Sigh.

Sometimes I really pitied these people.

For their own good, I had to make good use of these masses in the future.

It’s hard being a saint…

“As this is a group activity, you will have to ensure the collective victory of your group instead of scoring points individually. Though you all will be individually evaluated, that doesn’t mean you can act freely. Your group’s score matters more than your individual kills… so be mindful of that.”

Having said her part, Elsa stepped back, allowing the other instructors to take charge.

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