Chương 64: Vol. 3 - Allies Part 2

You really came," I pushed open the door to find Big Sis already waiting for me.

"A promise is a promise," She teased.

"Pay up, sucker!" I sighed. At times like this, I feel like the older brother.

"So? What do you want?" I took the comb and hair tie from her.

"A bun?"

"Nope!" She shook her head.

"I want you to style me a nice braid!!" She exclaimed.

"Shhh," I glanced around.

"Lower your voice before others see you here."

"I'm fine with that, though."

"Well, I'm not!"

"Are you embarrassed by your Big Sis?" She pouted.

"Quit playing with me." I focused on tying her braid.

"There you go," I stepped away and admired her hair.

"The braid actually looks good on you," I commented, surprised. Her hair looked better tied up than let down. She looked less messy now and more like a student.

"Yeah," Big Sis glanced at her reflection from her phone. Even she looks surprised.

"Must be because of my D-cup!" She grinned proudly.

"We match perfectly together, hehe!!" She walked towards the lift, beaming from ear to ear.

"..." ~~~~~~~~~~"Good morning," I said as soon as Crystal sat beside me.

"..." She didn't return my greeting. I continued reading my book. Crystal was the ice queen of Class 1-D. Few knew her name, let alone interacted with her. She wasn't a difficult person. She was just…cold.

"Look!! I bought this just for five gold coins!!!" Everyone was spending their money freely. After being given 1, 000, 000 CMP, the students in 1-D have been spending nonstop, completely forgetting the concept of money. Perhaps Celestara High wanted its students to enjoy high school, but 1 platinum coin is a bit too much. With government backing, the school would need at least 160 platinum coins per month to operate. That would be a lot of money even for the government. There must be a catch to it.

"The school is too kind. We're slowly losing the concept of money." Crystal broke the silence between us.

"Yeah," I spun my pen in between my fingers.

"The amount of money used to back this school is far too great. 160 platinum coins for each level, which is 480 platinum coins spent on this school in total. If that were the amount they'd spend on us each year, with the three kingdoms now backing us, that would be manageable. But…"

"For each month, that is a lot." Crystal finished for me. I nodded. And with that, our conversation stopped as both of us returned to doing our own things.

"RIIIIIIING!!!!" The bell rang.

"I'm early today, let's start now," Ms Seraphine heaved a deck of booklets into the class.

"Good morning, class."

"Good morning, Ms Seraphine."

"Take a seat." We did as we were told.

"I see all of you are adjusting to the new school environment quite well." Ms Seraphine commented, eyeing the shopping bags under our desks.

"Now open your tablets. You should have received the digital copy of the pamphlet. For the first thirty minutes of the lesson, I'm going to explain this…" I looked around. Most people in the class didn't seem to be concentrating except for Crystal, Lucas, and me. I could detect Lucas's presence now, after a few interactions with him after school. Everyone was doing their own thing. Some were messaging, others were talking, and even more were playing games under the table.

Ms Seraphine seemed to notice but paid them no mind.

"In this pamphlet, you will see the various club activities you can join after school," Ms Seraphine explained.

"Teacher!" Frederick Gust, whom others called the class clown, raised his hand.

"Yes, Frederick?"

"Is it compulsory to join a club?"

"Yes," The class groaned.

"It is compulsory for each student to join at least one club activity."

"It is also compulsory for everyone to attend all the club tryouts by this week. You can all book a slot at the club booth at the club fair tomorrow. I will be bringing all of you to the club fair tomorrow."

"Ughhhh," The class groaned once again, returning their attention to the phones.

"But of course, there are benefits," Ms Seraphine continued.

"For each club you join, there are things that you can contribute to earn you CMP. Depending on the Club you join, the contribution CMP might be higher or lower." Oh? Is that so? I should join a club with high earnings of CMP. For the rest of the lesson, Ms Seraphine just taught us about Astralis Theory and Applied Mathematics & Logic.

"So? Which club do you plan on joining?" Crystal asked as she opened her bento box. This was the first time Crystal initiated a question.

"I'm not sure, I will see tomorrow." I stood up from my seat. Crystal raised an eyebrow, probably confused, but I didn't plan on telling her anything.

"I'm here," I placed my phone on the table. They all stared at me in shock. I glanced at Ethan. Did he not tell them I was coming?

"Oh, Alistair, it's you. Take a seat," He pulled over a chair for me.

"Everyone! This is the guy who saved me the other day. Let's welcome him with open arms!!" Ethan patted my back. OOOF. That was one heavy pat.

"Is it true?" Frederick leaned in.

"Did you really destroy him?"

"Um…"

"Ethan said that just one word from you just made them run!!! Is that true?" A monk peered at me.

"Um…" If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

"Now, now, guys," Ethan gestured.

"You're giving him too much pressure! Let's start with introductions,""I'm Fredrick Gust, but like the rest of them, you can call me Freddie!!" Frederick smiled at me.

"I'm good with Fredrick,""Ehhh?" He sighed.

"I am Brother Pax Sunbeam, you may call me Brother Pax," A deep voice came from the bald monk. His uniform seemed adjusted to fit his 'monk-ish' presence.

"Isn't he an angel? Always clothed in holy clothes and praying. Look, he's so warm and kind that he's turning crimson!! There's even a mysterious energy exerted by him! Sigh, he's the only pure-hearted one out of the three of us," Frederick sighed.

"No, I sensed a dark energy coming from him just now. Just look at his crooked smile and the way he's turning crimson. He's like the rest of you after all. He's blushing because he saw Reine just now. Right now, he's probably having lewd thoughts about her while 'praying,'" I replied.

"HUHHH???!!!" Fredrick looked at Pax.

"Baldie, is this true??!!!!"

"Ehehe," Baldie scratched his head.

"I guess there's no point hiding it now, haha,""He's not denying it!!!" Ethan and Fredrick's jaws dropped.

"You have a great eye…Alistair," Baldie smiled at me.

"Now, let's plan our next great heist with Baldie!!" Fredrick whipped out a pen and paper.

"I'm going to buy some food," I said, standing up.

"Call me when you're done," There was no point in participating in their 'great heist', unless… No, let's not think too deeply.

"BUMPP!!"

"Oh, I apologise, I wasn't looking—" I turned to see Reine.

"It's okay," She laughed as she bent down to pick up the dropped food.

"Everyone makes mistakes,""I apologise, I'm a little busy now. I'll treat you to something after school," I bent down to help her.

"I—it's okay, really—!" Our hands brushed past each other. Reine froze.

"Sorry,' I pulled my hand away.

"I'll be more careful next—""I'll come after school," Reine changed her mind. She picked up her tray of food and walked towards the trash area before pausing.

"But I'll need you to do me a favour then," She turned her head and smiled at me. Success. Everything turned out as I had expected. All I had to do now was wait till 03. 00 p. m. ~~~~~~~~~~"I'm sorry you had to buy me the special set. Is this really okay?" Reine apologised as she inhaled her ice cream.

"Yeah, don't worry about it, Reine." I looked down at my food.

"I owe it to you. So, Reine? What did you want from me?"

"You're going straight to the point, huh?" She grinned.

"Well, actually, I was thinking about challenging you, but…" Challenging me? I can't let anyone know….

"Earlier, I had heard a powerful surge of astralis within you. So…" Reine looked away.

"But I guess you have your reasons to hide it, so…" Amazing. Celestara High's students are just at a new level. Using ultrasound movements to detect astralis…that's just splendid.

"I accept your challenge."

"I'm not going to force you." She stood up.

"I accept your challenge," I repeated.

"So, it's okay—EHHHHH???!!!!" She spun around and looked at me in shock.

"Really?"

"Yes," I also stood up.

"It's my way of thanking you,""For what?" Reine asked.

"Nothing," Thank you, Reine, for letting me know. I will be more careful of my astralis now.

"The sun's setting early today," Reine muttered as we walked towards her private training room. It really wasn't surprising that she had one already.

"Oh! It's Winter!" She waved to someone in the far distance.

"Winter?"

"Yeah! Winter Frostveil from class 1-S,""You made friends from other classes?"

"Yeah! The people from 1-S were surprisingly not snobbish at all! They were really nice,""Reine, is that you?" As the figure from afar walked closer, I could make out her distinct white hair and…fox ears? Snow? Did Snow change her surname to better fit the society here? Snow waved at Reine. Then she saw me.

"Oh, it's you," She frowned.

"Do you two know each other?" Reine looked between Snow and me.

"No…" I tried to say, but Snow cut me off.

"Reine, you shouldn't get so close to this guy. He kept staring at me during the entrance exams," She crossed her arms.

"I've never seen a beastman before, and your ears seemed different, so I…" I lied.

"Hmph!!" Snow stormed off. I guess Snow could be a real pain if you got on her bad side.

"You've really made her upset now." Reine poked my arm.

"Yeah," I agreed.

"Is staring at someone really drastic?"

"Not at all," Reine hummed a tune.

"I don't know what's got into her. I've never seen her this upset before."

"Maybe it really is my fault," I muttered as we walked into her private training.

"I heard she's looking for a childhood friend here."

"Really?" I plopped my bag on the floor.

"Yeah, I guess she doesn't want any guy hitting on her because of that. She's a really loyal person," Reine answered while tying up her hair, and I removed my jacket.

"Is that so? I'm not hitting on her, though," I waited for Reine to get ready.

"Yep. I know you aren't, but she can misinterpret many things, just like in Middle School." Reine sighed.

"You two went to the same Middle School?"

"Yep, she was quite chaotic then, haha," Reine adjusted her gauntlets.

"Coming from you, that must be something."

"Hey!! What's that supposed to mean?" Reine shrieked.

"Nothing," I took my position opposite her.

"Don't you need a weapon or wand?" Reine raised an eyebrow, looking at my stance.

"Oh yeah, I forgot," I reached into the thin air and pulled out my two swords. One light, the other dark.

"It's been a long time since I've done this."

"A long time? What's that supposed to mean?" Reine bolted towards me. I immediately turned my shoulder to block her blow. Argh, too late. My reflexes were too slow; Reine's gauntlets barely scraped my cheek.

"Ahh!! I'm sorry, I didn't know!!!" Reine froze and apologised.

"It's okay," I wiped the blood oozing out of the cut on my face.

"I'm to blame for being so weak. It's been too long since I've done this." Sigh, all that paperwork that Matron had dumped on me had really affected my skills. Reine paused, "You keep saying that it's been too long since you've done this. What does that mean?"

"Oh, I just never attended Middle School, so I guess my skills have become rotten since then," I told a half-truth.

"Wow! You've never attended Middle School and still managed to come here?" I nodded.

"Maybe you should take off your vest, it'll help you with your agility." I glanced at Reine in her Gym attire. I'll trust her just this once.

"Yeah, that should be the problem." I pulled off the grey vest. Ahh, my body feels lighter now. While at it, I took off my tie and unbuttoned the first few buttons of the dress shirt.

"Wa—wait! What are you doing?" Reine looked flustered as I picked up my swords and returned to the training area.

"Letting some air, why?"

"Nothing," She looked away.

"Let's start, shall we?" I raised my swords.

"Yep," She started first, "Crimson Gale God Style," Polaris. Vega. Sirius. Capella. Aldebaran.

"Scarlet Cyclone," She breathed.

"Why do you have a blindfold?" She smirked at me as sound and wind came to cut me at all angles.

"..."

"Umbral God Style," I whispered. Polaris. Rigel. Deneb. Alnitak. Castor.

"Shadow Step."

"For my own reasons, Reine," I answered.

"How did you——?" Procyon. Arcturus. Mira. Capella. Sirius.

"Veil Slash!!" Too late, she evaded with Gale Step. I have to end this soon. I have a meeting with Big Sis. Polaris. Rigel. Deneb. Alnitak. Castor.

"Shadow Step," I appeared behind her once again.

"I'm not falling for this again!!" Polaris. Vega——"You're dead." The cold metal of my sword brushed against her neck. The air itself shuddered from the impact.

"Haha, you're not letting me go again?" Reine looked up at me as I stopped her mid spell.

"You're not leaving my watch again," I warned as I put away my swords.

"That's the first time someone has won against me…" Reine looked down, deep in thought.

"And yet you defeated me in less than ten minutes…" She turned and beamed, "Amazing, isn't it?"

"Why are you asking me?" I grabbed my clothes and bag.

"I dunno," She smiled.

"By the way, this is my contact info. I'll message you when I feel like it." She handed me a small red sticky note. This is the first time a female student has given me her number.

"I need to get going now, see you in school," I said as I put back on my vest.

"Yeah," She said quietly.

"See you at school." ~~~~~~~~~~"What took you so long!" Big Sis was already standing outside my door.

"Can you wait till we go inside before nagging?" I brushed my phone past the door to unlock it when Big Sis suddenly pulled my tie close to her.

"Big Sis?" I could feel her warm breath brush against my neck.

"Wait," Big Sis sniffed my collar.

"Were you out with a girl?"