Kai woke up in a bed, feeling a sharp pain in his arm. When he tried to move it, he realized it was broken. He looked around and saw the others also lying in the nearby beds. When he realized that everyone was alive, he let out a relieved sigh, although the frustration from their defeat still weighed on his face.
"What happened?"
Virelle was standing before him with a serious expression. Kai even trembled slightly when he met that gaze, but he began explaining everything that had happened. Virelle listened in silence and, after all the students woke up, waited about thirty minutes before speaking.
"That's not what I was told."
"What?"
"I was told that you were the ones who started the fight."
The Orc beside him immediately raised her voice indignantly.
"That's a lie, teacher!"
"One of the teachers saw everything and came to speak to me personally."
The statement left everyone unsettled. Serenya placed both hands on her head, beginning to panic. If the academy really believed that they had started the fight, the entire Class A could end up being punished. They could receive a suspension, which would directly interfere with their development.
Valença, on the other hand, looked at Virelle with a worried expression.
"Teacher, you have to believe us."
"I do."
Everyone let out a sigh of relief.
Virelle did not know the Orc and the Elf very well, but she had been accompanying Kai, Serenya, and Valença since they arrived at the academy. She knew their personalities well enough to know that story did not fit them.
'Especially with Serenya's new attitude, that would be impossible.
If a teacher had said that just to protect the Class S students, then there was probably a reason for it.
"You were unconscious for the entire day. For now, stay here and recover."
Virelle left the room. Serenya tried to get up as soon as the door closed, but a sharp pain in her ribs made her realize that she was still injured. She carefully lay back down. Kai also began to get up, but he was interrupted by the sound of the door opening again.
Liam, Elian, Caelan, Silvia, and Seraphina entered the room shortly after Virelle left. They approached their classmates and began talking, explaining everything that had happened after they were taken to the infirmary. They also told them about Elowyn and her subordinates, making it clear that the princess did not intend to simply forget about their refusal.
"Those damn bastards! If I find them, I'm going to beat them up!"
Caelan clenched his fists, clearly irritated.
"Sorry, Caelan, but I don't think you can."
Elian answered with such sincerity that Caelan simply lowered his head and nodded.
Seraphina, who was standing beside them, completely changed her expression when she heard Elowyn's name. Her body trembled slightly, and she hugged her own arms as her face began to sweat.
Serenya immediately noticed.
"Seraphina, what's wrong?"
"Nothing."
She quickly stood up, took a deep breath, and left the room.
Enrico had asked them to help Seraphina, but when Serenya, Elian, and Caelan tried to talk to her afterward, the girl refused any help.
Serenya did not get angry. After all, back then, she had been the one who hurt her, so she understood why Seraphina preferred to keep her distance. If staying away was what made her more comfortable, Serenya would not force her.
'Well, at least she accepted help from Kai and Valença.'
Serenya sighed and then noticed Silvia approaching. The girl was carrying some notes in her hands and seemed quite interested in what had happened.
"So you fought against the princess. I have notes on all the Class S students. Want to see them? Maybe it will help us figure out who they are."
Kai immediately turned his head toward Silvia and nodded several times.
He wanted to know who those students were. Especially Elowyn and the black-haired boy.
If he got the chance, he wanted a rematch.
"Then let me see."
Silvia took a completely new small notebook out of her pocket while putting the notes about the story her friends had told her into her bag.
Everyone looked at her for a few seconds, clearly wondering if she really carried that new notebook everywhere. Without caring, Silvia opened a blank page and began asking for details about the appearance of Elowyn's four subordinates so she could identify them.
"Very well. The first is Narisse Ferayra, Rank 18."
She pointed to the note corresponding to the curly-haired girl.
"She uses poison magic and is from Sanos. She belongs to a noble family that faithfully follows the royal family. From what I discovered, Narisse is extremely loyal to whoever is next in line for succession, and since Elowyn is next, she has no doubts about following her."
Kai continued listening attentively as Silvia moved on to the next page.
"The second is Velka Doremund, Rank 17. Blue hair, also from Sanos and from a fallen noble family. From what I know, she greatly admires Elowyn and has Mist Magic."
Silvia then turned the page again.
"The third is Grark Chifre, Rank 16. He's an orc from the Red Tribe. He possesses two magics: Earth and Impact. Apparently, he began following Elowyn after being defeated by her."
Finally, Silvia reached the last name.
"And the last is Deymon Slarsk, Rank 15. He was the last of the four to be recruited. He was also defeated by Elowyn, but unlike the others, he seems to have some dislike for her because of it. He's quite annoying to fight."
She paused briefly before continuing.
"His magic is called Corruption. So far, he has three known spells. The first can cause damage to a person's body that takes about a week to completely heal. The second can corrupt objects, making them weaker. The third is still unknown because he created it recently, after being defeated by Elowyn."
Upon hearing that, Kai placed a hand on his stomach. The pain had still not disappeared since he woke up, and his other hand clenched into a fist.
He did not want to go through that again.
Serenya shifted uncomfortably in the bed, also thinking about the next fight.
'Next time, I'll win.'
Valença remained silent, staring at the ceiling as she reflected on the information.
'If it were Enrico... what would he do to defeat these magics?'
Silvia partially closed the notebook and looked around at everyone. It was obvious that they were thinking about a rematch. Even the Orc who had been saved continued paying attention to everything, while the Elf remained lying down, still recovering.
Then Silvia opened the notebook again and turned to Elowyn's page.
"The next one to be revealed should be me, shouldn't it?"
The voice came from the door.
Everyone immediately looked in that direction.
Elowyn was leaning against the doorframe, with her four subordinates behind her.
The students immediately took defensive positions. Elian, Caelan, Liam, and Silvia stood in front of the others, while Valença, still lying down, gripped the staff that was beside the bed tightly.
"What are you doing here?"
Valença asked, keeping her voice firm.
"You're not thinking about fighting, are you? There are nine of us here. Even if you're stronger, we're greater in number."
Elowyn smiled.
"Greater in number?"
Before anyone could answer, Lan appeared behind her accompanied by his two subordinates.
Kai immediately stood up, holding his sword.
"You bastard! I told you not to hurt anyone and to stay away from us!"
He remembered Enrico's instructions, but did not follow them exactly because he had thought they were too cruel. His idea had simply been to scare Lan so he would stop interfering with Class A, but now he was beginning to regret leaving that matter only partially resolved.
'Damn it.'
Before Kai could advance, however, everyone felt an invisible force pressing their bodies against the floor.
"Ugh!"
They tried to move, but none of them could even raise an arm.
Kai looked around in confusion. That magic did not belong to any of the students present.
Elowyn and her subordinates began slowly walking toward them.
"I told you I would do this every day until you agreed to swear the oath to me."
She stopped before them and smiled.
"Then let's start over."
While the students remained trapped against the floor, unable to react, on the other side of the wall, a Class S teacher remained silently leaning against it, watching the situation without any of them knowing of his presence.