''That's important news. More than all the stuff you told me before.'' The Vice Principal smiled.
Meanwhile, Alaric just frowned in confusion. He was sure his previous speech had been perfect. Normally, no one would've noticed what he tried to hide.
The Vice Principal cleared his throat.
''Who do you think I am? I've lived over a hundred years… some tricks don't work on me.''
''Even though you told the truth, you still hid something important. But I don't care to know it either, because your whole journey is already too unbelievable for someone like you. You should practice speaking in front of a mirror to control your emotions and reactions before the interrogation with investigators from the legendary clans. Do that, and I'm sure no one will catch a flaw in your words—unless they open your brain to check. But that's impossible with your achievement in the challenge of God.''
Alaric sighed and stared at the old man in disbelief. He was facing an old fox. Still, Alaric refused to say anything back to the Vice Principal. He knew that if he did, he would only be admitting his actions.
Stay silent and absorb the old man's advice.
Next time, he wouldn't make the same mistake.
The Vice Principal nodded, satisfied, then pointed his fingers in another direction.
''I believed your last words… because the other candidates gave the same answer as you.''
''Maybe… we won't have any help from the gods in the future.''
His old eyes were filled with tiredness and worry for humanity's fate as he looked at the candidates.
Alaric also glanced toward them, narrowing his eyes. From what he saw, most candidates were still alive and fine. Had they really passed the challenge without any injuries?
''No one of them dead?''
The Vice Principal caught Alaric 's surprised expression and answered like a proper teacher.
''The challenges of the Sun God and the Shadow God are very hard, but they're not a murder. If the candidates are strong enough, surviving—even if they fail—isn't a big issue. It's not like the challenge of the Nameless God.''
''Killing 90% of promising seeds right after the first challenge is too harsh and cruel. Morris and Curry shouldn't have ended up there.'' The Vice Principal still felt unpleasant just thinking about what Alaric had told him.
Then he asked:
''So, what do you want? Like I said, I'm going to give you a reward. Tell me what you want. Ah, and I advise you to choose a weapon. I've collected tons of different weapons in my whole life.''
Alaric blinked and licked his lips. The question he'd been waiting for.
''Sir, I want a longsword… a longsword weighing 70 kg.''
The Vice Principal's face wrinkled as he spoke with a doubtful tone.
''Are you sure? Seventy kilos? With your weight class, twenty kilos would fit you way better than seventy.''
Alaric replied:
''Thank you, but I want 70 kg.''
The Vice Principal nodded.
''I guess you'll use it to practice. Not a bad idea. I'll give you a special longsword.''
Soon, a longsword appeared in front of Alaric.
The blade glimmered with green light.
''A green-tier item?'' To his surprise, Alaric managed to lift the longsword with both hands, examining its sharp edge and reading the description with satisfaction.
This longsword was perfect for him.
[The Longsword of the Cavalry Captain] – [Green-tier item]
[Description]: The longsword of a cavalry captain who always kept his loyalty to the king. The sword can change its weight from 20 kg to 200 kg to match its user. It's perfect for practice, but it can also be used in battle.
''Tsk, you're probably thinking who I am. If I gave you a white-tier item, everyone would mock me and call me stingy.''
He scratched his head and put the longsword into his color slot. After a few seconds, the sword slowly dissipated.
''Thank you, sir.''
The Vice Principal just rubbed his long beard and clicked his tongue.
''It's fine. Now go to the center of the arena. The Principal will give a big, magnificent speech and arrange everything before tomorrow's lesson.''
''And don't worry—you'll receive what you deserve. After all, you guys are a priceless asset to the world.''
***
"Uhm, are there only a few people?" Alaric glanced left and right, counting the number of candidates who had passed the challenge of the gods.
There were four people. Surely. Dana Leonard and Slater Alvarez he knew too well because of their reputation, but the others, he barely knew at all.
"Judging by their outfits… maybe they're nobles."
With a fluttering feeling, Alaric stepped forward toward the group. For some reason, all of them turned their attention to him.
Their gazes showed a bit of curiosity and interest.
Yeah, it made him flinch. It was the first time someone looked at him like that. In contrast with his past, everyone had always looked down on him, with indifferent eyes as if he was some common rubbish they could see anywhere.
No, more exactly, that the feeling of the slave, not him...yet he could not help but admit his situation in his old world was the same, too.
"So… that's the feeling of being noticed by everyone? …I think I don't like it."
As he got closer, he could see the candidates more clearly. To his astonishment, half of Dana Leonard's face was covered by a large scar. It seemed she had been wounded in the challenge, but he wondered why she didn't heal it. With a high-tier potion, recovering it would've been easy.
Even so, she still kept her natural charisma. However, everyone around her didn't think so. They were trying to get as far away as possible as though they would vomit on the spot if they saw her face again.
"What happened? That's pretty rude to a beautiful girl." Alaric frowned in confusion.
Meanwhile, a scar-faced boy approached Alaric and spoke in a soft voice.
"Don't be surprised… she's cursed by the Sun God."
"Oh? What did she do in the challenge?" Alaric shook the boy's hand and smiled.
The boy grinned and did the same.
"She committed a blasphemous act against the Sun God."
However, the boy suddenly grimaced as he looked at Alaric with bewilderment and disbelief.
"You… you have the smell of a demon. Who are you?"
In an instant, everyone started to notice Alaric and turned their cautious eyes toward him.
A demon? Here? How could that be? Obviously, demons were the enemies of the entire world—vicious beings that existed in dungeons and rampaged through everything. Someone even believed that they were the culprit for the bad circumstances of the world .They could even appear in the human world by possessing someone's body. Nothing but troublemakers to everyone.