Free Web NovelChapter 92: Before The Tournament
Time passed.
"With this, I will end today’s and this month’s last lesson. Remember that everyone has to attend the upcoming Opening Ball. You’ve been notified about the time, place and dress code. Thus, I hope that you rest well over the weekend and that you can give everything you have during the tournament." Ralph announced optimistically with his usual smile.
The black class, Belian and Harik gave Ralph a round of applause.
Then, everyone stood up from their seats and went their own ways.
"At least this side calmed down, huh?" Harik mentioned as he and Belian stared at the faces of their temporary classmates.
A lot of time passed since the incident between the black and the other classes. Since then, the mood lightened up and the black-class students were now able to continue with their student lives without feeling oppressed or restricted.
The white-class students also noticed that and therefore slowly stopped their regular patrols on the academy grounds.
Belian sighed.
"If only those two could move on..." he said exhausted.
"W-well, thankfully Rachel can hold them down..." Harik replied with an awkward grin.
At the same time, in Sylvia’s room.
The door was blocked off outside by thick roots and vines. On top of that, even the windows were closed off due to the same reason.
It was as if the people inside the room were imprisoned.
"Wasn’t she supposed to look after us?"
"I guess she must be tired...?"
Even though it was her room, Sylvia was sitting on her table, while Lily sat on the chair.
Sylvia sat with her legs crossed, tapping with one finger on her thigh. Lily put her elbows on her thighs and rested her head in her hands.
The two stared in the direction of the bed, where Rachel was lying.
Or rather than lying, she was sleeping peacefully.
Only the clock’s ticking sounded in the room.
"..."
"..."
The girls were bored, however, they were forbidden from leaving the room or Rachel’s side.
On the day Lily and Sylvia faced Belian and Harik, they lost.
Thus, Belian ordered them to stay low until the tournament week started, leading them to this very situation, where Belian, Harik and Rachel took turns looking after those two so that they would not think about ambushing Cail or causing a ruckus again.
"It’s soon time for the tournament, right?" Lily started a conversation with Sylvia, sounding indifferent.
"Yes."
"Are you participating in the promotion tournament?"
"That’s my plan. I know that as a white-class student, it would be unfair to participate and lower the winning chances of the other candidates, but aside from getting the chance to get into a better class, there’s also an additional reward depending on how far one can get in the tournament."
"So you’re aiming for that special reward?"
Sylvia nodded once.
"There’re rumors that the reward for the winner will be a relic."
"R-really?"
Lily raised her head from her hands slightly in surprise.
"It’s just a rumor. But nonetheless, no matter what it is, the reward will surely be great." Sylvia stated with a firm smirk.
"You’re participating, too, aren’t you?"
"H-huh? O-oh, yes." Lily responded caught off guard as she still thought about the relic.
"In your case, you want to get into the white class, right?"
She strongly nodded her head.
"Furthermore, I want to test my strength against the year’s best students!" she declared with determined eyes.
"Heh." Sylvia chuckled.
"I’ve watched over you since the beginning of the term and I can tell how much you’ve improved since then. I don’t think that there’s anyone on your level if we’re talking about every other class aside from the white class." Sylvia complimented her proudly.
"Hehe..." Lily giggled, blushing a little.
"Thanks for your words, Sylvia. However, we shouldn’t forget about that person." she added with a wide smile.
"You’re right. In all my years, I’ve never seen someone like him before." Sylvia replied, smiling, too.
Then, they heard a yawn.
"Are Belian and Harik here yet...?"
Rachel woke up from her deep slumber and lifted her upper body up.
While she faced the other two girls, she rubbed her drowsy eyes.
"No, they’re most likely on their way now." Sylvia answered, looking at the clock.
"I see~" Rachel said with a yawn.
She lied down again."
"Are you really sleeping again...?" Sylvia asked baffled.
"I’m tired~"
Sylvia sighed.
"L-let’s let her sleep. shall we?" Lily said as baffled as Sylvia.
Then, the two talked about trivial things to kill time until they mentioned a certain topic.
"Oh, by the way. Do you already have a dress for the ball, Sylvia?"
"Dress? I have no need for that. I-"
"W-what?!" Lily raised her voice in shock as she shot up from the chair
Lily was flabbergasted by her answer.
"L-Lily...?"
Sylvia could not move away as Lily grabbed her by her shoulders.
"Don’t tell me that you planned to go in your uniform!"
"B-but I do...?"
"Aaah!" Lily screamed as she bent her back and head.
"It’s a ball, Sylvia! A ball! You can’t go there in your normal clothes!"
"But-"
"Don’t say anything! I will dress you up! Leave it to me! Tomorrow we will hit up the stores in the city!" she said vigorously.
"W-what about Belian and the-"
Sylvia stopped herself when she saw the sparkles in Lily’s big eyes.
"Sure..." Sylvia gave in, answering nervously.
Rachel woke up again.
"Are you talking about the opening ball~?"
"Rachel, did we wake you up?"
Lily loosened up and turned to Rachel
"It’s fine~" freewebnσvel.cøm
"..."
Sylvia saw it as a chance to free herself from Lily’s grip, however, Lily tightened her hands on her again without even looking.
"So what were you talking about? I just heard something about the ball."
"Ah, right. We were just talking about our dresses! What about you, Rachel? Do you already have one?"
"..."
Rachel averted her gaze from them.
"No. I won’t attend it anyway."
"Huh? Why not?" Lily asked hysterically and bewildered.
"Wasn’t it mandatory for all first-years to come?" Sylvia asked, too.
"..."
Rachel lied down again.
"There’s no need for me to go. I already talked with the teachers." she said.
However, a hint of sadness lingered in her quiet voice.
"..."
"..."
Sylvia and Lily had a look of pity as they watched her fall asleep.
’It doesn’t matter how much I yearn for that. In the end, I just can’t.’, Rachel thought before losing herself in her dream world.
In the meantime, Mika was still in the tower.
He was chatting and laughing happily despite his circumstances.
"I see! So that’s what happened while I was away, huh? Haha!" Mika laughed.
"Yeah, you should have seen Cail’s face! He was red as a beet, haha!" Gerard elaborated, laughing as well.
"..."
Lisa was doing her rounds inside the tower until she arrived at his cell.
She was confused, seeing a prisoner so happy and relaxed like Mika.
"Your mood sure brightened up since we got a new inmate here." she remarked baffled while she looked to the cell, which was located to the east from Mika’s standpoint.
"Well, I wouldn’t have expected that it would be Gerard!" he stated, still laughing.
"Whatever... As long as you behave it’s fine, I suppose..." Lisa muttered, massaging her forehead with her fingers as if she was having a headache.
The day, when Sylvia and Lily had a fight with Harik and Belian, was also the day, Gerard was taken into custody by the disciplinary committee. The reason was that he apparently attacked and injured Cail Maystra.
Obviously, Mika was stunned, when he learned about that. However as days went on, the two friends tried to look at their situation more optimistically and saw it as an opportunity to really catch up with each other.
Thus, they talked with each other day and night. Soon, even the other inmates joined their conversations, turning the desolated and depressed place into a somewhat warmer atmosphere, filled with laughter.
"..."
Lisa smirked when she was about to continue her patrol.
She may not admit it, however, even Lisa had more fun with her job at the tower now.
"Ah, Lisa. Wait!" Mika called her out from his cell.
"?"
Confused, she turned her neck to him.
Mika stood up and pressed his face and body closer to the bars.
He glanced to the sides.
"Could you come closer?" he said cautiously.
"What is it?" she wondered as she leaned closer.
"The thing is..." he started to whisper.
The other inmates and Gerard were currently talking, thus they could not hear their conversation.
"Huh?!" Lisa accidentally raised her voice in bewilderment.
"Shh!"
Mika signaled her to quiet down.
"..."
Lisa looked around, realizing that nobody noticed her yet.
"It’s just for that night, okay?" Mika begged desperately, clasping his hands together.
"And why exactly should I do that?" she said annoyed.
"I guess, you can see it as a way to repay your debt to me...?" Mika replied, sounding unsure of himself.
"What debt? What did I do to be in your debt? Did you perhaps become delusional in your small cell?"
Then, Mika turned his mouth into a wide grin.
He waved his index finger in front of her face.
"I’ve been watching you."
"?"
"You want it, too, right?" he whispered in her ear with the bars separating them.
"Xander’s downfall."
