“Let’s take a short break.”
Dyrk said as he turned his attention away from the recording devices.
The other groups moved away from their seats, nearing the break area as they took a break themselves.
The same was true for Leon and the others who approached me without looking me in the eye -well, all except Leon, who was shaking from head to toe.
That bastard.
“So, ehm…”
“Save it for later.”
I shut Aoife up before she could speak any further.
Gulping down the water, Evelyn suddenly looked around us and nudged with her chin.
“I think we stood out a little too much. Everyone is staring our way.”
“Don’t bother with them.”
“Well, I’m not particularly bothered, but it’s not like I can ignore it when they are looking at us like that.”
“If you don’t like these types of stares, then next time, don’t stand out so much.”
“That’s not possible.”
She then pointed at her face, and then Aoife’s, and then Leon’s, and then Kiera’s, and then mine…
“Okay, I get the point.”
But those weren’t the stares that I was talking about.
I had noticed it mid-way through the first half of the interview, but as the situation progressed, the gazes at which the audience stared at me seemed to become more and more
odd.
Not that I couldn’t understand their sentiments.
We all came back from the Summit, showcasing all our skills to the world. The image they had formed about us was probably different than what they were currently seeing.
But…
“Well, whatever.”
They were bound to find out anyway.
And it wasn’t like Kiera’s personality wasn’t already known.
“What do you mean by whatever?”
Evelyn cast me a hesitant glance.
I shrugged.
“Nothing, just keep doing whatever you’re doing. They seem to like it so whatever. Just don’t involve me.”
Their normal behavior was attracting a lot of attention. So long as they didn’t cross any lines, which they knew better since Leon had lectured them the entire morning, they could do as they pleased.
“Well, you should’ve said so from the start.”
Energetic, Kiera stretched her fingers. Her gaze slowly settled over to Aoife who visibly frowned at the sight.
“I’ve got a little bone to pick with a certain someone~”
“What? What? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“You know exactly why I’m looking at you like this.”
“No, but… I was just doing what you did to me.”
“And that’s fine… that’s totally fine. You can do that. No problem.” “Then…”
“It still pissed me off.”
Kiera raised her hand and Aoife stepped back behind me.
I was instantly surprised, and tried to back away, “Wait, hold on.”
“Julien, hold her back. Think about my reputation. I’m supposed to be the Princess of this Empire. How would people think of me if they see me like this?”
“Fight then?”
“I can’t do that. It’ll make me look like a hooligan.”
“Hooligan? Wait, you’re talking about me?”
Kiera pointed at herself before frowning.
“Nah, fuck that. Get slapped.”
“No, go away.”
Aoife clung to my back, her face next to my hip. I tried to push her away, but she clung to me
like some sort of octopus.
“Aoife, let go. Everyone’s looking…”
“No, what nonsense. If I let go she’ll attack me. You might as well get slapped instead of me.” “No, why… How does that even make sense?”
“I don’t care! We’re both in it together. I die, you di-Hiek! You, what are you doing?”
Like a ghost, Delilah appeared next to Aoife and poked her on the side of her ribs, forcing her to let go with a small shriek.
When did she get here…?
I hadn’t even noticed her before she suddenly appeared beside Aoife.
In any case.
“Thanks.”
I thanked her, and she returned a nod. Then, with a flat expression that failed to hide the expectation hidden within, she asked,
“Was it good?”
“…What was?”
“The chocolate.”
Ah.
So it was about that.
Her gaze trailed to the side, and she again, asked.
“…Was it good?”
“Ah. Well…”
Should I tell her it was a little too sweet for my taste?
In the end, I chose against it and nodded.
“It was good.”
With a casual nod, she walked away. As she turned, just then, I swore noticed the faintest of
smiles spreading across her lips.
But it was hard to tell as it disappeared within moments.
Was I imagining things?
***
“Let’s make some changes to the program.”
Jack Bannali said all of a sudden. As the main writer and planner of the show, it was well
within his authority to be able to make changes to the show on a whim.
Typically, sudden changes would prompt the team and the staff to panic, but that wasn’t the
case today.
Simply put, they all understood the reasoning behind his actions.
“Those second years. They’re quite fun, aren’t they?”
Dyrk said as he took a sip of his water bottle.
“Fun? Just that…?”
Jack let out a small laugh.
“They were more than that! They were everything that I needed them to be, and then some.”
“You’re not wrong. They were quite easy to work with even for me.”
“I could see. Unlike the other teams that forced banter, it seemed to come flawlessly with
them.” Holding no expectations for the second years who they expected to be all serious and indifferent, the two of them were pleasantly surprised with what they witnessed. At first, they
just wanted to introduce them and ask them about their experiences at the Summit and how
they felt about it.
But things were different now. The girls had captured the attention of everyone in the studio
with their witty, and funny answers.
Their chemistry was obvious for all to see.
Dyrk thought the same as he laughed brightly.
“Hahaha. That group. They probably didn’t even mean to be funny. What we saw, is what they
are. There’s no fakeness in them, unlike some of the other groups.”
“Yeah. That’s probably it.”
With a nod, Jack Bannali suddenly turned his head to face a certain direction and laughed.
“No, it isn’t probably. It’s exactly how they are.”
“Oh? Where are you looking at?”
Curious, Dyrk looked at where Jack Bannali was looking, and then he caught sight of them. Recognizing Aoife, and Kiera, he saw them run around Julien who looked around helplessly. Next to them, Leon was pointing his finger at Julien while silently laughing.
Evelyn on the other hand was holding her head as though she was feeling a headache.
Dyrk too let out a small laugh.
“You know it’s genuine when they act like this even without the recording devices on them.”
“Mhm. The Summit winner isn’t too bad. He’s got quite the chemistry with the group.”
“Yeah, I also noticed. I previously thought he’d be the most boring, but his reactions are…”
“Yeah… Hmm.”
Jack Bannali caressed his chin as he pondered. Then, casting a glance toward one of the people
in charge of recording, he ordered.
“Hey, have one of the recording devices directed his way.”
“Excuse me?” “Make sure you keep the recording device focused on him and record his reactions.”
“Oh. Oh. Yes, understood.”
Though flustered by the sudden orders, the cameraman shifted the recording angle and
directed it toward Julien.
“Make sure you keep recording him the entire time. Take in all his reactions.”
“Understood.”
“Good.”
“Do you have something prepared?”
Dyrk curiously asked, glancing at the recording device and the manager in the distance.
Jack nodded his head, a smile tugging at his lips.
“You’ll see later.”
Dyrk’s eyebrow arched upward.
“I’m starting to grow curious now.”
***
At the same time, in the third-year break room.
“The second years seem to have all the attention.”
A cadet with short brown hair and blue eyes said. He was rather tall, and he had a large build
that towered over everyone in the room. His current attention was focused on the young girl sitting by the sofa.
Although she looked harmless at first glance, none of the third years dared to look at her in
the eye.
“Uh? Ah… yeah.”
Elizabeth glanced up a little and nodded.
“That’s true.”
“…Are you fine with that?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“No, it’s…”
Elizabeth raised her hand to stop the cadet from speaking.
“They’re our juniors, and they’re quite talented. While it’s true that we might lose a chance to
stand out, it doesn’t really matter. This broadcast won’t have many views so it doesn’t matter anyway.” Popularity was important for people belonging to Guilds.
With all the third years belonging to a Guild, they needed to take care of their own popularity.
Popularity was what helped them get better deals with the Guilds and sponsors. This was a lot
of money.
Money that they couldn’t do without.
After all, resources were important.
“That’s true.”
Upon hearing Elizabeth’s words, many of the third years relaxed.
Seeing this, a faint smile spread across Elizabeth’s lips as she continued, “Think about it as a small loss for our small juniors. If you manage to recruit one of them into
your Guild, who knows what might happen?”
With a soft laugh, Elizabeth took her attention away from the first years. It was there that her
smile slowly started to fade and her expression turned serious.
Recalling the woman with soft black hair and obsidian eyes, her eyes narrowed.
“Who is she?”
She hadn’t felt so threatened by someone in a very long time.
Slowly lowering her head, Elizabeth glanced at her wrist. A faint glow manifested shortly
after as she pressed on the four clover leaf that appeared.
As she pressed on the leaf, she started to speak in her mind,
‘I need someone investigated.’
***
The break lasted no more than fifteen minutes before the program started again.
But there was an evident change in the program compared to the first half. Unlike before,
where the spotlight was on all the groups, it now leaned more towards the second years. They didn’t even try to hide it as they blatantly kept their focus on them.
The focus was now directed toward Theresa as Dyrk started asking her questions.
“Theresa, you just turned eight, is that correct?”
“No.”
Theresa shook her head, her large eyes blinking slowly.
“Eh? No…? Then how old are you?”
“Hmm.”
Theresa’s delicate brows furrowed for a brief moment before she looked down on her fingers
and started counting. One, two, three, four…
By the time she got to five her eyes started to spin.
“She’s eight.”
Aoife answered in her stead.
“Oh, I see.”
Dyrk nodded, a little confused. Nonetheless, he continued.
“Then, Theresa. You’re quite young. Considering how you’re not yet a student, how do you
find life at the Academy?”
I flinched at the question, and so did Leon and the others.
“About that… Can we change the question?”
Aoife suddenly interjected. Evelyn hurriedly nodded her head beside her, casting a wary
glance in my direction. fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓
I waved my hand at the girls and placed both hands on my throat to signal them to change the
topic quickly.
‘Shift the focus away. Quickly!’
“Yes. Yes. Let’s change the question. Theresa is quite shy so it’s best if we don’t involve her.”
“Hm?”
Their odd reactions were taken in by Dyrk, who seemed even more eager.
“…Theresa, you don’t have to worry. Talk.”
“No… It’s fin-”
“No freedom. No human right.”
Smack.
My forehead stung as I smacked it.
‘I knew this was going to happen…’
Leon had told me that he had managed to bribe Theresa, promising to grant her access to
Justice Man if she behaved today. However, it seemed the deep-seated resentment she harbored was too big.
Worried that her words may have caused some misunderstanding, I glanced at Dyrk, but the moment it did, my worries subsided as his lips curled upward in amusement. The same went
for the writer and audience around us.
“Oh? No freedom? No human right? What happened? If you have anything that you want to
share with us, now is the time for you to let the world know.”
“Hahaha, she was joking. Joking.”
Evelyn hurriedly covered Theresa’s mouth as she struggled in her grasp.
“Ouch!”
In the end, all it took was a single bite from her to force Evelyn to let go. With a frown
covering her delicate features, Theresa crossed her arms while arrogantly looking around her. “…They took away my freedom. My rights. My beliefs. My identity.” ‘Someone stop her!’
‘We’re trying!’
‘Not good enough!’
I conversed with the girls using hand signals, but none of them managed to stop Theresa who
continued her rant.
“Made me sell my soul to the devil.”
In the end, we all just gave up.
“Is that true?”
“No.”
Aoife shook her head.
“All we did was take her show rights because she spent too much time watching Justice Man.
She now sees all of us as some sort of supervillains.”
“Pft.”
Unusual sounds echoed from the audience area as some of the cameramen struggled to stifle
their laughter.
“H,ho? I,s that so?”
Even Dyrk was struggling to keep his face composed as his gaze hovered over Theresa who
shook her head.
“No. They lie.”
“Theresa…”
“Hmph!”
“This is why I said having Theresa on was a bad idea.’
I glanced at Delilah who looked at the spectacle with an indifferent expression. With how indifferent she looked, I couldn’t quite tell what she was thinking.
“I’m sure things are rough for you Theresa. You have our sympathies.”
Nod.
“I accept.”
“…W,well. Let’s move on to the next group.
Stifling his laugh once more, Dyrk flipped his card over and finally directed his attention
toward another group. He started asking them questions to which they responded rather well,
and professionally.
Then, he shifted toward another group and asked them different questions before eventually
returning to the girls.
“Ho, ho. We’re finally back with you.”
He flipped one of the cards away, at which point his hand paused. The corner of his lips curled,
and I suddenly felt an ominous premonition.
“…If you had to describe Julien, the current Summit winner with one word, how would you
describe him?”
The studio went quiet all of a sudden and I felt multiple gazes directed my way.
Wait, hold on?
What?
Why was I suddenly involved in all of this?
“Did I hear correctly?”
As Kiera’s voice fell, I heard a certain trembling in her voice. That… It almost seemed like she
was excited.
No, not just here.
Leon’s eyes were sharp, and his back was straight. Never before did I see him so attentive.
I turned to look at them, and pointed at them in warning, ‘Don’t do anything funny.’
But my warning seemed to have fallen on deaf ears as smiles bloomed on each of their faces.
Even Delilah seemed to enjoy this as her I felt her gaze from the left.
“Tyrant.”
Theresa started.
“Oh, that’s a good one.”
Evelyn nodded beside her.
No, that’s…
“Since it’s used, I’ll go for psychopath?”
…?
“Not a bad choice. Since I can’t swear, I’ll go for rat.”
What…?
I rigidly turned my head to meet Aoife’s gaze. Pressing her hands together, she mouthed,
‘Sorry, but I’m just going to play along.’
“No, don’t-”
“Demon.”
‘I give up.’
The girls had already made their minds up to play along with Theresa’s antics. There was no
point in threatening them.
I thought it was going to end with all the girls calling me a demon in one form or another, but
things took an unexpected turn when it became Leon’s turn.
All of a sudden, it turned quiet and I raised my head.
I met his gaze and he nodded at me.
Were you…?
Opening his mouth, words flew out of Leon’s mouth at the speed at which a machine gun shot.
It was so fast that I felt my world spin.
“Buffoon. Clown. Delusional. Cow. Exploiter. Corrupt. Two-faced. Ugly. Arrogant.
Pretentious. Spinless. Obnoxious. Ungrateful. Ungrateful. Ungrateful. Ungrateful. Ungrateful. Ungrateful. Ungrateful.”