“This prejudice of yours…..One day, it may bite; you should be careful.”
As Irina heard those words, she couldn’t help but chuckle inwardly.
‘You are just a trash like others.’
Last time, when they finished exploring the labyrinth, Irina understood that she was lacking in terms of party management.
She wasn’t suited to be a leader, as Astron showed her the difference between the two.
Even though she knew she was the strongest of the party, there were times when the strength wasn’t absolute.
And when she understood that fact, in her heart, she slightly respected him, thinking that he at least deserved to be here.
Even though Astron was annoying and different, she at least started appreciating his different talents.
But all those things crumbled as she entered the school forums. It had already become a habit to check the [ArcadiaSurf] site for her since it was one of the best places to communicate with seniors and learn about the school.
The dungeons, study materials, clubs, assignments…..
The academy life was hard even for a talented mage like her who came from a renowned family.
And thanks to what Julia and Lilia suggested, she started using that site. However, as she was surfing the site, suddenly, she came across something she was least expecting.
<DISGRACE OF ACADEMY’S LAST PLACE>
That was the title of the post. Normally, she wouldn’t even bother with reading such a pointless article, but for some reason, the word ‘Last Place’ took her attention.
It might have been that guy, after all.
And her assumption was correct.
As she started reading the article, her eyes widened since numerous pictures of that guy, the places he had been, and the people he had talked to had leaked.
His bank account details were leaked, and inside there, the places he had visited could be seen. A lot of money coming from unknown sources could be seen there.
However, that wasn’t even the end.
Even a testimony of three girls was on the post.
-He didn’t even listen to me.
-He just threatened me, saying he could kill me anytime he wanted.
-He said we would date, but then he suddenly forced himself upon me.
Three articles that made her nauseous – all of them were listed on the post.
In fact, when she read the post, she started comparing his attitude from the past to now.
‘I see…’
She realized this after looking at the victims’ identities. They were simple, normal citizens who had nothing to do with the Hunter industry.
‘He acted cold in front of me since he understood he wouldn’t be able to lay a hand on me.’
As his attitude came before her eyes, she looked at the girls on the post. They were all young girls who were just in their prime, and now they were crying, looking sullen.
Unintentionally, her blood boiled, seeing how their future was destroyed. One of them quit their school, and the other ones became depressed and locked themselves.
‘You trash-like bastard.’
And in the end, she swore to put this guy in his place.
He was a student who was accepted to the academy. Even though the article said he used personal connections, she knew it wasn’t that easy to come here.
But even then, instead of training and making himself stronger, this guy was playing around, making other girls’ lives hell. Countless people wanted to enter this academy; countless people tried their best….But this guy was doing nothing but wasting his time doing such acts.
That was the reason why she didn’t even talk to him at the start; no, that was the reason why she was glaring daggers at him.
Since she knew if she didn’t come from a strong lineage, she would also fall prey to his actions.
However, now, before her, stood something different.
The guy she thought wasn’t training stood before The Magma Wyrm that was laying defeated.
She saw it. At that exact one second, that guy fired two arrows consecutively, the first one opening the wound and the second one exploding inside.
“What?”
“H-how?”
Erika and Leon just stood there and watched in a daze as the dead body of the monster lay on the ground. The two knew, as the last ranked student of the academy, there was no way that guy would be able to land a hit on the monster, let alone killing it.
Byron, always quick to let his emotions surface, was the first to voice his thoughts, laced with both awe and a hint of resentment. “Astron… what did you just do?” His tone carried a sense of jealousy and anger. “If you could do such a thing, why didn’t you do it from the start.”
Astron, accustomed to the skepticism, didn’t show any signs of surprise.
He glanced at Byron and offered a vague explanation. “Nobody asked.”
Rather than explaining, it looked more like a mocking statement, and Byron wasn’t the one to take it lightly.
“You bastard, are you mocking me right now?”
He approached him with an angry expression and was about to grab him from his collar.
SWOOSH
But, with a smooth move, Astron just slipped away.
“Watch your actions. And don’t talk to me.” His purple eyes looked cold, and most importantly, those eyes looked down on him.
Byron’s frustration grew, realizing Astron was simply discarding him as a random nobody, and this was what made him angrier.
The fact that the guy before him had the audacity to ignore him while he was the weakest of the academy.
However, before the confrontation could escalate further, Irina intervened, her voice firm and commanding.
“Byron, stop. It’s not worth it. We have a mission to complete.” Her gaze shifted to Astron, cold and dismissive. “You used explosive arrows, right?”
“I did.”
“I won’t ask you why you have not told us about those arrows.”
“It is good that you know the answer already.”
“Tch…..I really want to smash your face right now.”
“What does hold you back?”
“Contrary to you, I am mindful of my grades.”
“So, if your grades weren’t affected, you would attack me right here?”
“I would.”
“I see.” With those words, Astron simply nodded his head and looked as if he was saying as expected from Irina.
Seeing him looking at her like that, the anger inside her soared. She couldn’t contain her words as she asked.
“What? Wasn’t that how you behaved against others?”
“How I behaved, what do you mean?”
However, the clueless expression on his face….
“You!”
It made her angrier and angrier. For him, those acts must have been natural, as if he wasn’t doing something bad at all.
“Tch…..You monster.”
With those words, she turned her head back and started walking away from the place where the monster was lying.
Since the Trigger had been killed, the dungeon was going to change its inner structure the moment they had left this place, and Irina wanted nothing but to finish this assignment as fast as she could.
Since she didn’t want to see his face any longer.
And just like that, the party started walking once again, everyone throwing glances at Astron and Irina from time to time.
*******
“I think this route was the right choice.”
“Right? The road had been super easy. I guess Mason was right.”
Inside the other part of the same dungeon, eight people were walking while talking among themselves. The tunnel was slightly dark, but it wasn’t to the point where no one could see each other.
“But, when are we going to leave this place? It has been dark for a while now.”
One of the guys on the side asked, while looking at the front. A girl with short white haired was leading the way, a smile on her face.
“It won’t take long, don’t worry. We should be there soon.” She turned her head backward, her blue eyes shining in the middle of the darkness.
“I see…..Then, we will do as you say?”
The boy asked, looking for confirmation. Since the girl was leading the group, everyone thought she would naturally be the leader.
“I won’t say much. We can just crush the monster with our strength, right?” However, the answer they got was not something they were expecting. “Sylvie can heal us while we are fighting? Isn’t this how a warrior fights?”
“Well…..As expected from a Middleton Family, I guess. Miss Julia is really a warrior.” The boy awkwardly smiled in the response that he was not expecting.
“I-I will do my best,” Sylvie said, looking a bit shaky.
For the past explorations, she got slightly comfortable with her team, but she was still afraid of the monsters and fighting.
“I will cover you, don’t worry.” At that moment, a boy at the back spoke with a hearty tone, his green eyes shining brightly.
“T-thank you.” It was a boy Sylvie had known before, as he was someone who belonged to the same club as her.
‘Mason Kent from Art and History Club.’
They were matched together in this exploration as a team, and he had been given the position to protect supporters and healers from the back.
However, she was still slightly uncomfortable with others, especially in the dungeon, since her fear was overflowing. Even though in the past times, she only did her job as a healer and supported Julia from back, this time, the monsters were a lot stronger, and they looked more dangerous.
“We are getting close; I can feel a strong presence,” Julia informed, and just as they said that, suddenly, everyone heard a long roar coming from the tunnel.
“AUUUU!”
It was the sound of a wolf.
SWOOSH!
And just at that second, suddenly, something flew from the darkness as if it was targeting the members of the party.
“Careful.”
SWOOSH!
Sylvie felt a gust of wind rush by her, and she instinctively ducked, thinking someone was jumping towards her. She stumbled, falling a bit forward, and then she felt a strong grip on her arm, pulling her out of harm’s way.
“Whoa, are you okay?” Mason’s voice came from behind her, sounding slightly out of breath.
Sylvie, flustered and surprised, looked up to see Mason, his face close to hers due to the sudden rescue. For a moment, she misunderstood the situation, thinking he had jumped on her.
“Um, I-I’m fine,” she stammered, looking away. “P-please go away.” As she pushed the boy, Mason immediately understood and turned his face.
“Sorry….” And gave her the space she wanted.
Then she noticed the arrow plunged into the ground just where she had been standing. Her eyes widened in realization.
“Oh, it was an attack…” she said, her voice trailing off as she understood the danger they were facing.
Mason followed her gaze and spotted the arrow as well. “Yeah, we were almost hit. Good thing you’re quick on your feet.”
Sylvie felt a mix of relief and gratitude. “Thank you again. I thought…”
Mason grinned, trying to lighten the mood. “You thought I was jumping you?”
Sylvie’s face turned even redder. “N-no! I mean, yes, but not like that! I just…”
Mason laughed, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “It’s all right, Sylvie. Let’s stay on guard. Looks like we’ve got some trouble ahead.”
Sylvie nodded, feeling slightly happy at the fact that he had covered her at that exact moment. The fear in her heart slightly calmed down as she looked at the brown-haired boy.
She could see the ‘pure’ feelings inside him, the ‘pure’ desire to help her, and the fact that he didn’t have any hidden agenda made her even happier since she felt like at least she could relax a little now.
Little did she know, as she turned her head to the front, the boy revealed a smirk, looking at the front with a smile.
‘I guess this worked quite well.’ 𝒪𝗏𝓛xt.𝑪𝗈
After all, he and his group were the ones to put all those traps into this dungeon to gain this girl’s trust.