The boy’s tone of confidence didn’t seem to stem from underestimating me, or overestimating himself.

No, it appeared he simply didn’t see any way I could win.

A bead of sweat formed on my face as I struggled to make the same casual smile Kuzon Midas had on his face.

“We’ll see, won’t we? Till then…” I managed to say, before turning my back and returning to my companions who were most likely waiting for me at the exit closest to our seat area.

‘I wonder why I couldn’t confidently say I would win… even though I’ve come this far…’

With those distracting thoughts playing in my mind, and anticipation for what tomorrow would bring, I decided to ignore the pangs of anxiety coiling in my heart and went my way.

‘Tomorrow… we begin!’

************************

The next day arrived in the blink of an eye!

While I had been anticipating it all night long, it still surprised me how the clock seemed to be moving faster compared to before. Of course, it was only my imagination, but…

“… I should meet up with Edward and Ana before leaving for the Hall,” I muttered and left my bed, preparing for what the day would bring.

[Moments Later]

Since Edward and I were in the same dorm, it was easy for both of us to meet up.

By the time I was done and went to the rendezvous point, I saw my dear companion already swarmed by many guys who—for some reason—were talking to him excitedly.

Edward, in his kindness, couldn’t refuse the pile of ravens that circled him and powerlessly smiled as he talked to them.‘Hmm, they must be Martial Artists who are curious about that move of his…’ I mused, remembering how Edward one-shotted his enemies.

Anabelle was most likely going through something similar in her dorm, considering she was able to easily overpower all those Magic-Users despite being a mere Scholar. I kind of wondered what sort of reaction she would have at the sudden attention on her.

‘Well, their standing had increased… that’s a good thing.’

I wasn’t without attention too, but no one simply dared to approach me. For some reason, I was like a repelling force that made people back off. That worked out fine for me, though.

It would simply be bothersome if I had to cater to everyone as Edward was currently doing. Speaking of the boy, it was best if I helped him out a bit.

“Hey, Edward. What are you doing? Let’s go!”

The moment my voice echoed across the vast field, everyone reacted by looking in my direction. That very moment, the enthusiastic seniors and classmates alike became mellow and had uncomfortable looks on their faces.

Instantly, they backed off and began dispersing. Such was the power of my antisocial aura.

“Oh, hey, Jared!” Edward took his chance and, having a somewhat relieved look in his eyes that I showered up at the right time, dashed toward me.

He reached me in a flash, and I instantly turned in the direction of the hall for the both of us to start moving.

“Good timing.” The young Martial Artist whispered before moving along.

After walking for a few minutes, we were basically a couple of steps away from the Hall when we saw Ana.

‘She’s early…” Edward muttered.

“Or, we’re late.”

After I snapped at him, the silly guy realized that my words were most likely accurate and picked up the pace.

“You guys, what took you so long.” Anabelle puffed her cheeks in slight annoyance.

I rolled my eyes at her exaggeration.

“Don’t be a baby. It hasn’t been that long you were here yourself.”Anabelle’s eyes bulged and her honest face couldn’t help but give her away.

“H-how did you know?” She gasped.

It was evident that she would have also encountered the same problem as Edward. There was no way she got here on time too. The girl just happened to be fortunate to have gotten here before us—most likely a few seconds before we saw her waiting—yet she decided to make it seem longer.

“I have my ways, now let’s go inside.” I retorted halfheartedly.

The two followed behind me, as though I had somehow become the shepherd to sheep. It was strange how the time we had spent together had changed quite a few things in our relationship.

Perhaps it was due to my training methods, or simply the aura of age I exhibited from time to time—Anabelle and Edward had come to see me as their master.

Of course, they still related to me as a friend and didn’t outrightly declare me as their master, but they heeded my every word, even the ones I meant as a joke, as though they were law.

‘Oh, well. If it helps them in the long run, that’s fine by me…’

And so, we entered the Hall for the Quarter-finals of the Inter-Class Exchange.

***************************

“Welcome back, everyone. This is, as you know, the second day of the Exchange.

Those who have qualified are seven from each Class—twenty-one from each year—and a total of sixty-three participants!” Klaus Tallman stated in his usual loud and awe-inspiring voice.

The Hall was silent, receptive to his words.

Those who qualified, myself included, were placed at a different seat area that contained a total of one hundred seats.

That meant I sat with all the qualifiers, including Stefan, Maria, Ivan, Rias, and… ‘him’.

Seated by the edge of the row was the guy I wanted to fight the most—Kuzon Midas.

“The matches from now on will be One Vs One. Magic-Users, numbering a total of fifteen in a year, will have to face others from another class. Of course, the contestants will be selected at random.”

The silence intensified.

“Of course, since the numbers are in the odd figure, that means one of the contestants will have to fight twice. But, this is also a part of the competition. Just pray your luck is good!”

I wouldn’t mind that. No, I was already stuck with that role.

Ana and I had to fill in for three other people, which meant we would be having at least two matches.