The Hall greeted them with silence.

Eyes darted in the direction of the ones who entered the large expanse. The decorum was deafening—uncomfortable, even.

Jerry watched as the people who had already gathered stared. Of course, he knew the looks weren’t for him or even in his direction. The eyes of everyone lunged at the same location!

The seat of the Elites!

Yes, even though the Hall was segmented, two additional areas completed the circle around the colosseum. One belonged to the regular participants who had been competing in the Exchange for so long.

However, the other cluster of seats were reserved for the ones known to be the highest in Status—no, not the Rankers—the Elite Ten!

Unlike the other seats which were designed to accommodate more students than were actually present, the chairs arranged in rows and columns in the special area were exactly thirty!

Thirty seats, all belonging to specific people; from the Elite 10 of the Upper Class, to the Middle, and finally the Lower Class.

These seats had already been occupied by a couple of individuals, nineteen to be exact.

The Middle row was filled with the Top Ten of the Middle Class, and the rows in the ground area belonged to the Lower Class. All the members of both were present, except one—Jerry himself.

As he entered the Hall from the entrance, no one paid him any heed. They didn’t mean this as an act of disrespect, no, they were just too engrossed with the sight of the most exceptional students in Ainzlark.

Well, not completely, but… at least in the room, no one could rival any of the ones seated in that special area. That was the opinion of the public, but a few in the room would find that very debatable.

Jerry, along with his companions, silently walked across the vast space, drawing close to zero attention. If he wanted to make an entrance, he could have attempted it—but Jerry wasn’t that kind of person.

“I suppose I’ll see you guys around.” He smiled at his friends who were already breaking away from him in order to get to their respective seats.

They knew their place, and it was no longer to be beside their leader. Even if they were strong seniors, they could only seat among the Third Years of the Lower Class.For Jerry, someone who belonged among the ranks of the Elite Ten, this was the farthest anyone could escort him.

The boys nodded at their buddy and hurriedly ascended the stairs to get to their preferred positions, leaving the auburn-haired boy by his lonesome.

He did feel a bit melancholic, remembering the last time he was in this place. It was during his first year, and so many memories washed through his mind—some of which the boy considered to be distractions at this point.

“Hoo, let’s get this over with…” With this whisper, Jerry walked to the special area, taking an observational stare at those who had taken their seats already.

As expected, the Middle-Class members would have been the first to get there, followed by the Lower Class.

The nineteen of them seemed to bathe in the attention showered on them by the masses. That disgusted Jerry—so much so that he averted his gaze and stared at the audience.

Noticing that a few of them were not actually looking at those who could be synonymous with celebrities, Jerry took a closer look and saw someone very familiar.

‘Jared Leonard, eh?’ A smile played on his face.

The boy who made quite the impression on nearly everyone was seated amid a boy and girl, engaging in conversation with them. Well, not only the boy and girl, but also a golden-haired boy and a dark-haired one as well. Another girl with frosty silver hair seemed to chime into the conversation every now and then, but she remained silent—mostly.

Seeing his juniors rather converse very spiritedly rather than gawk at the school’s heroes made Jerry give an empathic nod as he moved to his seat.

Upon getting closer, the eyes of the audience shifted to him, and whispers began flying.

“That’s him, right? The one who became an Elite Ten while only in his Second Year!”

“That’s amazing, right? I heard only two Second Years are currently members of the Elite Ten!”

“Wow! That must mean he’s so strong… even if he dresses so ordinarily.”

Jerry cringed a bit at the last comment, but kept moving.

“Is he really that special, though? I mean… it could just mean that the Elites of the Lower Class are just weak.”

Jerry bit his lip and kept up his pace. He couldn’t even mentally argue with their words.

“Yeah. I mean, the only other Second Year who got the rank of Elite Ten is in the Upper Class, right? I heard she’s also the second seat of the Rankers. That’s pretty impressive!”The boy clenched his teeth and felt a churn in his heart. He knew full well who they referred to, and what kind of relationship he had with the girl.

She was…

Banishing the thought before it fully manifested in his head, Jerry took a few more hasty steps and reached the empty space left in the lowest row, seating in a hurry.

‘Huu…’ A bead of sweat fell from his brow and he gave a tensed sigh.

“Oh? It’s Jerry.!”

“I knew you’d be late.”

“Off training again?”

“Even today? Dude, don’t you ever take a break?”

“It’s not like that’ll be of any use, though…”

Jerry clicked his tongue as he was assailed by the joint clamor of his fellow Lower Class Elite Ten.

Made up of seven boys and three girls, the Lower Class Elite Ten was considered the weakest—this was a matter of course.

Still, the way the members shamelessly accepted this fact and nonchalantly regarded their relevance sickened the boy who aimed higher.

“It’s not like any extra training will do you any good, though. I mean…”

Upon hearing one of his colleagues say that—Top one of the Elite Ten for that matter—Jerry was about to sharply respond when gasps suddenly echoed across the hall.

He could feel the attention of everyone instantly shift to the entrance. Instantly, Jerry knew what that meant!

There was only one reason why common folks would stop paying attention to celebrities. That would be in the even that… a bigger celebrity showed up!

In this case, they were the biggest celebrities in the Academy!

“WOHOOOOOO!!!!!” The deafening cry of the audience rang in Jerry’s ears, causing him to sharply look toward the entrance himself.

“… See what I mean?” A soft and powerless comment cane from the highest-ranked of the Lower Class Top Ten, but, at this point, Jerry had lost any interest in giving any word of reply.

He, as well as every other member of the crowd, now looked in the direction of the emerging ten figures. They were the strongest of the students in Ainzlark Academy—nine of which were labeled as Rankers…

… The Upper-Class Elite Ten!