"The next student… Aria."
Not only did Aria jolt in surprise, but Damian also looked over anxiously.
What to do, what to do—he couldn't just let Aria go up like that! But Mr. Smith was too strong; even if ten of him went up, it wouldn't guarantee victory. Perish together? Even if he died, he still couldn't save Aria. But…
Just as Damian was about to jump, he caught Aria's reassuring gaze.
Although Aria was nervous too, seeing Damian even more tense than herself, she couldn't help but find it funny. Her heart steadied somewhat.
She gestured for Damian to calm down, then slowly walked up to the podium. She might not know how to fight monsters, but when it came to high school knowledge, between her and Damian, who knew which of them was stronger!
Damian seemed to realize this as well.
That's right. Even though Mr. Smith looked terrifying, nothing would happen as long as she answered correctly. In class, as long as the students didn't break the rules, nothing bad would come of it.
Aria, go for it. Use your power of learning!
Damian was practically bursting with excitement.
Meanwhile, outside the schoolyard, Nerio strolled. At his side, Leonard spoke softly: "At this point, we're definitely late, Nerio."
Nerio chuckled: "If we don't break a rule or two, where's the fun?"
[Wait a second, this road…]
[I knew it—Nerio must know something!]
[Time to tame another little puppy, haha!]
[This puppy's got some pretty sharp fangs, though.]
[Sharp or not, they won't be sinking into Nerio's throat, haha!]
Leonard glanced up and saw the classroom sign: A1-01.
At that moment, Nerio pushed open the door.
The instant the door swung wide, a wave of noise from inside the classroom crashed out, drawing the attention of anyone nearby.
Inside, the students were in complete chaos—shouting, rolling paper, and flying paper planes everywhere. Even curses rang out, mingling with the sounds of desks and chairs crashing as if a brawl was underway. The scene was nothing like the other classrooms at this time.
Once the class bell rang, no classroom should have been this noisy.
And in the center, Alat sat atop a mountain of desks and chairs. Below him, amid the ruckus, a student was kneeling on the floor, face obscured.
The teacher sat at the podium, resting his chin on one hand. His aged face was filled with indifference, as though he had long since grown accustomed to the sight.
Only today something was different.
Both students and teachers seemed surprised that someone would open the classroom door at this moment; they stopped what they were doing and all looked toward the door.
The boy had an obedient, adorable face, soft cheeks; when he smiled, he looked completely harmless, his pale blue eyes shimmering with moisture. He spoke in a soft voice: "Hello, everyone. I'm a transfer student."
The teacher frowned at them but only waved his hand and said nothing — he was nothing more than a decoration.
Nerio paid him no mind and dragged Leonard into the room, ordering directly: "Go get the desks and chairs."
The desks and chairs were already piled into a mountain under Alat's feet; one would have to confront him head-on to get them.
Alat knitted his brows, looking at Leonard and then at Nerio; his big, flabby body trembled slightly. Of course, he remembered Nerio as the one who had caused him to be beaten by Mr. C yesterday, and his whole face darkened.
Just then, he suddenly curled his lips into a smile and glared down at Tom like a parasite kneeling on the floor: "You — go up and clear the desks for the new student, quickly!"
No sooner had Alat spoken than his underlings went forward; one kicked Tom hard, and he immediately rolled onto the floor. "I told you to hurry up, didn't you hear?!"
By now, Tom was bleeding, his uniform soaked; it wasn't clear where he'd been injured. Hearing the shout, he trembled; his frail body wavered, and each step shook.
"How can you people do this? School bullying is a crime! Why haven't students like this been disciplined?!" Nerio's serious voice rang out as he stepped forward to block Tom's path, speaking righteously.
Tom trembled, and the comment thread had nothing left to say.
[Why doesn't Nerio try talking about how he smashed Ms A's head in one blow, then ripped out classmate Lucian's heart?]
[What's maddening is that his face still looks so beautiful and innocent after all that! Infuriating!]
[Willingly fooled]
[Why does his face look so fierce when he curls his lips like that? He actually looks adorable right now.]
[Bro, what are you saying — Nerio is always adorable: tricking people adorable, killing monsters adorable, ripping out hearts adorable, haha]
[The top is crazy]
Alat looked at Nerio, furious: "What do you know? He's a damn unlucky piece of scum — if it weren't for him, my friend wouldn't have had to kill himself! Keep playing with him and you'll pay!"
Alat didn't intervene with Nerio — partly because he was sure Nerio would behave the same way he did, and partly for some other reason he couldn't quite name. Maybe instinct stopped him from laying a hand on this new student.
Right now, Alat felt unbearably irritated — he needed somewhere to take out his anger! He couldn't help thinking of the guys who'd dared to call Mr. C to beat him yesterday. Fine, he'd deal with those guys first, huh!
Leonard quickly fetched the desks and chairs and saw Nerio sitting beside Tom, holding his hand and soothing him gently. Tom was still curled up in a corner, timid and frightened — clearly bullied so much he knew he couldn't run. Leonard looked at that cowering figure and felt nothing but disgust.
[Can someone show Leonard how he used to look?]
[He's annoyed simply because he knows this will catch Nerio's attention, haha]
[Alright, Nerio, add Tom to your believer harem, I don't mind]
[Haha, seriously, if that actually happened, I'd die laughing]
[Fixed type, huh? Acts meek but dangerous — Nerio really has taste!]
[These fans can praise anything, impressive...]
"Teacher, Tom's badly hurt. I'll take him to the infirmary," Nerio said, standing up with a worried look. The teacher waved his hand, as if about to fall asleep; compared with the teachers in other classrooms, he was worlds apart. Alat and his crew watched Nerio's retreating backs with cold eyes.
One of Alat's underlings looked up at Alat sitting high above, ready to kneel and report: "Should we just let them go like this, boss? I can kill them!" As he finished speaking, the skin beneath his shirt started twitching, as if something under it were about to burst out. Alat's face went cold. Before he could say anything, the classroom instantly slid back into chaos — some students even ran up to scribble on the teacher's face.
The teacher had slumped entirely over his desk, asleep, his aged face filled with fatigue. By then, Nerio's group had already left Building A. Tom looked around anxiously and finally couldn't help blurting out, "This… this isn't the way to the infirmary."