Lila's black hair framed her sharp eyes as she raised her blade—its tip pressed against my throat.
---
All the students present began to sweat. Unlike the bandit group we had just fought, the presence of this woman was unlike anything we've ever faced.
They all knew that even if they tried to rescue the me, their attempts would be cut short by this woman.
"Class S, rank eleven—Alen. Do you think we, the Golden Troupe, are just here to clean up after you?" Her towering height dwarfed the boy.
"That's what it seems like to me." I told her, putting up my best tough guy act.
If I show weakness now, she'll take all the credit for herself.
"Why don't I make you see otherwise, little student?" Her blade rose, stopping between his eyebrows.
The sounds of hands clapping a single time snapped both Lila and I out of our moment.
"Now, boss, I think we can let these little guys have this one. Don't you think?" A young man suddenly appeared between them.
I don't know who this guy is… he looks about our age—maybe younger.
…
She clicked her tongue, then sheathed her sword and walked away.
"I'll report your achievements to Director Goldenlaw… and you'd better leave before I change my mind." Her annoyed tone and angry expression terrified every single one of us, except for Fran.
Before rejoining his boss, the strange boy winked at me playfully, sending goosebumps across my entire skin.
The Golden Troupe departed as the last of the captured bandits were loaded into a cart.
A long sigh escaped Yani's mouth as their group made its way through the lonely streets of the city's poorest district.
"And tomorrow we still have classes… Kaida, I'm skipping. Want to come to my dorm?"
"I-I can't skip classes… what if we need to be there to receive our promotions?"
"If we get enough points, that is," Cole added to the chat.
"Uuugh, but they can't make us go to class after this mission. That's torture."
"This isn't so different from classes with Teacher Kafka," I joked, thinking of the relentless training that was already shaping both him and Fran.
"I'm going tomorrow." Fran skipped ahead, blocking my path with a poke to my chest. "But you… you are not going."
"Bu—"
"No buts! Look at your face. All those bruises, that black eye, and all that bleeding." She traced each injury, making me yelp in pain.
"She's right, you took the worst of it," Cole laughed while Yani and Kaida both nodded.
"I can't believe you held out long enough for us to arrive."
"Th-that was so—"
"On the contrary, I told you to be safe, and this is how you come back?"
The concerned looks and compliments from his teammates made Alen blush and turn away.
"It honestly wasn't anything special. Any of you could've done it."
"Th-that's not right! It's tha—"
"If you keep downplaying yourself, I swear I'll make you regret it." Fran's cold tone—a rare tone she never used on me—slipped out as she walked beside me.
"I'm already getting punished for other things… can't you let this one pass?" I sighed in defeat, making the so-called villainess chuckle.
"Nope. I'm adding to your punishments."
I noticed from the corner of my eye how our friendly banter made the shy girl clench her fists as she watched from behind.
Yani, noticing this, quickly hatched a plan to and mischeviously smiled.
"Kaida, we still haven't thanked them properly, right?" She spoke just loud enough for Alen and Fran to hear.
"Huh?"
"You're our leader, so why don't you thank them personally?"
"B-but…" Kaida's gaze flicked nervously between the proud princess and myself.
"We really haven't thanked them yet," Cole chimed in, backing up Yani. "And our leader should do it."
"See? Cole gets it."
"B-but—"
"We'll call them over. Alen! Fran! Our leader has something to say!"
"We're not interested in whatever words escape that sinner's mouth." Fran didn't even look back, coldly dismissing Kaida.
"Don't be so mean… I actually want to hear what she has to say." My words made Fran click her tongue.
"As long as that disgusting sinner doesn't talk—"
"Alen!"
The shout wasn't Kaida's. It was harsh, sharp—the voice of an angry boy.
Tirino, who had been trailing behind, stormed forward the moment everyone turned to him.
"I swear to god, if you get more points than us, I'll kill you!"
"Tirino!" Both Yani and Cole snapped at him, hoping he'd calm down.
"You ruined our whole strategy, stuck me fighting nobodies, and now you'll end up stealing m—our credit for catching this group." Tirino locked eyes with me, his glare daring me to respond.
But I said nothing. Exhaustion weighed down my body, and after this encounter with the Golden Troupe, I had no energy left for another fight.
"Y-yeah, man… whatever you say." I yawned and kept walking. "Kaida, thank us later. Right now, I want to sleep."
"But it's only, like, three in the morning. You're already that tired?" The white-haired girl claimed as if it was the most normal thing in the world.
Everyone turned to her in disbelief.
"And when exactly am I supposed to be tired, then?" I muttered.
I don't have a problem with spending a night without sleeping, but today's event tired me more than I was expecting it to.
"I usually sleep around four or six in the morning."
"We start most days at seven-thirty…" my eyes widened as I muttered in amusement. "You only get two, maybe three hours of sleep?"
"Yeah," Fran replied confidently—then wilted under their stares. "I-I mean, I take naps to compensate."
I couldn't help but place a hand on her shoulder, pity softening my eyes. "Sleep as much as you can when we get back to the dorms."
"I couldn't live on your schedule," Yani said, covering her mouth with her hand.
"Same. I could sleep the whole day. Do yourself a favor and rest properly," Cole added with a yawn.
Both Kaida and Tirino stayed silent. Kaida, because she knew Fran would just shoot her down again. Tirino, because he couldn't believe he was being ignored.
"I-it's not that uncommon… most people have my schedule," Fran tried to defend herself—not against the group, but to Alen, who looked at her as if she had been living in hell her entire life.
"I'm worried about you, Fran. Please—get a good night's rest. For me?" I asked with genuine concern for the princess.
I didn't know you had that sleep schedule...
My sincere words seemed to have made the princess blush, flustered beyond measure.
"I-I mean, if it's my f-friend telling me… then I guess I could try." Fran mentioned, ignoring everyone else here except for me.
The rest of the group silently laughed at the sight. To them, seeing the proud princess of Montanev act this way was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
I just smiled gently, relieved that she agreed.
Although I couldn't tell based purely on te quick glance I gave her, Kaida seemed to have found herself with conflicting emotions when seeing Fran and I be this close together.
It seems Yani also noticed it and leaned into her ear, where she whispered something into the short leader's ear that made her blush and become flustered while giving me quick peeks.
Meanwhile, Tirino's rage simmered—but even he began to yawn.
---
Elsewhere
"That kid was entertaining, right, boss?"
"You have no right to call them kids." The captain of the Golden Troupe scoffed at her partner.
They patrolled the neighborhood, watching for any stragglers.
"But you can't deny it was entertaining." The boy crossed his arms as they spotted a thug who had failed to escape.
"Only one of them was worth my time." With a swift motion, she severed the thug's legs.
"I know, right? He even kept a cocky attitude against you." The boy clapped his hands, drowning out the man's screams.
"Not even I managed that the first time we met." He laughed, pressing his boot down on the thug's face. "So, will you report them as the ones who stopped the bandits? Or are you doing whatever you want?"
A mischievous smile spread across his lips as he crushed the man's skull.
"I have no need to trample over the achievements of students that fought hard" Lila cleaned up her sword from the blood of the thug she just killed.
It has been a time since she had free reign to have her way with these lowly scum. She was going to at least kill a couple of these thugs and file their deaths as: "They became aggressive and I had to defend myself"
"You're never like this with students from Aurum" the boy giggled as he saw the thug's corpse fall dead on the hround.
"Maybe that place isn't so rotten this year..." she mentioned while glancing where the academy's building was located.
"But it's still too early to call them an improvement"