"… You're seriously telling me that she's a Neo-Aristocrat?" Lucas asked, trying to hold back his shock.
Finally feeling that the silver-haired boy was giving the proper reaction, Arther nodded.
"If you don't believe me… Just look up her name. That should be more than enough proof."
Pulling out his phone, Lucas did precisely that.
"… It's real."
Lucas saw pictures of Scarlett in several news articles, all describing how rich and influential her family was.
Unable to suppress his curiosity, Lucas checked her family's net worth.
Instantly, his eyes widened at the number he saw.
'That… is a lot of zeros.'
It took Lucas several attempts to correctly count out the number of zeroes… although that attested more to his arithmetic abilities—or, in this case, his lack thereof.
Lucas couldn't help but turn his head to the seat that Scarlett was sitting in only moments prior.
He even shook her hand…
If Lucas could somehow build a connection with such a rich person, his life would be all but set!
He just needed to find a way to kiss her boots…
Almost instinctively, Lucas's eyes fell towards the student council application form in his hands.
However, after deciding for a moment, he shook his head.
'This sounds like too much of a hassle.'
Lucas didn't know the first thing about being in an administrative position, hell, he wasn't even sure he could spell the damn word.
Not privy to Lucas's internal dilemma, Arthur studied the silver-haired youth's face and let out a small sigh.
"Hey, I wanted to thank you… for earlier."
Shifting his gaze up from the form, Lucas raised an eyebrow.
"What for?"
"You really are as righteous as they say," Arthur's lips curved into a smile, "even risking your life to save mine isn't something worth mentioning for you, is it?"
Lucas felt a vein bulge on his forehead.
'Oh lord… not him too.'
However, before he could say anything, Arthur spoke first.
"No one has ever done something like that for me before. Despite the horrible things I told you when our plan fell through… You still put yourself in harm's way to save me; you pushed me to safety despite having the option to let me die alongside you."
Suddenly remembering something, Lucas asked: "By the way, didn't you… you know, fall from the roof of the train? How did you get out unscathed?"
"Did you forget? We're Level ones! There's no way a 10-foot drop would seriously injure us. Even if it did, one of the proctors in charge of the drill caught me before I fell."
Oh right… They were technically considered superhumans.
Of course, despite being an almighty superhuman, Lucas still couldn't manage to do a singular pull-up.
Just like everything else in his life, this was yet another cruel joke.
While Blaine was inwardly lamenting his fate, Arthur continued:
"So, I was wondering if you'd like to be friends with me. When we graduate in a year to become full-fledged hunters, having at least one person to trust your back with is a necessity. Who would be better for this role than someone who risked their life for mine? I promise you… one day, I'll make sure to repay you in full."
'…Friends? This guy wants to be 'friends' with me?'
Lucas's eyes widened in surprise.
As he looked at the eagerly waiting blond-haired boy, Lucas was already sure of his answer.
'Fuck no! Why the hell would I want to have something as useless as a friend!'
However, moments before he could respond, a blue translucent screen appeared before Lucas's eyes.
[SYSTEM NOTICE]
[SOCIAL BOND: 'Arthur Kirk' WISHES TO FORGE A BOND OF FRIENDSHIP WITH YOU]
[Y/N]
Reading the text on the floating blue screen in bewilderment, Lucas's eyes scanned over the last line.
[Y/N]
'N probably stood for 'no,' so the Y must mean…'
Lucas unintentionally muttered under his breath.
"… 'Yes'?"
'As if I would pick yes to that! Let's just hurry up and tell this guy 'no' before checking to see if the nurses accidentally put me on shrooms. How else would I be having psychedelic hallucinations?'
Unfortunately for Lucas… somehow picking up on his quiet muttering, Arthur nodded his head with a grin.
"I see you're on board with the idea! I hope we get along well from now on… friend."
[SYSTEM NOTICE]
[SOCIAL BOND: 'Arthur Kirk' HAS FORMED A BOND OF FRIENDSHIP WITH YOU]
[BOND LEVEL: 1/10]
[ACQUIRED SKILL: Lightning Manipulation - Rank A (MASTERY: 10% {CURRENT RANK F-})]
Lucas stared at the several new screens in horror.
'What the actual fuck?!?'
Before Lucas could properly come to terms with this new development, Arthur's voice interrupted him once more.
"By the way, I need to get going now, but I'll come find you when you're out of the hospital. The student representative's speech is going to be in two hours, so we'll meet again then."
Without giving Lucas a chance to voice his objections, Arthur turned around and left the room, leaving Lucas on his own.
As the door closed shut, Lucas's body fell limply onto his bed.
"Why… why me?"
Indeed, this was all just a horrible hallucination! Perhaps even a bad dream!
Right! There was no way he suddenly began seeing floating blue holograms or, even worse... making friends.
Just the thought of it sent shivers down Lucas's spine.
There was no way this was real!
As Lucas's eyes focused on the blue hologram, he couldn't help but feel they looked slightly familiar…
'Wait… This is the thing I saw before I passed out! The piece of shit that told me that it'd take it five full minutes to download!'
Now that he thought about it, maybe he suffered some kind of brain injury during the drill on the train earlier.
If this wasn't the work of hallucinogenic drugs, perhaps this was some kind of extreme PTSD?
Did he go insane from fear?
He even went out of his way to curse God…
'…Oh god.'
Lucas finally remembered the trigger for this whole thing.
It was when he apologized for wanting to sock God in the face!
'Now that I think about it… Do I have to become religious now?'
As that thought crossed his mind, Lucas's expression fell.