This morning, Ethan was personally driven to school by Mr. Silvan and Mrs. Marina.
He didn't have any other choice - Summer's Jeep Wrangler Rubicon was still at the repair shop, and Summer himself was busy with work at the Field Hospital.
Of course, with Harmony Town still not back to normal, Ethan wasn't allowed to walk or ride his bike to school alone.
The AC in Mr. Silvan's Vinfast VF9 wasn't all that cold, yet Ethan noticed the hairs on his arms standing on end. At the same time, his heartbeat had picked up slightly. Still, the signals from his Bloodbound mark told him that Mr. Silvan had no intention of "making a meal" out of him.
Ethan still couldn't quite adapt to the invisible pressure radiating from Mr. Silvan - especially since the man's regard for him had dropped noticeably after last night's dinner.
Fortunately, Mr. Silvan was someone who kept his personal feelings separate from his duties. This morning's training with him had been just as brutal as the very first session. But thanks to Mr. Silvan's detailed guidance on muscle stretching techniques, Ethan's muscles were no longer quite as sore as yesterday.
On top of that, the breakfast Mr. Silvan prepared for him was still delicious and packed with nutrition, while the packed lunch smelled of fresh beef, crisp vegetables, and neatly sliced cucumbers. Ethan had his hands full carrying multiple bags and containers - he was also bringing Autumn's lunch along.
The Vinfast VF9 stopped in front of the massive stone gate of the Ancient Fortress to pick up Autumn and Royce. It was Sunday yesterday, but they'd still had to pull a night shift - monitoring the town remotely from the camera surveillance room inside the fortress.
"Anything unusual last night, kids?"
Mrs. Marina turned her head toward her beloved daughter in the back seat.
No reply came from Autumn or Royce. The moment they climbed into the car, both of them were already snoring away.
"Poor kids! They're still at the age where they should be eating and growing, but staying up late like this will stunt their height. Royce is already 1.88 meters tall - pretty good for someone Asian, so I guess he doesn't need to grow any taller. But our little Autumn is already a bit short compared to her peers. I wonder if she'll grow any taller at all."
Mrs. Marina sighed in quiet dismay to her husband.
Through the rearview mirror, Ethan caught a glimpse of Mr. Silvan's less-than-pleased expression.
Because, after a while of nodding off, Autumn leaned her head on Ethan's shoulder and fell sound asleep. Meanwhile, his other shoulder was taken over by Royce, leaving him trapped between the two friends.
Mr. Silvan took his left hand off the steering wheel and raised two fingers in a scissor-like gesture - just high enough for Ethan to see.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
The movement was quick, but it didn't escape the ocean-blue eyes of his wife.
"Just a thing between men."
"Oh, really? You're making me think of the kids' grandpa. Back then, you had to swallow a lot of grievances with my dad, so now you're taking it out on Ethan, is that it?"
"Nooo! I just want the boy to toughen up! I didn't do anything to him!"
"Sure, sure. I get it."
Mrs. Marina chuckled while the skin of her tall, broad-shouldered husband began turning a shade of reddish-purple.
By the time the car rolled close to Harmony High's gates, Ethan felt much lighter inside. He quickly shook his Vampire friends awake.
After bidding farewell to the adults, the kids sluggishly stepped out of the car…
… and froze in shock the moment they set foot past Harmony High's gates.
"Did… did we just get isekai'd into another world?"
Autumn stammered as she asked the group.
"We didn't get hit by any Truck-kun."
Royce replied knowingly, glancing back at the school gates as if to confirm there wasn't some invisible magic portal or space rift there.
Smack!
"Ow! Why'd you hit meeee?!"
Royce yelped after Autumn delivered a thunderous slap to his back.
"Sorry, Royce. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't dreaming."
Autumn's tone was perfectly casual.
Ethan looked around the schoolyard again and again. The architecture hadn't changed from when he left on Friday - it was still that blend of neoclassical and modern Western style.
Apart from the colorful lanterns strung up everywhere, the real oddity seemed to come from the outfits worn by the students walking back and forth across the grounds.
All the students - both boys and girls - were wearing traditional Vietnamese clothing. Most of the girls looked absolutely beautiful in áo dài tứ thân or áo dài ngũ thân. The boys looked a bit more rustic since most of them had opted for outfits resembling those of old-time farmers.
"Guys, look at Flora from Class 11C!"
Royce and Autumn followed the direction of Ethan's pointing finger.
Flora - the girl who would faint at the slightest shock - was wearing an outfit that could hardly be called traditional. She had on a bright red áo Nhật Bình paired with a super-short black skirt, along with thigh-high black socks that only reached halfway up her thighs. The look was made even edgier with mid-calf studded boots adorned with chains.
Flora waved at Autumn and Ethan but immediately bolted when she noticed Royce was also looking her way.
"What's that supposed to be? Her skirt, socks, and boots are obviously modern," Autumn said, holding her head in bewilderment. Ethan could only shrug in reply.
The three of them - Ethan, Autumn, and Royce - still had no clue what in the world was going on at Harmony High. All they knew was that their school uniforms looked completely out of place amid the sea of vibrant reds from the traditional garments.
"That's strange… Today's the first Monday of October. There should be an all-school assembly."
Ethan remarked, but no one could give him an answer.
Since they were already full from breakfast at home, the trio decided to head straight to their Class 11D classroom instead of loitering around the courtyard.
As they walked along the third-floor hallway, whispers about Ethan and his two Vampire friends reached his ears loud and clear.
"Those three are in Class 11D, right?"
"Looks like the 11D kids want to stand out - they didn't even bother to follow the dress code."
"Did they not hear the announcement, check their email, or read the message on the Harmony High Online app?"
"No wonder 11D's Harmony Point score is always the lowest in the school."
"That class is full of weirdos anyway. I doubt they care about Harmony Points."
"I heard Royce had to be hospitalized for a whole week because of dengue fever. Still, he looks pretty 'delicious,' huh?"
"Yeah, Royce looks good in anything. Honestly, he should've been in Class 11A."
Ethan suddenly stopped walking. His breathing quickened, almost like a black cat wheezing from an asthma attack, which made his friends glance at him in concern.
It hit him… There must be an important Event happening today!
Ethan didn't have an extraordinary memory, but it wasn't terrible either.
Over the past weekend, far too many terrifying incidents - things no ordinary student could imagine - had happened to him.
And all those calamities had made him completely forget the passionate conversation he'd had with class president Lucas and secretary Simon on Friday morning about Harmony Points.