Questions

The sudden gesture made Hugh surprised. He was busy thinking about his lie when Ace asked him if he wanted coffee. It was not appropriate for the tension in the air.

"No thanks."

Hugh shook his head and rejected the offer. He had heard bad things about the Student Council, and he was not sure if they would put some weird concoction in his coffee.

He does not trust the carefree demeanor of Ace. It must have been a ruse to get him to relax and be more prone to telling the truth.

Ace stood up from his chair and went out the door. Hugh was once again alone in the room devoid of any color and life. Hugh tapped his fingers on the table as he waited for a few minutes until Ace came back with a cup of coffee in his hand.

Ace sat down on his chair and took a sip of the coffee that was still giving off steam. He seemed to enjoy the strong taste and aroma of black coffee.

"Hmmm... that's good. Are you sure you don't want anything?"

Hugh did not answer and just sat straight in his chair. He did not give off any indication that he was nervous, or else they would be less likely to believe his lies.

"Okay...your loss."

Ace put down his cup of coffee on the table and took out a tablet from his pockets. He scrolled through the holographic contents until he found what he was looking for.

"So...Hugh...is that your name?"

Ace asked a simple question, yet it made Hugh nervous. They already knew his identity, yet Ace still asked about his name. Each second that time passed, Hugh started to get more and more impatient.

It was only when he noticed that he was tapping his foot on the floor that he noticed his own impatience. He stopped and shook his head. He needed to relax and not let the pressure from Ace disturb him.

"Yes. That is my name."

Ace looked at Hugh longer than a second, seemingly surprised about something. His stare did not last long as he looked at his tablet again.

"Hugh from class A with F-level talent. How has school been going for you?"

Hugh did not know why Ace was asking him these types of questions, but he answered him with resolve in his eyes.

"It's fine."

Ace looked at Hugh again with a bit of visible doubt in his eyes. He asked a follow-up question.

"Are you sure? An F-level talent like you would definitely get some bad looks coming your way."

Hugh furrowed his eyebrows and continued to answer Ace.

"It's fine. It was all a little bit of banter."

He did not want to say that he was bullied because that would give Ace more information about him. Ace could twist his words and use the excuse that he killed Joub as a way of retribution from bullying.

Hugh needed to paint a picture of a typical student that was not getting into any trouble.

Ace looked at his tablet again and scrolled through it. It was not long until he asked another question.

"So your fights with Aric was not due to grudges?"

Hugh guessed that Ace had a lot of information about him during classes. It seemed like Ace was trying to guide his words towards a direction, so Hugh had to lie not to get caught up in Ace's momentum.

"No. It was just a friendly spar."

Ace continued to look at the tablet in his hands. He looked at Hugh with a sharp eye and asked another question.

"Do you know about an individual named Veer?"

The question made Hugh's heart skip a beat. He did not know who Veer was, but it seemed like Veer was targeting him. He had heard rumors that he and Veer were colluding with each other, which was not true.

Seeing that Ace asked about Veer, Hugh guessed that they wanted to know Veer's identity. It also seemed like they hated Veer for spreading information without their permission.

"I recall my classmates talking about Veer, but I do not know Veer."

Ace continued to browse his tablet as if he was not listening to Hugh's answer.

"You claim not to know Veer, but it seemed that Veer knows about you. All of Veer's pamphlets have you as the subject."

Hugh genuinely did not know how to respond to that. He also wanted to know why Veer was targeting him and if Veer really knew about his transformation. He did not have to lie to Ace as he said his answer.

"I do not know why Veer seemed to care about me, nor do I care about it."

Ace took a sip of his coffee as Hugh answered. He seemed to be relaxed with his questions even though every question of his had a hidden meaning.

"You are a very valuable guy, do you know that? You are worth 1,000,000 points, according to Veer."

Ace seemed to praise Hugh, but Hugh knew that Ace was just sarcastic. That was also one of Hugh's problem with Veer; he could not let his guard down, or else somebody would attack him from the back.

"That is probably a joke. I would also turn myself in for 1,000,000 points, but I do not have a hidden power."

Hugh answered back in a joking manner as he shrugged his shoulders. It truly seemed like Hugh would cash in on the million points if he could. Even Hugh was surprised by his own acting ability.

Ace let out a soft pity chuckle as the tension in the room was lifted for just a second. Then, Ace continued with the interrogation.

"Were you surprised when you saw this bounty at The Prestige Club?"

Hugh immediately knew the real question that was being asked. Ace did not want to know if Hugh was surprised. Instead, he wanted Hugh to confirm that he was in the club that night.

Hugh could not lie because it would get quickly found out. There were multiple eyewitnesses at the club that observed him during all of the events, so he could not deny it.

"Yeah, but who wouldn't? I was surprised that I was even worth that much."

Ace then put on a curious face as he put his chin on his hand and leaned in towards Hugh. It was as if Ace was genuinely interested in what Hugh had to say.

"Wow, I would too. Then, what did you do with all those greedy eyes looking at you like you were a prize?"

Hugh did not fall for Ace's act. He knew that Ace just wanted to know what happened to Hugh that led to the chasing scene.

"I ran away. I did not want to get caught up in a stampede."

Ace nodded to himself as he listened to Hugh talk. He then asked more questions like he was an engaged listener.

"How were you able to escape? Multiple people were coming after you."

Hugh did not have to lie as he answered Ace's question. He only had to say what truly happened to seem like he was believable.

"I ran away from the Central Area. I wore my uniform, so I was able to get out. The people chasing me wore casual clothes, so they could not get out of the Central Area."

Ace raised his eyebrows as if he was surprised at Hugh's brilliant move. He seemed like he was impressed, but Hugh knew Ace was only pandering to him.

"Were you followed outside?"

Hugh was now starting to feel the pressure. Ace was getting closer and closer to asking the real question that he wanted to ask. Hugh had to pick his words carefully.

"I do not think so."

Ace furrowed his eyebrows as if he was doubtful of Hugh's words. This made Hugh anxious, but he kept his wits.

"Are you sure? There were multiple accounts that somebody was able to follow you outside."

Hugh gulped as he tried to think about the right answer to get him out of this situation. With resolve in his eyes, he answered.

"Hmm..maybe I did meet someone. I don't remember; I was drunk."

Ace squinted his eyes and laid back on his chair. He put his hands on his head and spoke to Hugh.

"Yeah, you must have met Joub."

Ace had a carefree expression, but Hugh knew he had a careful eye on him.

"Maybe. I just went home as fast as I can."

Then, Ace took a sip and stood up from his chair. He put his hands on the table and leaned towards Hugh.

"Did you not remember killing him?"