Time Is Money
"All of this just for us to leave after a mere couple of minutes?" Tanya raised one brow and crossed her arms.
An emperor cannot be called upon for such a lousy test and be told to leave just like that. This was obviously feeling like a waste of time despite her gains, there was simply no suspense nor explanation.
"Was that really all?" Diana gave an annoyed expression as she kept on looking at the stage.
'Wait…' Tanya smirked and looked at her two roommates.
"Tanya, Diana, I think we should leave. I need to study to make sure I get a high grade in magic class. My mom and dad went through all of this trouble to send me here, so the least I can do is achieve a good grade…" Yuri explained with a nervous look on her face.
"Why don't you rest here for a while? You can study for magic class later, I will even tutor you if you want." Tanya confidently replied.
"Tanya, let her go. I also need to start studying for magic class. If you want to be on top of this year, you need to ace magic class." Diana place her hand on Tanya's shoulder, prompting the latter to stop.
"Hoh~?" Tanya turned to Diana and smiled deviously.
"So brave today~ you even made the first move." Tanya span her body and gracefully placed her hands on both sides of Diana's waist.
"!!!" Diana stepped back, however, her feet were followed by Tanya's, in the same rhythm and tempo.
"I did not know you could dance, Diana~"
'What do you mean?! Of course I know how to dance! My feet are moving on their own and now she is getting closer.' Diana blushed as she backed into the desks.
"Tanya… please stop that." Yuri tugged on Tanya's skirt.
'So brave.'
'So brave.'
Both of them thought the exact same thing.
Touch my sleeve, you want to talk. Touch my shirt, you want to fight. Touch my skirt, you want to 'fight'.
'When will that stupid student council president come back?! I know he is just itching to tell the people that remained about the 'second phase'.'
"Yuri~ I did not know you wanted that…" Tanya's eyes became relaxed and her face became as cool as a male lead's, glancing at Yuri with confidence to back her.
"Want what…?!" Yuri backed off a step.
"You do know what happens when you touch a woman's skirt?"
"It is a crime payable in only one form of currency. Do you know what that is?"
Yuri shakes her head innocently.
"Come over here, I'll whisper it."
Yuri slowly walked over and pointed her ear towards Tanya's warm mouth, feeling the heat of the latter's breath hitting the side of her soft face.
DING
A bright pulse of light shone from the centre of the stage, illuminating the whole auditorium for a mere split second.
"Attention! For those that still remain in the auditorium, you have passed part 2 of Main Task 1. Congratulations on noticing the simple logic flaw that I put forward." Kieran smiled as he expressed his happiness.
"At the very least, the 10 of you will be able to become discerning personalities in the future. Good work in remembering that a noble's time is money in this world. An assembly just to make you leave? Ridiculous. The future of the kingdom cannot be led around like dogs on a leash. For those that noticed this and not just stayed out of anger, I sincerely give you my praise."
Below them, the roommates could see 7 other silhouettes seated in the normal area. If one were to concentrate hard enough, like Tanya, they would at the very least notice a figure with short green hair, and a figure with beautiful long blonde hair. It seemed everyone else had darker shades.
"Wow! We just passed another test!" Diana celebrated with her fist in the air.
"I wonder what we will get this time? Tanya smiled out of curiosity, rubbing her index finger on her chin.
"Tanya! I couldn't hear what you said because of that loud boy!" Yuri complained.
"What does pulling on your skirt mean?!" Yuri became determined to know the answer, pouting in affirmation.
"Wait…" Tanya placed her index finger over Yuri's lips.
"!!!" Yuri's face suddenly turned as red as a tomato again.
"The second stage of the task was for the chance to battle for a prize. Everyone here is now eligible… except for me, I am a senior student of course. This stage might look small from where you all are sitting, but I assure you that a duel on here will not be obstructed by lack of space. Now I must ask, will you all take the chance?"
"The prize is something that you will not live down if you let it go. I promise that you will be satisfied if you win. Just remember, all duels are randomly selected. If you wish to enter, I wish you luck!"
"We have to fight?! That is so sudden, I didn't even bring a staff." Yuri panicked, threading her fingers through her long luscious hair.
"Neither did I! I didn't expect anything like this to happen!" Diana joined in on the panic.
'Well I came prepared. Always come prepared and the day shall reward you.'
'In my case, the day always rewards me.'
"This is why you always bring a blade in case of emergencies." Tanya showcased her half destroyed sword.
'I forgot to replace the sword.' Tanya's face became deadpan as she came to the realisation.
"Hah! Even Tanya wasn't prepared for this!" Diana laughed with passion, feeling satisfied knowing that she was not worse than Tanya.
Nevertheless, Tanya remained unworried of the situation. After gauging her strength against an unknown monster just a few hours prior, Tanya knew that a bunch of freshman students would not be a huge problem for her.
At worst, she would take a while to break past a shield spell while trying not to expose her full extent of her abilities.
"Don't worry, 'Tantan', everyone makes mistakes~!"
"!!!"
"!!!"
'Too daring!'