34 Ranking tournament [1]

[Jessica's Pov]

It was hard to look at the brilliant youth who had won the entire survival event without even fighting one while trying to be impartial.

Although I had gotten pleasantly surprised to see a lot of my students faring well, many of them outperforming students from the A-class, the fact that this pitiful boy won made my heart warm.

At the same time, it hurt me to seeing him care so little for his achievement. Not a single shout, laugh or even a smile had come from him when he exited the capsule. It was just as if he was expected to win as if he had no choice but to do so...

'Focus, Jessica! He is finally talking to you!'

Refocusing my gaze at James, I steadied my heart, "So? What did you want to talk with me about?'

His eyes didn't waver in the slightest as I urged him to speak, "I have a question that I know you might not be allowed to answer. So, would you please give me the time to first explain my predicament before you give your answer?"

It was obvious that the young man had already prepared himself for this seemingly incredibly difficult conversation.

Once again, my heart was hurting seeing how someone so young had to endure so much pressure. But I couldn't treat him differently than I did other students. At least I had to try not to do so. "Go on."

With a sigh, a slight smile emerged on his face. I smile I recognized as one of pain.

"Haaa, thank you, Ms. Turner. The question that I'm going to ask of you is, is it possible to know if my achievement in the survival event was enough for me to enter the A-class?"

It was a preposterous question to ask, but I kept silent as promised, instead just continuously scanning his body language in an attempt to gain a more complete understanding of what he was about to say.

"Ms. Turner, I don't want to fight in the tournament. No, it would probably be more correct to say, I don't want to fight against my fellow students."

His words confused me, and the part that confused me the most was that he actively stressed that the problem lay in fighting the other students.

It was clear that he meant that he meant that he had no problems with fighting in and of itself, but why did he have a problem fighting against them? Even more so when he already knew that we would be using a special form of magic to make sure no one could die, even if their heads and hearts exploded.

"Could you explain what you mean, James?"

His smile was still present on his above-average-looking face, but his eyes weren't smiling anymore.

"Unfortunately, I cannot. Just know that even though I don't want to fight them, I will do so if that is what it takes to get promoted to the A-class."

We stood in silence for a moment, as he let me ponder what he had just vocalized, almost as if he was actively testing me to see if I was reliable.

I had to try and make one conclusion at a time to make sense of all of this, although he had said so little, there was so much information.

Firstly, he was desperate to get into the A-class, and, even though the reasons were unknown, he would do whatever it takes to accomplish this.

Then, there was the question of why he didn't want to fight the other students. As the heir of a hidden family, he was surely more than powerful enough to do well in the duels, even if his specialty lay in utility.

This meant that he must be acting out of concern for the other students, but what kind of skills did he have to be afraid of hurting them even though physical injuries wouldn't be a problem?

'Is he truly part of 'that' family? I thought they had already disappeared from this world...'

I didn't know most of the hidden families that existed, which made sense as they were literally called hidden, but there was one I knew about that ticked off all the boxes.

The Mare family, was the family of nightmares who made their enemies go insane by locking them in their own minds, forcing them to watch their worst nightmares in a never-ending cycle of torment. It was also one of the few afflictions that no healing or restoration skill could fix.

The reason why they had disappeared was that all of the other noble families, including a lot of the hidden houses, gathered together to destroy them, not wanting that sort of power to exist.

If James truly was the heir to that house, everyone who fought him might end up in a hospital bed for the rest of their days or until someone took mercy upon their hearts and ended their lives.

I tried to remember if I heard anything about them being aligned to the earth element, which would explain the situation at the guides, but I couldn't. 300 years had already passed since they got, supposedly, eradicated, so the information wasn't exactly easily accessible anymore either, even more so as it was probably censored by the government.

Though the chances were slim that he was a part of that house, I couldn't risk it. The most responsible thing would probably be to report him to the government, where they would 'question' him until they got an answer, but that would be too cruel for the pitiful young man. My heart wouldn't be able to bear it.

Thus, I acted in the second most responsible way, "The points you got for winning the survival event solo are more than enough for you to promote to the A-class..."

I told him the truth, as to not having to risk anything, while at the same time reassuring myself that there was no way he was part of that family.

His face lit up when he heard my words, now finally showing me what I thought was the first genuine smile he had ever given me.

"Thank you, Ms. Turner! Thank you!"

Unable to bear my own hypocrisy, I just reciprocated his smile and sent him on his way, "It's fine. Just don't tell anyone about this. Now, go and do whatever you young people do nowadays."

As I watched the back of the young man walk away, I took comfort in the fact that I only gave him a simple answer to a question. There was no real harm done, the only thing it would do is to give some lucky student a free win.

****

[James's Pov]

The human mind was truly amazing. It didn't take much for a person's subconscious to start to interpret words and actions on its own, meaning it was often better to say less than more if you wanted something from a person who liked you. This being said, you had to speak with truth for this to work. A lot of people could feel if a person was lying, but it was a lot harder if the words were true but didn't contain all of the relevant information.

It also worked the other way around, if a person disliked you, you had to bring all the facts in order to convince him, making sure that the individual knew what he or she could gain.

This was the premise that I had acted upon during my talk with Ms. Turner, choosing to talk sparsely and acting frail and weak as I spoke words that were filled with truth, yet didn't explain the context.

There was no question about it, really, really didn't want to fight the other students. They were super strong! I didn't want to get my ass kicked for no reason!

Also, the fights would be broadcasted to the entirety of Mensch, so there was no way I would be able to use my skills without someone figuring out what I could do.

At some point in time, this would be impossible to avoid, but nothing was stopping me from delaying it for as long as possible.

*Click!*

Opening the door to my home, letting my weary psyche finally rest, after all of the challenges I had gone through, I let my body fall into the bed.

'Though I wonder what kind of thoughts Ms. Turner had...'

It was a fact that there was no need for me to know what kind of thoughts her mind had constructed for her to help me, but I couldn't help but be curious. This was, after all, the line of work that had supported me in my last life. One single theory on the way the human mind defended itself in order to make sure we acted in self-satisfaction.

It was both hated and loved, but, in my mind, all that I had written was true. No matter if an individual is regarded as good or evil, their own minds will always be able to create reasons to justify their actions. This was also what scared me the most in life. The unpredictability of humans and, more than that, the way they always found ways to make their choices seem right in their heads.

It would be for the best if she was thinking I was weak in combat, which I tried to insinuate, but it would be naive to think she would after winning the entire survival event.

Little did I know that the construct of her mind, that I helped create, would be the beginning of my end.