Cerulean Academy, Part 4

(Dazai Crowley's POV)

Cerulean Academy, Present Day

Esmes Montoya.

Shortly after I returned home from the Entrance Exams, I immediately did my research on her.

There isn't much known about her mother, but she is the only child of Dias Montoya, and the next in line to inherit the Montoya Conglomerate.

Needless to say, Montoya Conglomerate is a large family owned business that dabbles in pretty much anything and everything related to the market. However they're mostly known for blacksmithing and trading, while holding strong ties with the Adventurer's Guild and the Merchant Association.

The Montoya Family supposedly dates all the way back past even the Age of The Gods, which took place roughly 300 years ago. Therefore, they had plenty of time to cultivate their "empire" of sorts and go national, if not, global with their wares.

Because of all the riches, power and influence that they gained over the years, many began to recognize them as none other than royalty.

Looking at the situation from that perspective, my plan to terminate Esmes wasn't even that effective from the beginning. All she would have to do to counter is simply have her family pull some strings and make it look like her expulsion never happened.

Royalty. I suppose that too is another great example of "power", huh, Mr. Naoto.

And now, I most certainly made myself an enemy out of that same power.

But here's the question.

—Should I truly be scared?

* * * * * * * * * *

Ding dong!

The school bell finally rang. And almost simultaneously, an adult entered the classroom.

It was a grown woman, whose appearance made her seem like she was in the early thirties.

Well, I'll be damned.

I guess these coincidences never end.

"Alright, settle down everyone. Homeroom is about to start and we got a lot to go over today. So do me a favor and let's make this quick."

Not even a moment after entering the classroom, she uttered those words. By the time she was standing by the table in front of the whiteboard, complete silence had befell the room.

"I assume most of you know by now, but since I know some of you were asleep during the opening ceremony, I'll reintroduce myself."

"My name is Gwein, and for the next span of your four years, I will be Class D's homeroom teacher. Pleasure to meet you."

Ms Gwein. Not only did the four of us manage to get put in the same class, we even got Ms. Gwein herself as our teacher.

Man, this takes me back….

But now I'm starting to wonder. It's just like Roy thought, is any of this truly a coincidence?

"Now as I said before, there is a lot to go over. However, before we get started with that, I would like to start us off with self introductions. This way we all can get to know each other a little bit."

Gwein clapped her hands together.

"Alright, is there anyone who wants to go first?"

At first, there were a couple of hesitant looks. I myself was among them. Being the first person to introduce yourself requires a lot of self-confidence.

It's usually easier when the atmosphere feels a lot easier and there is some social momentum going.

Now, I'm not saying that I'm too shy to introduce myself. It's just that I'm reluctant to do so in the first place since I believe I don't have the "charisma" that's necessary nor the courage to stand out.

…Okay, maybe I am just being shy.

But just when I thought Yamato was going to start us off, suddenly though, one girl in particular stood up and inadvertently stole the initiative.

"My name is Ryoku. It's a pleasure to meet you all. I do hope we can all get along."

On paper, it was a simple introduction followed by an elegant bow. Nothing more, nothing less. The way she handled it however was what made it different. Instead of facing the teacher, she turned around to face the students in particular.

By doing so, despite using an indifferent tone, her introduction felt less formal and more friendly. In other words, she made herself feel that much more approachable.

I also noticed that by doing so, she managed to capture the hearts of some of the boys in this room.

And I could see why.

It was because Ryoku was unbelievably cute. So much so, it even took me by surprise.

When I did a double take on her appearance, I understood the near unnatural cause of her beauty.

She had pointed ears, which means—

"So we have an elf amongst our class." said Ester, who also made the same observation.

Elves, a race that needs no explanation.

A mythical species who are strictly in tune with the laws of nature. Because of this, they are blessed with a type of natural beauty and physique that leaves most ordinary humans intoxicated with their looks.

One by one, people started taking turns introducing themselves. The social momentum has now begun.

All thanks to Ryoku.

"The name's Asura. It's nice to meet you, ladies~"

"My name's Aisha. Please take good care of me."

As the room was filled with various comments and self-introductions, I started to wonder. Should I introduce myself just for the sake of it too?

If I give off a good first impression, I might be more receptive to making friends. Then again though, I don't know how I feel about being in the spotlight…

As I was weighing out the pros and cons of my options, Ester suddenly raised her hand.

"I have a question, Sensei."

"Go ahead."

"Before I say anything, is it absolutely necessary for us to participate in these introductions?"

"No, not exactly. It's just something that I personally wanted you all to do. However, there are, of course, some things not even a teacher can force a student to do if they don't consent. Therefore, if any of you do not wish to introduce yourself, that is also fine."

"I see. Thank you."

Being given her answer, Ester returned to her seat without saying another word. It appears that she has no interest in revealing her identity to anybody.

In addition to that, I also noticed a couple of people like Roy sighing a small sigh of relief. Judging from these reactions, most likely they were the more shy and/or anti-social people of our class.

Likewise, in the end, I too decided not to introduce myself either. About after roughly ten minutes or so have passed, nearly the entire class, save for a few like me and Ester, have introduced themselves.

"Is there anybody else who wants to speak up?"

Besides those who already did, nobody new seemed to speak up. Those who had chosen to remain silent, regardless of reason, were insistent too.

Therefore, the self introduction has now come to a conclusion.

"No? Nobody else? Alright then. Let's move on to the next topic—"

Suddenly though, right at the moment where Gwein was going to begin her speech, the door to the classroom slowly opened. From there, two students, a boy and a girl, entered inside. As soon as they did, however, I immediately recognized the both of them.

Especially the girl who stood by the boy's side.

"Uh oh. I'm not interrupting anything important, am I?" The boy said, sheepishly.

"You're late."

"Ahaha…."

"We were just about done with our self introductions. If you want, you can introduce yourselves to the class and then go take a seat."

"Ah, right then. Hello everyone. My name is Emmel. It's nice to meet you all!"

Emmel is a mysterious guy that I met some time during the exams. Looks like he managed to make it here as well too, huh. However—

"—It's just I never intended on passing with top marks or anything."

Seeing him again had reminded me about that segment he said in particular.

If what he said is true, then that means that Emmel must have been holding back during the actual test.

But if that's the case, then this says a lot more as to what exactly Class D "truly" is.

After Emmel spoke, the girl besides him was next.

".....Name's Judette. Please take care of me, or whatever…."

Her voice was soft, almost so that those in the middle to back rows barely even heard her. Nevertheless, the fact that she was yawning and looked quite drowsy was visible to all of us.

—Even after all these years, that girl still hasn't changed…

After introducing themselves, although in a different fashion, they ascended the staircase in search of seats somewhere high in the back row.

When they passed us however, Emmel noticed me and threw a subtle wave. Although I didn't respond to his gesture, I welcomed his presence.

Judette on the other hand didn't seem to save hello to neither me nor Alice. However I doubt it was because she didn't want to, but rather she was too sleepy to notice us in the first place.

Regardless, the two of them ended up choosing a seat that was a row close to where Roy was stationed, with Judette sitting next to a window.

Wait a second. I just realized that the two of them were sitting next to each other.

Are they by chance, friends? If so, these strings of coincidences runs deeper than I thought.