A HELPING HAND

Not far from where Stare stood, there was a slightly chubby, tall kid with green hair. He was accompanied by a group of four other students, all surrounding a single boy. Their predatory grins as they stared down at the helpless boy on the floor instantly painted a clear picture to Stare — this was undoubtedly a case of bullying.

While occurrences like this were inevitable, even in a prestigious Hero Academy where students were groomed to become the finest heroes society could offer, ultimately, they remained humans before heroes.

Stare however hadn't anticipated such incidents to arise so soon, especially after the recent warning issued by the Rector just minutes ago regarding issues like this.

It was only normal that everybody tried to follow the rules for at least a month or few weeks while they got more acquainted with the new environment, of course there were exceptions to this, which ranged from a students from a powerful background to students with a high mental retardation.

In this case Stare suspected the bully and his group to probably be both.

"The NEDF officials will probably intervene soon," Stare muttered confidently as he swiftly retrieved his media player from his pocket and plugged both ears with earphones, refocusing on locating his dorm.

While he naturally felt inclined to assist the kid, unnecessarily involving himself in such situations, particularly early on in the academy, could land him in a "catch-22" scenario. This could prove highly detrimental to his plans and also quite vexing. Continuously facing the kid and his associates, who would persist in challenging him despite his repeated successes in defeating them, would become increasingly tiresome and would seriously affect his actual reason for being here in the Academy.

Stare resumed walking, but his pace slowed considerably after a few seconds. Despite the passage of time, there was still no sign of intervention from NEDF officials. In fact, now he thought about it he hadn't spotted any of the officials since he was escorted by one of them earlier.

His feet abruptly stopped their movement, and with annoyance, he turned back around.

"Stupid Heroic Trait... stupid kids... stupid Oracle and its stupid path," Stare muttered through gritted teeth as he strode toward the scene of the bullying, stuffing his media player back into his pocket.

The group had already begun stepping on the kid lying helplessly on the floor and even making jokes about it among themselves.

This was something Stare, despite all the years he had lived, couldn't really understand: how people derived so much pleasure from hurting someone who hadn't harmed them in anyway.

Although Stare would typically prefer to resolve situations like this with his fists, he opted for an approach that wouldn't lead to a catch-22 situation for him later in the academy.

He approached the group, although they initially didn't notice him, being too engrossed in the mistreatment of their victim on the floor.

Clearing his throat loudly, he finally caught their attention, prompting all of them to frown at him.

"I believe the Rector mentioned something about harming fellow students being against the Academy's rules and punishable," Stare continued, undeterred by the glares he received from the group.

The chubby boy with green hair, evidently the leader of the bullying group, was the first to respond to Stare.

His gaze intensified as he took a few steps closer to Stare, adopting an intimidating stance.

"Rules are for losers without status or class; they're for trash like you and the guy on the floor. You can move away now before I consider dumping you as well," he spat out..

Stare simply nodded slightly in response.

Just as he had suspected: a foolish, entitled brat.

His eyes then shifted to the kid the group had been bullying. Now that he was closer, he could see the boy's face more clearly.

The kid appeared lean and pale, his body trembling repeatedly. Despite this, his face bore a calm expression, as if he had grown accustomed to such treatment.

Who knew what ridiculous excuse this privileged airhead had used on the kid.

As Stare was lost in thought, he suddenly felt a push on his shoulder, causing him to stagger a few steps.

"I was talking to you," the green-haired kid declared.

Stare quickly looked up to see the green-haired kid approaching him again, his expression now even fiercer than before.

He was now more tempted to use quicker, more painful methods on the kid, but restrained himself in the end.

The fact that the Academy's authorities hadn't intervened yet didn't guarantee they wouldn't if Stare decided to strike back.

He wasn't planning for any sort of scandal… at least not for now.

Plus, he suspected there were most likely other ways the Academy used to keep tabs on them. He wasn't stupid enough to think it was just with the physical officials around.

In fact, Stare had planned to utilize one of those methods he suspected to be used.

A casual smile formed on Stare's face as he watched the boy continue to approach him.

"You're not afraid of the consequences of breaking rules, are you? So, you wouldn't mind if I reported this to the Academy's authorities," Stare remarked.

The kid paused instantly, his expression displaying a mix of displeasure and uncertainty, mirroring the sentiments of the goons behind him.

After a moment of contemplation, the kid scoffed, a strange smile playing on his face.

"Like you'd be able to," he retorted.

Stare didn't reply immediately, but the smile on his face seemed to widen. Slowly, he brought his left hand with the wristwatch closer to his face.

"Paraclete. I would like to report harm being inflicted on a student by another student," he stated calmly.

There was silence for a few seconds, which prompted a mocking grin on the face of the green-haired bully. However, his expression instantly crumbled when he heard a beep emanate from the watch followed by a monotone.

[Please place your report and the details.]

[Appropriate authorities would be instantly informed and dispatched immediately.]

The goons flanking the chubby green-haired leader hesitated, their eyes darting nervously as they exchanged uneasy glances. Slowly, almost reluctantly, they began to inch backward, their movements betraying a growing sense of panic.

Meanwhile, the green-haired kid fixed Stare with a fierce glare, his eyes ablaze with defiance and frustration. With a lingering glance at the helpless figure on the ground, he made a reluctant decision and followed his retreating comrades.

Stare breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the group finally retreat.

He was only 50% sure his plan would actually succeed. After all, he had only gained access to the watch and AI earlier today, so he wasn't entirely certain of their full capabilities.

His plan was essentially formed on instinct alone.

Fortunately, everything worked out in the end; otherwise, neither he nor the bully would have experienced such an acceptable outcome.