Desertion From Comrades

There was deafening silence all around.

The students all looked at one another, each glance depicting multifaceted emotions.

Some students already had resolute expressions on their faces, while others seemed unsure about what choice to make.

Either way, it seemed that most people were waiting for who to step forward and leave first, hence the hesitation,

"The doors are open for those of you who wish to leave. Naturally, we wish you good fortune, but that is where our support ends."

Right now, the United Human Alliance had a bunch of its own problems to deal with. They couldn't afford to exert more energy on soldiers who did not wish to fight for them.

"Also, in case some of you are yet to make up your mind, there will be an Expedition for those who choose to remain behind. It will be compulsory, and it will also be dangerous."

The moment Conrad said this, the students who had been so hesitant to make their move soon began to blurt out their true intentions.

"T-then… I'll be leaving!" A random guy said, stepping forward from the bunch.

Before he had room to breathe, many other students blurred out the same thing.

Boys and girls stood out from the rest of their classmates—their numbers being an absurd chunk of the entire class.

Out of the twenty-eight, nineteen students were leaving.

Only Rey, Adonis, Belle, Billy, Trisha, Clark, Justin, Eric, and Alicia remained in place.

Everyone else seemed to have already made up their minds about what they would do.

They all wanted to leave.

********

'Even you too, huh, Noah…?' Rey smiled a little sadly as he looked at a crumpled white envelope in his hand.

It most likely contained a letter, and Noah had quickly given him while stepping forward.

'I wonder what kind of message he wrote there for me.'

Rey already knew he wouldn't be able to work with Noah forever. In fact, their separation was inevitable.

'Right now, I don't really need him in my Black Market dealings. Plus, I already decided not to have anything more to do with them.'

In essence, there really wasn't anything holding them together.

Still… Rey couldn't help but feel a stinging sensation in his chest; one that he couldn't properly explain.

'Why…?'

Why did he feel so sad, and slightly frustrated, to see that Noah was leaving just like that?

Perhaps it was due to the sole reason that Noah had slowly become his friend over the course of their time together.

Sure, the relationship was a bit unbalanced, but Noah was privy to the aspects of Rey's life that he would never show anyone else.

He knew his secrets, and they both shared a bond that couldn't be replicated anywhere else—even though it was mostly tied with money.

'Haa… I hope he's fine, though.' Rey found himself leaking a sad smile,

He could only hope the boy had toughened up from all his experiences and would make better choices in the future.

'He should have a considerable amount. I'm sure he could retire and live a good life somewhere remote.'

With his Class and Skills, there was no doubt that he would be a formidable force for any native of this world that tried to disturb him.

Of course, if Noah encountered a Dragon then that would be 'Game Over!'

'I'm sure he thought of all these, though…' Rey shrugged and decided simply to let the matter in his head go.

He placed the envelope in his pocket and sighed deeply.

Once all the nineteen students were gathered, they were asked whether or not they had any personal properties they would like to take along with them.

Of course, items given to them by the Royal Estate were excluded from this, so they didn't have much of a choice.

The Council was even benevolent enough that it didn't tell the students to strip and return the current attires they donned.

Considering the way the nineteen abandoned the very people that saved them from death, fed and trained them for about two months… who would blame the Council for making such a move?

After waiting for a few minutes, specifically for those who had one or two items they left in their rooms to fetch them and return, all the deserters were ready to leave.

Sad faces greeted them as they were told to leave the gates without any ceremony attached.

In the past, the students would have acted like entitled brats and asked for at least some measure of compensation.

However, they were no longer the one with the power.

They no longer had any cards to play.

'I'm surprised, though…' As Rey watched the nineteen students leave, he looked to his side and spotted the eight that chose to remain, like him.

'… I expected more people to have left.'

It was ironic how none of the Alpha Class students bailed on the United Human Alliance; especially considering the fact that they were the ones that experienced the most danger in the most recent events.

'Alicia and Billy were nearly sold as slaves, and Adonis' squad almost died at the hands of a Dragon.'

Yet, all of them remained standing.

'I guess they're the kind of saviors this place needs…' Rey's thoughts trailed.

Though he had this general line of reasoning, he couldn't help but look at a few people with suspicion.

'I'll have to keep my eye on Billy. Now that he's been exposed, there's no telling how unstable he'll become.'

The only reason Billy hadn't been abandoned by the Royal Council or Rey was due to his strength.

It was just logical to keep him on board if he chose to stay.

'Besides, he could be a loose cannon—a danger to the denizens of this world—if we just let him roam free without consequence.'

Then, there was one other person Rey was concerned about.

'I'm more surprised you stayed, Belle. Aren't most of your puppets leaving the Estate? Wouldn't it be safer to follow them?'

He looked at the glassy facade that Belle displayed, feeling a lump in his throat.

'Is her desire to destroy Adonis and Alicia strong enough that she would just choose to remain here despite the dangers?'

Or did she simply have other intentions? It was difficult to tell.

'The important thing is that the strongest cards chose to stay. Sure, we've lost quite some capable people and their unique Skills, but we managed to retain the best ones.'

It was a given that people like Trisha and Clark would remain, given their personalities.

He didn't know Eric very well, but he was very close with Justin, who was very adventurous and playful.

Even after barely surviving the Dungeon, he recovered the earliest out of everyone.

He was just that kind of guy.

Then, of course Billy wouldn't leave Alicia, and Alicia's goals aligned with helping the people of H'Trae.

As for Adonis, Rey still didn't know what really drove him to help the people here, but he knew the boy truly wanted to help.

There was no way he'd abandon them now.

'As for the others…'

Rey's eyes glowed brightly as he looked at the nineteen who were leaving.

His [Absolute Appraisal] was activated as he glossed through their Status Windows.

'They're all pretty weak, so this is the best move.'

To properly raise the best crop, one had to whittle down the weeds.

The deserters wouldn't have done much in the long run anyway, aside from costing the Council more resources to maintain.

As Rey was having these thoughts, he suddenly saw something among the cluster of students.

'W-what—?!'

His eyes widened—nearly bulging out of their sockets—as he noticed the details on the panel that was exposed before him.

'T-that's him?! The mastermind!'