Academy Breach [9]

[James' Pov]

Peering down from the stage, taking in the sights of the unexpected visitors, as well as the students who I now could see getting restless again, I needed a moment to think things through.

It did upset me a bit that my plans had gotten somewhat foiled, but at the same time, I knew that it didn't matter much. Personal grievances were simply not that important in the grand scheme of things.

What was important, however, was the fact that I had now gotten rid of the man who more than likely held the most potential out of all of us when it came to warfare, as well as the fact that the citizens of Mensch were now aware of our existence.

All in all, things had been going quite well, even despite the dragoness walking forward, her face twisting in sorrow and anger.

"James... Why... Why are you doing this?!"

On her side, Mr. Naut appeared to have found the situation amusing enough to allow it, simply looking at the interaction with a grin.

Although her uniform was a bit torn after fighting with my accomplices, who I assumed Mr. Naut had unfortunately gotten rid of, I was happy to see that she didn't seem to have sustained any serious injuries.

In response to her walking forward into the room, towards the Hurricane clan members that had surrounded them, they readied their spears, all of them ready to lay down their lives to fulfill their mission.

Therefore, I knew it was time to do something.

"Stand down. And with that, I mean you as well, Sophie."

Baffled to hear my sudden order, probably thinking it was madness that I was trying to tell her what to do, she retorted with immense ire.

"Do you actually think you can..."

"If you do not, Sarah will die."

I didn't have time to play around, not until I knew that I had control of the situation again. It was, after all, a very uncomfortable feeling to know that the big, bad wolf was currently standing in the same room, with no way of knowing how, or when, he would decide to act.

*Clack*

"Sniff..."

Placing my scythe around the crying Sarah's neck, who was still holding onto the dead Peter, her body now soaked in his blood, Sophie finally stopped. Her face darkened, and although I knew that she wanted to scream, she decided to bite her tongue for now as Arthur walked up to her and put his hand on her shoulder.

'So, how do I begin to untangle this mess...'

Turning my sights to Mr. Naut, the one who was by far the most prioritized actor in this play, there was no doubt that I needed to appease him first, or at least try to make some kind of deal where I was able to save as many of my underlings as possible.

"Mr. Naut, if I told you that I am willing to trade the princess in exchange for you letting my people go, how would you respond? Also, you are naturally allowed to approach the stage if you so want."

"Bahaha! Good that you know who you should respect, boy!"

Unlike Sophie, I allowed Mr. Naut to walk forward, making both the Hurricane clan members and the other students make way for him. As he was walking, he was, however, not too keen on accepting my proposal.

"But I don't think I quite like this deal, boy. Because I don't care what happens to the princess."

'As expected.'

He wouldn't have come here in the first place if he did care about her safety, and as he was seemingly completely alone, he was also not acting in accordance with the king's orders.

"Hmm... That's a bit troublesome, isn't it? Then, do you mind if I asked you just why you decided to come here?"

Now arriving in front of the stage, he crossed his arms while grinning even more widely than before.

"Well, shouldn't you know better than anyone? Because it's fun!"

It was strange to know that despite him being, just as much as the king, a symbol for everything I hated about this world, I couldn't help but like the large man a bit. Because he also seemed to reject the unwritten rules of society, even if it was for a completely different purpose than mine.

Allowing my scythe to disappear back into my vessel, I took a step forward outside of the stage, landing in front of the man who seemed to be as tall as Sophie.

"I see. Then, wouldn't it be more entertaining for you if you got to fight with someone of more equal standing?"

"Hmm?"

"I have arrived, One."

'Finally.'

The scraggly old man finally arrived at the scene, now standing in the same opening in the wall that Mr. Naut had emerged from, leaning his body on the wooden cane that he always carried around.

Turning around, my dear guest now understood what I meant, or rather who I meant.

"Ho? I guess it isn't that surprising, seeing as your clan members are all over this place, but it's been a while, Alexander!"

"That it has. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if this place is big enough for us to 'talk', so what do you think about taking a little walk outside?"

"Baahaha! Yes, I would like that, Alexander! Let's talk just like we did in the good old days!"

*DON!*

As if he had completely forgotten about the situation at hand, a shockwave was sent out in reaction to his sudden acceleration making a few of the students fall down, with him and Alexander completely disappearing from the lecture hall.

*-BOOM!*

The fight had seemingly already started between the two [S]-rankers, with the sounds of shockwaves and explosions ringing out through the area.

'We have to hurry now...'

Although I like this solution better than any other, there were still two major problems with it.

First of all, was that I didn't know if the Juggernaut family would come to join him, and if they did, how long it would take for them to come here. Second of all, I didn't want to lose the valuable piece that was Alexander Cane, my Two.

Therefore I quickly relayed my orders to the man who was still standing on the stage.

"Mark, please gather everyone and get to the portal room."

"But, then you will be..."

"Now."

"...alright."

With him jumping down from the stage as well, he walked to his masked family members, still keeping his guard up in case any of the students were to act up. Most notably, he kept his eyes on the blonde man and the pink-haired amazon in the middle.

"We are moving! Make sure to protect the students that decided to join us!"

*Yes, sir!*

Though she looked at me like a puppy who was dragged away from her owner, Stella still followed Mark to the outside, with a clearly upset Thomas as well.

A moment later, they were gone, leaving me with the rest of the students, now mostly consisting of my old classmates.

'How nostalgic...'

Seeing everyone gathered like this, it was impossible not to remember all the times that we had shared in the past.

From how Adriana had suspected me of being from a hidden house, to how Sebastian had been ready to let me die just so he could down the boss in the Wolf's den, to how Mike had repeatedly challenged me to a duel in order to show me my place.

'Hmm... thinking about it, wasn't my time at the academy as James pretty awful?'

"James! Answer me, what are you doing?!"

Sophie couldn't hold back anymore, taking her chance now that my comrades were gone. Despite her not shedding any tears, there was no one in the room that couldn't hear just how pained her heart was.

'This was why I didn't want them to be here...'

I was still trying to hold true to the promise that I made to her before we arrived in this world, but at this point, it truly couldn't be helped.

Because if there was something I didn't want to happen, then it was for her or the hero to somehow end up in the crossfire in Mr. Cane's and Mr. Naut's fight.

'Do I take a hostage? No, that would make it hard to move around... Then, do I have to fight?'

Looking around the room, I wasn't sure that even with my newfound power I could somehow defeat the more than 50 students that were left in case they all decided to fight together.

However, I also didn't have much choice right now. Therefore I withdrew my scythe, slowly allowing my body to absorb a bit more of the mana in the air, being as careful as possible to make sure I didn't suddenly die.

Removing my mask as a sign of respect for my old friend, I spoke with a smile.

"I am fixing this world, Sophie."