"I'm very sorry to tell you this after you've suffered such tragic losses," Teacher Fielding looked at the three of us sympathetically. "And personally, I would want to give you more time to recover. However, the academy rules state that you need at least five members in your society in order for it to maintain its existence. It's been a month and you're still only at three members." He lowered his voice. "To be honest, I think that rule is stupid. Which idiot decided that you only have a month for a grace period when your member count drops to three? Do they think you can recruit new members so far into the academic year? They should at least make exceptions."
The three of us glanced at each other wearily. Dong Fang Yue Chu, Harvey and I had been summoned to the staff room to discuss the matters of our society, which had been decimated by the losses of Stan and Wang Fei. None of us talked about how to replace them…simply because they couldn't be replaced.
More than members of Ultimate Outcast, they were friends. Comrades who trained alongside us, and suffered the same agony and joy as we did, the same rise and fall. "Replacing" them was not an option.
"So…we're going to be disbanded?" Dong Fang Yue Chu asked hollowly. Teacher Fielding hesitated, and then nodded.
"Unless you can find two more members to replenish your ranks and meet the minimum of five members. Or merge with a similarly decimated society." Teacher Fielding consulted his tablet. "It says here that at least three other societies are in danger of suffering the same." He scowled. "The school board should be more understanding. It's not as if you lost members because they quit! People actually died!"
But no, rules were rules, and the school board was insistent. Some fucker had done a monthly review of the academy, and our society popped up in the report as not adhering to the rules. Without caring about the circumstances, the board issued an edict in the same emotionless way they did to whatever pertained to the running of the academy.
And now we were in trouble.
"So what will happen to us if Ultimate Outcast gets disbanded?" Harvey asked anxiously.
Teacher Fielding sighed. "Nothing. You just become someone without a society, and you are free to join another society."
Dong Fang Yue Chu glanced at me.
"…yeah, I think that might be best. We should just join another society."
I was surprised. I thought that Dong Fang Yue Chu would protest, and fight long and hard to keep our society in existence. However, I felt similarly. After all, my attachment wasn't to the society itself, but my friends in the society. I wasn't pretentious enough to insist on maintaining this society out of some weird pride and desire to raise it to the top from "nothing". I wasn't a Mary Sue protagonist, nor did I possess genius intellect to pull nonsense like that off.
Furthermore, the resources in Ultimate Outcast were lacking, especially when compared to those in the great societies. We had been struggling to bring in more funds, and only my constant participation in missions and my earning of prestige points had barely kept us afloat. To make matters worse, those prestige points and stuff dropped severely while I was recuperating in the hospital, and right now our society was in dire straits. It would take a massive undertaking to bring it back once again, and while I was fine with taking missions again, I knew it wasn't as simple as earning back prestige points through missions.
And I had just recovered. I couldn't push myself too hard or I would end up killing myself.
"…you're right." As disappointed as I was, I didn't really feel any pain or regret when I said those words. There was some sadness and curiosity for what we could have been if we continued, but life got in the way.
Part of being an adult and growing up was knowing when and what to give up on. You realize as you grow older that you had to give up on many things. Your dreams. Your aspirations. Some of your hobbies. Your time. Your relationships. Money. And now…our society. We knew we were no longer in any condition to maintain our society, and so we had to let it go rather than allow it to suffer a long, agonizing death.
If this was a web novel where I was a Mary Sue protagonist, this would be an ideal scenario where I would prove my overpowered-ness and genius-level intelligence by overcoming all these crises and demonstrating how Ultimate Outcast can rise from the ashes like a phoenix reborn. Hell, if this was like a certain web novel, nobody would have died from the Crastrate's attack. Not only would I be a hero for saving everybody and destroying the Crastrates, we would only suffer one casualty. Probably one of my juniors, who survived but had his soul sea destroyed. And once again, being the Mary Sue I would have been, I would repair and restore his soul sea for him, making him much stronger than he was before.
However, this wasn't some web novel that indulged in power fantasies and unrealistic scenarios where everything was contrived just so the author could prop him up on a pedestal to show off how godlike he was. I didn't have the ability to revive a society from disbanding, nor could I bring the dead back to life. And since I never learned healing magic, I certainly couldn't restore anyone's soul sea or whatever (soul sea doesn't exist in this universe anyway). Not that I needed to, given Teacher Cure's topnotch healing magic.
"I'll follow Vice-president Richard to whatever society he joins," Harvey declared. Hey, dude. Have a mind of your own, all right?
Teacher Fielding studied us seriously. "Are you really fine with this decision?" he asked quietly. He didn't want to push the matter, but his hands were tied. There was nothing he could do to help us, even if he wanted to. Part of him was relieved that we accepted our fate so easily, without furious protest. It made his job easier.
But part of him ached when he saw how forlorn and…beaten we were. How resigned to oblivion we were. The loss of our comrades had definitely affected us badly. We weren't able to recover from the deaths of Stan and Wang Fei. Not just in terms of society level, but at the psychological level and our morale.
We were…defeated.
Teacher Fielding sighed. "I understand. I'll settle the paperwork. You guys, take it easy for a while." He watched us, concern written all over his face. "If you need to talk to somebody, you can always approach me. And make sure you rely on each other."
"Yes, sir." We all nodded.
*
The next day, I found myself accosted by Alicia just as I was attending combat magic class.
"Richard! Is it true?!"
"Is what true?" I asked, somewhat cynically and tiredly.
"That Ultimate Outcast will be disbanded! Are you really going to…leave Ultimate Outcast?" Alicia looked worried.
"We don't have the members," I replied sourly. "And…it doesn't really feel fair to the memory of Stan and Wang Fei if we go recruit other members to…replace them." the word tasted bitter on my tongue when I spoke it out loud.
That was right. The society had become a painful place for us…a constant reminder of the friends we had lost. Going to the training room everyday and somehow feeling that half the society was missing, that there were comrades we would never see again…it was painful. No wonder Dong Fang Yue Chu was resigned to disbanding the society.
He couldn't deal with the painful memories either. It was even more visible and sharper for us because we were such a small society. The other societies, they had over a hundred members. Or twenty or several dozen. Losing a couple here or there, or even losing five to ten, as awful as it was, it was just a fraction of their number. Their society rooms wouldn't feel as empty.
For Ultimate Outcast, literally half of us was gone. We were a small, tight-knit group. Our losses were more devastating than that of the major societies.
"It was also increasingly difficult to keep our society afloat," Harvey added, hurrying over and joining us when he spotted us.
"…I see." Alicia looked as if she was suffering our pain for us. She stared downward, her expression incredibly sad. "Then…what will you do from here on out?"
I shrugged. "Probably join another society. We'll need resources to learn more spells, to get better equipment and armaments. For training, we can always go train in my dad's dojo, but for everything else, money is king."
As sad as it was, that was the reality. Without money, we couldn't do anything.
I hadn't even gotten a Divine Device because I spent the money I earned from the missions on my juniors' Divine Devices. Stan's guns. Harvey's sword. Wang Fei's cross wheels. We were also saving up for gauntlets for Dong Fang Yue Chu, but we never got that far. We had prioritized the juniors first, mostly because we seniors didn't need the Divine Devices as much as they did. I could summon Constellation weapons while Dong Fang Yue Chu fought with his fists.
"Then…" Alicia paused for a moment, glancing around and hoping that she didn't sound too conniving. "Why don't you three join Black Rose? We'll welcome you."
I considered the offer. If it had been proposed at the beginning of the year, I would have refused. At that time, my reputation was pretty terrible. People knew me as a loser and a weakling who couldn't win even a single match. I was aware that even with Alicia's personal invitation, joining Black Rose would earn me the resentment and ire of the other members, who would accuse Alicia of showing favoritism. They would bully me, alienate me and isolate me. They would attempt to drive me out of the society.
Hell, that was what happened with Lavender Ling, Daisy Dallas, Bei Pan Zhe and Dan Xiao Gui. Even though I didn't join Black Rose, they attempted to murder me and abandon me to monsters all because they thought I was getting too close to their goddess, Alicia.
However, now was a different matter altogether. I had climbed the ranks and reached among the top hundred, especially after the academy factored in my points from killing three Crastrates. I had worked with Elliot, Nicholas, Jin Hao and Aoi. Even though the first two were dead, the latter two were not. I knew more than enough Black Rose members, and even befriended them over the course of participating in missions. I had finally earned the recognition and admiration of everyone, not just in Black Rose, but in the academy.
Now, I could hold my head proud and join Black Rose without anyone accusing me of exploiting connections or my relationship with Alicia (and her showing favoritism). Even if there were a few who resented me, I was confident I would no longer be isolated. Not when I already had quite a few friends among Black Rose.
"I will take you up on your offer," I said. Then I glanced at Harvey, who nodded excitedly.
"Me too! I'll be happy to join Black Rose too!"
"Good." Alicia beamed for the first time, a little joy that was slightly tinted with some sadness. "I'll make the necessary arrangements."
"I'll ask Dong Fang Yue Chu if he wants to join as well," I offered.
"Don't worry about me." Dong Fang Yue Chu appeared, as if on cue. "I'll be joining Holy Saints."
"…eh?" both Harvey and I gaped at him. Our former president grinned sheepishly.
"Well…Holy Saints have suffered quite a few losses too. They lost their vice-president, and two of their members. So…Lily asked me to help with them."
"That's good news!" Far from being offended, Alicia was delighted for him. "You'll be a good fit! And I'm sure President Harrison and Lily will need your assistance and experience."
"Well…yeah." Dong Fang Yue Chu turned to me and Harvey. "And Black Rose will benefit from your skills. I know, because I was the first to successfully recruit you." he grinned and showed us a thumb's up. "I guess we'll be going our separate ways now. We'll probably be rivals in the future, but that won't stop us from being friends!"
"You're right." I nodded and met his fist with a bump. Returning his smile, I chuckled. "I won't show you any mercy when we meet in the arena."