The Student Council hands were made up of freshmen that had failed their advancements for them to be eligible to be a sophomore.
This meant that most of the guards in the Student Council Headquarters were made up of students that are in the A to S rank unadvanced.
Rumor has it that the Student Council hired these defects because of their loyalty. In return for their service, the Student Council will help them advance in the first advancement which will make them a sophomore.
These guards are not the most talented nor were they the strongest, but they are still in the A to S rank. They cannot be underestimated.
Ace's mind was still boggled by the fact that Hugh was able to defeat two Student Council Hands by himself. As far as he knew, Hugh was only at the F-rank unadvanced.
There was no reason for him to think that Hugh had advanced to the D-rank. There had never been such a fast advancement before because the school year had only started not even a month ago.
The record of someone advancing from the F-rank to the D-rank was a month. Back then, Ace himself only advanced to the D-rank after a month and ten days. That was considered fast for someone with an S-level talent.
Ace looked at the two guards and observed their injuries. Judging by the level of chaos in the room, the fight did not last long.
He looked at the crescent guard and saw that he had four long gashes on his cheek down to his throat. This was presumably done by Hugh because he knew that there was no one here other than Hugh that could inflict that kind of damage.
There was also a huge injury on his right shoulder. Judging by the shredding of the flesh, Ace concluded that it was done by the turbine guard.
There was no way that they would backstab each other because that was against the Student Council rules. This meant that it was caused by an accident.
Accident or not, this injury led to the tides of the battle leading into Hugh's favor. With the crescent guard down on the ground, and the turbine guard defenseless, Hugh had a better percentage to win.
Having a higher rank does not mean that they were a better fighters. It only meant that their Desire was stronger and dealt more damage.
Ace assumed that Hugh was in the F-rank, and he was fighting against two that were in the A-rank. Hugh outsmarted the two of them and used the guards' Desires against themselves.
If Ace were put in the same position as Hugh, he would have done the same thing. This was the only way that Hugh could win.
An F-rank's Desire was not good enough to deal a tremendous amount of damage against someone in the A-rank. Only an A-rank's Desire could fight against someone in the A-rank.
If Hugh had planned that out beforehand, Ace would be terrified of his potential.
"What happened here?"
Ace gathered himself and asked the question to everybody. As the senior of the two guards, it was his duty to know if something had happened in their quarters.
The crescent guard could not speak and he only held his shoulder injury in pain. His face distorted as he was in a lot of pain, but he did not forget to look at Ace and respect his presence.
The only one able to answer the questions was the turbine guard.
"We...we were trying to restrain the fat guy...sir!"
The turbine guy stood up straight and saluted towards Ace. He was clearly afraid of Ace, which was evidenced by his trembling hands.
"Yes, sir...we could not let him go without your permission, sir!"
The crescent guard finally spoke up and defended his actions. In his mind, he was in the right.
Ace looked around at everyone present to try and judge their reactions. Then, he looked at Hugh with his sharp eyes.
"Why did you fight them?"
Hugh furrowed his eyebrows as he felt the suffocating pressure from Ace. He knew that he could not escape from Ace's clutches if he tried to run away, so he had no choice but to cooperate.
"I did not. They attacked me first."
Hugh's voice was calm and cool, but his heart was beating at a fast rate. He knew that he was telling the truth, but Ace might not see it that way.
Ace did not speak more and just looked at Hugh. After a few seconds, he looked towards the two guards and addressed them.
"Is that true?"
The two guards straightened their backs even more. Even the crescent guard was forced to stand up as he was pressured by Ace. Their hands were trembling as they spoke in unison.
"But he was trying to escape!" -Turbine guard
"He disrespected the Student Council!" -Crescent guard
They were both rattled, so they wanted Ace to believe them. It was inappropriate to fight inside the headquarters, so the two guards had to have a good excuse.
Ace crossed his arms and looked at everyone with the same pressure that he exerted anytime he interrogated anyone.
He wanted to side with the guards because he still wanted to keep Hugh on lockdown. There were too many mysteries surrounding him that he wanted to find out.
If Ace was in charge, he would keep Hugh in a cell and interrogate him for more information. He wanted to know how he was able to get so strong in such a quick time.
Unfortunately for him, he did not have the authority to do that. Hugh still had an obligation to the school to attend classes. Hugh was already gone for a week, any more and Ace would get in trouble.
Ace had no choice but to let Hugh go for now. He took a big breath and looked towards Hugh.
"I'll let you go."
The guards were both surprised by Ace's declaration. They thought that he would keep Hugh in detention for a while, but it looked like he could not do it.
When Hugh heard Ace's words, he heaved an internal sigh of relief. He did not argue any longer and started to walk towards the exit.
He wanted to get out of the Student Council Headquarters as fast as he could or else they might change their minds.
He was as good as chicken in a cage if he let himself be cornered in their headquarters any longer. The door to the outside slid open, and Hugh was about to exit the place when he heard Ace speak to him.
"Stay out of trouble."
It might seem like an endearing call for care, but Hugh knew that it was anything but that. There was a sort of warning in Ace's words that told Hugh not to cause any trouble.
Hugh knew that he was on the hotlist of the Student Council because of the events that surrounded him. He was caught up in Veer's slanderous projects, and he was a murder suspect.
He was too suspicious for the Student Council to let him go that easily. He suspected that he was now under strict surveillance from now on, which made things a lot harder.
Thankfully, he does not think that he would be forced to use his transformation that easily. With the rewards that he had gotten from the dungeon, he would be able to fight on his own strength.
Hugh walked towards the shifting room and directed it towards the classroom. He had been away from class for too long, so it was time to go back.
While Hugh was away, Ace could not help but think back to Hugh. As an investigator, he could not fully satiate his curiosity if he did not find out more about Hugh.
There was something weird going on with him, and he had to find out why; it was his job.
Ace walked in the headquarters towards a certain door. He knocked thrice before he got confirmation to come in.
Ace walked into the bright red room. He could barely distinguish any color from shades of red because of the lighting. He never liked going in this room, but he had to report back to the Vice President.
Felix was standing in the middle of the room with his narrow eyes looking directly at Ace. Ace felt a strange chill in his neck every time he was the recipient of Felix's stares.
Ace opened his mouth and told Felix about what happened to Hugh. As Felix heard this information, he smiled and spoke.
"Interesting..."