Raymond returned home and celebrated with his family. Gandina, who had assisted and trained him for the past few months, joined the fun of Ramond's family. It was satisfying for Raymond, but later on, he knew what he should focus on.
The academy offered board to him, to cater to him with their fullest extent since he was the 4th A-Grader in the village. Even McWorthy was surprised by it, and he immediately revealed his connection with Raymond.
Raymond backed it up, and after a week of back-and-forth with the academy and other officials attempting to poach him, he finally had peace of mind.
"I finally fixed the problem with my family. We are now living financially stable with the help of General McWorthy, but there is still one thing that I wanted to have."
It was security for his family. McWorthy could not offer it since his men were focusing on fighting with criminals. Even Gandina was just an exception to it and was ordered to protect Raymond's family.
"I apologize for that, Raymond. But, I don't have the power to offer security to your family. However, I have a suggestion. You could use the allowance the academy gives to hire some guards for your family. I can recommend an agency in the Higher District."
Raymond listened to McWorthy, and as his interest was piqued by what he had just said, he instantly asked a question.
"Wait, what do you mean by that, General?"
"You were given an exemption to the borders in the Higher District as the 4th A-Grader. Hence, you can visit the Higher District anytime you like."
Raymond was interested in it for a short time. But then, when he contemplated it, he realized that there was no use for it. It might be true that he was an A-Grader, but the treatment wouldn't change.
His memories would prove that he was not getting any benefits from visiting the Higher District. One, he was a commoner with no surname, just a relation with General McWorhty as his reserve, but furthermore, he still didn't have anything to prove himself.
He was just an A-Grader, but it was not safe to presume that he could be of use to the village.
It was a complicated matter, but Raymond just surrendered in thinking about visiting the Higher District. It was better to fix his problems first before going to an unnecessary privileged lifestyle that the village could offer. Even if it was privileged, people's treatment would still be different.
'I am not afraid of people's perspectives toward me. However, I just don't like dealing with them every time. Hence, to save that before it happens, I should top my class.' That was what was on his mind and what he was willing to do.
"Ah... I see..." Raymond muttered.
***
Fulgran was looking at himself in the mirror. He just heard some news that immediately made his face sour and ugly.
There were plenty of reasons to be angry. But what more made him enraged was that Raymond, Rebecca's brother, was an A-Grader, which meant her family would be treated nicely by the people.
He had nothing against other people's treatments. But because of his bitterness, he hoped that Rebecca's family would still suffer from the views of other people.
He could not do anything, which was why he could just hope that fate would turn ugly for them.
But he was wrong. Unfortunately for him, their fate was not ugly for them at this time, as General McWorthy just declared that he was supporting Rebecca's family. And noting that General McWorthy was a higher rank than their family.
It was definitely frustrating.
"Hah... I think I should forget about that bitch or else my father would punish me."
That was it. Character development was needed in him. And so, he tried to change himself to at least fuel the change that he was hoping for.
***
Roger had contemplated and imagined himself living with other people's eyes looking at him with admiration and anticipation. And just thinking about it, he couldn't think that he would be able to be intact.
And so, he went to the dean of the academy to at least have a bargain with him about his privileges.
'I don't want anything extravagant for now. What I need is peace of mind and living with their eyes watching me won't help.' Raymond thought as he was on his way to the dean's office.
'I want to at least have a peaceful life, but the problem is that I couldn't do it if I wanted to also top my class. If I want to leave peacefully, I should hide my identity.'
However, what came into his mind was that it was impossible to do. Not just because everyone already knew him as he was announced publicly, but also, if he excelled, their eyes would be on him.
Just as he arrived, he was still thinking of how he could live peacefully. But then, an idea just came into his mind when he recalled what would happen in the future.
People would start to be fanatic about him. Everyone would try to keep an eye on him, befriend him, and form a relationship with him. Although he wasn't contradicted by it in the future or past, as stated in his memory, at least he knew how to change it.
After graduating, Raymond continued being nice to everyone and no complications emerged. Hence, he could think that no one would dare to be his enemy. It could be because everyone didn't want to go against the public because of Raymond's growing reputation, but furthermore because he was an A-Grader, whom the village would side with.
That was why, when he went inside of the dean's office, he asked if he could at least break some rules in the academy.
"Uhm, Dean, can I break some rules in the academy?"
The dean was silent about it. He didn't know why Raymond suddenly asked about it. So, he asked him.
"What do you mean by that, Raymond? Can you elaborate?"
"Well, I was thinking about the privilege that the village would give me. So, I was thinking if I should be excluded from the rules of the academy."
The dean sighed after listening to Raymond's gibberish idea and then responded. "You won't be exempted, but instead, the academy will be lenient with you. Is that okay?"
Raymond smiled and then nodded.
'If I couldn't live peacefully because of them, then I should drive them away, but at the same time, raise my worth with excellence in performance so that they could ignore the things I would do to drive them away.'