[Bellatrix's Pov]
"Now everyone, please stay calm. As long as you stay here, there will be nothing to worry about. Even..."
As one of the remaining teachers was trying to calm everyone down, it couldn't be helped that we got more restless for every second that passed. Even worse was the fact that we didn't hear anything from the outside, with not even the slightest sound of fighting reaching our ears.
Luckily, the grand lecture hall was more than big enough to accompany all of the freshmen, sophomores, and juniors that weren't out on missions. Naturally, none of the seniors were present, as they very rarely came to the academy anymore.
'But where are they...'
Sophie, Arthur, and Anna had still not shown up, and although I didn't want to care, I couldn't help but be worried. Even with my brother patting me on my shoulder, the bad feeling in my stomach wouldn't go away.
Suddenly, a very familiar person entered the halls through the large doors on the side, looking extremely stressed. Ms. Turner had for some reason barged into the hall, her hair and outfit disheveled from most likely having sprinted her for some reason.
"Ms. Turner, what's the matter?"
The teacher who had been trying to calm everyone turned his focus to her, his brows rising in surprise to suddenly see her appearing.
To this, she took a deep breath before responding, responding with something no one could have ever expected to hear her say.
" I need Peter Harrow to come with me. Now!"
Although it was an insane situation, none of the teachers up on the stage was able to argue with her because of the obvious urgency in her voice. Following this, it didn't take long until...
"Kukuku! Of course, I will come with you, Ms. Turner."
Walking away from our group, of which he had mainly been standing on the side in silence, the black-haired weirdo didn't hesitate for long to follow his old teacher. A teacher who looked more than thankful that everything was going smoothly.
"Thank you. Come, there's not much time."
And just as suddenly as she arrived, Ms. Turner left again, only this time bringing Peter with her.
After a moment of silence, with everyone extremely confused, a bright voice was heard from my side, coming from a certain golden-haired princess of the country.
"That... I don't think that was Ms. Turner..."
Hearing her words, all of us turned our heads, baffled to hear what she had just said.
"What do you mean, Sarah?"
Taking a step forward, acting as the unofficial leader of our class due to Arthur's absence, Sebastian wasn't about to let her words go without further explanation.
"I... I don't know. I just felt like there was something off about her."
Unfortunately for us, there was nothing anyone could do about it anymore unless we wanted to leave the protection of our teachers to venture out and find out if she was right.
In the end, all we could do was wait and hope for the best, relying on the teachers outside to somehow fix everything.
And unbeknownst to me, during all of our time waiting here, there was a blue-haired freshman standing amongst her classmates, desperately trying to keep herself from smiling widely.
[James' Pov]
Standing outside of the main building, in the middle of the academy grounds in what could be called the plaza of the academy, I was a bit disappointed to not see a single trace of the sun during such a joyful day.
Even more disappointed was I in the bloody mess that was lying in front of me, who was adamant about not accepting my proposal. Despite having his body completely demolished, he was still not giving in.
"Hmm... So, no matter what I do, you won't change your mind?"
"...kill me..."
"Not yet. Even if you aren't on board with joining my glorious cause, I'm afraid that you will have to live for a bit longer, my dear Peter."
It truly couldn't be helped. If I had more time, I might have been able to persuade him through other means, but as things stood right now, I didn't have leeway for that. Even if I had managed to isolate the academy from the outside world, it was still only a question of time before someone in the capital center noticed that something was wrong.
'And I can't let that happen before I get the show on the way...'
Peter Harrow. The one student that I absolutely couldn't allow to become a part of the humans' military force in the future, as his Manual was just too potent in large-scale battles. Though it was regrettable, I still wanted to respect his wishes of not joining hands with me, even if that could only lead to one outcome.
*Thud*
"The connection is now stable, One. The only thing left is to set it up wherever you are planning on doing the broadcast."
Stretching my arms, I didn't react much to the green-haired Mark arriving behind me. Despite his still being against joining me, he didn't have much of a choice but to follow his uncle's orders.
"I see. Good job, Mark. So, are the others on their way as well?"
Luckily for him, I wasn't petty enough to remind him about how he had wanted to kill me when I came to them in the mountains or to rub salt in his already large wounds after being forced to obey me.
"Yes, they are on the way. But are you sure that the principal won't try to attack the main troop? Though I doubt that my uncle would have any trouble if a fight were to happen, I still..."
"I am sure, Mark. And as you said, if they do engage in combat, do you really think a couple of teachers and the principal would be able to win against over a hundred of your people and Two?"
"Do you have to call him..."
*Clap!*
"Anyway, let's begin! We still have some things we have to do on our part as well, after all!"
****
[Frederick's Pov]
'He isn't here...'
Even when arriving at the training grounds, having gotten here by pretending to follow the smoke that had risen into the air from the explosion instead of revealing that I already knew they were there, I couldn't see that loathsome man anywhere.
Instead, we had gotten welcomed by a huge group of green-haired men and women, all holding spears in their hands.
Ahead of the large group, the old man I assumed to be Mr. Cane stood and waited patiently, showing that he wasn't against having a conversation before fighting us.
More and more, I just couldn't understand what James was up to, as all of these actions appeared incredibly unnecessary had he only wished to bring destruction upon the academy or the students.
However, after seeing how the Hurricanes were just patiently waiting for us at the training ground, I at least understood that he wanted us to come here. That he wanted to separate me and the teachers that I had brought with me from the students.
'Haa... I don't have much of a choice, do I?'
"Wait, Frederick!"
"Principal?!"
Despite the teachers behind me stirring up as they saw me walk forward, I kept walking forward, telling them off as they tried to follow me.
"Don't. If you approach them, they will see it as an act of aggression. Just stay behind and let me talk to their leader first."
Though I knew that Oliver had a hard time controlling himself, he somehow managed to keep it together with the help of Mrs. Bright who put her hand on his shoulder to calm him down.
At the same time, I made it to the man who was waiting for me, leaning his body on a wooden cane while making sure to keep his eyes on me.
Aware that I had a lot of eyes on me at the moment, there was no doubt that I couldn't speak openly about the man I assumed was our mutual 'friend', the one who was behind this whole circus.
Thankfully, I knew that the non-aggression treaty that I had signed with that man also meant that he wasn't able to cause any real damage to my property. Therefore, I got right to it, acting as the leader of the people standing behind me.
"Why did you come here?"
Mr. Cane's eyes opened up a bit when hearing my curt question. Almost as if he needed a second to determine what kind of person I was.
A second later, he seemed to have decided how he was going to present their agenda.
"We are here because we want to change the world. And our leader has decided that the change will start here."
"And what makes you think that we will just stand idly by and watch?"
Suddenly, he gestured with his cane to the people behind him, who promptly spread out, showing us Jessica bound by handcuffs on her knees.
"Because otherwise, she will die."