*Estheria's royal castle.*
Class president, Anna, found out she had a great talent for using magic. Ice magic in particular. So soon, she could fight a few dozen goblins on her own, as long as her mana was full. Her classmates always admired her smarts, but her skill to fight a little terrified them. Even those who constantly were seeking her attention started to avoid her. However, she did not care.
She had a goal, to become strong enough to make demands on the kingdom. And now that she was noticeably strongest and most talented among the summoned heroes, she walked over to the knight leader Argus and demanded to see Drake. "I haven't seen Drake for over a week. I want to see him," she boldly stated as she stood there with determination.
"Drake? Who?" Argus questioned in confusion.
"Eh? He's the one who didn't have a blessing." She replied blankly, wondering why the knight leader didn't know about him.
"Oh! Right, right!" Argus smiled at the girl, "He left the capital and went..."
"Are you... kidding me?" Anna quickly interrupted the knight leader. "You know what, never mind." Without saying another word, she turned around and started walking away from Argus.
She knew that Drake was supposed to get some land in the capital, and now they are telling her that he's not here?! Anna was beginning to doubt it.
"W-wait!" Argus caught up to her and put his hand on her shoulder. "Where are you going, Lady Anna?!"
Anna stopped. "I am going to search for my classmate."
"Drake?" Argus asked confusedly. "But you don't even know where he is now."
She stopped to think for a moment and turned around to face Argus. "You're right. I don't." she frowned. "But until I meet him and know he is safe, I am not lifting my finger for this kingdom." With that, she walked away again, leaving an extremely concerned Argus behind.
Meanwhile, Mark was checking injuries on his girlfriend's hands in a different part of the castle.
"Hey, what happened to your hands?" A blonde guy, Mark wearing green glasses, asked, walking up to a black-haired female, Clair, who was sitting near a window.
"My magic is too unstable," Clair explained, looking down sadly. "I can't control any offensive spell, and they always backfire. It would take a while for me to grow stronger. Until then, I'm no good to anyone."
Mark sat next to Clair and rubbed her head affectionately. "Aw, it doesn't matter. You are an amazing healer. Best in the whole class. No, in the entire kingdom!"
He declared proudly. "The only thing you need to focus on now is learning to heal people!"
Clair sighed once more, trying not to tear up. Mark was always like this, encouraging her to stay strong. But sometimes, it was hard. One person in her life made her feel the way she does.
The reason that she tried so hard to be strong, so hard to grow strong enough. It's all because of fear of being neglected, the way Drake was. She was afraid, as no one knew what happened to him, because they didn't hear from him the next day after summoning. Some classmates gossipped that something bad had happened or that he simply decided to give up, that he gave up on them.
Those thoughts scared her to death, and it took everything for her to remain confident, to try and live normally. But when she looked up, seeing that beautiful smile whenever she saw him; when Clair looked into those warm blue eyes that she loved so much; when he said those words,
"I love you" she felt nothing except warmth and happiness.
She wanted to tell and kiss him right then and there, but she couldn't. Not yet. She knew she had to become strong. Strong enough to have a future in this kingdom, strong enough to protect everyone, so they would not disappear like Drake.
Suddenly, another classmate Jessica barged into the room, leaving Mark and Clair startled.
"W-what's wrong, Jessica?" Mark questioned after seeing Jessica's red face.
"It's Anna... She started to have a tantrum and forced everyone to search for Drake!" Jessica exclaimed, panting from running. "She said she will stop being a hero until he is found and left the castle!|."
The two of them else froze at this revelation. What do you mean they searched? Why was she searching for Drake when he was nowhere around? Did she believe those rumors that Drake got abandoned?
"What?!" Mark quickly stood up. Despite being worried for Drake, he did not want his classmate to die. He was still more afraid, as Anna was the strongest of them all, and it was she who constantly saved them after someone made a mistake. If she left the group, the lives of other classmates would be in danger. "Is she out of her fucking mind?!"
Clair sat speechless as she listened to this exchange. The more she thought about it, the more confused she became. "B-but... Doesn't this mean she would rather risk our lives than leave Drake to his fate?"
"That selfish bitch!" Mark punched the table, making Clair flinch. He calmed himself down, realizing what just happened, and took a deep breath. "We have to talk her out of this nonsense!"
"Agreed!" Jessica nodded vigorously.
"Let's go find her!"
"She is in the royal library right now," Jessica stated. "Let's go!"
The three ran through the halls and ended up outside a large oak door with a silver star-shaped handle. Jessica pushed the doors open, and everyone followed close behind her, entering a vast hall filled with many shelves. The sides' walls were lined with bookshelves, with a huge table near the middle of the room. They could see two figures at the end of the hall, arguing and talking loudly about whatever their problem was. Jessica, Mark, and Claire approached the corner. As they rounded the corner, the conversation came to their attention. It was the class president Anna, who was shouting and pointing fingers at the royal mage Ikkari.
"...and that's why you can go there yourself!" Anna said firmly.
Ikkari scoffed lightly. "Excuse me? You're the one with the blessing of the goddess!"
"This is my blessing!" Anna retorted. "I can do whatever I want with it!"
"You've been neglecting your classmates' well-being since that stupid boy left!" Ikkari yelled. Everyone watched, wide-eyed, with silent anger. "Have some sense of responsibility. You are their 'president' or whatever that means!"
"Why don't you go fuck yourself?! I am not going to lift a pinky for you anymore!" Anna screamed back, stomping her feet angrily. "Either find him or look for another hero! It is not that hard. You have 23 heroes more!"
"Anna..." Mark whispered. Anna glanced in his direction before looking back at Ikkari.
"Fine!" Ikkari frowned. "We will find him." Before Anna and Mark could reply, she walked away without looking back, leaving them mixed feelings.
Clair frowned, feeling a headache coming. What happened to her classmates? Was everyone like that? How can the class president be so cruel? She couldn't stand how easily Anna talked like that towards the royal mage, how rude and careless.