A week had passed since Zenil's meeting with Cyrille.
Currently, Zenil was standing in front of a 4-story building. The top floor of this building was the headquarters of the Gagier Brigade, and he was here today, to be announced as the Representative of Aurelian Academy.
He was currently wearing a grey unzipped jacket and a matching pair of grey sweatpants. He had lost a few kilos in the past week, but it wasn't anything noticeable. He was also wearing a face mask.
"Today's the day." He said to himself after inwardly sighing.
He walked into the building and headed straight to the elevator. While listening to the calming elevator music, the past conversation with Cyrille ran through his mind.
-I want to be announced as the rep as soon as possible.
-A week that's the earliest, I can do. The monthly organization meeting will be held on that day.
-Cool, and-
-Wait, listen to me first, don't do anything unnecessary there. I won't be there due to some reason, so, Audrey and Dexter would be the ones putting forward this.
'Unnecessary? I only do things that are important. Who does she think I am?'
After all, Zenil had a plan. That's why he wanted to be announced as the Representative as soon as possible.
***
[Zenil's POV]
After I exited the elevator, I was greeted by Audrey and Dexter. Both of them were waiting near the lift for me.
"You are late!" Dexter complained.
Ignoring him I asked Audrey, "Has the meeting started?"
"No." A swift reply came from her side as she started moving towards the venue.
After following her for a few seconds, I finally reached the room, not the hall where the meeting was supposed to take place.
It was a mini auditorium, with a low-rise stage, and about a hundred seats for the audience.
There were seven cushioned VIP seats in the front row. But only two of them were occupied. These seats were meant for the representative of each ranked school.
"I'll observe from the back," I said while still looking around the place.
"Sure. I'll make sure to delay your announcement till the end of the meeting."
After that, I sat in the corner of the last row, while Audrey and Dexter made themselves comfortable in the second row.
Soon more crowd started to gather, and after about fifteen minutes the lights went off, and spotlights turned on, as a lean figure appeared on the stage.
"Gentlemen, and ladies! I welcome you all to today's monthly meeting. We have a lot to cover, from the new target to the rift with Cedar Ridge. Also, after Jin's departure, today Aurelian will finally reveal their new rep. So, all in all, let's start!" He said, like a generic announcer.
"Mark! Is it true that Aurelian's new representative will be revealed today?" A youth with a burly body and long emerald colored hair asked. He was currently settled in one of the seven VIP seats.
Malik Angkasa, this was the name of the youth who had just asked the question, he was the rep of Riverside School, the seventh-ranked school within in the organization. They had a strategic alliance with Mountbay, the fourth-ranked school.
Riverside gave loans to students at a very high-interest rate, while Mountbay ran illegal casino and betting services aimed at underage students. "The Tent" is what this establishment was called. While Riverside provided students with loans to play in the casino, Mountbay would drain every single penny, creating a loop where the student would have no choice left but to take more loans and spend it in the Tent, over and over again. This was their perfect business strategy,
"Of course Malik, how can I, Mark Beasly ever lie to the people I serve." The announcer said.
Mark Beasly, as soon as I heard this name something snapped within me. It was like the feeling that I got when Cyrille first informed me about him. This feeling swirling within me was like rage, but it transcended it.
"Can you please shift over?" Suddenly a feminine voice came from my left side.
As soon as I looked toward the source of this voice, my eyes locked in with the eyes of a girl about my age. She was wearing a blue-themed school uniform, which perfectly matched her blue, lightning-like eyes. She had black hair just long enough to not touch her shoulders.
When our eyes met, for a moment her expression changed. I couldn't properly see her face due to the darkness but I think her eyes widened, and her face displayed emotion of utter shock. But, the next moment her face had returned to normal. A cold and indifferent look.
I slightly nodded and moved over to the next seat.
"First time here?" The girl asked me.
"Yeah." I nodded my rage-filled eyes still locked on to Mark.
"What's your name?"
"Zenil."
"Which school are you from?" She asked.
"Verid High." I promptly replied.
After that, the meeting continued. Various topics were covered in the next thirty minutes, and then, my name and photo were put on the projector on the stage. The word target was written in bold over my photo.
"Zenil, from Verid High School. He was a victim under Max and participated in last month's playground event. There he beat Kyle, and for that we, Obsidian High formally request you to get rid of him." Mark said.
"They are talking about you?" The girl next to me asked, her voice still containing that original indifference.
"They are." I nodded nonchalantly.
"Are you confident that you will be able to escape the hundred people gathered here?" She asked.
"Why will I run?"
"You will defeat them?"
"Nah, I will just become someone they won't be able to target."
She looked at me with a perplexed look in her eyes. I couldn't see her face perfectly due to the lack of light, but I felt like she still had a straight face.
"I would like to announce something." Suddenly, Audrey got up and said.
"What is it? Audrey?" Lila, the other person who had occupied the VIP seat asked.
Lila was the representative for White Atlanta, the fifth-ranked school, and which had an alliance with the third-ranked school.
White Atlanta forged documents, leaked exam question papers, did cyberbullying and cyber theft, and overall provided soft power to the organization.
"Zenil is our school's new representative," Dexter said while still being seated.
"What?" Everyone in the room started whispering and looked at Audrey and Dexter with looks of disbelief.
"I understand." The girl next to me whispered. "After this meeting is over, can we go to a cafe together?"
"What?" I said. I was very shocked to hear such a thing.
"I have a few-" The girl said but was cut off.
"Rep! Come over here," Dexter shouted.
"We can continue after this," I told the girl as I got up.
I then started walking towards the front of the hall, every single person in the room was gazing at me.
"Greetings everyone. I am Zenil, the rep for Aurelian from now on." I declared after I got on the stage.
For some reason, I didn't feel pressured or nervous. Maybe, it was due to my rage towards Mark.
I looked at the three notable people in the hall, Malik, Lila, and Mark. All of them looked at me with scrutinizing gazes.
"Nice to meet you fellow reps." I greeted both Lila and Malik.
"Greetings." Malik promptly said.
"Nice to meet you as well," Lila said with a professional smile.
Then I turned to Mark who was still standing on the stage. My eyes were filled with silent rage, and my lips curled into a smile that cloaked my murderous intent, hiding it.
"Nice to meet you, Mark. I am sorry that I disabled your brethren, Kyle. I truly am. But, I guess he just wasn't strong enough to not get disabled for life by me." I said with a smile.
Mark looked at me with a smirk on his face. He was about to open his mouth but suddenly a voice came from the audience.
"What kind fuckery is this?"
I instinctively looked at the general direction of this voice, and saw a well-built boy, with a buzz cut running towards me. His face clearly signified that he was angry.