The School Cafeteria was bustling with activity. Students rushed around, jockeying for position in line. It was madness.
I was glad I'd gotten there early, but now I was beginning to regret it. I'd been standing in line for almost an hour, and I was starting to get impatient.
I craned my neck to see what was causing the delay, and I saw a heated argument at the counter.
"Why don't you give me what you give to those aristocrats!"
"Damn it! Stop complaining when you don't even do anything useful in this school!" someone behind the counter shot back.
"Just call the security guard already!" yelled several other students, clearly fed up with the commotion.
"Hey, aren't you a noble?" someone behind me poked my shoulder. I turned to see who it was.
"Uhm, yeah," I replied, a bit confused.
"Then why are you standing in line here? There's a special section for nobles. You just have to show them your ID, and they'll scan it," the student explained with a smirk.
"Oh, I didn't kno—" I started to say when someone shouted, "WATCH OUT!"
"Hm?" I barely had time to turn around when a flying lasagna came hurtling toward my face. It hit me square on, splattering sauce and cheese all over me. I stood there, stunned, spaghetti noodles hanging off my ears, sauce dripping down my nose.
The whole cafeteria went silent, everyone staring at me, the human lasagna. I could hear the faint whispers of "Did you see that?" and "Oh man, that's gotta hurt."
I blinked, trying to process what had just happened. A lone meatball rolled off my shoulder and plopped onto the floor, as if to punctuate my embarrassment.
"Guess he got his daily serving of veggies," someone quipped from the back, breaking the tension.
Laughter erupted throughout the cafeteria, and I knew I'd be the topic of gossip for weeks. Great, now I was not only the new kid but also the lasagna-faced noble. Fantastic.
As I stood there, sauce slowly dripping off my chin, I couldn't help but think that next time, I'd just bring my own lunch.
I went to the bathroom to wash my face, trying to get rid of the lingering smell of lasagna. My uniform was stained with sauce and cheese, and my patience was wearing thin. "I didn't even get to eat, and now this..." I muttered, examining the mess on my clothes.
As I scrubbed at the stains, I overheard some voices from behind me, a group of boys talking about the lasagna incident.
"Did you see the noble who got hit with lasagna? You should've seen his face! It was hilarious."
"Yeah, serves him right," another voice chimed in, followed by snickers.
"Who in their right mind lines up with the peasants?" one of them scoffed.
I looked up into the bathroom mirror, and they suddenly realized who I was.
The boys froze, their laughter dying in their throats, and quickly left without another word. The bathroom door swung shut, leaving me alone with my frustration.
"If someone had just told me there's a better way to get food without all this drama," I grumbled, drying my face with a paper towel.
"Even Mei didn't mention the special treatment for nobles." It was infuriating, not knowing all the unspoken rules in this place.
As I left the bathroom, I saw the guy who had caused the commotion in the cafeteria earlier. He stood against the wall, arms crossed, his gaze scanning the hallway.
He was a tall, muscular kid with a buzz cut, and he wore the school uniform like it was battle armor. His eyes met mine for a moment, and I could feel the hostility radiating from him.
Two security guards suddenly approached the guy who had caused the commotion in the cafeteria. I hid at a distance, hoping to eavesdrop on their conversation.
"You have to come with us. The headmaster didn't like how you acted in the cafeteria and causing a problem for a noble," one of the guards said, his voice stern and businesslike.
"I don't want to! I know you're just gonna take me to detention again!" the guy shouted back, clearly frustrated. It seemed like this wasn't his first run-in with the school's disciplinary system.
"You have to," the guard replied without hesitation. He quickly cuffed the guy's right hand, treating him like a common criminal. The two guards dragged him away, ignoring his protests.
It seemed a bit harsh to me. I hadn't complained about the incident, but they were treating it like a major offense.
I was curious to know where they were taking him, so I decided to follow them quietly, keeping a safe distance. I couldn't afford to be caught eavesdropping.
The guards led the guy to a building on the edge of campus, where no other students were around. It looked different from the rest of the school, like it had a separate purpose.
They stopped in front of a door and pulled out a strange card.
With a quick swipe, the scanner beeped, and the door unlocked with a click.
The guards dragged the guy inside, and the heavy door shut behind them with a thud. I hurried over to inspect the door, trying to figure out what kind of facility it was.
I noticed a student's ID lying on the ground and picked it up. It was the ID of the guy who had been dragged away.
I approached the scanner and tried my own ID to see if it would grant me access, but the machine beeped and displayed "Access Denied." It seemed that even a noble's ID wasn't enough to get through this door.
"So even a noble's ID card can't be used here," I muttered to myself, feeling the tension in my chest.
What was going on in this place? Why were there areas that were off-limits to most students, even nobles? Something was definitely wrong, and I needed to find out what it was without drawing too much attention to myself.
I knew I had to report what I'd seen to Lykon. It might be the key to the investigation. I left the strange building and rushed back to the faculty room where Lykon was likely working on some school-related tasks. The hallways were mostly empty, and I didn't see any other teachers around, which meant we could talk without attracting too much attention.
"Lykon, I saw something that might be crucial to our investigation," I said quietly as I approached her desk. But she quickly raised a finger to her lips, signaling me to keep my voice down.
"Shh, not here," she whispered, her eyes darting upward. I followed her gaze and saw the CCTV cameras mounted on the ceiling. Of course, this school was crawling with surveillance.
"Uh, oh, I found an ID card on the floor earlier, Ms. Yi," I said, quickly changing the topic. I handed her the ID, pretending it was a simple act of helping out.
"Thank you. I'll look for the owner of this ID card," Lykon replied with a polite smile. "For now, go back to your class." She gave me a knowing look, and I understood that we'd need to discuss the investigation somewhere else.
"Yes, ma'am." I nodded and left the faculty room, pretending to be just another student running an errand.
As I walked back toward my classroom, someone suddenly bumped into me, nearly knocking me over. I felt a sharp scratch on my hand, and when I looked down, I saw it was bleeding.
I turned around to see who had bumped into me, but the hallway was empty.
"What..was that?"