Seeing my gaze at her, Irene propped herself up against the tree and angrily yelled.
"WHY DIDN'T YOU DO SOMETHING EARLIER?"
I simply shrugged my shoulders and redirected my attention to my two teammates before me.
Seeing me blow her off, Irene became even more angry, but in the end, she could only stare at me with hostility.
Ignoring Irene's miserable state, I mimicked her earlier actions by turning around and walking back to the portal. Zane and Deon were eager to ask me questions, so they followed, leaving Irene to make the trek back solo.
The "team leader" had been abandoned and replaced by me.
After returning to the coliseum, I returned to my dorm room to recover. Even if I hadn't let it show, the 4 hours of drills combined with using the first technique left me completely exhausted.
The wounds from my mana-blood method were relatively small, but I could still feel the sharp pain. The monster had been stunned longer than my earlier test, proving my theory that if the wound were more dangerous, the stunning period would be longer.
Slumping down on my bed, I drifted off to sleep peacefully as there would be nothing for me to do for the rest of the weekend.
-*-
When I woke up Monday morning, I immediately checked my phone—not for my ranking exam results but for my new class.
[You have been randomly assigned to the Dragon Class. Report to room 408 for your classes for the remainder of the year. The results of the weekend Ranking Exam will be posted in your new class.]
"... at this point, why am I even surprised."
My new class just happened to be the class that conveniently contained the entire main cast and the class that had the most incidents due to the protagonist's involvement.
"Random my ass! There has to be some other power at play."
After pinching myself and confirming that this wasn't a dream, I sighed before getting up from bed to shower and change for the school day. Complaining about my situation wouldn't improve it, so the best I could do was go along with the flow.
Within 30 minutes, I was already in front of the classroom door. Though arriving late would suit Ren's personality, I really didn't want to piss off my new teacher as she could make my life hell if she decided to.
Sliding open the classroom doors, I glanced around and saw some familiar faces. Liam was in the center of the class, of course, and beside him sat Lily. Since Lily was there, Kevin was also present, and since Kevin was there, Irene was there.
It was like some chain reaction.
An unfamiliar face sat to Liam's left. Like Liam, Zach came from humble origins and got into the academy on a scholarship. Through the recent group mission, Zach and Liam had bonded.
Zach was a character universally liked by the fandom because he was humble, down-to-earth, and kind. If I were to ridicule commoners in front of him, Zach would step in to protect them no matter the consequences. Honestly, Zach fits the protagonist role better than Liam with his carefree and kind nature.
Ignoring the main cast's current discussion, I quietly moved to the left side of the classroom and pulled out my smartwatch to pass the time. It seemed that one main cast member noticed me as Irene turned around and started daggers at me for a moment.
A tap on my back interrupted my mobile gaming session. Immediately, I was put on edge.
Who would sit with me?
Turning around, I made my expression darker and glanced at the two culprits behind me. Their faces were familiar, but I couldn't quite recall their identities.
"Hey Ren, guess those class demotions we got as punishments were for nothing. Serves the student council right; we didn't do shit."
Ah, it's the two idiots who helped me attack Liam at the start of the year: Jin and Han. Both were initially my sidekicks, but after my family abandoned me, I assumed they would ignore me. After all, most sidekicks hope to leach off their master's families, but now I have no important family.
It seemed that those two sidekicks were different, though... There's no way Ren had genuine friends with his personality, right..?
Not even waiting for my response or permission, Jin took the seat to my right, and Han took the seat to my left.
Ignoring them now would be a big red flag as they seemed to be Ren's friends, so I lightened my expression and jokingly responded.
"Yeah, that president is insane."
Both Han and Jin nodded their heads while I began to reevaluate Ren's relationship with the two. The book didn't specifically mention anything about Ren's relationship with the friends as they only ever appeared in one chapter, but everyone assumed it was a master sidekick as they followed Ren's plans to attack Liam.
However, upon seeing their comfortableness with speaking to me and their friendly demeanor, it was clear that these people might actually be friends of Ren. I mean, shouldn't they be mocking me for being stripped of my last name, not sitting down and making small talk?
Before I could probe these so-called friends of Ren more, the sliding door opened, and the teacher, alongside a group of students, walked in.
Taking the podium was a familiar face, Mrs Longburn.
"Welcome. I will be your class teacher for the remainder of this year. Beside me are the new Elven transfer students. Treat them with kindness and respectfulness. No forms of bullying or harassment will be tolerated."
After saying those last words, I swear she glanced at me, Han, and Jin.
Looking at the line of ten elven students, I quickly found the last member of the main cast, the elven princess. Standing with poise and civility, the princess stood at the front of the line and glanced around the classroom.
Interrupting my observation, I heard a loud voice from my right, where Jin sat.
"Dude, who do you think is the hottest?"
This guy didn't even whisper it; he just blatantly said for the entire class to hear. The entire class was silent, awaiting further instructions from Mrs. Longburn, so Jin's loud voice echoed throughout the classroom, but there were no laughs or chuckles in response.
The princess and the elves beside started staring at us. Our human classmates began staring at us. Even Mrs. Longburn started staring at our group, not with anger or hostility but with disappointment.
This guy is a fucking idiot!
Holding in the urge to slap the shit out of Jin, I ignored the glances full of disgust from my human and elven classmates and also began staring at Jin. Surely, they could tell that I was not associated with this guy.
Han seemed like a reasonable guy as he was also taken aback by Jin's remark. Before I could say anything, Han whispered back.
"... dude."
Took the words right out of my mouth.
This time around, a fainter voice sounded from my right side.
"... my bad."
The awkward silence and stares persisted for another few seconds before Mrs. Longburn finally broke the silence and continued her announcements.
" *ahem* The ranking exam results will be announced at the end of the day. That is allowed for today's announcements. Elven student, you may take your seats."
As Mrs. Longburn walked out of the classroom, the Elven students looked for empty seats around the classroom.
In front of my group of idiots, there were 3 empty seats. The elven princess and two other elves, who seemed close to the princess, sat there. They didn't even bother to look or say anything to us. It was like they didn't even acknowledge our existence.
A few seconds later, our history professor walked in and began teaching.
...
...
...
*RING*
To my right, the idiot, Jin, dared to speak again.
"Finally, the lunch bell, man. For some reason, I think people kept staring at us. Are we that popular?"
This guy...
I really wanted to get out of the classroom as fast as possible to avoid Jin making a further fool of our group. Han seemed to share the same sentiment as he got up from his chair, even before me.
Following Han's lead, I got up and said.
"Let's dip."
Even though staying with Jin would probably cause me to lose brain cells, it would also help conceal my identity, as no one would have a reason to be suspicious of my behavior if I simply hung out with friends.
Looking around the crowded cafeteria, I could see the elven and human students already getting along as they ate lunch together.
After finding an empty table, I sat down and enjoyed the amazing food prepared by the cafeteria. Nothing could ruin this lunch period, not even Jin's stupidity.
Jin said while gulping down some food.
"Glad we were all put into a class together again. I don't know what I would do without you guys!"
I know I'd be better off without you in my class.
Not even waiting for Han to respond to his previous statement, Jin subsequently asked.
"So, did you guys think about my previous question?"
Thankfully, I wasn't drinking anything, but if I were, it would have all come flying out. Both Han and I erupted into laughter. This idiot was persistent!
"Give us some more time, Jin."
Thinking about this week's upcoming events, I asked the two friends.
"What clubs are you two planning to join?"
The traveling club would require some groupings for room and city exploring, and I didn't want to be stuck with the main cast, so bringing the idiots along would be helpful. While Han seemed to be thinking, Jin immediately responded.
" *PFFFT* Why would I join one of those."
"Yeah, I don't think I'll join any."
As expected, these lazy bastards don't wanna do anything.
"Join the travel club with me. It's the perfect chance to get to know some girls. Also, Han, you might as well; we're getting vacations for free!"
The two seemed convinced, so I watched them take out their phones and sign up for the Friday orientation.
After disposing of our remaining food and dropping off our trays, Han and Jin wanted to exchange contacts, but I realized that I had left my smartwatch behind in my rush to leave the classroom.
Taking my sweet time, I basked in the silence as I returned to the classroom. Upon entering, I saw that it wasn't actually empty.
In the row in front of my desk sat the elven princess, or Alya. Her silver hair cascaded in layers all the way down to her waist. The green elf's uniform and bowties perfectly complimented her calm and reserved personality as she opted to read books alone instead of eating lunch with her friends.
She seemed too entranced in her book to notice my presence, so I went to grab my smartwatch. After finding my smartwatch sitting on my desk, I prepared to leave, but before I took one last glance not at the princess but at her book.
"The Garden Party."
Maybe I'll check it out later.
Leaving the classroom, I caught up with the Han and the idiot, who were patiently waiting outside. I decided not to tell the two about the princess in the classroom out of fear that Jin would further embarrass us by doing something stupid like asking her to eat lunch with us.
Just like that, the first five days of school flew by. And now, it was finally Friday: the travel club's orientation or the first of many incidents to take place at this school.