"They're here! ", Aria exclaimed.
A bunch of footsteps could be heard from all sides.
I was ready to lunge forward, if someone showed any sign of violence towards us.
But, surprisingly, a group of 5 students with their hands in the air appeared in front of us.
From the sounds of it, there were more students coming this way too.
One of them said through the transmitting earpiece on him, "Team 8 O'clock reporting. We have found group one members."
From the way he said, it was like they were searching for us.
Moreover, they have other groups with them too.
If that's the case, it would be a bit difficult to fight, because we would be greatly outnumbered.
We, the 100 first year high school students of Central Magic Academy, have been classmates since middle school, more or less.
Even if, I, being the daughter of Aurelius family, don't socialize much, I have been acquainted with some of the names from our class, notable ones only though.
And, I recognize the one of these 5, who is reporting through his earpiece.
"Samuel Morningstar. ", I called out.
" It's an honor that the daughter of Aurelius family remembers my name.", he deeply bowed and continued.
All of them had their hands in the air, so I didn't think that they would attack us Or anything.
So what was their purpose of searching for us?
"There is no need to be so vigilant, Ms. Aurelius. As you can see, we don't have any weapons on us. We have no intention to fight with you. ", he said.
" Then, what is your motive? "
"... We are merely working on orders of our group leader. He wants to have some words with you.", Samuel replied.
"... And who is this group leader that you speak of? ", I asked.
"... -"
As he was about to say something, multiple footsteps could be heard.
Another group appeared from the woods.
Then another one.
One by one groups of 5 students kept appearing.
In a short amount of time, we were surrounded from all directions.
There was a herd of students, almost like all the students of our class have appeared I front of us.
Arlan was all ready to attack, the moment I give my signal.
Elric also had his bows out, to strike the moment we start to fight.
But, there was something off about them...
They had no weapons in their hands.
If they wanted to attack us, then, they should have at least taken out their weapons.
Just as I was racing my thoughts to reach at a concluaion, another name I had remembered appeared from the crowd.
Long blond hair, crimson red eyes, all the traits of the respected Harrington Family.
There were 7 great families that ruled over the Central Mars apart from the Royal Family.
The other noble families were either branch families or not so significant in wielding power.
House Aurelius is one of those seven great families.
And House Valenheart, the family Arlan belongs, is a branch family of our House Aurelius.
However, the girl standing in front of me, with her long blond hair, crimson red eyes, slender figure, is from the House Harrington, one of the 7 great families of Central Mars.
I haven't interacted with her much in the past, but I don't have a good impression of her.
However, that was not what I was surprised about.
Another male student appeared beside her.
A face I am very much familiar with.
Someone I truly hate to the core.
And the reason, we are in such a predicament right now.
But, I was too stunned to even speak.
The smug look on that blond haired girl, and the expressionless face on that shithead beside her, pissed me off so much, that no words came out of my mouth.
Arlan was the one stood up right then.
"Kai Rayleigh, what are you doing here, with Rafaela Harrington to boot?"
Rafaela Harrington was the name of that blond haired girl.
Upon being asked, that shithead Kai remained silent.
And, the smug look Rafaela had, turned into an innocent smile, as she approached us.
"I believe you all know me very well, but maybe Princess Aria Leafsong here might not, so let me introduce myself. I am Rafaela Harrington, the heiress-in-line to the prestigious House Harrington."
Then she bowed, as in a gesture any noble lady would, in front of Royalty.
"What is the meaning of this act of surrounding our group, Ms. Rafaela Harrington? And why is our group member with you? ", Aria asked her confidently.
" ..... We are here to ask for the help of your group, Princess Leafsong. ", Rafaela said.
" Help? "
Then, Rafaela started explaining, why she was searching for us.
Apparently, she was from group 3.
But, when the announcement for this lesson was made yesterday, and the 5 mana stones quota was written there, she gathered other groups to form a large group, in order to clear objectives together.
She claims that she managed to persuade 10 groups yesterday itself, and another 9 groups during the exam, totalling the number of groups under her large group to be 20.
Twenty groups out of a total of 22 groups were under her wings.
Their motive was simple.
Collect the minimum amount of mana stones that would be needed for all 20 groups, that is 100, so that no group under her wings gets disqualified for not reaching the 5 mana stones quota.
Why she was doing this?
It was because, as Dr. Berlint said at the starting, there would be guests watching this whole ordeal.
So, she wanted to make sure that no student is humiliated in front of them.
"That's admirable of you. What's the problem then? ", Aria asked if she had any trouble, that she needed our help.
"Yes, Princess Leafsong. The thing is, our net collection is 95 right now, 5 short of the required amount. And we can't find simulated monsters anymore, in the entire area we have visited so far..... There is not much time remaining too. Just a little above 15 minutes to end the lesson."
"So? "
"So, we are in dire need of 5 mana stones right now. And, guess what? Kai Rayleigh here came to our rescue. He said that the group one, to which he belongs, possesses 14 mana stones in total currently. "
"14!? It was 34 when I last checked though! ", I thought to myself, opening the status window again, to recheck the number of mana stones our group had.
And indeed it was true.
{
> Shop (Temporary)
AVAILABLE MANA STONES (GROUP 1) =
14
Hidden Information : 10 Mana Stones (Bought = 3/3)
Energy Drink : 1 Mana Stones
Transmitter (a set of five) : 2 Mana Stones (Bought)
Monster Detector : 5 Mana Stones
Healing Potion : 2 Mana Stones (Bought : 1)
....more
}
That shithead has bought 2 more hidden info, while we were distracted!
"So I was wondering... ", Rafaela continued, "..... if you would be generous enough to provide us 5 mana stones, so that every group from our class can qualify this lesson without any problem. "
"Why would we!? We collected these mana stones ourselves! Why should we hand them over like it's nothing!? ", Arlan snapped.
" ... Ms. Arlan Valenheart, I understand your concern, but just think about it for a little. If you agree to our request, then all the groups would be able to meet the quota of 5 mana stones. On the other hand, you, with your remaining 9 mana stones after deducting from 14, would still remain at the top."
"How so? "
"All the 20 groups under me would have 5 mana stones each, and the group that isn't under our control, the group number 5, has 6 mana stones, which I have personally confirmed. Then, doesn't that mean, your group with a total 9 mana stones would be at the top in the rankings? "
"Is that right, Selena? ", Arlan turned to me and asked, if all she said were correct or not.
If we calculate it that way, then everything seems correct.
We would still be at the top, after handing them 5 mana stones over.
Moreover, as she said, even if we search throughout all over again for the last minutes, there is very less chance that we would be able to find a simulated monster at this point of time.
"How would we check the facts you have told us so confidently?", I asked Rafaela.
" Oh, Ms. Selena Aurelius, feel free to do so. Each and every member of the 20 groups that I speak of is currently present here. You can count them. Moreover, I would show you our group's shop menu on our status window, so that you can verify that we have 95 mana stones in total. You can check whatever you want, just say the word."
There are 22 groups in total in our class.
If she claims to have 20 groups under her wings, then, apart from us, another group should also be there.
Rafaela said that their total mana stones collection is 6.
As I checked through all of them, I found that her statements were correct.
On top of that, the members of that group 5 also were present here.
I checked every group's shop menu, and it turned out that group 5 really has a total of 6 mana stones.
Everything seemed to be hard to believe, but correct.
This shithead Kai, would have told her about our group's number of mana stones too.
What should I do now?
I don't really want to give them any of our mana stones at all.
But, the situation we are in, is not exactly favorable for us.
If I refuse her now, all of the 100 students standing around us, might attack and snatch away all of our mana stones.
We are greatly outnumbered here.
After thinking thoroughly about the possibilities, I came to a conclusion.
"Alright. We accept your request."
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Author's Note :
Please comment down your thoughts on the story so far.
Next Chapter - The Betrayal
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