Chapter 304
SUSPICION (3)
Ari tilted her pretty face slightly and spoke in an amused tone, "I noticed that you all seem to be… a little distant."
Indeed, in an attempt to show their determination—and to keep Reuel in check—they had seated themselves directly opposite her, on the other side of the table, placing her alone at one end while the four of them occupied the other.
They had lined up their chairs neatly, sitting shoulder to shoulder with rigid, focused expressions… though one of them might have been focusing on Ari for reasons that had nothing to do with determination.
Henry was the first to speak. "We need to talk. It's about this punishment we've been carrying out for the past few weeks—"
Before he could finish, Ari interrupted him with a lazy smile, lifting the teacup in front of her and taking a slow sip. "As expected. I was wondering when you'd finally call it quits and decide to rebel."
"W–We aren't rebell—" Reuel started, panic flashing across his face.
A sharp light flickered in Ari's eyes as she cut in, her voice suddenly cold and firm.
"Don't. Interrupt. Me."
The words fell like a hammer.
Reuel felt his voice die in his throat. He had been about to point out that she was the one who had interrupted first, but the memory of what had happened the last time someone got on her nerves surfaced in his mind. Swallowing hard, he wisely chose silence.
With a sweet smile, she continued, "I expected nothing less. After all, who would want to waste their time doing something like that for three whole months… even if you seem to have forgotten the part where it was meant to be a punishment."
She deliberately stressed the last word, her eyes gliding over the boys one by one, lingering on a single face for a millisecond longer than the rest before moving on as if nothing had happened.
After a brief pause, once it was clear she had finished, Henry spoke again. "Yes… we understand that. And we've all reflected on our past actions. We know where we went wrong, and we promise not to cause any more trouble."
"Oh?" Ari replied lightly. "And what exactly makes you think I should simply take your word for it? You're sitting here for a reason, after all."
"I… I believe that everyone deserves a second chance," Henry said, choosing his words carefully. "And besides, we're not asking to be completely absolved. We're just asking for a more… productive punishment."
As he spoke, his sand-coloured eyes were steady and sincere, carrying a quiet conviction that made his words feel genuine.
Ari fell silent, her gaze moving slowly across the four of them. Her expression gave nothing away, calm and unreadable, as if she were weighing their worth on an invisible scale.
…
(Ari's POV)
Ari remained silent, her thoughts drifting back to Blaze's words from the previous night. He had returned to her both physically and mentally shaken, and the damage to his concept had ignited a burning rage within her. Anyone who had dared to harm him in such a way would not be forgiven so easily.
Yet confusion lingered beneath that anger. She and Blaze trusted each other completely. They had shared what most ascenders would take to the grave—the deepest truths of their concepts, their strengths and limits. Because of that, she was certain of one thing: within the academy, there should have been no one, not even the vice principals, capable of instilling such fear in him.
Blaze was not the strongest, but he was far from weak. He had lost before, many times, yet he had only ever truly feared one person… and that person was long gone.
So who could it be now?
Then his mention of Raj surfaced in her mind, followed by Regina's death in the Hold. Her brows knit slightly. Information like that was not public. The government had never released a full list of the deceased—only families of the victims had been informed. There should have been no way for a random student to know such details.
No one should have been connected to the Hold anymore.
No one… except one.
The sole survivor of the Hold.
IAM GRIMM.
Could it really be him?
Ari questioned herself, her suspicion slowly settling on IAM.
Yet things didn't add up. First of all—how could he possibly have defeated Blaze in a one-on-one fight?
The last time they had clashed, it had taken all of his friends working together just to bring Blaze down. And even then, Blaze had restrained himself, unable to use the Path techniques he had promised not to reveal, since they had only just become Ascenders. In the end, it had taken three of them holding him in place while IAM crashed into him with a car.
And now, only weeks later, Blaze had been beaten at full strength.
For that to be possible, IAM would have to be at least at the Experienced level.
After all, everyone in the academy could be called a genius in their own right. For a Novice to defeat an Experienced Ascender, the Novice would need to be an extraordinary prodigy while the other was merely average. But this wasn't a clash between an average and a genius—this was between two geniuses.
Such a victory should have been impossible unless the gap in talent was absurdly wide.
So that meant only one thing.
IAM had to be an Experienced Ascender.
But that should have been impossible. He hadn't been an Ascender for long. If he truly had reached that level already, he would have shattered the revious record by an overwhelming margin.
And yet…
He hadn't been using his Avien for a while now.
That single detail caused a chill to run through her thoughts.
Ari's suspicion only deepened.
If only she could access the surveillance through her status, she would have already known what had happened the previous night. But she stopped herself. She had promised Blaze she wouldn't investigate. And it was possible she was overthinking everything, seeing connections where none existed.
…Still, just in case…
She would keep her eye on him.
…
The boys were left in silence as Ari remained quiet for several minutes, her gaze unfocused as if she were lost in her own thoughts.
Just as they were about to grow impatient, she finally spoke.
"Alright, I get it. I've been informed about the incident that warranted this punishment, and I'm aware that you aren't truly bad students. After observing you during your punishment, even though you complained constantly, you still made sure to do your jobs properly." She paused. "So while I won't say I trust you… you're not exactly untrustworthy either. Well, except for…" Her eyes slid toward one of them. "You, perhaps, IAM."
IAM's eyes narrowed slightly as she continued.
"You stepped on people, pointed a gun at a fellow student, surrendered when your class needed you, crashed academy property into a member of the Student Council, and even beat up my partner…"
IAM immediately sensed the trap.
One of his reasons for coming here today had been to probe Ari, to confirm whether or not she knew it was him who had damaged Blaze's concept. And now, he caught the subtlety in her words.
She had deliberately separated crashing the mini car into Blaze and beating him up as two different events.
Meaning she was implying that he was also the one who had fought Blaze yesterday.
Damn it, Blaze… what exactly did you tell her?
What did you do to make her suspicious of me now?
At least she didn't sound certain.
Which meant he still had room to maneuver.
He would just have to tread very carefully through her traps.
It was then Reuel spoke up, tilting his head slightly. "But wasn't the first incident all of our fault? We were the ones who pushed him into that situation. And Yohan was the one who attacked first and IAM only handed yohan the weapon, Blaze suddenly us without warning, so IAM had no choice but to fight back with us… and in the end, we *all* beat him up."
Ari's eyes immediately turned sharp and hostile.
At the same time, IAM shot Reuel a look filled with quiet satisfaction.
Reuel, catching it, grinned and even threw him a subtle thumbs-up.
IAM had already told the others what truly happened the night before. They knew he was an experienced-level ascender, and he had warned them to be careful, to not fall into any verbal traps Ari might set. Now, seeing Reuel deliberately spread the responsibility, he could tell his preparation had paid off.
"Oh?" Ari said coldly. "Someone doesn't seem to want to stop cleaning toilets every day."
"Wait, wait, wait! I was joking!" Reuel instantly panicked, waving his hands wildly. "We didn't beat him up! We just… got lucky, yeah! Super lucky! Incredibly, unbelievably lucky!"
Ari let out a soft sigh and crossed her arms, one leg smoothly folding over the other as she leaned back in her chair. "Fine. I'll fulfill your request and issue another form of punishment for you."
"Now, if that's all—"
Before she could finish, Reuel's hand shot straight up.
A faint twitch appeared at the corner of Ari's eye. Veins practically pulsed at her temple as she slowly turned toward him, her smile thin and dangerous."…Go on."
"We would also like to humbly, sincerely, with the best wishes for your health and our sanity, and with the Seven Heroes above and beyond with the Nine Moons as witnesses, to make the most respectful and modest inquiry regarding the possibility of joining the Student Council," Reuel said in one breath.
With every word, Ari's irritation visibly grew—until, halfway through, her expression shifted. She blinked once, clearly caught off guard, and then looked over the four of them carefully.
"You…" she said slowly, eyes narrowing with interest."…wish to join the Student Council?"