Nathan returned to the classroom feeling happy, but also a little regretful.
He sighed.
"Damn, I should have smashed a lot of things, but what can I do? The classroom is small and doesn't have many suitable things to break."
On the way, he met Steven and David and went to them happily.
"Steven, Steven!"
"You've become a nice boy."
Steven looked at Nathan strangely.
'Huh?.. nice?!'
Even David looked at him suspiciously.
Nathan spoke with a proud expression on his face.
"Yes, the vice president told me I'm nice."
Steven was confused—what did it mean that the vice president told him he was nice?... Was he nice because he destroyed the entire classroom?!
"Uh… okay."
Nathan spoke with dissatisfaction while patting his stomach.
"I'm hungry."
Then he turned to look at Steven with excited eyes.
Steven understood that look and shook his head in resignation.
'Hah… whatever, I also haven't eaten anything since I woke up.'
David spoke:
"I'm hungry too."
Nathan laughed, showing his sharp teeth, and wrapped his arm around Steven's neck.
"Hahaha, Steven is good at cooking—you'll really like his food."
"Come on, let's go to our apartment."
After they arrived at Steven and Nathan's apartment, Steven made bibimbap.
He placed the well-cooked rice neatly in the center of the plate, then added a layer of fried vegetables on top of the rice, followed by a layer of well-seasoned cooked meat. Above those layers was mixed fried egg, its color shining like gold.
(Author: Sorry, I got excited describing the food 😗)
Steven placed three plates on the table, which he had taken out of his storage ring two days ago, since there was no dining table in the apartment.
David stared at the plates in shock, then looked away and raised his head, acting as if this were normal.
"You both know that I only eat luxurious dishes."
"I hope this humble dish suits my taste."
Nathan looked at him with raised eyebrows, shrugged, then picked up his spoon—he just wanted to eat now, as the smell of food had filled his nose.
Steven, meanwhile, ignored David's comment and started eating.
He knew that despite David's words, which sounded narcissistic or arrogant, David was a kind boy inside.
And of course, he also knew that David loved homemade food very much, so he would definitely like this meal.
David looked at the dish, picked up the spoon, and took a bite. After tasting it, his eyes widened in surprise. He quickly took another spoonful, then stopped and looked at Steven and Nathan, who seemed not to notice him. He sighed in relief in his heart, adjusted his posture, and began eating quietly.
Meanwhile, Nathan tried to suppress his laughter, as he had seen all of David's actions.
The next day
An announcement was made to the students that after three days, a welcoming party for the first-year students would be held. This celebration is held every year. There is also another annual celebration—the graduation ceremony—held at the end of every academic year.
All the students were happy about the good news, except for Kai's group—or more specifically, Kai, Evelyn, and Era.
Leonard mocked Evelyn.
"Hahaha, guess who's celebrating while the other is cleaning the courtyards?"
As soon as Leonard said that, a fast fist came toward his head.
"Ow!"
Leonard held his head and spoke with a frown.
"Evy, why are you hitting me like a barbarian?"
Evelyn's face turned red with anger. She raised her fist again toward Leonard and spoke angrily:
"Who's the barbarian?!"
Leonard dodged Evelyn's punches.
"Stop, stop. These behaviors of yours make you more barbaric."
Evelyn exploded in rage.
"You bastard!!"
Agnes shook her head and sighed, then turned to Era, scolding her.
"You really… Era, listen to me next time. Look at the result of not listening to me—you won't even be able to attend the celebration."
"That Nathan is a crazy boy and will not return to his former self, Era. So you must not interfere in anything related to him, because it will only bring harm to you."
"If you hadn't returned that prank to him, you shouldn't have been punished."
"I suspected this for a long time, but this Nathan is extremely smart and knows how to divert evidence away from himself. But what confuses me even more—"
"If he knows how to divert evidence, then why did he allow bad rumors about himself to spread?"
Era nodded in agreement.
"Yes, Agnes, even now I don't know what he's thinking."
Alyssa looked at Kai.
"Idiot."
Kai frowned in annoyance.
"I didn't imagine he was this crazy."
She looked at him as if looking at a foolish child.
"You must learn how to gather all the information before starting a fight, so you know how to act."
Kai nodded seriously.
"Okay, I'll keep that in mind."
Alyssa warned Kai.
"It's better for you not to interfere with that group."
Kai tilted his head.
"Nathan and his team?"
Alyssa nodded.
…
All of Steven's investigations led to the museum.
Despite investigating the museum, Steven found nothing during this period.
Today was the day the welcoming celebration for the students would begin, and students were informed that there would be no classes that day.
The day before the celebration, Steven went to the celebration plaza inside the academy. It had been well prepared for the event, and all the stalls were neatly and beautifully arranged.
Of course, he didn't go there to enjoy the scenery or anything like that—he was checking something.
The celebration would start from 2 PM until 9 PM, and the celebration plaza would be opened.
Steven had woken up at five in the morning and began training outside the academy in his Shadow Art skill. There was something amazing he discovered through this skill—or rather, something he remembered from the original novel about the demon Cyrus. In the novel, Cyrus was able to split his shadows into several parts or even merge them together.
So after several attempts, Steven finally managed to split the shadow of the eagle beast. Naturally, the beast's power was divided in half between the two parts.
Over the past months, Steven had been raising the level of his Shadow Art skill so he could draw out the shadow's full power, until he finally managed to restore the eagle's size and strength to the same level as before extracting its shadow.
After training for some time, Steven looked at his watch—it was 1:30. The time was close to the opening of the celebration plaza, so he returned to the academy.
When he returned to the shared apartment to change clothes, he didn't find Nathan. So he changed and headed toward the academy plaza where the celebration was being held.
Steven had to go to the celebration even if he didn't want to, because of the chaos that would occur there.
Although Kai and his group couldn't save most of the students, their bond had grown stronger after facing the chaos together.
But now… Kai, Era, and Evelyn were punished, so they wouldn't be able to attend the celebration until after sunset. However, the chaos would happen shortly after the celebration began.
So this time, the events would occur without the hero, and Steven was cautious in his actions.
There was only one thing that reassured him—the presence of Alyssa at the celebration. Alyssa was much smarter than the reckless Kai and at the same level of power, which made her presence better than the hero's.
Still, he wasn't fully convinced, because Alyssa was a villain in the novel, while Kai was the hero.
'Could her role as a villain affect her luck?'
Steven shook his head.
'At the very least, she must protect herself, Leonard, and Agnes.'
Steven wandered around monitoring the students and any strange movements. After walking around several times, he heard a faint commotion coming from a secluded place away from the chaos of the celebration. He frowned and approached to investigate.
"Tch, I was wondering why this bastard hides his eyes under his hair—so he was a disgusting vampire."
The boy who spoke was gripping Max's hair tightly and pushing his head back.
Steven frowned at the sight before him. There were four students.
'I forgot this. Here, Kai saves Max from the bullies, and Kai's hostility toward Nathan increases because Nathan's followers bully the weak.'
Steven stopped, looking at the students in front of him. He knew these students.
They were Loki, Boki, Toki, and Noki, and their behavior now was absolutely disgusting.
Toki frowned.
"Tch, this bastard was hiding his disgusting truth."
"He always sat alone and didn't like socializing."
Loki also spoke:
"Heh, it's a good thing that bastard doesn't meet us often, or else we'd be in this filthy guy's place."
He pointed at Max.
Toki nodded and pulled Max's hair hard, about to smash him against the wall, while the other two watched Max with enjoyment.
Suddenly, a strong hand grabbed Toki's hand that was about to smash Max into the wall and stopped it.
Toki angrily looked toward Steven.
"You bastard, why did you stop—!"
The four servants widened their eyes and became tense. Toki was extremely nervous as well and released Max's hair.
After a few quick thoughts, Toki stood firm and spoke mockingly toward Steven.
"What do you want, Nathan's follower?"
Steven looked at him with deadly coldness.
Toki felt nervous, but still spoke:
"What? Did I say something wrong? You're just a low rank and always stay beside that rabid dog."
Steven looked at the four students, who were ready to fight and attack him.
'Annoying.'
Just as he was about to strike them, a cold voice interrupted.
"Hah… seems I need to reprogram you from time to time."
Steven turned around. Behind him was Nathan, looking at the four students with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.
Beside him was also David, staring coldly at the four servants.