–[Don't you get it? If I give that jersey to the cadet council and claim that you tried to sexually assault me, what will happen to you?
»You'll be lying. They will investigate the matter–
Investigate? You already have the title of a sex offender. Do you think they'll really waste their time investigating such a crystal clear case when the evidence is against you? Your reputation will be enough to close the case!]
And once again, there was nothing but silence in the room.
Yes, of course I had recorded my conversation with Grace on the rooftop of that building in the virtual world.
As I said, she really is dumb to fall for the oldest trick in the book, not once but twice.
"N-No!"
Oh, she finally spoke.
"I-It's not real! That recording is doctored! That's not my voice! I never said that!"
Wow, really? That's the best she could come up with.
"If you want, we can ask the Council to let Athena examine it. Surely the smartest AI in the world could tell if a voice recording is fake or not, right?" I turned to Grace and suggested.
"There are some problems with Athena, so we'll have to wait till tomorrow to confirm anything," Yelena chipped in. "So Grace Goodwill, if we find that it really was your voice in the recording, and you have wasted the Council's time, then be prepared to face severe consequences for your actions. Answer me, should we proceed with the examination?"
"I-I…."
I can see the feeling of despair in her shivering eyes. Her lips quivered violently and her brain tried to come up with a solution to get her out of this predicament but to no avail.
She has lost. This was my final move– my checkmate.
With no moves left but to resign, Grace dropped her head. Mixed looks of disbelief, shock, and denial were visible on her face as she kept incoherently mumbling something.
Smirking, I stepped closer to her and mockingly whispered, "And I told you to switch sides, didn't I?"
For a second, her unfocused eyes regained some clarity, and she shot me a look of resentment.
However, in the next second, she had no choice but to grit her teeth and turn her eyes to face Yelena. "N-No… No need."
Good game and well played, Grace Goodwill. In the end, you were just not smart enough.
Facing Yelena myself now, I asked, "Is this enough proof of my innocence? This conversation is something that happened in the virtual world. You should have known about it since you had the job of monitoring us. If you didn't know about this, then you failed your job."
As soon as I mentioned the fact that the Council was monitoring us, Grace's face paled even more.
As first-year cadets, many of us were unaware that diving into virtual reality was only allowed when monitored by either the Cadet Council or academy instructors in the real world.
Grace was no exception and had no idea that all her actions were being spectated.
Due to the Mock War event being organized in a rush, only one monitoring screen was set up, with Yelena and Dylan– two of the Cadet Council members being the sole observers of our time in the virtual world.
Under normal circumstances, one screen with two observers would have been sufficient for such a small and straightforward event.
However, when I intervened and complicated things, the situation changed, especially when I acted from behind the scenes most of the time.
Yelena probably had no interest in watching me so she only spectated strong cadets like Quinn, Nero, Alberto and others.
That was her blunder.
"...." Yelena replied with silence.
She had no excuses.
Not only did she fail to monitor such an event, but also almost accused me of being guilty, despite my innocence.
Of course, I knew better. It isn't her fault.
It was me.
Every single step of this event, aside from Amelia leaving her post and Nero being forced to use his Gift, was predicted by me – manipulated by me.
"I'll take that silence as yes," I said before crossing my arms over my chest. It was now time to hammer the final nail in the coffin. "Well, since you did fail your job, which resulted in me being dragged here, I expect compensation."
From here, I will start to exploit Grace until she breaks and finally gives in to me.
"You must understand that my reputation and social standing will receive a big hit from this matter," wiping the nonexistent tears off the side of my eyes, I said. "People will talk about all sorts of things behind my back. It might even affect my chances of getting into a good military unit after graduation."
I could visibly see the nerves on Yelena's forehead twitching as soon as I said that.
'Reputation? Do you even have one?' – That's probably what she wanted to say to me.
But holding herself back, Yelena took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "What do you want?" she asked. "Before you ask for anything, know this, we can expel Grace but we can't blacklist her from other military academies since her father is a noble."
In short, Yelena wanted to say that even if they expelled her, she wouldn't be forced to go to the training camp like I would've been.
She can just switch to a different academy like Ethereal Academy.
Heh.
Yeah, right. As if I'll let her off that easily.
"I want to charge Grace Goodwill with slander, abuse of her noble authority, making violent threats, and falsely accusing a fellow cadet," I said while shrugging.
Taking a dramatic pause, I let out a deep breath.
From beside me, Grace clenched her fists, squeezed her eyes shut and bit her lower lip. She was on edge.
Why wouldn't she be? After all, if her father were to hear about her getting expelled from the Global Academy, he wouldn't be very happy.
"If that's what you want–"
"But on second thoughts," right when Yelena was about to comply, I spoke up, cutting her off. "I don't want that. I'm not as heartless as her."
At my words, Grace opened her eyes in shock and looked at me. Her brows were furrowed in a frown as confusion was visible on her face.
"Instead, I want early access to Athena. I also want whatever amount of Merit points Grace will earn in the next eight months."
The look of surprise turned into that of anger when Grace realized what I was trying to do. She tried to speak up, but before she could…
Slam—!
"Ridiculous!" thumping her hands on the side rests of her throne-like chair, Yelena stood up. "You're just a first-year who hasn't even completed your first semester yet! What makes you think you can get access to Athena when even the top cadets in your batch don't have that?"
"Well, I'm here because of your blunder, aren't I?"
"Yes, but did you receive any punishment?"
"That's because I proved my innocence before you could–"
"Lucas," Yelena yelled out my name, causing me to flinch as a chill ran down my spine.
I wasn't scared.
Ahem.
Definitely not scared.
At most, the sudden high pitch in her voice shocked me.
Yelena declared, "This Academy is under my control. Although there is only one person above me, I possess significant authority. If I desired to remove you from this institution and prevent you from entering any other military academy by breaking the rules, would it be difficult for me? Absolutely not. I could accomplish it effortlessly. So keep your tone down and be thankful that I decided to spare you by following the rules."
"Tsk."
This bitch.
Well, I can't blame her.
The strong eat the weak – that's the truth of this world.
She can do whatever she wants because she is strong. I can only keep my head down because I'm weak right now.
However, one day I will pay her for this– for everything. I swear to god, I will.
"Also, you'll only get to take six months' worth of Credit points from her instead of eight," Yelena added.
"Oh, come on!"
This was going overboard!
"Six. Month!"
"As you say, ma'am!" I put on a smile that would put even the best businessmen to shame and performed a short bow.
Tsk. I swear I'll pay her for this.
"But that's not fair! This means that for the next six months, I won't be able to buy any resources to cultivate or train! This is an assured way for me to fail my classes and get behind my peers! I beg you to—"
As Grace was in the middle of pleading, Yelena shot her a deathly cold glare. "You should've thought about all this before."
"Gah!"
At that moment, Grace felt an ice spear piercing her heart, making her stumble and fall back.
When she came to her senses, she patted her chest. There was no hole there, or an ice spear, for that matter.
Did she hallucinate? She thought.
'Oh?' I raised my eyebrows. 'Was that Bloodlust?'
Yelena can't use illusion spells, so that must've been Bloodlust. Damn, she's strong enough to use it already?
"Okay, kids," Dylan casually threw his arm in front of Yelena, giving her a look to calm down, and flashed a smile our way. "I think it's time for you all to head back to your dorms. The prize for your class' victory over 1-C-8 will be revealed tomorrow."
"Heik"
Grace lifted herself up and ran out of the room. As she ran past me, I took a glimpse at her face. She was crying.
Click—!
"Haa," shaking my head, I let out a sigh before turning around and deciding to leave myself.
"Lucas."
Right when I was at the door, Yelena's voice called me out.
"Hmm?" turning around, I looked at her. "What is it now?"
For a second, I could swear I saw Yelena hesitating to speak. But in the next moment, she managed to choke some words out.
"D-Do you know anything about the Morningstar family's secret art that Father used to train in the back garden at our family mansion?"
"Hmm?" I raised an eyebrow. "I don't know anything. Why would I? As you said, I'm not your brother anymore. I died, and you guys were the ones who killed me."
"....."
Without bothering to listen to her anymore, I exited the Cadet Council vice president's personal office and closed the door behind me.
Click—!
