"Sir Vaan, it is great to see you again."
A student sitting in front of Vaan spoke with a bright look on his face.
"You did a great job with the article." Vaan praised.
"Hahaha~ I am grateful for the opportunity given to us.
Not to mention that we only wrote exactly what you wanted us to and it was the other students who actively searched for our article in order to read it.
Our Club's name has risen at quite a scary pace because of you."
The Student remained humble.
Vaan nodded as he smiled,
"You have to do exactly what you did before again and I promise you that you will experience the same amount of reach again, actually, you might get even more popular."
Vaan was confident, after all, things he was going to say today would be leaving quite a huge spark.
Not to mention with how almost every club wanted to interview him just when he came out of the Headmaster's Office, it was clear that his popularity was now reaching new limits.
Only choosing Academic Insights Club for exclusive interviews would obviously give the club more reach than ever. Vaan knew that this club was using him to get better, he however, wasn't offended.
After all, he was doing the same.
This little club, he planned to turn it into his personnel broadcasters. Broadcasters who would give him a platform to publically say what he wants to say and they would make sure that more and more students hear his words.
He didn't mind helping his personal broadcaster be more popular since in the end, it would only work better for him since his stage would only strengthen even further.
Having a few dogs to do whatever was told to them was quite a good feeling as well.
"Of course! That's what I am here for today! The moment we heard that you were given the chance to meet the Headmaster of the Academy, they sent me here to interview you.
Sir Vaan, I assure you, we will do our best to make sure all the students in the Academy hear your words."
The student knew his role as well and he didn't mind it. It was a mutually beneficial relationship.
"Then start with whatever questions you have prepared, I will answer all your questions first, then, I have some questions I want you to ask me and I will answer them as well, is that clear?"
Vaan questioned.
He was clearly manipulating the media, however, to him, it didn't matter.
As long as he gets what he wants, the means he uses don't matter.
"Yes, of course.
Let's start with the first question,"
The student spoke as he then took out two papers, one where the questions were prepared, and the other where he was going to note down Vaan's answers,
"Sir Vaan, I will start by congratulating you on meeting with Headmaster Octavius. Many students work their hardest to earn this opportunity, yet you are coming out of his office on just the 3rd day of your time here at the Academy. What was the experience like?"
The student questioned,
"It was an incredible experience, Headmaster Octavius is exactly the type of person I expected him to be, humble, wise, and dignified. Just talking to him filled me with endless confidence." Vaan replied with a smile on his face.
He knew full well that that old man would be reading once this interview was published, so he was trying to earn some brownie points while he was at it.
"Now I wish to work harder and strive to meet the Headmaster, not just for the award, but just to talk to him in person." The student chuckled, then, he continued with the next question,
"Sir Vaan, most of the students already know that Headmaster Octavius is actually your Grandfather, so many of them have some questions about it.
Being able to meet the Headmaster on the 3rd day of the Academy was something that was never done before, many students are curious if you grabbed this opportunity through the back door, or whether you actually managed to earn it yourself, so if it is not too much trouble, can I ask you to show me your SIC?"
The student questioned, then, he leaned towards Vaan and whispered, n(-OIn
"Should I continue this line of questioning, I can skip it if Sir Vaan wants me to."
Vaan stared at the student for a while, then, with a playful smile on his face, he took out his Silvery White SIC and the student's expression changed.
"Back in my Vesta Family, there is a saying,
If you are below average, people will mock you. If you are average, people will simply ignore you. If you are above average, people will praise you. If you are way above average, people will try to be like you,
However, if you are the best, better than everyone else, people will start questioning you.
So people doubting me doesn't disappoint me, rather, it gives me the confirmation that I am indeed the best the Academy has ever seen. I do not need to foolishly take over some buildings made out of stones to prove that.
I have the Silver White SIC that one gets after getting 5 Excellence Stars, yes, I received 5 Excellence Stars and I was given reasons for every single star that I received."
Vaan spoke with a confident look on his face.
"C-Can I ask what those reasons were?" The student went by the flow and questioned.
"A Star for exceptionally good control over Spells.
A Star for excellent Precision.
A Star for being able to move while casting spells.
A Star for displaying the level of Swordsmanship no Mage has ever displayed before.
A Star for using Advanced Magic Circles that even the wisest Mage in the Agresia Academy is influenced by.
Actually, I was told that my card could even be directly upgraded to Grey, if I explained the principles behind my Advanced Magic Circles, however, I rejected that offer because of my own personal reasons.
Also, if any of the Students think that any of the Stars I have received are given to me because of my relation with the Headmaster, then I am open to challenges. However, I will say one thing, I won't be responsible for the consequences after you lose.
I find it quite shameful to lose a challenge I initiated."
Vaan replied and the student widened his eyes in horror.
5 Excellence Stars at the same time was already insane, but to think this man rejected the offer of getting 5 more right on the Headmaster's face…
"You have any more questions?" Seeing that he was still not saying anything, Vaan called out.
The student came out of his reverie and started asking some more questions.
Vaan answered them all and almost an hour later, when he was done answering all the questions, he gave the interviewer a piece of paper and,
"Ask the questions written on it. I have also written your replies after my answers, don't think and proceed exactly how it's written here."
These were the questions he had prepared yesterday night.
Questions that will forge his pathway to his next goal.
A big smile appeared on Vaan's face as he thought about it.
The interviewer quickly grabbed the paper and without thinking, he asked the first question,
"Sir Vaan, now that you have received a Silver White Card, what are your future plans? How do you plan to gather more Excellence Stars?"
"That is quite simple,
I'll challenge more students."
"Hmm?"
"Receiving Excellence Stars through Academic Achievements is simply too slow, I will continue to challenge more and more students and learn from them in the process,
I believe that as long as I be myself and continue to improve, I am bound to get more Stars.
Actually, I already have the students I wish to challenge in my mind, Student Alaric and Student Kaelen, both are 4 Star Swordsmen and according to my research, the two have quite impeccable teamwork,
It just so happens that me and my fiancée are known to have quite a good teamwork as well,
I wish to challenge Alaric and Kaelen in a 2v2 duel."
Vaan spoke.
"Alaric and Kaelen huh…?
Is there any specific reason Sir Vaan wishes to challenge them in particular? They come from humble backgrounds, so there might be a chance that they reject your challenge so as to not get into difficult situations with the Vesta Family. After all, even if Sir Vaan has no such intentions, cases like these are quite common."
"Hmm? What are you talking about? The Vestas are not like that. We do not use our family's strength to suppress others. Not to mention that these two are taken in by the Dawncrests, they have no reason to fear us since the Dawncrests would support them no matter what.
The two of them were also the ones who challenged two of our family students in a competition before and because of their excellent skills, they won in a match where students from my family had an advantage,
I am trying to recreate the same thing, this time, however, the ones who will be having an advantage would be them.
I hope they actually accept my formal challenge and display their skills.
After all, who wouldn't want to learn from students who were personally selected by Declan Dawncrest?"
