Chapter 12: “Twisted Minds”
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     Tuesday had passed with ease. I can't say that it is totally peaceful because the scornful eyes are still on me. It is the expected when a student from the lowest section became a butler for a royalty from the Elite Class. Tomorrow will be the Quest. It is where the students can gain merit and allowance. The details will be revealed at the day and it changes every month so conceptualizing a strategy for it is quite useless.


     The Physical Commencement class was done and we were now allowed to go home. Since we're in the Building C, I need to return to my classroom to take my things. Of all the days that I can forgot it. Stupid Hiji. I hasten my steps so that I can meetup with Margaux-senpai. I'll just apologize to her later and will even do a kowtow if needed.


     After my phone was scanned on the device beside the backdoor, I opened it and took my bag that was hanging on the right side of my desk then placed the strap on my right shoulder. 


     "Good timing, Karasuma."


     A scary voice echoed in the entire classroom. I tried to look on the surroundings and behind me, a woman was leaning on the wall, with her right leg slightly raised. Her black ponytail overlaps her left breast. Speaking of, her breasts was slightly emphasized thanks to her tight white long sleeve polo.


     "T-T-Tachibana-sensei?!" I surprisingly asked.


     "You have date with Margaux, right? Go cancel it for today."


     "Why should I do it? And we're not dating."


     "I need to talk to you about something urgent," she said and grabbed something on her pocket.


     I followed what she said and messaged Elice-senpai that I'm not available for today because something urgent happened. I immediately got a reply from her saying that it's fine. It was a good thing that they understand it. I was about to return my phone on my bag when I inhaled smoke, which coming from Tachibana-sensei, who is currently smoking. 


     "Ah, sorry. You have any respiratory illness?"


     "I have none."


     "Good. I can focus better with this," Tachibana-sensei inhaled again with the cigarette stick on her mouth and exhaled the smoke. "I need you to do some petty task for tomorrow's Quest."


     "..."


     "You're seemed confused. Well, my bad. I'll explain the details first. The Quest tomorrow is a battle royale. The only difference is that there are preys, predators, and the instructors. Basically, the preys are the students that were prohibited on killing other students except predators. The latter and instructors will eliminate all students. And also, instructors can be eliminated by students."


     "Uhm... I'm sure that this thing shouldn't be said to me."


     "Don't worry. All other first-year instructors are also doing this. Each of us should get one predator from any sections we want. And I decided to choose you, to become my predator."


     "Why me? I'm not strong and you can surely find better candidates on the other sections."


     "Not strong? No wonder that you hesitated to defeat Margaux during that duel." Tachibana-sensei smirked that caused me to shiver in fear. And most of all, does she saw what I'm thinking that time?


     "Just accept my request... No.It is an order. Agree now so that I can start further explain the details," she added and grabbed her phone on her pocket.


     "If you think I can fulfill it, then I'll do it. And by the way, I suggest we shouldn't talk here. Someone might hear us."


     "No one will hear us, I'm sure of it."


     I don't know what Tachibana-sensei did but she's brimming with confidence so I guess this is fine. She walked towards the glass table in front of the monitor and scanned her phone on it. A hologram of a city popped up above the glass table. 


     "Take a seat first."


     I took the seat right in front of the table to see the hologram better. Tachibana-sensei inhaled again with the cigerette on her mouth.


     "Like I said earlier, the Quest will be a battle royale. I hope you get the roles of preys and predators. Students that were eliminated at the first 10 minutes will have 20,000 merit reduction and will gain 10,000 merits for every 10 minutes the student survived. About the allowance, it is insignificant so I won't explain it."


     The merit reduction on the first ten minutes will be a great risk on the Class D Students. Me, who is the Class D Rank 1, only has 28,000 merits. So I assume that more than half of the class have merits lower than 20,000 merits. 


     "The field has an area of two square kilometers and the spawning point for each student will be random. It means that there are chances were you can be spawned right beside an instructor. I'm sure that the entire Class D students will find a way to form a squad and survive until the first 10 minutes."


     "May I know what is your basis fot that?"


     "They say that there are strenght in numbers. But they don't know is that there is a wolf on their herd and that wolf is you," Tachibana-sensei said and pointed her finger at me.


     "What if I died early?"


     "That won't happen," she said and threw something at me. It was an earphone. "Wear it on your spirit. It is perfect for her since her head is completely hidden. I'll communicate with you through her and for you, just make it look like you're talking to yourself. About your security, the instructors were tasked to protect their respective predators at all cost. It means that I can fight against another instructor that is threatening you."


     "If you want… I'll protect you with my life," another voice said. 


     A pair of arm were suddenly wrapped on my shoulders. I was shocked by it and tried to loom behind but a cute face appeared on my right side. Her jade-colored eyes stare at me that caused me to become embarrassed. A very fragrant scent also tickles my nose. 


     "You have the guts to interrupt me, huh?" Tachibana-sensei was annoyed by the appearance of the newcomer. 


     "But this boy is a cutie. I might fall in love with him!"


     "Remove your filthy hands from him or no ramen for one week?"


     "I-I want ramen!" the newcomer shouted and finally released me from her hands.


     I turned my head around and saw a girl wearing an white outfit resembles kimono. Her long pink hair, that has fox ears above it, slightly careens. Her tail wiggles violently, probably because of the threat she received. 


     "But Mafuyu-chan, I think your plan to protect him is kinda vague," the fox girl said and walked towards the glass table on my right side. "Unless you give him datum about his surroundings every second."


     "Are you underestimating your master?" Tachibana-sensei said and stared at the fox girl as if she'll throw a dagger.


     "That's not it. It is just I'm concerned about him," the fox girl replied in a totally different tone. Maybe she's serious now and plans to participate in this meeting. 


     "Then your concern is not needed. I can handle Karasuma alone."


     "Oooooh. So Karasuma is his name, huh?" the fox girl giggled and looked to me. 


    "I'm pretty sure that the Class D students won't venture outside on the first 10 minutes, or probably for 20 minutes. Their movements will be limited and that is where we'll take our initiative to take them down."


     "Ugh! Don't ignore me!" the fox girl complained and pouted. Cute. 


     "Class D? I thought that I'll eliminate all students?"


     "Ah, right. I forgot to explain. It is true that you need to eliminate also students from other classes but I don't care about them. Your main task will be the elimination the Class D students you see in the first 10 minutes. That's all."


     "Huh? You're our class instructor, right? Then why do you want your class to be ruled out at early part?"


     "The answer should be obvious," Tachibana-sensei pressed the end of her cigarette on the glass table then placed it inside her pocket. "I don't want weaklings like your class to survive in this academy."


     This doesn't make any sense. A class adviser, like her, has the role to support her students to strengthen their infirmity, and that role is a mandatory task of an adviser but this one on my front, a near to sadist instructor, is the opposite of it. 


     "Someone said to me that for you to become strong, you should learn from your own experience. That phrase is a very common one, right? I mean, for you to become a general, you need to start from being a private, fight in the battlefield, create your own reputation, then rise up on the ranks. No one becomes a high ranking official through sipping coffee and letting others do the mission for you. That is what I want to apply to the entire Class D. Why? It's simple. This world is a tactical battlefield. You always need to use your brain and physical body to win."


     I'm speechless. She's right on her analogy. If there is a strong point and at the same time, a weak one, of the Class D, it is their unity. It is quite admirable that they depend on each other based on what I can see but it also means that you can't do anything without relying on someone.


     "Hmmm... I think my role here is to hunt them down, right?" the fox girl asked and raised her right hand in excitement.


     "I hope I can say that, Xin'Ya. But you being near Karasuma might expose his role as my predator. It is better if you will just protect me from possible attackers. It won't be avoidable after all since I need to go to the higher grounds to keep track on Karasuma."


     "I think that I can do what you ordered, Tachibana-sensei. But please make sure you'll secure me."


    "I only say things that I'm sure I'm capable of. You have any questions?"


    "So…" Xin'Ya, whose arms are crossed, spoke up in irritation." Why the both of you ignoring me?"


    "I didn't noticed that a disgusting dog like you is here," Tachibana-sensei said without looking on spirit.


    "I-I-I-I-I'm not a dog!"


     Cute.


    "I can do anything as long as I follow the rules, right?" I interrupted and intensely stared on Tachibana-sensei's eyes. She smirked in response.


     "Ho? You have something on your mind?"


     "I'm just wondering if I can have the merits of the Class D students that will be expulsed? You know, like a sort of reward."


     Tachibana-sensei laughed at my request. Did I said something wrong? Or maybe the entirety of it is wrong? Damn it. Did Margaux-senpai purposely did this? Damn it! Damn it! I'll freaking confront you next time. 


     "I see. I see. Margaux said to you the hidden rules, right?" Tachibana-sensei asked while her laughter slowly fades. 


     "She only gave me the concept of it."


     "Just make sure you'll exercise it right. But eventhough she won't say it to you, I'm sure you'll figure it out in no time," she said and sighed. "I'll give you 30,000 merits if you managed to eliminate five of your classmates on the first 10 minutes."


     "I guess I'll take it. But if possible, I want it to be on hold for now. It might be suspicious if my merits suddenly spiked."


     "Sounds reasonable. Okay. I'll keep it."


     There is no certain rule about what I did earlier, and also the scheming a plan between a student and instructor. I can say that what we're plotting right now is completely twisted. But like I said, this is my plan to rise. 


     "If you don't have any other questions, then you're free to go," Tachibana-sensei said and rescanned her phone on the glass table that caused the hologram to fade.


     "Eh? I just materialized myself for nothing?!" Xin'Ya asked as she came nearer to her master. 


     "I'll treat you to ramen if you disappear right now."


     "Oooh! I'm easy to talk to! Goodbye, Karasuma!" Xin'Ya said and dematerialized. She must be a die hard ramen lover. 


     "By the way, Tachibana-sensei. Are you agree with the rules of this academy?"


     "Of course. I created the rules after all."


     "Huh?"


     "I'm sure you heard about the identity of the academy principal being unknown, right? Well, it was intentionally done to make it extremely confidential. Only the instructors know of it and for the students, it is only you."


     "..."


     "Long story short, I'm the academy principal," Tachibana-sensei boldly declared and readjusted the position of her ponytail. 


     "The rumor is that the academy principal is a world leader but the reality is, they assigned me to take the position. Through that, I can freely monitor the entire academy with the image of only being instructor. I believe that what I said earlier is the complete answer to your question and you seemed worthy of knowing the most private secret the academy has."


     Shockness ran down through every nerves of my body. She just told it to me without any hesitation that she's the academy principal. I'm not that worthy like what she said but I think she saw something to me that is still unknown at me. 


     "I guess it's my time to ask a question. You said that you still don't know your spirit's identity, right?"


     "Sad to say, but yes."


     "It feels weird but she seems very familiar to me. Though, I'm very sure that it's my first time seeing her."


     "There are some who said that Stacia is familiar to them, and that includes me."


     "And also her fighting style. It also feels like I've seen somewhere but I can't remember it no matter how many times I tried to do so."


     "That sounds weird."


     "Yeah. I'll just hope that her identity will be unveiled before I leave this academy."


      Tachibana-sensei tried to take again another stick of cigarette but it looks like the stick earlier is the last one. She immediately gave up upon realizing it and she just sighed in disappointment.


     "I think I have a gist of your spirit's ability. You want to hear it?"


     "If it's okay with you."


     "You know what is a Passive Ability, right?"


     There are three types of abilities that a spirit has. First is the Passive Ability in which it was involuntarily activated and never fades on the spirit. This kind of ability is the rarest one. Second one is the Active Ability wherein the spirit can activate his ability without any chant while Active Abilities that need chants are called Invocation.


     "That being said," Tachibana-sensei continued, "Passive Abilities are the rarest, yet most powerful abilities. Personally, I still don't encounter any spirits with Passive Abilities but I heard that this is literally beyond what mortals can imagine."


     "Isn't that overexaggerating?"


     "Well, I like to admit that but that is the one and only sense I can hear from masters who personally saw one."


     "So... What is the connection of this on Stacia?"


     "Connection, huh?"


     Tachibana-sensei pulled a chair from a desk and sat there. She then placed her long, slender legs on the desk, causing me to quickly avert my eyes on her.


     "Oh? You don't want to see me in this kind of position?" she asked and laughed.


     "You're an instructor, right? You should at least be a role model in front of your students."


     "Well, I don't care about the latter one. I prefer being true to them."


     I slowly tried to look back at her. The first thing I noticed is her big- It's very cold here so I checked to see if the air conditioner is open and yes, it is. I noticed that Tachibana-sensei's- I also took a sit, one desk apart from her. Stupid brain. Why the heck am I thinking about her-


     "Daydreaming about your instructor's breast. Are you freaking serious, Karasuma?"


     "I-It's the ideology you want to portray to me."


     Tachibana-sensei sighed as she shook her head.


     "I don't want to turn this into some kind of unexpected dialogues and scenes since someone is expecting an explanation, not this kind of groutesque things."


     She lowered down her legs and sat properly. Yeah. That's it, Tachibana-sensei. Learn how to act like an instructor sometimes.


     "What I'm saying is that your spirit's ability is a passive one."


     "Huh?"


     "Look, Karasuma. Your spirit can keep up with other spirits here, not to mention a spirit from the Academy's Rank 3, with only just a mere one-handed grip swordsmanship."


     She's right. I'm quite surprised that Stacia can actually fight with Margaux-senpai's spirit without showing her ability. Right now, I'm thinking that Tachibana-sensei is correct.


     "This might sound absurd, but I think Stacia is a reincarnation of a god or an actual god herself."


     "…"


     "I don't know what the Parallel Gods are thinking but the only fact I can assure you is that your spirit is not just an ordinary one. Who knows? She might be the first spirit who wields something that this world will see for the first time."


     "Let's say that Stacia is a god from the world where she came from, like Mirai-san's spirit, but why did she cho-"


     "She saw something on you that she didn't on others," Tachibana-sensei interrupted. "I don't know the story on how the two of you met. But spirits can choose their master not just for the sake of being fully materialized on this world. There is a deeper reason why she decided to let you become her master."


     "I-I see."


     A reason, huh? I can't think of any other specific reason why Stacia chose me, if there is. She's been like a muted person for two years and I don't even know when it will last. Just that thought alone makes my mind go numb.


     "By the way, Tachibana-sensei," I said and this time, it is my turn to ask. "What if Stacia is also a god or a someone that has a connection into them?"


     "Then it means that she's a powerful spirit. But to let things be more clear," Tachibana-sensei halted and shifted her eyes on me.


     "It is impossible for a spirit to become a god's vessel."


     "I thought that she's probably a reincarnation of a god?"


     "Yes, she may became a god herself but being a mortal with the presence of a god inside is more than unreasonable."


     "I see."


     I can't think up of any other questions that might help me to unveil Stacia's identity. What is Stacia is actually a god like Zariel? Or maybe a mortal on her world then became a god on her second life? To be honest, Tachibana-sensei made me more confused instead of being more cleared. Countless questions are rotating on my head but I can't construct a sentence for each of them.


     "Just remember the order I handed down to you, Karasuma," Tachibana-sensei stood up as her ponytail swayed.


     "I already discerned your extents so don't waste my hopes on you."

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