In the courtyard, just beyond the school entrance, at least a hundred students wearing the White Crow uniform were crammed around a large board that displayed homeroom assignments. 

Although they were labeled A to E, there wasn’t intended to be any significance to the classes; rather, the students were supposed to be assigned randomly to ensure that students would mix with others of different disciplines and backgrounds. 

Arc smiled after checking everything was in order. Looking at the myriad of expressions plastered on the faces of his fellow classmates, he felt a subtle superiority well up inside him. The feeling didn’t last long though; there was little satisfaction when he could only gloat to himself. 

Arc turned his head and the lingering traces of his grin twisted. 

‘Yup. Things are looking good. I definitely didn’t see anything just now.’

Arc, wanting nothing more than to continue on to the auditorium to secure a seat for orientation, tried to reassure himself. He even tried forcing a step away from the displeasing sight he noticed. Yet, despite his shamelessness, he found it difficult to ignore things that caught his attention.   

In the distance, near the entrance gate, Yue was being lectured by some giant man with an intimidating bald head. The track suit seemed to indicate that the man was the gym instructor. 

This was good news. At the very least, it wasn’t one of the martial instructors that Yue would be studying under. It wouldn’t bode well if this was his first impression with one of them. 

‘Yes, it's salvageable. I don’t even need to use bribes… yet…’ 

Arc nodded to himself and began to walk towards the entrance gate before he stopped, his previous frown deepening. He just saw it. The bald man had a glint to his eyes. It was a hidden expert! 

‘I almost made a mistake.’ Arc took a deep breath only to notice that the thing shining wasn’t the man’s eyes but the baldness of his head that happened to glint under the sun. Arc could only laugh at himself. He must have been on edge after everything. It might be a long day…

‘‘Still, for a simple gym instructor to not be phased by Yue’s presence…I guess even the casual gym instructors are built differently at the academy.’ Arc decided to acknowledge this as a fact.

While Arc was lost in thought, the idiot started waving at him. The bald man’s head seemed to flare up from the sun’s rays as he sent a glare in Arc’s direction. He wasn’t able to detect anything though. Only people Arc permitted would be able to. But still the thought that the idiot almost pulled him into his troubles made any feeling of guilt he had towards abandoning him disappear. 

‘Yes, it isn’t my fault at all. It's his own fault for being single. Yup. I mean come on, where is the female childhood friend to make sure he gets to school on time. Shame, at least he has me to rectify such problems.’ 

Arc vaguely recalled that something also happened in the morning, but shoved it down thinking:

‘What? I also left him in the morning… psh… I have no memory of such things.’

Despite the mental gymnastics, ultimately, Arc, a gentleman as he was, waved back at Yue, who ended up being lectured harder for the giddy expression he wore on his face. 

There was another victim with him, but he was even bigger than the bald man. Yet, despite being a giant with bulging pecs, the man had pointed ears. 

There were dozens of races spread across the world. It was to the point that there was no race truly dominant in any given population. That said, although there were many with pointy ears, it was obvious that the mass of muscles before him was an elf. Not only that, but it was an elf that lacked the common sense that a citizen of the empire should possess. As such, the buff elf was most likely an eccentric even in his own tribe. 

‘I mean look at how he is munching on that food. Imagine being that disrespectful.’

The elf was laughing the entire time while snacking on a bag of chips. This seemed to enrage the instructor even more, and so he turned away from Yue and ripped the bag from the elf’s hand.

It was only when they were confiscated did the macho elf’s demeanor change. Yet, it was one of pure confusion. It appeared he was indeed an airhead of some kind. It sort of reminded him of some other airhead that tried to strike him with a sword because he didn’t give her any popcorn. There was no question that such actions were out of jealousy.  

While conjuring up various delusions, Arc decided against interfering and just watched Yue and the elf be dragged away by the bald instructor. He would probably just give them an earful before sending them off to the auditorium. Arc decided to think on the bright side after leaving for the auditorium. :

‘It is… probably… good that Yue makes friends with that young man…. Plus, ugh he might even make Yue look smart… ehh… wishful thinking.’ 

Arc clicked his tongue but found a seat. Feeling uncomfortable, Arc scratched his neck as he noticed a detachable tension in the air. 

‘Can’t we all just pretend like things are normal? It must be because I’m handsome. Maybe god is bald and jealous and decided to ruin my school life?’

Arc was quite aware that things were his fault. They say a butterfly flapping its wings can cause a storm to brew across the ocean. But Arc was not some butterfly flapping its wing; no, he was the storm itself. If someone was to push over a single domino, then Arc was the person that came over and kicked over all the pieces. 

He created a large criminal organization in the slums, he served as a special operative under the name ‘Ghost,’ he uprooted dozens of corrupt organizations all at once, he interfered with the academy's class selection, and he was fostering a monstrous talent of a childhood friend. Naturally, that wasn’t everything. Rather, it was just an introductory list of things he had caused.  

That said, just because he was aware, didn’t mean he would accept the blame. So which one of the things did he do that caused the current situation? 

Arc could only hope that it wasn’t that bad. The students themselves were oblivious to the weariness of the faculty, so maybe the dream of a simple school life was not all lost. 

Still, Arc wasn’t that hopeful as he watched the back and forth whispers between the academic staff.

“Did you hear the principal was caught up in a scandal?”

“Yeah, apparently a general from the Song clan is stepping up.”

“Don’t you think it is weird that so many elites are attending our school at the same time?”

“The timing of everything… is indeed a little…”

“Not to mention there is also talk of another invasion…”

“Shut up and do your job.”

“Yes ma’am…”

Besides many similar whispers, there was another unexpected variable. Arc’s gaze found the first year representative, the one who would be giving the opening speech. 

Elizabeth the Villainess was what people called her. There were various rumors centered around her—none of which were flattering. Arc didn’t trust rumors in general, but he knew she definitely wasn’t supposed to have been elected as the first year representative.

Not only that, she somehow managed to secure the spot of Vice President of the Student Council. She was childhood friends with the President, a man named Drake, but that connection shouldn’t have been enough. This meant that there was a chance that the Third Princess was involved, or another possibility was that she somehow seized an opportunity by herself by utilizing the political turmoil that Arc caused. 

Both prospects were not pleasant. But there was something even worse. For some reason she was staring at him.

Arc waved his hand and got no reaction, so he began floating above everyone in the auditorium and made his way towards her. He tried waving right in front of her face, but there was still no reaction. 

Arc hummed in thought as he noticed her eyes. They rapidly scanned the room as if looking for something. In that short time frame, Arc noticed a visible glint of gold eyes. It was a sign of augury or divination. 

‘Interesting. Well, as long as she can’t actually see me.’ He gave a nervous laugh before sticking his tongue out. 

He contemplated flicking her on the forehead, but decided against it. He just returned to his seat and contemplated his ever increasing workload. It wasn’t like he could just ignore the situation. Arc watched the student body flock into the auditorium and was happy that at least the rest of the students matched his expectations.

Yet, even after thirty minutes had passed, Yue and Sera had not arrived. Elizabeth had even started to give her speech, Arc decided to dip and check up on Yue. The bald gym instructor shouldn’t have kept him this long. 

‘Maybe they would be in a duel? That is how school life should be.’ 

Arc could feel Elizabeth’s glare touch the back of his neck when he stepped out of the auditorium. It was a strange sensation, so much so that it gave him a bit of goosebumps.

‘She wasn’t pretending was she? Just when my mood was improving too…’

There was no fight though. No, instead some kind of massacre had taken place in the short time that Arc had left. 

‘What the fuck?’ Arc couldn’t help but think of such words.

In the center of a dozen unconscious bodies were four figures. There was an elf enjoying some snacks, which would have been fine if the elf wasn’t covered in blood. Droplets were literally dripping off him. 

Then there was Sera with her deadpan eyes that seemed oblivious to the carnage. The bald gym instructor was bowing towards Sera and it appeared something of monetary value was being exchanged. 

The bald man quickly left the scene of the crime with a smile on his face, and then there was Yue who was running over to Arc.

Arc’s lips were twitching. ‘At least there is no blood on my child…’ 

“Explain.” Arc’s voice was cold. 

And so Arc listened to Yue. He nodded his head like he understood. No matter what Yue said he nodded his head. It was cute, but if Arc was honest he didn’t understand a damn thing. By the time Yue finished, the man in question was out of breath. He had a satisfied look on his face like he did a good job reporting what happened. 

This event only brought one thought to Arc’s mind: ‘Am I perhaps the only normal person at this school?’

“But… this might be off topic.”

“Go ahead?” Arc tilted his head.

“Am I going to have to start calling you dad?”

Arc nearly spit. Sure in his head he called Yue ‘my child’ but he didn’t mean it! 

“Did you get injured?” Arc began moving around to inspect him. He already knew there was no blood or any wounds for that matter, but he decided to check again.  

“No. Like I said. It was like boom and boom. And then ka pow and ahhh. So I’m completely fine.”

“Yes, of course.” Arc nodded his head, while internally thinking: No, idiot. How the fuck am I suppose to understand that? If I wasn’t a pacifist I’d beat your ass right here!

 “So, what do you mean about calling you dad?” He said calmly. 

“Aren’t you and big sis finally becoming a thing?”

“What do you mean finally?”

“I mean you are always hanging out with various girls, but isn’t my mom cuter than all of them? And plus this morning…”

“Stop.” Arc sighed. “I won’t be able to help you get a girlfriend if you start setting up these kinds of flags.” 

Sure, Arc had his own intentions with his teasing behavior but with how things were going, he 

wanted to pretend like nothing happened. It was too bothersome. Ignorance is bliss. 

Furthermore, Arc noticed that the elf and Sera were nowhere to be seen, which left only the two of them standing in the middle of a dozen bloody and bruised victims. Feeling a bad premonition, Arc began to start pulling Yue away. It was too late. 

A man with glasses appeared out of nowhere. “Stop right there, criminal scum! Nobody breaks the law under my watch!” His actions seemed mechanical—perhaps rehearsed. At the very least, he didn’t give off the impression of a playable character especially with how he suddenly appeared with no warning.

“Let me guess you just wanted to say that line.”

The glasses coughed and pretended to adjust his uniform. “No, I… ugh… I mean he surely caused this carnage. Just look at his menacing frame.”

Arc snapped his fingers and the evidence disappeared. “What carnage?” 

The glasses seemed alarmed but he quickly adjusted himself. “I stopped you because… you should be in the auditorium right now.”

“Thanks for reminding us.” Arc patted Yue on the back. “Let’s go.”

“Wait!”

Arc waved his finger.  “Listen… I’m not in the mood. I’ll have to file a complaint with your manager if you continue to heckle us.”

Arc could smell it. This man was a pushover. Various schemes were beginning to emerge in Arc’s head. 

“No! I mean I’m sorry.” The man bowed and left as suddenly as he appeared. Meanwhile, Yue had stars in his eyes. He was practically tearing up as he clung onto Arc. He seemed about to spew out endless praise before Arc stopped him.

“Did you wear the perfume I gave you?”

“Yes.”

Arc sniffed the air a couple times. “Is it not strong enough?”

Yue tilted his head and began sniffing himself to see what the problem was. 

“You said this would help me…with…” He blushed.

Arc tilted his head. ‘Did I say that?’

“Were you just messing with me again?”

“I would never do something like that.”

“If you say so.”

Arc’s heart hurt at the trust he was given, but it was also true. The perfume had multiple purposes. For instance, it covered up the strong demonic scent that Yue gave off. The demonic scent was the culprit for the trouble that Yue always found himself in—probably.

Arc sighed. He would do everything in his power to ensure that Yue got a school life he deserved. Of course, in Arc’s mind it was out of preservation for his own enjoyment; if Yue was thrown to the wayside because of his background, he wouldn’t serve as a good tool.