Ethan look at both of us and sighed and said, “You know I never expected this to go this way. I thought we would have no problems in completing this job. Our opponents were mere students after all. But you…”.

 

He then look at me and said, “You are a worthy opponent. I acknowledge that. And by acknowledging that I can conclude that I cannot take on both of you. So I am forced to use this. You can consider it a sign of respect from my part”.

 

With that he touched the golden band on his left arm. The red stone on the band glowed. Ethan was covered with a red aura.

 

“Artifact…..”, said Megumi.

 

Yes it looks like that thing is an artifact. Artifacts are items you sometimes get when you fight against the monster’s invading. They are sometimes carried by the monsters and you get them by defeating them. They are quite useful as they can buff your abilities, or give you new ones, some are also in the form of weapons which deal a lot of damage.

 

But the thing is they are very rare. So rare in fact that an artifact appeared only once in the anime. It was at the later seasons. It used by a villain.

 

And that was when artifacts was first mentioned in the anime, in the earlier seasons no artifacts didn’t appear and their existence weren’t mentioned.

 

As you can probably understand from this, artifacts are incredibly precious as they are very rare.

 

In the anime Ethan didn’t appear and so didn’t this artifact, needless to say I don’t know anything about this artifact and what this does. This is bad.

 

“See this? This is an artifact called ‘power band’, it doubles the strength and speed of the user. With it I have the power of a S rank”, he said with a smile.

 

Oh, I forgot, this is an anime world, so everyone just reveals their powers before attacking. Well good for me, now I know what I am dealing with.

 

I and Megumi nod at each other as we ready our weapons.

 

Megumi’s naginata is covered with flames, while my sword is covered with lightning.

 

Ethan dashed at us with incredible speed, his spear covered with fire. I used wind on my feet to increase my speed as much as possible and intercepted him. Fortunately, my wind magic is powerful enough to overcome our difference in speed, but my strength was still lower, so despite parrying his blow I was pushed back.

 

Megumi used that opportunity to hit has back, him busy in pushing me couldn’t react in time to block her attack.

 

UFFF!

 

He groaned in pain, with the combined effect of the cut and the flame. I used this opportunity to hit him with a lightning and sword attack.

 

AAACK!

 

He said and fell to the ground. At this time I used “wind tornado” on him. Megumi also added “fire ball” to my attack creating a flaming wind tornado.

 

After it subsided Ethan was unconscious. Guess he took a lot of damage from all these attacks, the ring doesn’t improve health after all. And even if you increase your strength by an artifact, you skill doesn’t increase, so he was still vulnerable against us.

 

“Yay we won”, shouted Megumi and raised her hand towards me for a high five. I looked at it for a second before realizing it and then indulged in it also saying, “Yay”.

 

Then we went to free the princess. After we deactivated the magic circle restraining her, she broke free on her own. But she looked down. She was also fidgeting.

 

So I asked her, “Is everything ok princess? Are you alright?”.

 

She immediately said, “No No everything is alright. I am fine. It’s just that…..I I am sorry for how I acted towards you guys. I was so full of myself. I thought I was the best. I was clearly wrong. I couldn’t do anything against these guys and yet you guys took care of them. I now know that I still have a lot to learn. Also despite my behavior towards you, you guys came to save me and even risked your lives. I am truly sorry for everything I have done. I I’ll do better from now on. Please forgive me” and even bowed her head.

 

Wow, this haughty girl finally learned her lesson huh? I guess it was worth it then.

 

“Don’t worry princess, we forgive you, let’s forget the past shall we”, said Megumi with a smile. Wow, that’s a heroine for you, she forgave her so easily. Megumi was looking at me as if asking me to the same.

 

I smiled and looked at Emily and said, “It’s as she says princess we forgive you. And don’t worry about us coming here, it was our duty to do so as he Student Council”.

 

Emily looked a little better at this but I think she understood my underlying meaning saying that, “I only save you because it was my duty”.

 

At that time Sakura and Ayaka entered. Sakura rushed towards us saying, “Guys we came as soon as we could. Oh looks like you guys already took care of it, good job”.

 

She then looked at me and my bloody clothes and asked, “Takeru-kun are you ok? “, there was anguish in her voice.

 

I smiled and said, “Don’t worry president I am ok. I was hurt but Megumi gave me a health potion and I am ok now”.

 

Oh I  forgot to mention Megumi’s family being one of the 5 Great families, also produces a lot of potions and are a famous name in that filed. Hence I knew she had a potion with her.

 

Sakura smiled and said, “Glad to see you are safe”, she turned towards Emily and asked, “Princess are you ok? I am very sorry. It was our lack of security that caused such a situation to happen. Please accept my sincerest apologies. I promise you in the name of the Academy that such a thing would never happen”, and she bowed her head.

 

Emily immediately said, “I accept your apology and I also apologize for my past behavior”.

 

Sakura smiled and said, “We, the Student Council sincerely accept your apology princess. You must be very tired. Let’s get you back to school. Takeru-kun, Megumi-san you guys can accompany the princess to the helicopter with me and Ayaka, the rest please apprehend the criminals”.

 

We all nodded and each did our job. At the helicopter Megumi was sitting next to me, she looked deep in thought. I asked her, “Is something the matter?”.

 

Megumi sighed and said, “After the fight with the princess I worked hard to get stronger but it seems that it was all for nothing. I am still so weak”.

 

I immediately said, “That’s not true. You have improved since then. You performed better than the princess in this fight”, my eyes were sincere.

 

Megumi looked at me and then smiled a big smile and said, “Thank you Takeru-kun. You sure know how to cheer someone up”.

 

I smiled and said, “I am only stating the truth”. With this I was able to cheer her up and we happily chatted on the way to the academy.

 

At the Academy as I was waiting for the Principal to arrive in the Student Council to report, I was thinking about a lot of things. Sakura and Ayaka were with her to sort out this matter as this was an international issue. Emily was at her dorm room resting.

 

Megumi and the other Student Council members were present in the room however. We were each in our own thoughts, not talking with other.

 

I was thinking that this is a golden opportunity to break off from the plot of the anime. This situation is something that I shouldn’t have to deal with as  a student and yet I had to deal with it. Besides I was the sole heir of one of the 5 Great families, so it makes no sense for me to be in such a dangerous situation. I can easily use this as a leverage to get out of the Student Council. Thinking about this I smiled inside but controlled my expression.

 

Soon the Principal and Sakura and Ayaka entered. The Principal said, “Everyone this matter has been taken care of. We have talked with the authorities of the country of Rosebalde and handed them the terrorists, unfortunately we had to hand the artifact to them as well since they knew about it and claimed as theirs. Now Takeru-kun and Megumi-san please give me the report of your encounters and then you can go rest. Know that due to today’s incident tomorrow there will be no school as we review the security and perform an investigation so you will be free to rest”.

 

After that me and Megumi narrated our fights, to which the Principal listened and nodded.

 

Then I said, “Principal I have something to say”.

 

“Yes?”, she asked.

 

“As you know today’s mission was very dangerous and I fear we might have similar dangerous missions later. As the sole heir of the Minori family I do not wish to expose myself to such dangers, so I wish to quit the Student Council”, I said.

 

There was pin drop silence for a few seconds.

 

Then the Principal asked, “You have made up your mind haven’t you?”.

 

To which I said , “Yes”.

 

She then sighed and said, “Everyone except Takeru-kun, Sakura-san and Ayaka-san please head back to your dormitories”.

 

A moments silence and everyone asked to leave left. Before leaving Megumi glanced at me and said , “Please do not leave”. I only smiled at her.

 

After everyone left the Principal said, “Takeru-kun if you stay I promise to let you use all the facilities of the Watanabe family, including Magic meditation room”.

 

I was so shocked for a moment I couldn’t believe my ears so I asked, “Are you serious?”.

 

The Principal smiled and said, “Yes”.

 

Wow she is going this far to persuade me to stay. I guess she really wants me here. I looked at Sakura and Ayaka both seemed unbothered by this. So they are ok with this too it seems.

 

“I I need time to think”, I said.

 

The Principal smiled and said, "Yes don’t worry take a rest and think it over. You can answer it tomorrow, there is no school after all”.

 

With that I bid farewell to them and returned to my dormitory.

 

But my mind was in a conflict. What should I do? On one hand this is a good chance to get out from the hellish plot. But I am getting to use the “Magic meditation room”, this room greatly helped the protagonist increase his powers. But he only got to use it at his second year so I am getting an early access. At the pace I am going it will take months for me to reach rank S.

 

As for Megumi she seems she will reach rank S at the end of this school year like she did in the anime. So I will only be a few months faster than her.

 

However if I use the “Magic meditation room” I can reach rank S in a day, it’s a great opportunity. Moreover I can also improve my magic control on it at the same time, this is crucial as magic control drops as one level up. With this  I can make sure all is S ranked in one day.

 

This opportunity is lucrative, however it comes at a great cost which is the plot. And from what I understood from the last mission, things will get harder than the plot due to my interference. Who knows what will happen?

 

This situation is one of those where to get rewards you have to take great risks. I can get stronger on my own but the quicker I get stronger, the higher my future levels will be.

 

This is a really hard choice. URGGGH!!! what should I do?