I was minding my own business (practicing my disguise with Lyra) when my phone suddenly rang. ‘A Professor?’ Why would any Professor call me? Sighing, I picked it up.

-“Astrape Gray! Why haven’t I seen you in Stealth class!?”

Aside from the ringing in my ear that this loud Professor produced, I was a bit worried about something else. Truthfully, I’d forgotten to take them. But I wasn’t going to just admit it outright.

“Oh, thank you. I learned from the best,” I answered with the sweetest voice I could conjure up.

Then, I hung up. ‘Come on…please be an idiot…’

And after an hour, my phone vibrated again. This time, it was…the report card. Yes, the report card for the first half of this midterm. 

[Mana Theory - S]

‘Okay, so Prof Theodore kept his word. Nice!’

I scrolled down a bit more. They were all extra subjects that didn’t really affect anything, but I didn’t care. However, I couldn’t help but notice the score of my Stealth class…

[Stealth - A]

‘What the actual fuck, he actually believes that? Well, I’m not going to say no to this.’ It would make my CV look better—not that I needed it to, though.

It was time to look at the most important class—Combat.

[Combat - SSS]

‘Guess beating the first ranker to a pulp really help…’

But the report card wasn’t the end of it. The problem had just started.

[ANNOUCEMENT:

A PRACTICAL TRAINING CLASS WILL START NEXT WEEK.

LOCATION: KERAS FOREST 

LESSON’S CONTENT: SURVIVE FOR THREE DAYS

STUDENTS WILL BE DIVIDED INTO RANDOM GROUPS OF TWO

TEAMS WILL BE AWARDED POINTS PER MONSTER KILLED

GOOD LUCK!]

‘Keras forest? More like Raun’s death event.’

It was finally here. The lesson in which Raun would die. And not just Raun, practically one-third of the Lux class would perish here. 

The Ark was relentless. It didn’t care if any of its students died during practical lessons. The media and public might hound on them, but at the end of the day, Ark was still Ark. It was still the forge of the Empire’s future swords and shields. It was still one of the most prestigious institutions one can go to. No one but the Empress herself could change the Ark.

‘Enough thinking. Let’s prepare my stuff…’

…And execute my plan.

.

.

.

.

Currently, my form was that of a woman with blonde hair and green eyes. I didn’t need to make myself more attractive, but I did, anyways. ‘Would be fun to have all eyes on me, even for just a while.’

And it did. Everyone was staring at me—or more precisely, my chest. I’d gone out of my way to make it…very…very…very big. Much as it would hurt me to say it, no one would be linking this back to me because I was rather…perky.

I looked around the cafeteria. ‘There he is, my target.’ It also helped that he was staring in my direction with his mouth agape. ‘This makes things easier.’

I walked up to him and leaned my head on his shoulder. “There you are, Rauny boy.”

“Who are y—”

I placed a finger on his mouth to shut him up. Faking a giggle, I whispered with a volume just loud enough for Amelia to hear, “You did very well last night. I can barely even walk today. Hit me up another time, will you?”

It was certain that Amelia was going to suspect Raun over this. However, I wanted to put the nail in the coffin and make it final. So, I made my way other to Amelia and whispered seductively in her ear.

“Your boyfriend was very good in bed. Maybe we can have a threesome someday… You, me, and—” I licked my lips. “—him.”

I gave Amelia a laugh and spanked her ass. Then, as abruptly as I’d crashed into the cafeteria, I left and got into a restroom. Picking a stall, I asked Lyra to undo the illusion.

“Jesus fucking Christ, I’m not doing that ever again.”

It felt…uncomfortable being that assertive. Sure, it was fun, but the novelty soon wore off. “At least the plan’s complete.”

I stayed in the restroom for half an hour just for good measure. It got boring along the way, so I pulled out my Pocketwatch and scrubbed it, almost on instinct.

“Shiny…”

I practically drooled at it…

Luckily, the sound of my phone ringing broke me out of my trance. Hurriedly stuffing the watch back into my pocket, I looked at the screen. ‘Raun? Did he find out?’

I gulped and answered the call.

“What’s up?”

-”A-Ast, you gotta help me!”

‘So he didn’t find out… Good.’

-“It’s Amelia! She ran off to somewhere!”

“...What did you do?” I said with the most accusing voice I could.

-”N-Nothing! J-Just help me find her, alright? I’ll explain everything later!”

I put away my phone and grinned. Though, that grin was a little weak. I felt…a bit guilty. But that guilt was soon washed away. ‘It’s for the good of the world. I’m sure Raun wouldn’t mind trading his girlfriend for the world not getting fucking destroyed.’

And with that, I left the restroom and began looking for Amelia by…sniffing the air. ‘She has a very peculiar scent. I’m gonna find her in no time.’