Proofreader: Me (Uh, once again sorry for the chapter split, enjoy.)

Charles stepped forward as expected. It was the same at the game at least.

“Hello everyone, I am Charles von Garett. It is an honour to be chosen for this position. And while I am a prince, in this place I am no better than the rest of you,” He paused riling the audience. “We are heroes in the making, and I hope to be a comrade worthy for the rest of us.”

His words resonated with the cheers of the students. Somehow, with just three sentences he charmed the entire cohort. The girls especially… 

Man, I forgot how handsome these guys were supposed to be.

Young love isn’t it just amazing? Wait- no I’m supposed to stop that. Not only are the protagonists at stake but the main cast too. That’s why I have been trying to interact with the others as much as possible while watching the protagonists at play. Or I tried to at the minimum…

“In my opinion, however, I believe there to be a student more deserving of this honour.” The speech had moved in a twisted direction. “They currently are not up on stage, so they must have been busy. Thus I must ask, Luke of the Golden Nest to take my whole hearted feelings of gratitude.”

Gratitude? We talked once. Wouldn’t your knight be better, or did he learn about what happened yesterday?

Wait, Fen told me something about a ‘present…’

He turned his head over to me, singling me out of the entire crowd. 

“Please, come up and give your greetings,” He smiled enticing the crowd. However, to me, it was a devil’s invitation.

My lips twitched watching all my classmates turn towards me.

“Luke? Is he someone powerful?”

“That’s what the prince says.”

“Isn’t he quite average?”

“He doesn’t seem too strong either.”

Murmurs began to fill up the hero’s hall, along with a passage for me to the stage. It was like a certain religious event where an ocean was split in half.

“Alright then, if that’s what you want I’ll do it.” I hyped myself up, inching closer and closer to Charles.

He kept up his usual smirk, “Indeed, it is nice to see you up and healthy once again.”

He turned toward the students, “There was a terrorist attack yesterday, which this person had single-handedly prevented. Unfortunately, I am unable to make any further comments, but I wish you all to give him thanks for his hidden actions.”

A magical microphone found itself in my hands, as I received glares from both Percy and Luna. 

Charles leaned into my ear, “Let’s see if your might is the same as your bite.”

The real demons were these guys, not the Demon King or his daughter, but the ringleaders of nobles. 

Whew…

It has been a while since I stood in front of this many people. Not since I was student council president of my high school.

I began with a bow, “My name is Luke, and as you can tell I’m not the most charming person and neither am I the strongest. And per the prince’s words, I did dabble a bit in an incident unbeknownst to everyone here.

Despite that, I ask you all to treat me the same as of all you. No respect, no anything. As Charles said, I am no better than all of you.”

People began to listen in, with the previous conversations now ending.

“Today, as the Greatest Hero Abel has told us all, is the day of the Dungeon Expedition. This is why I must ask all of you to not engage in any spontaneous acts. Death is right around the corner in places like that, pestering, and joking, will kill us.”

The faces of the students hardened, while some looked at me in laughter.

“Romance in particular must not take place in such a battlefield.”

At that line, everyone burst into laughter.

“Romance?”

“What!? All this build-up for that!?”

“Bahahaha!”

“As if we’d try something like that!”

They all laughed, spitting in my face at the point of interpersonal relationships. 

They still hadn’t realised the reality of this world.

“Ahem. Everyone, thank you for listening,” I coughed slightly. “I will now hand over the microphone to our headmaster.”

I stepped back into the entourage of my classmates, surrounded by smiles trying not to laugh. Although, there was a missing person, Serina.

Fen slapped my back, “You had me for a moment there, thought I was about to hear some sort of vital information.”

Even Mark commented, “Romance? You jest, as if I could care.”

I was forced to read your journals and even treaded your route once to receive a permanent buff across runs. Shut up.

“I must admit, I didn’t know you had a talent as a stand-up comedian,” Erin patted my shoulder, with an unhinged smile.

Julia agreed, “Commoner, she’s right! Even I laughed!” 

Uriel had a shy smile on her face, while Rodney was blatantly laughing with his eyes.

“Excuse me,” I felt a presence approaching me from behind. 

Meeting their eyes I was met with an even more elegant appearance than the princess Luna. Such a gaze held an insight that most this age would not be able to have. Her sky-blue hair resonated with her pristine cyan eyes. Despite being much smaller than me, her aura of professionalism wasn’t affected.

“I don’t believe we’ve met before- unlike a certain someone,” She approached me leaving a backhanded comment toward Percy. “I am Alicia Einsberg from the North Republic.”

I almost doubted their existence since I arrived as they weren’t in the Golden Nest. 

Still, meeting her now, put a dent in my plans.

“Thank you, students, please get into your assigned groups and find yourselves to the nearest teleporters.” 

“Ah, it seems we’re out of time,” She smiled deviously, “Let us continue to talk at a later date.”

“I’m surprised she approached you like that,” Fen commented. “She’s known for selecting her ‘targets’ based on achievements.”

Yup, I now owned triple the worry I had from before.

“Wasn’t that the Alicia!?” Julia hopped around me, fangirling over the republican representative.

Yeah, thanks for the obvious.