The Author's POV

"Looking good Ren"

"Sharp"

With my tie still crooked, I headed towards the lobby of the Manticore building. With me, Leo, and Pram heading an hour earlier than the others, the lobby of the building was relatively deserted.

It was evident that everyone was still busy dressing up for tonight.

"Can't say the same about you guys though"

Pulling the side of my collar I took a look at Leo and Pram and shook my head. Leo's suit was too big for him, and Pram's suit was a bit too tight for him.

They looked ridiculous.

"Are you sure you guys didn't swap suits?"

If they swapped suits they'd probably look normal.

Leo and Pram's smiles instantly froze. Their faces turned red.

"Says the guy that doesn't even know how to put on his tie!"

"You! Is this what you say after we compliment you?"

Hooking my arms around them I laughed.

"haha, I'm kidding let's go get a taxi. The ride is going to take some time..."

*

The banquet was not held at the academy. In fact, It was located in a separate private establishment quite far from the academy.

[Le manoir vert]

The owners of the establishment were of french descent, and naturally, it had a french ambient because of it. The establishment was fairly popular, as most wealthy individuals in Ashton city knew of its name.

"Thank you"

—Clank!

Exiting the taxi, with Leo and Pram in tow, we headed towards the mansion. Observing the mansion from afar, I muttered.

"We're finally here"

After thirty minutes, we had finally arrived at our destination.

Sitting at the center of a small hill, the mansion looked spectacular. Built using white-colored brick, the house's visual perfectly complemented the greenery that surrounded it. The tall, rectangular windows by the side of the house added an overall posh and sophisticated look to the mansion.

At the roof of the mansion was a tall, dark blue sloping roof that was nicely hipped.

"Damn, this is fancier than I expected"

Recovering from his stupor, Leo exclaimed.

"I agree"

"Yup, I agree. How about we go in?"

I suggested, to which Leo and Pram replied with a nod.

Once again fixing my collar, I walked towards the entrance of the mansion. Out of spite, due to what I had said before, Leo and Pram did not help me fix my tie.

Petty bastards.

"Ticket please"

In front of the mansion, we were stopped by a tall bodyguard in black. He had a thick french accent.

"Here you go"

"Here"

Taking out our phones, we showed the guards our tickets. Scanning our tickets, the guard nodded his head and let us in. With a smile, he welcomed us.

"Welcome to Le manoir vert, we hope you have a nice stay"

"Thank you"

"Thanks"

Thanking the guard, we entered the mansion and walked through a long and expansive corridor. As we walked through the corridor, a nice lavender scent invaded my nostrils.

Right after, we heard the sound of chatter in the distance.

'I guess we weren't the only ones that decided to come early'

Turning right of the corridor we arrived before a large hall that was lit by an enormous golden chandelier that hung from the ceiling.

"Oh wow, I like the ambiance of this place"

Leo and Pram looked at the hall in surprise. It was evident that they had not frequented such places before. I too was the same.

Recovering from our slight stupor, we walked in together.

The inside of the hall was just as gorgeous as the outside. A calming classical piece flowed beautifully, while each and every decoration was delicate and elegant.

"It's Mozart"

I instantly recognized the piece that was being played.

Turkish March by Mozart.

With me being a fanatic of classical music, I naturally knew what they were playing.

"Do you know who that is Leo?"

"No clue, never heard of such guy before"

"..."

No words came out of my mouth.

I was having second thoughts. Perhaps I shouldn't have befriended them.

"Oh look, isn't that Professor Rombhouse? Professor Thibaut is here too"

Pointing towards the end of the hall, Leo exclaimed.

Standing on the other hand of the hall, Professor Rombhouse conversed with Professor Thibaut. Both had a glass of prosecco in their hand.

"...It's them"

I squinted my eyes. I naturally recognized both of them.

Professor Rombhouse was the guy who kept pestering me at the beginning of the year with regards to the mana poisoning theory. With regards to that, after I had told him the theory, he did not pester me again.

He was busy researching.

"He should be close now no?"

With almost a year passing, he should soon be able to prove the theory that I put forward. That would cause quite the annoyance.

I made a mental note to myself.

'I've got to tell him not to include my name in the final thesis'

Taking my eyes off of Professor Rombhouse, my eyes soon paused on Professor Thibaut. My eyes became cold.

He was one of the people I had to look out for today. That was because he had a major role in today's incident.

"What should we do now? We're still a bit early"

Looking at me, Leo asked.

Snapping out of it, I held up my watch and looked at the time, 6:15 P.M. I then turned around.

"I've gotta go to the bathroom, I'll be back in a minute"

"...eh, alright"

"Take your time, we'll go try some appetizers whilst we are at it"

"Go ahead, I'll be back in ten"

*

Distancing myself from Leo and Pram, I took the stairs and led to the second-floor bathroom.

In any case, today my job was simple. Check if everything was progressing as it was in the story. I wanted to see the extent that my actions had on the plot.

Regardless, even if the story was progressing as it should, I was intent on interfering a little bit.

The reason was simple.

For the first time in the novel, villains would make an appearance. Their plan was to kill a few of the transfer students.

With the Lock being responsible for hosting the party, they would naturally take part of the blame for the incident.

That was what the villains wanted.

They wanted to create conflicts between the four great academies and the Lock. In the story, the villains almost succeeded.

Unfortunately, someone known as Kevin existed. With his plot armor and protagonist halo, he quickly foiled their plans and resolved the situation.

That was what was supposed to happen.

My interference should make his life a little bit easier.

Will the incident be the same as in the novel? I wasn't sure.

In any case. If something did go wrong, I still had the book with me.

"Which one is it?"

Entering the bathroom, five wooden cubicles appeared before me. After musing for a bit, I went for the fifth.

Since my favorite number was five, it should naturally be in the fifth.

—Clank!

"There..."

I was right. Opening the lid of the toilet, I sighed in relief.

"I guess I still have some leeway to work with..."

...

7:00 P.M

The air had started to chill as the sun slowly made its way towards the horizon. The world became dyed in the color orange.

A slick black sedan parked before the mansion and two individuals got off. Emma and Kevin arrived at the banquet. Fully adorned in party clothes, their perfect figures shone brilliantly.

They Instantly attract the eyes of everyone present.

After days of continuous hints, and seeing that she wasn't going anywhere. Emma choose to be upfront about it and asked Kevin to accompany her directly.

After listening to her reasoning, Kevin naturally didn't refuse.

"What a fancy place"

Looking at the mansion, Kevin's voice carried a hint of awe.

"Hm, I've actually been here before"

Flicking her hair to the side, Emma took a quick glance at the mansion. She was not amused.

"Oh? How is it"

"It's pretty good, their service is not half bad"

"Not half bad?"

"I've had better before"

Emma seriously nodded her head.

She had been here multiple times in the past. Their service was quite good. However, compared to other places she had been to, this place was only decent.

"Eh...sure"

Once again, Kevin was reminded of how rich Emma was. If this pace was alright, what was good in her books?

Kevin wanted to know.

"Shall we?"

"Okay"

Shaking his head, Kevin offered his arm. Emma smiled back and didn't refuse. Like that, under everyone's watch, they entered the mansion.

...

"Young miss we have arrived"

Ten minutes after Kevin and Emma arrived, another car stopped right before the mansion.

Wearing a black shimmering dress, Amanda stepped out of the car. Just like Kevin and Emma, she also attracted the attention of everyone nearby.

"Wow, she's so beautiful"

"Who is she?"

—Clank!

Ignoring the stares, Amanda closed the car door. She was used to such attention.

—Screech!

Suddenly, another car stopped right next to Amanda. Exiting the vehicle, wearing a white one-piece dress, Melissa exited the vehicle. She was currently not wearing any glasses.

Closing the doors of the car shut, she angrily muttered.

"...wait until I get a piece of you"

Glancing at Amanda standing next to her, Melissa nodded her head. Amanda nodded back.

Holding onto a small white handbag, Melissa grumpily headed towards the venue hall. She seemed to be in a bit of a bad mood.

Staring at Melissa's departing figure, Amanda had a thought.

'Perhaps someone offended her?'

...

Inside of the large hall, 7:30 A.M.

"In our academy, we have a specialized course designed to make the life of stu..."

With a glass of wine in her hand, Donna calmly listened to the professors from the other academies speak.

The hall was filled to the brim with students and professors coming from either the Lock or the four great academies.

"And so, we believe that separating courses into smaller time periods is better"

"Haha, that does seem effective. However..."

At the moment, Donna was listening to the conversation of a couple of the professors coming from the other academies. They were obviously boasting about their academies. Even then, it was interesting to Donna.

Listening to them discuss their educational system and how their academies differed from the Lock, interested Donna a lot.

Despite being strict, Donna really cared for her job. She naturally strived to become a better teacher.

Such conversations were useful for her. Especially since the ones talking were experienced professors who had been at it for years.

"Excuse me Miss Longbern, may I...ah, I apologize"

Out of all the people present at the banquet, Donna was the youngest. Aside from her, there were only a few that were a few years older than her.

Naturally, attracted by her beauty, a lot of the younger professors tried to strike up a conversation with her. With her beauty and fame, who wouldn't want to be with such a girl?

Used to this, Donna merely shook them off with a smile.

All it took was a calm smile. After that, all her pursuers as if in a trance calmly walked back from where they came from.

"Hu? What happened? What was I doing?"

A minute after they would snap out of it and find themselves with no recollection of what had happened moments prior.

"Hm?"

After shaking off another one of the people that tried to flirt with her, Donna suddenly frowned.

"Strange..."

Generally, once someone reaches S rank, their senses became much stronger. They were naturally much more sensitive to energy fluctuations. As long as it wasn't too far, they could feel it.

This was especially true for someone like Donna who was the strongest person present in the venue.

At this moment, Donna's senses told her that something was happening towards the upper floor of the mansion.

"Excuse me for a minute, I'm going to check on something"

Without a second thought, she excused herself.. With her brows knit, she decided to investigate.