Chapter 58: S-Class at the Academy
In Class S-1.
A new arrival makes his appearance in the classroom with the smallest population in the entire school.
"New kid, announce yourself!"
"Yeah, say something!"
"You're kinda cute, aren'tcha? Want a big sister~?"
"If not a big sister, then I can roleplay as your stepmother or anything else if you want me to~"
"Shut up, Emma. Your weirdness is showing again."
"Bleh—, you're not the boss of me!"
Jin sauntered up to the front of the classroom, where he was almost immediately assaulted by a barrage of contrasting personalities. Among them, there were even a few who kept silent or ignored his existence altogether.
'The classroom isn't full, with only about 15 of them in here. Moreover, they're all of varying ages. The youngest is not much older than this body of mine, while the oldest is roughly 23.'
They were quite the diverse bunch from what Jin could tell. They were also all geniuses in their own right, with even the least special among them possessing Triple Primary Element Affinities.
"Excuse me, ma'am," Jin said to the busty, lethargic woman risquely leaning on her desk.
"...Yesh…?" The woman, who split S-Class teachings with Teacher Hemingway, responded while rubbing her eyes.
"Why is it that my sister and those other Triple Primary Element Mages also didn't get into S-Class?"
Jin's question was received by the drowsy woman in a rather annoyed way. "It's because you have to stay in the Academy for at least 3 years before moving up to S-Class from A-Class, which used to be the maximum admitted class for new students.
That was until you… came along."
Jin blinked, then turned away from the effortlessly seductive teacher.
"I see," he said, his mind turning over. "Well, no matter. Since introductions are in order, my name is Arthur Moonshire, and I am the 1st Prince of the Moon God Kingdom, sole heir to the Throne."
"You may call me by my name or title; I do not care. However, in the unfortunate scenario where you get in my way, you can forget my name, for you'll have no need for it where you'll be going."
Silence…
One hell of an introduction would be an understatement for what just transpired.
That conceited gleam in his eyes. The way he looked at them as if they were less than trash. His arrogance.
They hated him already.
To them, his face was extremely punchable.
'Hate is the easiest emotion to rile up,' Jin thought, his scornful glare still scanning the diverse crowd of students in the fancily decorated classroom. 'Getting in the good fortunes of so many "unique" people is too cumbersome. Better to have them all hate me to begin with; that way, manipulating them later down the line will be simpler.'
If it were a normal group of students, Jin wouldn't even bother to put on a play. They wouldn't even be worth his time or effort.
However, it was different when it came to the students of S-Class. After all, they were the future of the Moon God Kingdom—also making them the future of his Martial Dao Empire.
'I do not need my subordinates to like me. I just need them to obey me unconditionally.'
Through actions, not words, he could prove his goodwill. And in time, everyone would understand that no one other than him was fit to rule.
Betrayal? What was that?
Unsatisfaction? About what?
Unhappiness? Sounds like a you problem.
"God, I'm such a great ruler…"
"What was that?" asked the sleepy teacher with an oversized bosom, whose name was May—Teacher May.
"Nothing, nothing," Jin replied with a fake smile before taking his seat in the back of the classroom.
Under the heated glares from most everyone around him, there were a few who still remained indifferent or uncaring about his previous appearance and arrogance. One of them was his deskmate—a 16-year-old girl with a pretty face and long, auburn-colored hair. Her hand leaned against her head as she stared listlessly out the window, seemingly in another world.
'This one is the most talented in the school,' Jin declared as soon as he saw her.
There was only one S-Class in Moon God Academy. In other words, except for the newer students, the fifteen present were the very best fifteen the Academy had to offer. And among them, there was one that stood out like the sorest of thumbs.
They called her… Lyla.
'Quad Element Mage, maining in Metal, Earth, Nature, and Sound,' Jin mused. 'Furthermore, each of the Elements should be at around Highest Affinity, with the Sound Element even at the Limit Affinity level.'
|Elemental Affinity Sight| was what he used to determine the Elemental Affinities of everyone he looked at. The Innate Skill definitely proved its uses dozens of times over by now.
'This girl will be very useful for my upstart Empire.' While thinking this, Jin also identified two other students who could become vital members of his Empire. The rest, on the other hand, would make for little more than stronger foot soldiers.
Lyla happened to look away from her window at the same moment Jin returned his gaze to her. Their eyes locked, and in an oddly serious way, they stared at one another without blinking.
Until, ultimately, Lyla ceased the staring competition. She then looked him in the eye and said, "Why is there a child here?"
"Are you not a child as well?" Jin inquired.
"...Am I…?" Lyla appeared genuinely confused, clearly not the brightest tool in the toolshed.
Though, rather than dumb, she was just really… absentminded.
It was like her head was up in the clouds, doing something that no one—not even Jin—could figure out.
The conversation between Jin and the scrambled-minded girl ended there. And after a full day of lessons that came off as useless to the highly knowledgeable person that was him, he had his second encounter with the unusual girl from earlier.
It happened at the large S-Class School Dorms, where all students were expected to stay in their own personal mansions during the semester.
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