Difference in Class (5)
The Refilica family brothers, who not only failed to reflect on their actions but instead tried to retaliate, ended up getting beaten again by Louis and Rio, who had been monitoring them.
It was only after their legs were broken and their arms twisted that they could properly apologize to Patrick and Lizsha.
In truth, it wasn't a true apology; it felt forced, but they had no other choice.
They instinctively knew that if they didn't, Louis and Rio would kill them.
"We're sorry!"
"We really did wrong!"
When the brothers, gripped by extre terror, apologized to the siblings through tears, Louis had a look of satisfaction.
"That's right, you should've done this from the start. But why did you try to get revenge just now?"
"That's...."
"Are you still treating them like livestock?"
Louis had overheard everything they said while being watched.
That alone was enough to know they hadn't truly reflected.
"This won't do. I'll have to release that video to the entire academy."
"What?"
"You ignored what I said, so I can't see any reason to keep my promise, either."
'That video' was none other than the evidence of their own misconduct.
Knowing what would happen if it was made public, the brothers begged and wailed desperately.
"Just once...! Please give us another chance!"
"We promise, we'll never do it again!!"
Just monts earlier, they'd been acting vicious; now, the two cried with such desperation it was hard to believe they were the sa people.
But even so, Louis remained cold.
"Who knows? If I disappear from the academy, you might do the sa thing again, wouldn't you?"
"We won't!"
"It's true! We'll never do it again!!"
Never do it again? Can you prove that?
"How can I trust you?"
"...."
"...."
As the two lost any room for rebuttal, Louis leaned close to their ears and whispered quietly.
"For your information, we'll keep all those videos our whole lives. That ans, whenever and wherever you pull the sa crap, we can release them at a mont's notice. You get what I an, right?"
In other words, they could destroy the brothers at any ti.
Going even further, they could bring down the entire Refilica family.
Of course, with the power of the special task force, they could bring them down even without the videos, but having such clear evidence would make the work much easier.
"So, even if we disappear from the academy, don't even think of trying anything funny. If you do, it won't just be your family—we'll cut your heads off. Got it?"
At Louis's chilling words, the brothers froze in place.
Nodding compliantly was the only way for them to survive.
Thanks to this, they were able to sincerely beg forgiveness from the siblings, and now beca people who could only move according to Louis's orders.
Once the apologies were finally over, Louis sent the brothers back.
Just when they thought everything was settled, the siblings—Patrick and Lizsha—spoke up to Louis and Rio.
"Um...."
"We don't know who you are, but thank you so much!"
The two expressed their sincere gratitude to those who had helped them.
They must have suffered so much at the Refilica brothers' hands that both were in tears.
To these two, who had given them trendous freedom, patrick and Lizsha asked,
"If you don't mind... may we at least know your nas?"
"Yes. We'd really like to repay you soday."
Louis and Rio exchanged glances for a mont and nodded.
Deciding there was no problem in telling them, they stated their nas.
"I'm... Rio Dexter."
"I'm Louis Dexter. As you can see, we're siblings."
It was just a temporary alias as far as anyone would know.
Besides, Louis had even changed his appearance, including his hair color, so nobody would recognize his true identity.
"Dexter, you say?"
But as soon as Lizsha and Patrick heard their nas, they looked confused.
"Could it possibly be the Dexter domain in the east of the Imperial Court?"
"Are you maybe the children of Lord Dexter?"
Answering Lizsha's question without thinking, Rio caused the siblings to grow even more suspicious.
"That can't be, can it?"
"Right. As far as I know, the young lord there never had any children."
Up to monts ago, the siblings had been full of gratitude, but now their faces were the picture of doubt.
The alias they'd hoped would hide their identities had instead brought suspicion.
Which ant these siblings must be students with so connection to the Dexter domain.
"Do you know about our Dexter family?"
"Of course we do! Our father used to be an alchemist for that family."
.
.
.
Of all people, they'd run into students connected to the family whose surna they'd borrowed for their disguise.
To speak more easily, Louis and Rio sat with the siblings at a café near the academy's main building.
After talking for a while, Louis managed to learn about their connection with the Dexter family.
"Our father, who was once the alchemist for that family, disappeared without a trace."
"When our father vanished, we lost our ho and were unjustly driven out of the domain."
After being chased out of the domain, they'd ended up in a far-off region.
Though the village had people, it was a harsh environnt for children to live in.
Yet while barely managing to survive day by day, they never forgot what their father had taught them.
"Though father was gone, our mother was there for us. Thanks to her tireless efforts, we were able to study with peace of mind."
"It's because of her that we managed to enter the academy at all. Now we just want to give her an easier life... That's why we endured the bullying."
Hardly anyone could say they'd been better children.
They'd held on through the tornt given by the Refilica brothers, even when they wanted to drop out.
Those brothers had even threatened their family to further tornt them.
No wonder the siblings were so tearfully thankful.
"At the academy, anyone can enroll if they have talent, regardless of status."
"That's why, when we were first admitted, my mother and I danced for joy. After that... well, we regretted it a little."
The fact that you could enter without tuition if you were talented was a huge rit.
But the downsides had nevertheless eclipsed the positives.
"My dream was to beco a skilled alchemist like my father... But I thought it all ended because of those brothers."
"I wanted to be a good priest, too, but because of them...."
The brother wanted to be a priest and the younger sister an alchemist. Their dreams were crystal clear.
"Still, if you weren't even in the combat departnt, why did you have to duel?"
That was why Rio was puzzled.
Patrick, the elder brother, explained that it was due to Selion's coercion.
Even though he was in the priest course, which had nothing to do with combat, he was forced to duel.
"They said if I countered with the holy magic and healing arts I learned as a priest, it'd be a fair match."
"They also said that getting beaten up would toughen you up, and that even as a priest, a strong body ant you wouldn't fall behind in your party...."
Hearing this, both siblings looked glum. Even Louis, just listening, clicked his tongue at such a ridiculous excuse.
"But thanks to you, we can finally focus on our studies instead of getting beaten every day."
"Co to think of it, you don't seem like ordinary students... can we ask what your real job is?"
The siblings had seen Rio defeat Selion, the combat departnt's top student. For an ordinary first-year, such a feat was impossible.
"We can't tell you that."
"I see. And you're not really Lord Dexter's children, are you?"
"...."
As expected, their origins from the domain made them see through the ruse in an instant.
It was a clear limit of their disguise... but at least, the siblings weren't enemies.
"We can't tell you the truth, but we are close to Lord Dexter—we had permission to borrow their surna."
That was as far as they could explain. Seeing that, patrick changed the subject.
"By the way, is Lord Dexter doing well? He was a good friend of our father's."
"If you an the young lord, he's healthy. Though he's had a hard ti because of that scoundrel Rejir."
"That's right! Rejir! Our father died because of that man!"
Co to think of it, Rejir had occupied the Dexter domain with Armon, a demon, and abused its technology.
No doubt there were victims in the domain during that period.
It looked like the siblings' father perished the sa way.
"They say the incident only ca to light because the 7th Legion happened to pass through that domain, right? I can't tell you how shocked I was when I first heard it."
"Do you know what happened to Rejir?"
To them, he was the man who killed their father.
There were rumors he'd been dragged off by the 7th Legion; by all rights, he was probably eaten by monsters.
"Rejir?"
At that na, Louis let out a snicker.
"Who knows?"
Now that he thought about it, the upcoming academy event would draw a large crowd.
Naturally, parents would be among them.
"I'm curious to find out myself."
****
The eting to decide the Refilica brothers' punishnt wasn't concluded until evening.
At first, the outco seed to be in favor of the brothers, but Headmaster Ferus's sudden intervention shifted the result.
With the release of that video as evidence, there was no way to defend them any longer.
"Then, the decision is as follows."
With the evidence so clear, expulsion was practically confird for Alio and Selion.
But their punishnt wasn't enacted in the usual way.
"Selion Refilica and Alio Refilica. The two students will be suspended from the academy for two months."
For those two months, they would be barred from the academy.
It was a lenient punishnt compared to expulsion, but for the vice-principal, it wasn't a bad result.
Losing the top student of the combat departnt would have been far worse.
And, surprisingly, it was Headmaster Ferus, the one who supplied the evidence, who enacted this outco.
'I don't know why he changed his mind... but I'll take it as a blessing.'
The vice-principal wanted to ask why Ferus had changed his mind, but the man was the highest authority in education.
Rather than voice dissent to a superior, he simply enjoyed his satisfaction.
"That's unfortunate, miss Talia."
Looking smug, he glanced at one of the teachers.
"It appears your wish to have them expelled has failed. Do you know what this ans?"
No matter how much a re teacher struggled, the superiors' will never changed.
The vice-principal highlighted this point, making a show of it.
"You're only a new teacher, so we'll let this go. There won't be a next ti."
At his joking expression, she scoffed softly.
"Do as you wish."
Unlike he expected, she showed no sign of being intimidated or frustrated.
'That girl...!'
If anything, her unaffected reaction made the vice-principal bite his lip.
Then, as he watched her leave the room, he was struck by a sense of déjà vu.
'Talia... she looks so familiar...'
Sohow, she gave off a strong sense of familiarity, though he was certain he'd never seen her before.
Lost in his thoughts, the vice-principal didn't notice as Silia left for the hallway.
"So you finally ca out."
Ferus was waiting in the hallway and walked alongside her.
"What was the result for those two?"
Before she realized, Louis had joined them as well.
"Just as you asked, I made sure they were suspended from the academy for two months."
Ferus had led the eting exactly as Louis requested. Louis was grateful that he did.
"Thank you. If we had expelled them right away, the Crown Prince connected to them would have gotten suspicious."
"We'd better make sure those two don't get cocky, though, right?"
At Silia's question, Louis shrugged.
"Don't worry. I already re-educated their attitudes. Also, apparently their eldest brother is still alive."
"...."
"You know who I an, right?"
Shalio Refilica.
He was the one who'd driven Silia's younger brother to his death. Rembering him, Silia clenched her fist.
"The academy event is soon. Elaine said he'll be coming."
"I know. I'm looking forward to it."
She was curious to see how he'd survived with his face beaten to a pulp.
By the very hand that had killed her younger brother.
"By the way, are we sure this is the right place?"
The trio suddenly began walking underground.
Ferus, prompted by the path Louis had told him about, asked, and Louis replied,
"Just keep going straight."
The founder of this institution, the hero who fought the Chaos Dragon.
A secret room beyond that, containing his sleeping power, awaited them.
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