Nobody applauded Nathan Modernson's unexpected victory.
Even the Salvation Club students looked only at each other and the battlefield, oblivious in shock. Clara Marshall, along with the other professors, tightened her eyebrows as she fathomed what exactly had happened. Not how such a powerful Rune Art was even cast, but whether the boy down below was her student, Nathan Modernson or not.
She needed to keep reminding herself that this was the boy who could illustrate at most 5 Runes after almost half a year of teaching. Of course, the way he constructed his runes was sketchy and unprecedented. Stamped Runes were not technologies everybody knew about.
Some students turned to check Jonathan's response. However, there were no signs of joy on Jonathan Schwarz's face, but no signs of sorrow either.
The only person who reacted to Nathan's victory was himself.
"Miss Amy Blanc, when you treated your kinsman Leo Blanc as an inferior, have you ever contemplated such a present?" Nathan stated coldly in the eyes and ears of hundreds of students.
"When you see illicit detainment and pride as a privilege of your status, have you ever imagined that anyone would dare to oppose you?"
"Not like this… Please…" Amy shuddered as she fell to the ground, her eyes staring hopelessly into a future that was destined to fail.
"Vice president of the student council? Contender for the next Student Council President? What an absolute joke. If there is a tomorrow where you are the one who represents the students of this school, how much injustice and abuse would be forced upon us?"
The students listened uncomfortably to Nathan's menacing words and Amy's almost pitiful response. They shifted their eyes to Jonathan once again, but the man remained indifferent. The other two members of the Student Council, Nicolas and Dorothy, kept their heads low as if they had nothing to do with anything.
Nathan paused slightly, letting his words float in the air and sink into the students' ears, and turned toward Jonathan.
"And you, Jonathan Schwarz, the other contender, do you even dare to tell your own heart that you would do any better than her as President?"
This sentence dropped like a bomb. Everyone in the scene lifted their heads sharply, unable to believe what they had just heard. That is, except for Jonathan, who just stared at Nathan in blank boredom, signalling him to continue.
"What is Nathan doing?" William hissed. "Didn't he join forces with Jonathan?"
Jennifer shook her head heavily, but not with the intention of answering William's question.
"Nathan Modernson… Now I see what you want to achieve out of this." She mumbled to herself, her eyes staring blankly at Nathan's victorious animosity toward both vice presidents. "The person you worked with isn't Jonathan Schwarz, nor is it Henry Nox."
advantage of my dispute with Amy so that you can be triumphant in the upcoming election. Jonathan, what a cunning bribery you have schemed."
Jonathan lowered his head and remained silent, as if accepting Nathan's verdict. The students around gossiped among themselves, discussing what had happened in the cafeteria between Jonathan and Nathan. Nobody even had the thought to challenge what Nathan had said and simply saw it as an undeniable truth.
"We are unfortunate enough to have kinds like you two as the only candidates for the next president, who don't even know what shame feels like," Nathan continued, "I fear for this academy's future."
Finally, a different voice erupted from above, a voice that everyone recognised.
"Well said, truly well said."
It was Arthur Paradox, who floated above the arena with an unreadable smile that almost made Nathan flinch slightly. He descended slowly onto the academy ground like a deity, standing in the very centre as he always had.
"Amy Blanc, Jonathan Schwarz," Arthur crooned, "I once said that one of you would succeed my position, but reality has made me take back my words."
"Aristocrats? The great Schwarz and Blanc clans? I reckon all of you self-claimed righteous leaders are all just imbeciles with ulterior motives. How could I, Arthur Paradox, allow this academy to fall into your hands?"
"On the other hand, Mr Nathan Modernson had the courage and justice to challenge what's wrong, as well as the integrity and strength to not be tempted by bribery. These," Arthur paused, raising his voice in authority, "are traits vital to being the voice and arms of all students in this academy. The position of the next Student Council President shall belong to no one but him."
"I have given my vote, but the rest is for you to decide." He concluded smoothly and bowed, first to the students and then to Henry Nox.
"Skipping the part of asking my opinion, huh?" Nathan emphasized.
"Hm? You aren't willing to receive such an honour?" Arthur turned to him, staring him down like a predator staring at its prey.
"Not if it's under your surveillance the whole time," Nathan hissed under his breath.
"Hm," Arthur grunted out a brief laugh before turning to the door, too proud to look back at Nathan behind him.
"Not even the king or the First Seat gets that privilege. Why should you?" His voice echoed in the arena, bouncing and returning to Nathan from all possible angles.
Henry Nox broke the awkward silence with a soft declaration.
"A student with such Rune Art mastery as Nathan is an occasional occurrence across all academies in Runalond's history. Just to credit him for inventing a personalised Rune Art in the first year, I will hereby represent the staff members and stand on Nathan's side for the election."
And thus it was decided. Gaining the favour of two out of the three parties that contributed to the election had already proclaimed Nathan the next Student Council President, which was, of course, good news to most of the other students too. It meant that the conflict between Jonathan and Amy would not be elevated to the next level, securing them from any unknown danger that could come with it.
Jonathan stood up, shaking the weight of his inescapable responsibility out with a deep sigh. He walked toward the exit while murmuring to himself, "Fun doing business with you, Nathan Modernson."
"If possible, I hope it doesn't have to happen again."
There was no fury or hatred in Amy Blanc's eyes, only fear. Her memories kept drowning her back into the face she saw when she looked into Nathan's eyes during the duel. A face where the line that separated the colours of his face also separated two polarised expressions. Then came the fear of the punishment that might have come from her clan, the punishment of defeat.
Nathan Modernson scoffed and headed out of the arena, following Arthur and Jonathan's footsteps. After he left the audience's daze and entered the restroom, he fell softly to the ground, gasping in relief that everything had worked out. Pretending to be calm had never been so difficult for someone who had a past like his.
Suddenly, he sprang up from the ground and yelled in exhilaration. His heartbeat was still pounding like thunder, but now it felt more like a drum of triumph congratulating him for the success of his plan.
He walked out and looked up, and even the sky seemed brighter than usual. A large group of students led by Ash Robert was already waiting for him by the exit. To add a bit more joy to Nathan's day, it consisted of people outside the Salvation Club as well.
The band dashed toward him and threw him in the air, marching across the academy grounds and cheering, "President Nathan Modernson! President Nathan Modernson!" Everyone seemed to have forgotten that the person they were holding up was the same person who claimed that he had killed someone. For them, the death of an arrogant representative student did not matter as much as securing favour from the new Student Council President.
"Whoa, that's enough, that's enough! Too high!" Nathan shrieked in laughter. "Jennifer, tell them to put me down!"
Jennifer, who stood by the edge of the crowd, rolled her eyes with a subtle smile that Nathan couldn't even catch in motion. Her response was buried in the mayhem.
The commendation eventually came to a halt after Nathan gave a speech regarding his "effort" and victory. It was rather bland compared to the others the students had witnessed from him, but the passion still left everyone satisfied.
He promised that under his leadership, the academy would certainly become a better place for everyone, and those who see themselves as superior to others would be punished personally by the council. However, as he was declaring this sentence, a question rose from the bottom of his heart. Though he chose to ignore it almost instantly, the hollow voice continued to echo within him, unwilling to cease.
"What rights do I have to judge and punish who's right and who's wrong?"
In the early afternoon, everybody left to carry on with their day, apart from most of the members of the Salvation Club, who were more interested in Nathan's "Personalised Rune Art" rather than the role he had just received.
"I don't even think this can be considered a 'Personalised Rune Art,'" Nathan explained as his question rang inside his head. "It's just a gigantic Sculptural Projection Rune Art along with some shading changes that made me look scarier."
The same answer was already in the heads of the students before Nathan openly admitted it. They nodded and laughed at how Nathan could always find the funniest ways to overcome serious problems.
However, a voice emerged from the crowd, intensified among the casual laughter.
"Light- and darkness-element Rune Arts can indeed create illusions like that, but to alter the climate and fissure the arena, I find that hard to believe."
Everyone scattered to reveal the owner of the voice, which turned out to be someone few recognised, who had somehow affiliated with their forces without notice.
"John?" Genesis pointed out his name first.
Nathan looked at him in surprise. He had heard news of this top scholar who had almost shocked the entirety of Endnest, of how he had a chance of becoming a member of the Supreme Seven Seats. However, when he got to meet him in person, all he could comment on was that it wasn't anyone's fault that none of them noticed him. He had plain brown hair and facial features too ordinary to even be described. Everything about him seemed average, the perfect amount of averageness such that even his averageness didn't stand out.
Nathan didn't answer his question directly, nor did he bother to question John's uninvited presence. He crouched down and began caressing the spotless concrete ground of the academy, the seemingly orderly pattern that became rather unsystematic if you were bored enough to investigate it thoroughly.
"The structure of these lines isn't a simple design for the sake of beauty," Nathan murmured, and his eyes began to zone out.
"These are premade Rune patterns constructed by Henry Nox."
"I bribed the arbiter himself. As long as I didn't screw up on my Rune Art, my victory had been determined from the beginning."
The students of the Salvation Club were so used to Nathan abusing his identity and relationships that they didn't even give a proper laugh. They were, however, intrigued by Nathan's reveal of the principal's Rune Art.
"Runes have to be illustrated by the wands for them to function, let alone the fact that they dissipate if they are not activated within around five minutes. No offence, but your explanation is hard to believe." John continued expressionlessly, his tone neither hostile nor friendly, but brimming with insatiable curiosity.
"That is the work of Henry Nox's personalised Rune Art: Impulsive Polyregeneration. He might not be as talented as the Sixth Seat, to be able to create rune energy from nothingness, but to his credit, even Infinite Explosion has to allude to his work as the foundation."
What seemed like a smile appeared on John's face. He jogged toward Nathan's position and investigated the pattern on the ground from the same angle as he did. His eyebrows were subtly furrowed, but Nathan couldn't feel any annoyance from his expression.
"Makes sense…" John nodded like he was talking to himself. "The runes are constructed to reillustrate each other in such circuitous formulas, AND they can be manipulated when needed, AND they even provide some aesthetic beauty… How could someone ever apply a Rune Art so complicated on this scale? How many years would it possibly take?"
Jennifer approached from behind silently as Nathan backtracked towards the crowd to leave John in his submerged exploration. "Interesting person, is he not?" She whispered but forgot to keep her voice low.
Not many people, even including the students of the Imperial Academy, knew this, but Henry was once argued to equal Viviana Modernson in terms of his talent in Rune Art. He was one of the rare few who had invented more than one Personalised Rune Art in his career, but even Nathan Modernson held no knowledge of it. He could guess that it had something to do with the empty yet deeply perplexing office that seemed more like a dreamy memory than an authentic location.
Nathan also wondered why Henry Nox did not pursue his idol, namely, his mother, and join the Supreme Seven Seats, but some questions about others are not meant to be asked, and this was one of them. He didn't know how he came to this conclusion. He just did.