The five were at a standoff.
Now that they had basic introductions out of the way, there wasn't any topic to easily start a conversation. However, Talon already had his sights set on his first target. The easiest target that even an idiot would single out. The girl who refused to speak…
"Row, tell me, why do you not speak?"
Talon picked up the single sheet of paper off the desk and held it up to his face. Something was interesting in how the letters were written. They were disjointed, not truly adjacent. A little gap formed between each letter that would make each seem as if it were its own word. Instead of Crow, it looked more like 'C', 'R', 'O', and 'W'.
"Seeing as you know how to write, you must at least have a modicum of education, and therefore, you must have also been taught the basic level of courtesy. So tell me, why remain quiet in front of a royal? It's basic etiquette!"
Talon glanced over his shoulder at Remi, expecting the man to say something sharp, but his mind seemed occupied with something else, as if he'd forgotten his qualms with Talon.
Remi was curiously glancing around the room, studying it.
Looking back at the girl, Talon gave her a quizical look as he flipped the paper and set it back down.
"Well?"
Talon stepped closer to Crow.
Vitty interjected:
"Uhh… P-prince, Remi is right. W-we should work together! This test has to be a trick of sorts!"
Talon paused and surveyed the nervous girl. Something about her had seemed off ever since they'd first awoken. Talon had an idea or two about her Restriction, but nothing concrete.
"Who the hell is Prince? I said my name is The Prince. The!"
Vitty held a look of horror on her face as Talon stared over at her. She took a half step back, then an odd look appeared on her face, then a small leap forward, ending up near the front desk on the window side of the room.
'That Vitty girl has a weird Restriction, or she's trying to play us all for a fool.'
Talon looked back at Crow, who was backing away nervously until she reached the wall.
'Am I going overboard? I probably shouldn't antagonize people too much or they'll all set their sights on me… well, that's probably already happened. But no use worrying, this lot doesn't seem capable of dealing with me.'
Talon's arrogance was not entirely unfounded. While he wasn't as educated as most, he was intelligent and highly aware of that fact. Concepts that were hard to learn, even for the smartest scions of the dukedom he was once indentured to, he could understand and learn in minutes just by spying on their lectures. Furthermore, just by listening to idle chatter, Talon had built quite a vocabulary.
If not for his position as a slave, he could have led the life of a scholar…
However, his talents did lead him to develop a slightly arrogant nature, but is it truly arrogance if it can be backed up?
Either way, if things went as he planned, how he acted here shouldn't matter in the future… It was best to take some precautions, though.
As Talon was approaching Crow, a crash sounded in the room, and a desk toppled to the floor. The pudgy boy with the short brown hair, Temp, had tried to sit down but ended up falling into the desk and knocking it over.
Talon stopped his encroachment upon Crow and remarked:
"How unrefined, you wretch."
Temp glared at Talon from the floor and responded:
"Look who's talking."
Temp picked himself up and, in very slow and awkward motions, sat down in the chair belonging to the desk he'd knocked over.
Temp glared at the four who now had their gazes locked on him.
"What are you all staring at?"
Talon responded:
"Nothing important."
Temp snapped back:
"The hell does that mean?!"
Talon turned his sight back toward Crow, who continued to scoot away. She inched closer and closer to the open bathroom door.
'Now… what will you do?'
"That's enough."
Remi had apparently snapped out of his weird spell and once again stepped up to diffuse the situation. He slowly walked around until he stood between the retreating Crow and Talon.
"Like I said, we should work together to figure this out. Fighting each other will do us no good."
Before Talon could even speak, Vitty joined in:
"Y-yeah! He's right!"
Talon paused and looked over the two, scanning them up and down. Remi's odd confusion seemed to have entirely disappeared, and Vitty appeared to grow a lot braver in an instant.
With everyone against him, he had no choice but to back down; however, this wasn't an unwelcome development. In fact, this was perfect.
Talon feigned a look of anger. Every last muscle in his face contracted and contorted at his will to convey his deceitful message.
"Tch," Talon clicked his tongue. "Have it your way, wretches. We'll be stuck in here forever."
Talon turned his back, retrieved the pencil, and walked to the front of the room. He took one of the pieces of paper from the lectern, crumpled it, and shoved it in his pocket. Talon spun around and leaned with his back against the chalkboard; everyone was quietly watching him.
Talon donned an imperious look and said:
"Tell me, Remi, what's your grand idea to get out of this?"
Remi stared back at Talon and said:
"First, let me ask you this… why does it seem you don't want to go back to the real world? What's 'The Prince' without his palace or subjects…"
Talon narrowed his eyes. He'd been too caught up in the moment and started this act on a whim that he hadn't thought everything out entirely yet. Why would a prince play along with this charade and not even try to find a way back to his palace? Would that not be his utmost concern?
Sure, he was trying to play the fool. Yet even a foolish prince would long to return to his kingdom.
But, Talon wasn't a prince…
'I am The Prince'
"Where I am, my palace is. Where I go, my subjects follow. That's what it means to be The Prince. As far as I'm concerned, I rule this academy… no, I rule this mysterious realm of Below."
Remi scoffed, then said:
"Figures…"
Talon replied:
"You'll come to learn there's truth to my words in time."