Elara snorted, then leaned back and stretched, one arm going behind her head. Her shirt lifted just enough to show hard muscle. There was an old scar on the side of her stomach. It looked like it came from something with too many teeth.
"The map showed this place. Everyone I asked said 1-S was here," she said. "Six floors. Fancy chairs. Yeah, I'm pretty sure."
Then she added in a whisper, "They'll come late. Nobles love doing that, it makes them feel important."
Orion's eyes flicked to the noble girl's back. Her body reacted, just slightly.
She probably thought staying still meant no one could tell she reacted. But the fact that she didn't turn the page for so long made it almost funny.
Orion leaned in again, voice low. "Why do you think she was glaring at us earlier?"
Elara's mouth twisted. "Probably hates your face."
"Rude. And she looked down on you too."
Elara sighed and pointed forward with her index finger.
She's a noble. Some of them don't need a reason to look down on people.
Orion tried not to laugh but failed.
Then the noble girl turned a page.
Not dramatically. She just turned it strong on purpose, like she wanted them to hear the page and nothing else.
Orion pressed his lips together. He decided he'd start saying weird things later, just to see her reactions.
Sometimes Orion and Elara talked. Sometimes they fell silent.
It was the kind of conversation two people just getting to know each other would have. Besides, Orion hadn't made a female friend in years and didn't want to overdo it.
Not that Elara looked like someone who cared about that kind of thing.
He poked her with his arm. "So what does 'S-6' mean?" he asked casually.
Elara's grin sharpened. "It means I placed sixth in the entrance exam, duh."
Orion blinked. "I meant, being in S Class makes you what, famous?"
Elara lifted her head from the table and shrugged like it didn't matter, but her shoulders still carried a quiet confidence. There was pride there.
"It means I'm in the top class," she said. "People watch you. You don't get to fail without everyone mocking you for it."
She glanced down at her hands for half a second, then looked back up. "And it means my family can't call me useless anymore."
That last part came out too fast and Orion didn't know what to do with it.
So he didn't make it weird. "That's good."
"Don't worry about me. Worry about yourself," Elara said.
Then she burst out laughing, loud enough that even the noble girl's shoulder shifted.
"You're the Champion," Elara said, still half in disbelief. "You're the stupid legend everyone's already talking about."
"Stupid legend?" Orion repeated.
Elara leaned closer, lowering her voice. "They say Champions are always insane."
Orion stared at her.
Elara smiled, like she was waiting for proof.
Orion tried not to laugh but it slipped out anyway.
He could've denied it, could've played along. He played along.
Orion's mouth curved slightly. "Yeah," he said softly. "I'm completely unhinged."
Elara's laughter died instantly. For one second, she actually believed him.
Then Orion winked.
Elara swore and punched his shoulder. Not even lightly.
Orion hissed and rubbed his arm. "Okay. You might actually be the insane one."
"I'm sane," Elara said. "I'm just not fragile."
"Same," Orion replied automatically.
Then he realized how dumb that sounded. "I mean… sure. Yeah."
The noble girl turned another page. This time, faster.
Orion's mouth twitched.
Oh. She was annoyed because they talked. He wished he could see her face.
She looked fun to tease.
Elara was about to continue with her punches, but footsteps finally echoed in the corridor.
Orion straightened. Elara did too.
They were waiting for the teacher.
A girl stepped inside like she belonged to a different world.
Perfect blonde hair flowed down her back, her blue eyes shining. She wasn't wearing an academy uniform, but a white and silver dress. It was tailored in a way that forced your attention to how the fabric embraced her flawless body.
Orion recognized her before his mind fully caught up.
He'd seen her in the maze, the moment he first opened his eyes in Midka. Then he'd helped her, accidentally, in the final moments.
She was Seraphine DuMont, one of the two leaders of the Hell Maze.
She didn't look friendly and Orion knew the type.
A young bitchy princess.
That obsessive, furious look she'd worn on the battlefield was burned into his memory, one of many horrors from the Hell Maze.
And now that same look sat on her beautiful face.
She already looked like trouble.
Seraphine stepped in, paused for half a second and scanned the room as if she were measuring the air itself.
Her gaze landed on the purple-eyed noble girl first. There was some recognition there, edged with annoyance.
Then her eyes moved to Elara, lingered as if weighing her and finally settled on Orion.
Orion felt the shift in the room the moment she looked at him.
She took a few steps inside, choosing a seat that gave her a clear view of the entire room from the front left.
She didn't sit right away.
Instead, she stood beside the desk, hands resting lightly on its surface. Her eyes dropped for a fraction of a second.
Not to Orion's face.
Lower.
Orion's spine stiffened. He hated how quickly his mind connected the dots.
Elara noticed too. Orion could tell from the way her jaw tightened, like she was deciding whether to laugh.
She didn't joke around at that moment, for the sake of their newborn friendship.
She held it back for after class.
The blonde girl finally sat, moving with smooth, practiced grace. It was as if sitting down itself was a political statement for this princess.
The door opened again.
This time, the girl who entered didn't walk like she owned the room.
She shifted slightly under the light and Orion saw it, the carefulness in her eyes. The kind of intelligence that didn't need to announce itself.
Brown hair and cute glasses.
At first glance she looked harmless, the kind people underestimate on reflex.
Orion didn't buy it. Something in the way she watched the room felt sharp and careful.
She was beautiful, smart and curvy, with a big chest and revealing clothes.
Although she looked like a kind and intelligent girl, Orion wasn't fooled. Her refusal to greet anyone and those clothes made the danger feel obvious.
Her eyes, her walk and the way she moved, somehow those small details made her stand out more.
She paused near the teacher's desk, her gaze flicking from person to person as if mapping threats.
When her eyes reached Orion, they dipped briefly, quick, almost reflexive, before lifting again.
Orion's mouth tightened.
"So it's not just one person. Did they all see it?"
Orion had forgotten. Truly forgotten.
On that first day, he'd thought it was a dungeon and didn't care about anything.
He'd been naked in the Maze, then naked again in the school corridors where all the students were.
The girl with glasses chose a seat that wasn't too close to anyone, the middle front table. A safe distance from everyone. Close to the teacher.
That left only one empty seat, the back-corner spot near the window.
Orion leaned back slightly and made a weird face at Elara.
She smiled back.
For a few minutes, a tense atmosphere enveloped the classroom.
The fact that no one spoke made it worse.
Just as Orion was about to open his mouth to introduce himself, he heard a voice.
Footsteps echoed again. Faster this time, almost running.
A young woman entered.
She wasn't wearing a teacher's robe. Her clothes looked chosen with hope rather than confidence. They were youthful and she was clearly trying to look mature, not young.
She also carried a bag stuffed with papers, packed so full it looked like it might burst.
Orion knew she was probably worried she'd forgotten something and brought everything.
Ironically, she was the only person in the room who actually looked like a student, maybe except Orion.
She froze when she saw them already seated, then smiled brightly.
"H-Hi! Good morning."
Her voice was warm, a little too eager, like she was desperate and nervous. But Orion could see she wanted this to go well.
"I'm Emi Nakamura," she said. "I'm… um… your assistant instructor."
Elara raised an eyebrow. "Assistant?"
Emi nodded quickly. "Yes. Assistant, but still a teacher. Just not the main teacher."
"I'm here to help with schedules, rules and materials, anything the class needs."
She set her bag down on the instructor's desk and looked at them again, clearly trying to hold herself together.
Orion watched her and felt something unexpected.
She reminded him of himself back on Earth.
The first time he'd done his internship, he'd suddenly found himself in a classroom full of fifth-graders. No help. No guidance. Just panic and responsibility for little, eager kids.
It would've been miserable if the kids hadn't helped him. They were tiny, like nine or ten, but they still showed him so many things.
Orion learned how to teach from children, not from college or mentors.
He felt sympathy for this young assistant now.
In a class this elite, the main instructor should've been here with her, not leaving a trainee alone to handle it.
Orion silently decided he'd do what he could to make this easier for her.
Emi looked like she needed that kind of support. She was the type who'd apologize to a wall if she bumped into it.
Emi glanced down at her list, then back up. "Okay. Attendance first, then I'll tell you everything about your semester."
"Elara Sinclair. S-6."
Elara lifted a hand. "Here."
Emi nodded, visibly relieved that it started nicely. Then she read the next name.
"Isabella Ravenwood. S-3."
The purple-eyed girl didn't look up. "Here."
The reaction came anyway. Even Orion felt it, the weight of the surname.
He noticed her shoulders tense for just a fraction of a second after everyone looked at her.
That surname was famous to everyone.
Emi continued. "Cassandra Fairchild. S-4."
The girl with glasses, the smart one.
Piece by piece, the room started to make sense to Orion. Their names and the numbers.
Then Emi reached the blonde girl's name and the air shifted again, as if the sound itself carried authority.
"Seraphine V. DuMont. S-2."
Finally, Emi hesitated at the last entry.
"Thalia Arken. S-5."
Emi's fingers tightened on the paper before she forced a small smile.
"Thalia won't be attending this week," she said quickly. "She has family matters. As you may have heard, she's related to the Headmistress."
The words landed softly, like a pebble dropped into still water.
No one spoke, but they were shocked.
Orion noticed everything. The blonde princess's sharpened gaze. The purple-eyed Isabella pausing mid-page. Even Cassandra opening her mouth in a small "o."
Elara didn't outwardly react, but her posture shifted, more alert.
Being a relative of the Headmistress could be shocking.
But Orion wondered what they'd say if they found out she was probably the real Headmistress, acting like a young girl.
His name stopped him from daydreaming.
"Orion Vale," Emi continued, her voice a little louder now. "The Champion!"