The door opened and Bargan went inside. He placed the book that he was holding on top of the table.

"Good morning class." He greeted everyone.

Everyone stood up and said, "Good morning teacher Bargan!"

"Cough!!" Bargan coughed and looked at the back. Precisely he was looking at Bryan who was sleeping on his desk.

Everyone turned their head and saw Bryan who was sleeping without a care in his surroundings.

Lumilia knew that she needed to handle this kind of thing as the class rep. She turned her head and saw that teacher Bargan was still looking at Bryan. She actually doesn't want to disturb Bryan because of what happened to them yesterday. Bryan got injured because of her that's why she felt guilty about it.

Lumilia opened her mouth and said in a loud voice. "Bryan! Teacher Bargan is already here! Don't sleep in class!"

Souta who was beside Bryan nudged him but unfortunately, Bryan was in deep sleep. He wouldn't wake up easily just by someone nudging him, so Souta opened his palm and grabbed Bryan's wounds to wake up him forcefully.

"Ouch!" Bryan screamed as he stood up. He held his side and felt intense pain coming from his wounds.

"What the-"

He found that everyone in the class was looking at him. He doesn't have any idea as he was sleeping, so he looked at Souta and asked, "Souta, what's happening?"

"You know that it's not good to sleep in class when there's a teacher." Souta simply said.

"Yeah. Then, why didn't you woke me up before?!" Bryan asked Souta. If Souta woke him up before Bargan came then this situation wouldn't happen.

"I wouldn't do that. I just wanted to see you get scolded." Souta said with a smirk on his face.

"You!! Traitor..." Bryan took a step back and looked at Souta with wide eyes. He asked in a trembling tone, "Are we really friends?"

'These two... They really have to talk while everyone is looking at them!' Lumilia thought as veins pop up on her forehead. She gritted her teeth and said, "Souta and Bryan be quiet! Teacher Bargan is already here!"

"Oi! Bryan, you're too noisy. You're making class rep mad." Souta said as he sat down on his seat like nothing happened.

"..." Bryan didn't know what to reply to Souta's words. In the end, he smiled wryly and said, "Good morning, teacher Bargan."

He then sat down on his seat while scratching the back of his head.

Bargan sighed helplessly. He knew that Bryan was always like this and he never expected him to change that easily. Bargan slowly opened his mouth and said, "If you're not feeling well, you can rest in the infirmary."

He at least knew that something happened to them yesterday after class. That news spread in the institute like a wildfire and right now almost everyone knew it.

"Really?" Bryan asked with a hint of expectations.

"Yes." Bargan nodded at his words.

Bargan looked at Bryan's back and shook his head.

"Okay, let's start the class."

...

Lunch break...

Souta stood up from his seat and said, "Let's have lunch together Alice. Let's also check Bryan."

Alice lifted up her head and looked at Souta. "Okay."

Souta walked out of the classroom and Alice followed him.

At the front row of the class. Lynn grabbed Lumilia's arm when she saw that Souta and Alice leave together.

"Mila, what should I do?" Lynn said with a worried look.

"I don't know." Lumilia shook her head. She doesn't have any idea what advice should she give to her friend.

"But you said you know him..." Lynn looked at Lumilia with a teary expression.

"Yeah, but what can I do?" Lumilia nodded and asked. Since there were rumors that she, Souta, Bryan, and Brando were together yesterday when the assassins attacked them, she just explained herself to Lynn that they were friends.

Of course, she explained that it was because of the little girl named Cluster.

...

"Where are we going?" Alice asked Souta. She found that the path that they were taking was not heading towards the canteen.

"We're going to the Shield Class 1-A," Souta replied to her question.

"Hmm... Why?" Alice nodded and asked why they were going to that class.

"I'm going to check if Brando is fine," Souta said.

"I see..." Alice nodded her head and she didn't ask another question.

Souta glanced at her when he found that she didn't ask why they were going to Brando's class. It seems that she heard that Brando was together with them yesterday after class.

"Oh...?"

Souta found it interesting that she was listening to the rumors. It looks like she was listening to the class in her seat quietly.

If that's the case, then he didn't have to explain it to her. She's not Bryan that would still ask it even though he heard it before.

After a few minutes of walking, Souta and Alice arrived in front of the Shield Class 1-A.

Souta stepped inside the class while Alice just waited in the corridor.

As soon as he stepped inside the class, the whole Shield Class 1-A gone silent. All the students were looking at him without saying anything.

"Um... Do you want something here in our class?" A tall muscular girl stood up and asked Souta. She had long black hair that was tied on the back of her head. Her skin was tan and her black eyes were looking at him with uncertainty.

Souta looked around the class and he didn't saw Brando here, so he turned to the girl that asked him a question. He looked at her from top to bottom and asked, "Are you the class rep here?"

"Y-Yes, I'm Chiffon, the class representative of the Shield Class 1-A." The girl gulped and she introduced herself. She wanted to turn around right now when Souta looked at her from head to toe. She was nervous talking to the man who destroyed their whole class alone in the special test.

According to the rumors, Souta did not only obliterate their class in the special test. He also defeated various top rankers alone making him the strongest first year. According to the assessment of the special test, there's currently no first year that could fight Souta in an equal match. It would take various top rankers to subdue him. His power level wasn't only the level of first-year students.

"So you're the class rep. Where is Brando?" Souta nodded and asked her.

"...He's absent." Chiffon replied to his question.

"I see... Thanks." Souta nodded and thanked her before he turned around. He was about to leave the classroom when Chiffon called him.

"Ieshi!"

Souta stopped and he turned his head to look at her. He saw her looking at him in the eyes.

"What is it?" He asked. He wondered if she wanted something from him or not.

"Um... Is it true that some people attack you and Brando yesterday?" Chiffon hesitated at first before she asked. She had no way to confirm this rumor as Brando was absent today. Their teacher also didn't say anything about this incident. She wanted to know the truth about why Brando was absent today.

"Yeah, it's true. Some weird people attack us out of nowhere." Souta said before he exited the classroom without waiting for her response.

...

"How is it?" Alice asked him as soon as he came out of the classroom.

"Brando is absent," Souta said as he looked back in the Shield Class.

Brando's injury wasn't that worse. In terms of injury, Bryan's injury was worse among the rest of them. He was knock out yesterday as he got caught up in Yanagi's attack. Still, Bryan managed to go to the institute despite his heavy injuries.

Souta knew that physical injuries weren't Brando's problem. It's about his mental health. It seems that what happened yesterday was still bothering him up until now.

"Don't think about it. Let's just go now and have lunch." Souta said as he shrugged his shoulder. He started to walk towards the direction of the canteen.

"Fine," Alice said and she followed him from behind.

...

In the principal's office...

Yanagi Shina was standing in front of the principal, Azrim De Reigan.

Azrim looked at Yanagi with a frown on his face. He placed the paper files in his hand on his table.

Tugh!

A loud sound echoed in the whole room as the stock of paper landed on the table.

"Yanagi, can you tell me the reason why you are in that place yesterday?" Azrim asked Yanagi with a serious expression.

"I'm just shopping yesterday and found that my schoolmates were being bullied by some unknown people, so I decided to help them." Yanagi smiled and replied to him.

"Are you sure that's what you're doing? You're not following Souta Ieshi, right?" Azrim said as he stared deeply at Yanagi's eyes.

"Um... It's just a coincidence that I met Souta there." Yanagi smiled brightly and said. "Is this what they called fate?"

"How did you know him? I'm sure that you don't have any acquaintance in first-year students." Azrim asked her. "Also, I've heard a report from the teachers of the first year that you snuck in the special test yesterday. What will you say about that?"

"Tch!! Those damn teachers. As I thought, they are going to be in my way from pursuing Souta..." Yanagi clicked her tongue and said in a low voice with an annoyed expression.

"I can hear you, you know?" Azrim said with a sighed.