Chapter 5: Give me back...

Two criminals walked down a hallway behind a female student.

From their walk and weapons, they gave an intimidating feeling, which generated a unique oppressive feeling when combined with the silence of the surroundings.

“So she ratted her out for some damn chips?” Said the criminal with a truncheon as a weapon.

“Yes… The leader said to separate her, but when I saw the other girl's expression. God, I've never seen someone feel so betrayed," his partner commented in a harsh tone.

They both looked at the person walking in front of them.

She was a young woman who could only be described as beautiful, but that lazy look and those chips in her hands as if nothing had happened made the duo look at each other and not know what to say.

“Tch... How could someone like her get into the hero academy?” the assailant asked with the baton.

His tone was low, just for his partner to hear.

“I don’t know... But I don’t like her.” Replied his partner with a hint of disgust.

The assailant with the truncheon nodded.

No matter what it looked like, for someone to betray their partner over a bag of chips would be frowned upon even among criminals... How low could they go?

It was just some damn chips!

“Come on, let’s go... We need to get revenge for her partner.” Indicated the assailant with the truncheon, his voice sounding vicious.

He had said it loud enough for Alice up ahead to hear.

“Girl, stop.” Said the assailant with the truncheon, slapping his hand with the weapon, giving the intimidating appearance, and approached Alice, who had stopped his hand near her mouth with some chips.

His companion also approached, releasing an intimidating aura of an expert.

His presence only increased because of the size of that man, who seemed two heads taller than Alice.

He was a ‘giant’ for a young woman like Alice, but she looked down at her chips and finished it.

The duo’s eyebrows twitched, and the one with the baton pulled the bag of chips out of Alice’s hand with quick movements.

“Hmph. People like you shouldn’t be attending the Hero Academy.” said the tall man with a serious expression and a tone filled with contempt.

“Betraying a classmate for a bag of chips? You disgust me.” Declared the mugger with the truncheon.

Both tones sounded like schoolmates bullying a young woman and scolding her for her sense of morality... Which made it look odd when they were both supposedly criminals. Still, Alice’s expression didn’t change.

“Can I have the chips back?” Alice asked in a lazy tone, but her eyes sparkled.

Duo gritted his teeth at that calm reaction.

“You want the chips?” The mugger asked with the baton, and when Alice nodded, he threw the chips on the ground and stomped on them. “Here they are!”

Alice looked at the chips, stunned.

“You shouldn’t have done that...”

******

Aurora walked down the hall with what would be the leader of one of the many groups of thugs.

Her steps were calm, although her expression was the one that was the most difficult... After all, she had just been betrayed by a bag of chips.

“Girl, don’t make that face. Even though she betrayed you for some chips, it only reveals that you shouldn’t hang out with that kind of person.” Said the leader as they walked down the hallway, and he gave her a sidelong glance.

Aurora sighed upon hearing such words from the leader of a small group of assailants, and that sigh got the other party to look at her with some pity.

“You’d better stay away from that kind of people... Even the worst traitors wouldn’t stoop so low.” Advised the leader, giving a strong sense of seriousness in his voice.

He had noticed her ‘depressed’ expression, and it was for that reason that he couldn’t help but give his advice.

“I know,” Aurora muttered, shaking her head, and giving him a look, she stated. “But we’ve been friends for as long as I can remember. I can’t leave her anymore.”

It was inevitable... What would Alice do without her?

They both walked down the hallway past the front of different classrooms, and she couldn’t help but sigh again.

Even though she was walking with a ‘criminal,’ she could tell that the leader’s reaction was quite negative.

Realizing that perhaps the leader was having a poor impression of her gluttonous friend, Aurora added. “She can be a bit strange at times, but she takes her tasks seriously and is very reliable.”

They both paused as the leader looked at her, checking her expression.

“That friendship will lead you to ruin.” commented the leader with a half sigh as he noted the confidence in her voice and tone.

If anyone overheard their conversation, they would no doubt think it was strange... After all, a young student was being comforted by the leader of a group of criminals.

That was certainly strange.

Hearing the leader’s words, Aurora shrugged as if those words didn’t matter to her and commented. “At least we’ll go together.”

Blind confidence... From a person whose lips were trembling because of the situation, she was in.

It seemed as if she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry...

The leader shook his head at her words and tone, so determined.

“Warn your subordinates not to bother her... She’s terrifying when she gets angry.” Aurora warned, noting that the leader of a ‘criminal’ was a good person.

Immediately, the leader looked at her strangely.

For the leader, instead of someone warning about a possibly dangerous situation, she seemed to want her friend not to have such a hard time and not be bullied.

Before he could accept the request of that loyal and kind-hearted young woman, then continue on his way, the leader felt an instinctive shiver.

*BOOM*

They heard an explosive sound from the place where he had sent his subordinates, and then...

“Give me back my chips!”

They heard a fierce and sinister shout throughout much of the academy, reaching their ears.

Aurora noticed how the leader straightened his back and wore a worried expression.

She was sure that he was sweating from fear under the mask, but she shrugged as she recognized the voice, looked at the leader, and said. “See, I told you so.”

The next moment, as if that shout had given notice to something, a nearby classroom door opened and an ice spear moved toward the leader.

The leader immediately pulled out a baton and struck that ice spear, shattering it.

“WAAA!”

Before she could react, a black-haired young woman with only her fists charged towards the leader.

Aurora felt a significant amount of magical energy in the young woman’s body, and even though her fists carried great power, the young woman could not land a hit on the leader.

She didn’t lack technique, but she was nervous; that was Aurora’s analysis.

The leader noticed that too and reacted, dodging her blows and waiting for a moment to counterattack.

“Out of the way!” a voice echoed from the room, and the young woman who was fighting with the leader jumped to the side.

The next moment, the voice shot immense pressure at the leader, sending him crashing into the wall, only to disappear a moment later as a bright light enveloped him.

“Tch... Again?” Clémentine muttered and then helped the young woman who had directly confronted that former leader.

Aurora looked at her carefully, praising the psionic attack performed by Clémentine.

Clémentine was still with her group, and they seemed to have had one battle in the short period since it all started, but they looked pretty good.

It was a group of five, but they were all attentive, and some were nervous.

The one Aurora had identified as the ice mage was cautiously scanning the surroundings.

“Thank you,” murmured by the young woman who had fought melee, she was still shaking from her nervousness.

Clémentine gave her a nod that it didn’t matter.

“It’s good to see you.” Clémentine said with a smile, and seeing Aurora alone, asked, “And Alice?”

Noticing the concern in her gaze, Aurora’s lips quivered for a moment, but in the end, she murmured. “She’s asking for her chips back...”

Noticing the strange look on the faces of Clémentine and her group, Aurora coughed and declared. “They separated us, but she will surely be fine.”

Clémentine’s expression quivered for a moment, but in the end, she sighed. “I hope she’s all right.”

With those words, she signaled for Aurora to enter the room where they were hidden.

As they entered, a young woman with distinctive brown hair created a barrier at the entrance and spread it out, covering the entire area.

Then her expression paled a little.

Aurora didn’t sense magical energy, but another strange energy...

It didn’t take her long to discover that she was another psionic user, only the brown-haired young woman wasn’t as capable as Clémentine.

Still, Aurora couldn’t help but admire her.

Psionic users were rare, and though their talents were usually divided into several branches, like mages, they were quite skilled in many ways.

“You may rest,” Clémentine ordered with a smile to the group, then approached Aurora and asked carefully. “Do you know what’s going on?”

We’re in the middle of a test created by the professors, in which students of a higher year act like decent crooks?

“No, I know nothing,” Aurora immediately denied.

—¿?

The system gave question marks, but Aurora didn’t correct herself.

It wasn’t that she wanted to hide her abilities or some kind of excuse like that; she didn’t want to take part in the test, but mainly this was the best time to test future heroes.

The academy had a large-scale test, and she would benefit from that test.

Her mother had sent her to the academy, as she wanted her to rest and make friends...

Aurora understood her concern, the last few years, she had spent in Africa working with almost no rest a day, getting away from many people and focusing on her work.

For her mother, that kind of ‘life’ was not considered very healthy because if she just worked as if her life depended on it, she might collapse one day.

That was the reason Aurora accepted her mother’s idea, even though she was adult enough to refuse... That reason and also if she found ‘decent’ heroes, she could hire them.

That would cut down on her work and kill two birds with one stone...

It was for that reason that she looked at Clémentine with a puzzled expression and asked. “You know what’s going on?”

She could tell that Clémentine’s eyes were shining with understanding.