CHAPTER 229: CLASS MONITOR

"The real herbalist is the one who made Alrova products, while there was a certain person who acts like he is a great herbalist. Always showing off his shallow knowledge in the herbalist class."

Though Vania didn’t mention Gara by name, her side-eye glances toward him and their constant feuding made it clear to everyone that ’a certain person’ was Gara.

And that ignited Andine’s temper. "Shut up, Vania!" Andine shouted.

Every eye in the cafeteria, including the upperclassmen, turned toward her.

But Andine didn’t stop. "Stop picking on Gara! You’re the most ungrateful person I’ve ever seen! You’re—"

"Andine, lower your voice." Revan appeared, approaching Andine with a serious look. "We’re in public, in the cafeteria. Don’t cause a scene in front of other people. Don’t disturb everyone here."

Her head whipped toward the Vampire boy. Her face was red and her eyes were watery. "Y-you..."

"As your class monitor, I don’t want our class to become a public disturbance," he added.

Tears streamed from Andine’s eyes, hardening as they hit the floor. But the highly precious mermaid tears now seemed meaningless.

Meanwhile, Vania wore an arrogant smile behind Revan.

Suddenly, Gara stood up, followed by Madha and Fian. They shielded Andine behind their backs.

"From what I see, you are not performing your duty as class monitor. Instead, you are taking advantage of your position to reprimand only one side," Gara’s voice was not loud, but sharp. "And that side is the one you dislike!"

For Revan, who always prided himself on being fair and always tried to uphold that image, Gara’s accusation was devastating.

"I never... This is for the sake of our class—"

"We don’t need your explanation, an explanation of what you think is right," Gara cut in.

Not wasting any time, Gara led his friends out of the cafeteria.

He turned to see Andine’s red eyes.

"Thank you, Andine. But people like them never understand normal language..." he patted her shoulder, "they only understand animal language."

The mermaid girl blinked at Gara’s words, not quite understanding.

Gara then realized that few people in this world could actually speak animal language, so his joke had fallen flat.

"Forget it," he quickly waved his hands dismissively, his face red, hoping nobody would catch his failed joke.

But then Andine, Madha, and even Fian laughed.

"What..."

"Nice try," Andine chirped.

Quickening his step, he tried to leave them behind. But the three quickly followed him, covering their mouths to hide their laughter.

...

The next class after lunch was the last for the week, Counseling Class with the main advisor. This class often became the Class S hub for sharing news and gossip of the week.

"Gara, you were in Alchemist Class, right? Do you know who the Alchemy Genius is?" Miki appeared in front of Gara’s desk with her gossiping eyes. "Who is he?"

After Vania’s reputation took a downfall, Miki didn’t hesitate to join Gara and the others in front of her anymore.

At her seat, the Tiger girl stared at them like a predator eyeing its prey. But nobody cared.

"He’s a Human, right?" Miki kept asking.

"He is..." Gara’s brain spun, trying to formulate a suitable answer without confessing.

Before he could utter his fabricated answer, Revan went up to the podium in front of the class.

"Everyone, can I have your time?"

The class immediately fell silent, and every head turned to the front.

"As the class monitor, I think I need to mention this... for the future peace of our class."

Some of the students, including Gara and his friends, already knew what Revan was about to say. The word ’peace’ could only refer to the ongoing situation involving Andine, Vania, and Gara.

"I hope there will not be any clash between Class S students in public. Please behave, everyone. Don’t make fierce remarks that will hurt your friends.

And the most important thing is that I don’t want a certain person inciting others to think badly of their own classmates, causing someone to defend them in public and create a disturbance.

Having others clean up your problems is not a good thing," Revan said with a face full of feigned justice.

No sound could be heard. Revan nodded, believing that all of his classmates understood his intention.

But before he returned to his seat, Gara stood up.

His eyes scanned all the students in the classroom. Among all the Class S students, only two people had an affinity number on their heads below 10%. It wasn’t Revan.

It was Vania at 0% —which was steadily increasing from a negative number, for some unknown reason— and Mona at 5%.

He actually understood the reason. Even if he never had a problem with Mona, he could see she avoided everyone, and perhaps if everyone could see other people’s affinity, they would see 5% atop Mona’s head, too.

As for Revan, who always seemed to look at him with an unfriendly gaze, his affinity was exactly at 10%. This meant the Vampire boy didn’t truly hate him.

And because of that, Gara had never really snapped at him, maybe just a little sarcastic remark.

But now, Gara felt like he genuinely needed to straighten out his class monitor’s way of thinking.

"Revan, you’re a Vampire, right? I bet Vampires have good eyesight. Why don’t you use that and see clearly what the problem is here? Or is it not your sight that’s bad, but your brain?"

"What do you mean by that?" Revan’s deep voice filled the room, and the pressure in the room suddenly intensified.

Gara’s body nearly fell, but a large, sturdy hand supported him.

From the side, Madha stood up. "Is this how a class monitor handles a problem? Using his powers to intimidate?"

Hearing Madha’s deep, commanding voice, Revan realized what he was doing. He quickly removed the pressure.

"I— I don’t..." he stammered, guilty.

"I know you don’t like Gara because he challenges your ego. He stands up to you when no one else ever has. But you have to face it. Not everyone is going to agree with all of your perspective," Madha said without blinking.

"No— I never said I don’t like Gara!"

"You never said it with your mouth, but your actions speak loud and clear."

...