CHAPTER 230: HER SAVIOR

The classroom grew tense and silent.

Aside from Madha, who stood tall beside his desk, and Revan, whose expression turned troubled at the front, no one dared to make a sound.

Even their breaths came out shallow, afraid to disturb the heavy air.

"You have a water-type Talent, same as Gara," Madha said, his tone calm yet cutting. "From the start, you always thought you were above him.

To you, a human whose Talent relies on quantity over quality could never stand on your level. But then, that human dared to go against you. Ever since that day, your judgment’s been clouded..."

Revan said nothing. Deep down, he wanted to argue, but he couldn’t. Because everything Madha said was true.

It felt as if Madha was reading straight into his heart, exposing the thoughts he was too ashamed to admit, even to himself.

"Every time something happens involving Gara, your first thought is that he’s the one at fault," Madha continued. "You don’t even bother to check the truth. Maybe you even know he isn’t wrong, but you’d still never defend him."

When those words fell, silence followed.

Revan’s lack of response said everything. Madha had hit the mark perfectly.

Sensing the moment, Andine suddenly spoke up. "Revan— and you too, Vania!"

The mermaid girl’s clear voice rang across the room. She turned to face both of them, her eyes sharp.

"Every time Vania mocks Gara, he’s never done anything wrong. Every word that comes out of her mouth is just lies and baseless insults!

Revan, aren’t you supposed to be the class monitor? Shouldn’t you be warning her instead of telling me to stay quiet and not cause trouble?"

Revan stayed silent.

But Vania couldn’t accept that. "I wasn’t lying—"

"Vania!" Andine snapped, cutting her off. Her tone was firm enough to make the tiger girl flinch.

"Shouldn’t you at least thank Gara for saving your life?"

"What?" Vania glared, her expression full of disdain. "Why should I thank that lowly human?"

"Hah?" Andine stared at her, disbelief flashing across her face. "After that reckless duel of yours with Fian —after you burned through that much stamina using your Talent— do you really think your energy core would’ve been fine?"

Vania froze. The arrogance in her face faltered, though it didn’t completely fade. "You’re the one who saved me, Andine. What do you want? I can have someone from the Shereen family send it."

"Wait." Andine’s gaze shifted across the room, landing squarely on Miki, the class gossiper.

"Miki, there’s no way you don’t know who actually saved Vania— or how bad her condition was back then, right?"

Vania turned sharply toward Miki too. "What does she mean, Miki?"

The rat boy, caught between two fierce girls, swallowed hard before replying. "Vania... you really didn’t know. You would’ve been crippled that day if no one had helped you."

"I— what?! Crippled?" Vania’s voice rose in shock. She had genuinely never heard this before.

Miki nodded, his tone filled with regret. "Yeah. Sir Maul already called for a healer, but even with all the healers on duty that day, none of them could save you.

Not even Andine’s Healing Tear worked. The one who saved you... was Gara. His Healing Water restored your energy core."

Vania shook her head, disbelief clouding her face.

She’d felt perfectly fine ever since that day. And no one, not a single beastfolk, had ever told her the truth.

Little did she know, several of her friends had actually wanted to tell her the truth, but ever since that duel, Vania had refused to talk about Gara at all.

The moment someone even mentioned his name, she’d snap.

And so, until this day, she remained completely unaware of what really happened.

"There’s no way he saved me!" Vania shouted, her voice sharp with disbelief.

Miki fell silent. He had expected this reaction, that’s exactly why he’d never brought it up before.

Better to let the tiger girl hear it from someone else. Unfortunately, once again, it ended up being him who had to explain everything.

Vania turned toward the other Class S students.

Aside from Revan, who looked genuinely shocked —clearly learning about this for the first time— the rest showed no reaction at all.

The truth was... everyone already knew.

Click. The door opened.

Lysa stepped into the classroom after returning from her counseling session. She immediately sensed the tense, awkward air but decided not to comment.

Before she could even call out the next student in line, Vania stormed up to her.

"Lysa Fenris! You were there during my duel with Fian, right? Who saved me that day?" she demanded, confident that Lysa wouldn’t lie or take anyone’s side.

The werewolf girl instantly understood what was going on. She answered honestly, "Gara."

Vania shook her head in denial. "Why would he save me? He should’ve let the healers handle it!"

"I already told you! You could’ve been crip—"

Vania’s loud yell cut off Andine mid-sentence. The tiger girl’s panic showed on her face. She was still in complete denial.

Andine didn’t bother arguing further. She only sighed deeply.

Vania, unable to bear the looks of her classmates, who seemed to think she’d lost her mind, rushed out of the classroom.

The other students quietly returned to their seats, except for Jett, whose turn for counseling was next, and Revan, who still stood frozen on the podium.

"Revan," Madha called, snapping the vampire boy out of his shock. "I hope from now on, as class monitor, you’ll act according to your responsibilities. Otherwise... you might lose that position."

It wasn’t a threat. Madha was simply stating the truth.

Revan sat back down, his gaze empty and distant.

Meanwhile, Gara looked at Madha with a mix of admiration and disbelief.

"Don’t look at me like that." Madha reached out and gave Gara’s nose a gentle pinch.

Gara chuckled softly. He couldn’t help but notice the tips of Madha’s ears turning red.

Just a look and he’s already blushing. So cute, Gara thought, amused.

When it finally came time for his counseling session —he was, as usual, the last one on the list— Gara entered Langga’s office.

A familiar scent greeted him the moment he stepped inside, Niskara tea.

...