CHAPTER 242: CLARIFICATION

All eyes immediately turned to Gara, including Miki’s.

The rat boy, who had just been surrounded by the other students, stepped forward to face his classmate.

"Gara, I know Professor Langga is our main advisor, and he’s helped us a lot these past two months to improve our skills. But we can’t ignore the facts," Miki said seriously.

Gara quickly shook his head. "You’ve got it wrong, Miki."

"There’s no misunderstanding. I saw it with my own eyes—"

"That was me!" Gara cut him off, finally admitting everything.

Miki and the others blinked in confusion.

"The one you saw climbing the clock tower, that was me. Every weekend night, Professor Langga gives me special training," Gara explained.

"No way. I’m sure it was a girl," Miki protested, disbelief written all over his face.

Gara sighed. "You mean this girl, right?"

He turned around and started walking toward the door.

A collective gasp filled the room. From behind, Gara looked... unmistakably like a girl.

"That’s really you?" Miki stammered, half shocked, half amazed.

Gara turned back around and nodded, silently chanting in his heart to restore his back to its normal shape.

"But why didn’t you say anything before?" Miki still couldn’t accept that his eyes had deceived him.

"I just realized you were talking about me," Gara said, doing his best to sound convincing. "I thought you saw someone else."

"So all those rumors were just a misunderstanding?" one of the students asked.

Gara nodded firmly. "Yes. All of them started from a misunderstanding."

"I told you, Professor Langga would never do something like that."

"Right. Why would someone that handsome need to pull tricks like that?"

One by one, the students began voicing their support again, defending and trusting Langga once more.

Meanwhile, Miki approached Gara and spoke quietly so only the two of them could hear.

"If what I saw really was you, I guess I should apologize to Professor Langga," Miki said, bowing his head guiltily.

"I don’t think that’s necessary," Gara replied with a faint smile. "Just make sure everyone knows the truth, that it was all a misunderstanding."

Miki’s eyes lit up. "You’re right."

After chatting briefly with him, Gara excused himself.

As Gara walked away, Miki happened to glance at his back again. This time, he didn’t see the feminine outline, just Gara’s usual figure.

He frowned slightly. Come to think of it, he’d seen Gara from behind countless times before... and it had never looked feminine at all.

Before he could think too deeply about it, a few students approached him to talk, snapping him out of it.

Meanwhile, Gara finally reached his room, feeling a rush of relief.

At last, one of the problems weighing on his mind was resolved.

He immediately stepped into his dimensional home.

Inside, he could hear Wina’s cheerful voice playing with the triplets. Everyone seemed to be gathered in the lounge, laughing and doting on the three little ones.

When Wina saw her son —who had been so busy ever since entering the academy— she stood up, ready to prepare food for him.

"No need, Mom. I’ll get a drink myself," Gara said quickly, heading straight for the cold storage.

He was craving an ice-cold Lumora soda.

As Gara stepped into the storage room, his eyes caught a flicker of red among the neatly stacked supplies.

It was the One-Night Flower.

The bloom had stayed intact after he froze it inside the cold storage. Though encased in ice, its crimson petals were still visible, beautiful in their frozen stillness.

"I hope I’ll have some free time to experiment after the Class S Duel," he murmured to himself, unwilling to let the flower go to waste.

After grabbing a handful of ice cubes, he returned to the kitchen and began making Ice Lumora Soda, enough for everyone inside the dimensional home.

"Here, everyone, drink up," he said as he walked into the lounge.

Taking a small sip of his own drink, Gara set the cup down on the side table beside the couch, then went over to where his children were.

The triplets were nearly four months old now, adorably lively little bundles of energy.

Ava loved rolling around on her blanket, Aldwin always reached out to touch whoever held him, and Arion remained the quiet one. His head would turn curiously in every direction, eyes wide and observant, but he rarely moved much beyond that.

Gara picked up Aldwin, who greeted him with a tiny squeal and open arms. Looking into the baby’s face —especially those eyes— Gara couldn’t help but see Langga’s face flash in his mind.

A strange thought crept in, one that had been lurking since he decided to forgive Langga, Should I let Langga meet the triplets?

"No," Gara muttered under his breath, shaking his head hard.

"Gara? What’s wrong?" Wina asked, worry flickering in her eyes at his sudden reaction.

"It’s nothing, Mom," he replied quickly.

...

The day of the Class S Duel arrived.

It was held in the grand hall, and all other classes had been canceled, including those for second- and third-year students.

Even so, the seats were packed, filled almost entirely with first-year students.

Most of the third-years were out on assignments, and the second-years had advanced classes outside the academy grounds.

Besides, few of them still dreamed of entering Class S, they knew how strong the Class S students really were. Only a handful had the courage to challenge them.

In the front rows, the first-year Class S students sat together, anticipation gleaming in their eyes. None of them looked nervous; if anything, they seemed eager.

"That’s your match schedule." Pere appeared beside them and handed over a sheet of paper listing all the duels.

There were twenty-five matches in total for first year and two names dominated the list.

Every Class S student’s gaze naturally turned toward the left corner of their row, where Mona and Vania were sitting.

Both girls instantly knew why everyone was looking at them.

"Unbelievable... these people are insane! They’re going to regret this," Vania muttered irritably.

Her voice wasn’t exactly quiet, but the chatter around the hall drowned it out, leaving only the Class S students within earshot.

None of them commented, probably for her own good. After all, she needed to conserve her energy. Vania had to fight seven duels today.

...