CHAPTER 173: CHAPTER 173: BEFRIEND OR BEFRIED

The entire auditorium became quiet after that. They have all heard of the website, and their instructors had also just discussed it literally an hour ago.

And now the Academy was saying that someone from their school was being targeted? A student?

This revelation caused everyone to look at each other, and although they were still quite in disbelief of the news, all of them had a singular thought in mind.

Is it... me?

Well, not everyone had that thought. Some weren’t even thinking about themselves.

"What the fuck?" Hannah blinked, her face twisting as she stared at Bulwark, squinting as she whispered. "Is he fucking serious? Why would they say that? Do they want us to panic?"

On the contrary, however, no one seemed to be panicking at all. Some even seemed... excited.

"Oh, dear Hannah Baneyneys..." Gracey sighed, shaking her head in disappointment at Hannah’s words.

"You underestimate the thrill-seeking tendencies of youth," she said. She looked around after that and then leaned in closer to Hannah and even gestured to the others to huddle up. They were hesitant at first since it was Gracey, but they all slowly lowered their heads and leaned in closer in the end.

"No joke..." she started, and everyone quickly realized it was going to be some sort of joke. "I really think it’s me."

"Bullshit." Bella groaned, rolling her eyes at Gracey before leaning back. "You ain’t all that, G. But... me?"

Bella crossed her arms, smirking as she glanced at the ceiling. "No cap? It’s me."

"Wh—"

"Uhm..." Pauline raised her hand to interrupt Bella. "Why... does it feel like you guys want the target to be you?"

"Because they’re fools," Hannah said, shaking her head before focusing on the rest of Bulwark’s announcement.

[Your family has been informed about...]

But while the rest of the students were incredibly focused on what Bulwark was saying, the only one who knew the exact truth wasn’t paying attention at all, no.

He was still staring at the back of Silvie’s head, his head tilted and deep in thought.

It is obvious that they have been watching the traffic coming into the website, and that means that they know that it is you, Megagirl. The only question now is... why make a spectacle out of it?

Or is it possible that they do not actually know, and that is why they did this? But how would they not know? Is it because the information came from an outside source? If so, then where exactly did they get—Hm?

Riley’s thought was suddenly interrupted when he realized that he couldn’t see the back of Silvie’s head anymore. Instead... he could see her face now. Well, half of it anyway, since her eyes and half of her face were covered with her mask.

He could also see her smile.

He tilted his head to the side, and Silvie waved at him for some reason. And of course, V noticed this.

"I... didn’t know the two of you were close, Riley?" she asked, slightly squinting at Silvie before glancing at Riley.

"We are not, V." Riley shook his head. "You and I are close."

"Y-yes..."

"Megagirl and I are separated by two rows of seats."

"...Right."

"She has a point, though..." Hannah tapped his brother’s chest. "...Why’s that girl waving at you? And why is it that all of your acquaintances seem to be girls, huh?"

"Because all of your friends are of the female variation of humans, Sister," Riley muttered. "And your friends are my only acquaintances."

"T-that’s not true. It—"

"Jesus, guys. Let’s discuss whatever this is later and listen to him first!" Hannah pointed her palm at Bulwark.

"That is not Jesus, Sister."

"Pft."

"Ssh!"

[Rest assured, we will do our best to protect you and ensure that no harm comes to you, the students of this Academy. You may return to your dorms, or you may also spend your free time however you wish, as all of our facilities will be open. There will be no curfew, but you will, however, now see active guards on duty in these places.]

Bulwark’s sigh whispered throughout the entire auditorium, and all the students there could feel the disappointment seeping out from all the way to their seats. It was always hard to discern what Bulwark was thinking due to the way he looked—his completely golden figure, and his face that barely twitched or changed expressions... but they could always tell due to the way he spoke.

There was always a sort of gentleness in his tone, almost like a kind grandparent speaking to his grandchildren. It was the only thing that reminded them every day that Bulwark was the oldest living creature on the entire planet.

[That will be all. For anyone who has questions, you can ask your instructors. Although if they don’t tell you anything, that means I told them not to—so, don’t blame them.]

And with another sigh, Bulwark nodded and left the stage, replaced by someone else.

"What the..." Gracey squinted. "...Isn’t that Benjie?"

"Why is your brother everywhere, sis?"

"He always been extra like that." Bella shrugged.

[Hello, hello!] Benjamin’s voice thundered, causing the students who were already leaving to stop and stare at the stage again. [Since we’re going to be spending the entire week here without classes. I, as the president of the freshmen, have decided to set up some events for us!]

"President of... since when?" Hannah raised an eyebrow. "I thought our representative was the Silvie girl?"

"...We had a student body council?" Gracey blinked. "Those actually exist in real life? Wait... why wasn’t I invited?!"

[The events will be starting tomorrow! I knew we was gonna be targeted sooner or later again, so me and my brothers and sisters in the freshmen council have made something called emergency events just for these very moments!] He declared. [And while we are setting everything up, we will have a trial run now... and our very first attraction—Mega Karaoke! Right here in the auditorium!]

And with that, Benjamin randomly started singing. And... it was effective. Most of the students who were leaving all stopped in their tracks and returned to their seats.

"Ugh... let’s go." Bella covered her ears and immediately ran away from her seat. "You guys just wanna go to the mall again and—ey. Where’s the Little R?"

"Huh?" Hannah quickly looked to her side, and true enough, Riley, who was just sitting right next to her, was gone.

"Your brother..." Pauline, who had been quiet the entire time, couldn’t help but blink a couple of times as she looked around. "...he has a habit of just disappearing, huh? But... Tomoe’s also missing."

***

"I apologize, Riley. I know they’re going to find a way to at least track all the incoming—"

"Stop, Tomoe."

Tomoe was following behind Riley, the two of them walking in the hallway just outside the auditorium. Tomoe wanted to say something, but Riley stopped in his tracks and also stopped her from saying anything.

"You have done very well," he said. "The one they traced was not on our part, correct?"

"Yes."

"Then you did not do anything wrong." Riley shrugged, and the two of them continued walking.

"If... I didn’t do anything wrong, then why did you ask me to leave with you?" Tomoe squinted. "The others would be suspicious that we are always together."

"It is fine, Tomoe. The most they could think is that we are dating each other, but considering I am only twelve years old and do not exactly know what that means just yet, then they probably would not think it either. I called you here because I have a mission for you."

"A... mission?" Tomoe immediately perked up upon hearing that. "What... mission?"

"I want you to befriend Megagirl to find out whether she is worthy to be our target, Tomoe. If she is not..." Riley’s high-pitched tone slightly turned deeper than usual. "...Then we will kill the one who placed the order."

"Befriend her?" Tomoe held her breath. "That would... prove to be difficult. But I will try my best, Riley."

"There is another part to your quest that will make it even harder, Tomoe."

"Hmm?"

"I want you to teach me how to befriend her, too."

"...Oh."