Alex exited the auditorium hall and walked down the hallway, guided by Bella, who was still clinging to him with her arms looped through his.
Everyone in the hallway stared with odd expressions at this public display of affection, which they seemed to mistake for something more, especially now that the girl had rested her head on his shoulder, entirely unbothered by the attention around her.
"We do not have much time, so I will give you a short guide for now, and later in the evening I will take you on a proper tour of the other buildings." Bella said in a sweet voice.
"Mm." Alex nodded simply.
"The academy consists of five floors in total, and we are currently walking along the first floor." Bella continued. "The first floor holds classes for first years, the second for second years, and it continues that way all the way up to the fourth floor, where the final year students have their classes."
Alex kept listening with focus, knowing this information would be quite useful in navigating the academy in the days to come.
"And the fifth and final floor is where the principal and vice headmistress have their offices, along with the other professors and a number of important rooms, including the treasure rooms. You will likely be able to choose one treasure depending on your overall rank, which should be published sometime today."
"But does the academy not restrict students from wearing artefacts or carrying treasures?" Alex asked, struggling to reconcile what she was saying, then added, "And should we not go and check the overall rank results now?"
"For your first question, yes, the academy restricts students from bringing outside treasures and artefacts, but not the ones earned from within the academy itself. We are all allocated points that can be exchanged for suits, weapons, and artefacts." Bella answered, turning toward him. "And as for your second question, that is exactly where we are going."
Alex found the girl's gaze far too intense at such close proximity, and he was already feeling uncomfortable being this near to someone he had only recently laid eyes on and had only properly met just moments ago. Now her stare was making things even more unsettling.
"Also, you will be receiving a bracelet soon that keeps track of your whereabouts as well as your accumulated points, and given that you placed first in both the written exam and the battle royale, I imagine you will receive quite a generous number of points. You might even land in the top ten of the overall ranking, if luck favors you, seeing as your level sits at the very bottom among all two hundred students, it is quite hard to know what rank you will get." Bella mused.
Alex did not miss the subtle taunt tucked into the tail end of her words. It was unmistakable that she had not quite digested the fact that he had placed first despite being, by every measurable standard, the weakest of the lot. In truth, every other student was at least level twenty or more, a gap so vast it made even the most unremarkable among them considerably more powerful than him who was sitting at level one.
Bella turned her face away and looked ahead. "We are almost at the notice board." She said, then gestured to her left. "That raised platform you see at the centre is called a duel ground. It is rather well known among students as the one place within the academy where they can officially challenge one another. Fighting is prohibited everywhere else, but inside that platform, it is permitted."
Alex looked to his left and took in the sight: a high, raised platform at the centre of what appeared to be a courtyard, the academy's main buildings surrounding it on all four sides in the manner of classic quadrangle architecture. The duel ground stood vacant, not a soul on it. It was the same place from where he was teleported to battle royale.
"You know," Bella said, turning to him again, her arms tightening around him, "try to avoid any challenges thrown your way and steer clear of causing any trouble, because I cannot bear the thought of Eva getting dragged into problems because of you."
Alex bit his lower lip hard and gave a small nod. He understood well enough that if he were to find himself in trouble, the princess would come running to his side without a second thought, and that could put her position on the student council in jeopardy. The student council existed to serve all students impartially, not to come to the personal rescue of any one individual.
Before long, they arrived at the notice board, its surface covered in various papers and announcements, and at the centre hung one that looked noticeably fresh, as though it had only been posted a few hours ago.
"Huh? You placed fiftieth in the overall ranking." Bella went still for a moment. "Should your rank not be a little higher?"
Alex's eyes settled on the centre of the paper as well, where his name, Alex Drakethorne, was printed in clean lettering beside his assigned class: Class 1-S and rank: 50.
"Even so, thank goodness you landed in Class 1-S." Bella said, her tone shifting to something closer to relief. "Only fifty students are admitted into each section, and Class 1-S receives the best resources and the finest teachers the academy has to offer. You scraped in at the very last spot, but you are in."
Alex felt nothing in the way of happiness about his ranking, nor did he feel much of anything at all. It was as though the excitement of being admitted to the academy had already quietly drained away and his rank did not matter to him even the slightest. What he wanted, more than any rank or any class placement, was simply to speak with the princess, and if it were at all possible, to break her engagement with Lucian.
Alex bit the inside of his cheek, struggling to contain the quiet frustration of having seen her so close in the auditorium hall and yet was unable to exchange a single word with her.
But somewhere in the back of his mind, a small voice reminded him that Bella's plan might still work, that the princess would come to him eventually, perhaps driven by jealousy, and that when she did, they would finally say the things that had gone unspoken for far too long.
"Now that we have seen your result, let me take you to your classroom." Bella said and began pulling him away from the notice board. The few students still lingering nearby, most having already checked the results long before Alex and Bella arrived, were shooting him sharp looks of envy for his placement in Class 1-S. A handful of others wore expressions of outright indignation, as though they were on the verge of demanding an explanation for how someone sitting at level one had managed to claim a spot among the very best the academy had to offer.
***
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