22 - Butterfly Effect [4]

Crazy, isn’t it?

Damn you, Link. You just had to think of the butterfly effect.

Viola! There you have it.

You are satisfied now, right?

Why is a high vampire like Kenivale Alucard appearing at this point?

I heaved a sigh.

Kenivale Alucard barely had a lot of screentime in the original novel.

He had been one of those kinds of characters that appeared from time to time but whenever they did, you just loved them.

Kenivale was one of such characters.

Even when I was reading The Account of a Failed Villain, Kenivale had not appeared this early.

He never taught a class, despite being one of the professors in the Ivory Academy. At least that was how much I remembered.

’Are my memories fuggy?’ I thought, examining the vampire from where I sat. ’No. Definitely not. Then why is he here?’

I didn’t like this.

I didn’t feel comfortable within myself.

My eyes were glued to him and as he paced around the class, he met my gaze.

Staring at me for what was about a few seconds, Kenny smiled.

It was subtle but he smiled. You know, that knowing smile that conceives you that someone is aware of what they were doing.

That was the click I needed. I was right.

Something was out of order.

The vampire was not here for no reason.

"Alright... let’s look at your scores," Kenny announced as he arranged a cluster of paper sheets in his hands.

He picked one out and scanned through it, looking through the list of names written on the paper.

There was this thing in me that made me quite convinced that something was out of order.

The entire class went dead silent as Kenny was about to start announcing our performances.

There was something about how he looked at the scores he had in his hand that made us worry.

It was a look of disappointment... and confusion. Almost as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

"Cecilia Allison..."

"Yes, Professor Kenivale."

Cecilia, the ebony beauty of the class and the current serving Student Council President, stood from her chair.

Her dreadlocks were still as admirable as ever.

There was this air of confidence that floated around her, as if she didn’t care what anyone said, only living her life by her rules.

Taking a glance across the room, I could tell that many of my classmates felt the same way about her.

Cecilia was certainly held in high esteem by her peers.

"...Jeremy Rivers."

"Yes, Professor Kenivale."

A slim, young boy with blond hair stood up from the front row of the class.

He was handsome. The kind of handsome that ladies would rather call cute.

Now, Jeremy and Cecilia were both on their feet, with the attention of the entire class fixed on them.

"I reckon that you were both paired for the holiday mission. Is that right?"

Cecilia and Jeremy nodded at the same time while answering in unison.

"""Yes, Professor!"""

They looked at each other and smiled.

From my seat, they looked like love birds—a day old couple.

"Grade. Good."

Professor Kenny’s voice was curt and momentary.

Good. That was it. Nothing more.

No further remarks.

There were mixed feelings.

Was a good grade really good? Or should we be worried?

But from what I recalled, Cecilia’s holiday task was non-combative.

It had been focused on information gathering since acquiring intel best suited her and Jeremy’s abilities.

Jeremy smiled but Cecilia suddenly had a flat affect.

I’m sure the same thoughts we had about the grade ran through her mind.

She was Student Council President and as such, there were high expectations of her.

"You may sit."

Jeremy sat back down and so did Cecilia. The latter decided to remain calm and observe, just to make sure good was indeed a good grade.

"Wendy Arclight."

"Yes, Professor Kenivale!"

Her voice was loud and cheerful as she shot up from her chair beside me like a rocket.

If I hadn’t taken measures to steady myself, I might have fallen to the side.

I gave Wendy a sidelong glance and she winked and giggled back.

"What an energetic child," Kenny muttered under his breath.

"Bran Livingston."

Bran who was sitting next to Wendy — to her left — did not answer.

He simply raised his hand in the air for all to see.

I rolled my eyes and clicked my tongue.

’Is this bitch really trying to aura farm? To an S rank ability user?’

The balls on this friend of mine needed to be studied.

Kenny looked up, noticed Bran and turned his eyes back to the paper.

Bran then rose to his feet, catching the eyes of the class with different girls already fawning for him.

I struggled with fending off several invisible love arrows that shot out from their lustful eyes so I wouldn’t become collateral damage.

Professor Kenny spent a bit more time looking at the assessment for Wendy and Bran than he had done the first two people he called — Cecilia and Jeremy.

This particular act had been a double-edged sword.

Bran and Wendy were worried a bit about their grading.

’Was something wrong?’ they probably thought.

Cecilia, on the other hand, assumed the worst and the best.

There was an uncertainty that only Kenny could clear.

He raised his eyes again, looking at Brian briefly before returning them to the papers.

’That’s a notable strength feat for a cadet,’ he thought.

Whatever it was that Bran did during their task, it definitely caught the vampire’s attention, leaving him impressed.

"Grade. Good."

Same grading as Cecilia and Jeremy.

It was only then that Cecilia relaxed.

Bran was among the top three of the class and if his grade was good then that was a commendable score to have.

Professor Kenny then ran through several other paired members as listed on his paper, grading them.

"Grade. Good."

"Grade. Fair."

"Grade. Fair."

"Grade. Poor."

"Grade. Pass"

"Grade. Good."

"Frank Williams and Sophie Stunner..."

"Grade. Failed."

Silence swept through the class again like a storm.

"Maggie Jones and Brandon Lin."

"Grade. Failed."

A couple of more failed scores followed until it got to our turn. And by our, I meant...

"Link Remington and Eris DeLorentis..."

"""Yes, Professor."""

We both stood on our feet like the others had done before us.