After a bit, Jessie propped her chin on her fist, ponytail brushing the tablecloth. "Reinhard, you're in the top ten of the Elective Rankings." Her tone was light, but her eyes narrowed playfully. "Hope you know the shock that was sent through the academy. Half the third-years nearly choked on their drinks. A first year has surpassed most third and fourth years, which is something that has never happened before."

Reinhard sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I notice. Ever since the second semester started, every hallway feels like a gauntlet. First-years stare like I'm a ghost while upperclassmen size me up like I was a new challenger."

His mind then drifted to Irene with her relentless questions about when, why, and how he received so many points. But then she got bored and went back to his Beast Spirit dreams with the same intensity. The memory tugged a faint smile to his lips.

Marie giggled as she grinned. "Third-years have been hounding Joseph and me nonstop. They were asking us what kind of expedition nets that many points and how they convinced the Information Institution to give us one like that. Then Phane City hit the boards-" She spread her hands, mimicking an explosion. "-and everyone knew we were involved."

Lloyd leaned forward, elbows on the table, brown hair falling into his eyes. "And I thought Mensis was big. But Phane City?" He whistled low. "How did you three attract another Sinner?"

Reinhard's lips twitched. "We theorized there'd be more since we knew Phineas was working with someone else. But seeing one actually appear… It was still a shock."

Bruno's green eyes gleamed with curiosity, and he cracked his knuckles. "I bet. But come on, what happened? I've been dying to know!"

Marie sighed as she lifted her water glass. "Unfortunately, we can't say. The Academy and Mori Empire slapped a ban on it as they don't want what really happened to spread."

Suzy chuckled. "Makes sense. If even half the rumors are true, then it really was insanity over there."

Kyle traced the rim of his glass with one finger. "Because it's sealed, everyone has been thinking that the points were bloated. That Principal Klaus is playing favorites because Marie's on the team." He shot her a teasing glance. "They know you'd never beg or ask for a special favor, but Klaus? Different story."

Jessie nodded, ponytail swaying. "Everyone is suspicious. No one's saying Marie asked for special treatment. Just that maybe the points were… Inflated."

Marie shrugged with a sigh. "I get it. No single expedition should dump that many points on students."

Lloyd tilted his head. "How many exactly?"

Marie set her glass down with a soft clink. "In total? In the four hundreds. We roughly got a hundred points from the Mensis mission, while the rest." She spread her hands again, this time smaller, almost sheepish. "It came from Phane City."

The table went quiet.

Kyle sighed with a shake. "I don't know whether to envy you or fear what you saw to earn three hundred in one go."

Marie's grin turned wicked. "It was fun! If you ignore the blood and screaming. I got to slide down a tree the size of a skyscraper, and saw miracles that made my eyes water." She clasped her hands under her chin, eyes sparkling. "Actual miracles, guys."

Reinhard's lips twitched again while the others blankly stared at her before laughter erupted. Bruno slapped the table, Jessie shook her head, and Lloyd wiped a tear from the corner of his eye.

Reinhard leaned back, the chair creaking comfortably. "I'm surprised no one's filed a formal complaint with the Information Institution. If they're that suspicious…"

Bruno grinned. "Oh, naive one. The rule is that every second to fourth-year discoverers. Never question the Information Institution."

Jessie picked up seamlessly, counting on her fingers. "They not only approve missions, but they assign missions. Piss them off? Next thing you know, you're with frustrating people, disgusting Phantasm Beasts, and wading through a swamp to find an item."

Reinhard sighed, the sound heavy with understanding. "So point out they're wrong, and they bury you with crappy missions. No wonder."

Lloyd chuckled, reaching for the focaccia, and he tore off a piece with steam curling between his fingers. "That, and everyone knows the Information Institution doesn't play favorites. Those guys are too emotionless and cold to care about giving someone special attention, as they see everyone, including the professors, as equal. So deep down, they're sure Klaus couldn't have raised the points."

Suzy hummed, twirling a lock of blonde hair around her finger. "I am still surprised you're not in the rankings, Marie. You and Joseph had two years of saved points plus Phane? You should've been in the top five or maybe even first place."

Marie's smile softened. "We spent them on things that were important and needed."

Reinhard's fingers tightened around his water glass as he thought about where those points had gone. The new apartment in Nuevo City that had sunlight shining through clean windows, a kitchen big enough for all three siblings to eat without elbows in ribs. New clothing for the children, new toys and books, gifts, and vacations planned.

Marie and Joseph had poured every point into making that possible while he slept. He swallowed hard, the water suddenly tasteless.

"Oh, right, Rein you missed it, man!" Bruno grinned.

"Miss what?" Reinhard asked with a raised brow.

Bruno leaned forward with a mischievous glint in his green eyes. "Water Fight Week!"

Reinhard blinked before saying. "You all had a water fight in the school?"

"Where do I even start?" He tore another piece of focaccia. "It's an event where the entire academy opens up to a water fight between all the students. The first would be first-years versus second-years! From what I heard, they had ambush points mapped out the night before. Kyle and I helped the first years out to give them a fighting chance. We had some of them hide behind the greenhouse with a catapult. Loaded it with thirty balloons and launched them over to strike the moving second years!"

Kyle snorted as he rolled his violet eyes. "You mean you launched them. I was busy keeping the catapult from collapsing. Then the second-years came screaming around the corner and one of them nailed Bruno square in the chest."

Lloyd laughed. "I saw that before the entire courtyard turned into a slip-n-slide. As everyone started getting wiped out left and right." He gestured with his fork, tracing the chaos in the air. "By lunch, the grass was a swamp, and at the end of the day, it seemed the first year's even with our help couldn't pull out a win."

"They need to improve their teamwork." Bruno says with a sigh, leading Kyle to snort.

Marie giggled as her eyes shined. "Day two was the second-years versus the third-years. Since it was our turn, we escalated everything as Ven rigged a pressure hose to the fountain. We turned it into a fire-hose cannon, and the second-years didn't stand a chance. They were being blasted off their feet and sliding across the cobblestones." She mimed the spray with her hands going wide. "Mino tried to charge through it, but he got lifted clean off the ground, landed flat on his back in a puddle."

Bruno laughed. "Day three was the best match! It was third-years versus fourth-years. But Marie went out of her way to bring reinforcements, the alumni visiting for the week. One guy had a massive balloon and set it up to drop down on those fourth years!"

Klyle shakes his head and says. "You guys went out of your way to fill it with ice water from the cafeteria freezers. And then when it smashed in the fourth year, all of them were screaming and shivering… Unfortunately, some of it hit Suzy, who was baiting them."

Suzy shivered as she wrapped her arms around herself. "I couldn't feel my toes for an hour, but it was worth it to actually defeat the fourth year. And then, finally, day four was a massive battle royal. Everyone was against each other, but people still formed alliances with each other and then planned to duke it out when it was only just them."

"More like betrayal everywhere. I teamed with a first-year who looked like she needed help, but then she dumped a bucket on my head the second I turned around." Jessie said with a giggle.

Kyle shakes his head and says. "By the end, the courtyard looked like a battlefield with balloons shredded everywhere. Water was soaking everywhere in the academy, and our uniforms were ruined. Professor Rosaria threatened to cancel the rest of the event because we went a bit-"

"We went totally overboard. If we didn't put the sheets over the library books and other important stuff. The academy would have to spend lots of money to recover the damages." Marie laughed as she crossed her arms. "We had to beg Rosaria to let us continue, and she caved in exchange we cleaned everything up for the day."

Reinhard chuckled before asking. "And what about the last three days?"

Jessie grinned. "Days five through seven were pure free-for-all. We had no team or alliances and just havoc all around. We only had ceasefires for lunch and dinner. You could strike anywhere, and so everyone just stayed outside to not anger Professor Rosaria again."

Marie wiped a tear from her eye, still giggling. "But on the final day, someone launched a balloon that hit Rosaria… And well, that day we saw our dear Rose join the game before leaving us all shivering on the floor."

Bruno nodded with a peculiar look. "It was an interesting sight to see one person absolutely destroy over a thousand people. But alas, that's just how great the Professor is."

The table erupted in laughter again.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.