Homeroom

"The ruling family has decided that I am permitted to inform you about the state of your missing classmate. Keep in mind that all of this is classified as national secrets, thus if you do not want to bear the responsibility of keeping silent, please leave the room."

Only one student rose to his feet. His jet red hair shook a bit as Arthur left the room.

"No one else? Then I'll begin."

He took his usual spot in front of the podium and spoke of the situation,

"Miren is currently being held hostage by a group of mana-less who are using him as a bargaining chip in order to get equal adventuring rights. The ruling family has decided to engage in conversation with the group to save Miren, but the process will most likely be quite long and arduous. Thankfully, we know that he is safe and sound, as they appear to treat him quite well."

James and Sarah seemed to gain a bit of relief at his words, but there was one student who only got agitated.

Bayyan stood up, seemingly having something to say about the situation,

"Yes?"

"Teacher, why would they go to such an extent to save him? It can't possibly be worth to risk the mana-less gaining power again just to save a single student, even if he, for some reason, is the rank one?"

Mike's already serious face got even harder,

"It is, indeed, the job of students to inquire and gain more knowledge, but it seems to me that you are not too happy about the fact that Miren has a good chance of returning? I have already made it clear that what happened in the ranking matches was a complete accident. It should have never been possible in the first place!"

Adamant about setting the record straight, he defended his little student vigorously, but another student stood up.

Akane stood up, wearing a rare face of worry, her green eyes stirring a bit,

"But Mr.Borr! You also heard him and saw him that day. He didn't care about what he did! Even if it was an accident, how are we supposed to feel safe attending the same academy as someone who sees killing another student as nothing?!"

Her eyes were on the were of tears, and her face was crumpled. In her mind, Miren could just as well just stay away.

A lot of the students in the class had found some relief in that Miren was vacant. The fact that he could move faster than their eyes could see and held no hesitation towards ending a life was scary, insanely so.

Akane had been one of the students feeling most threatened by his presence. Bring a mage had its pros and cons, but their critical weakness were almost always assassins.

She had no way of defending herself if Miren decided to end her life, and she knew it too well.

Mike's gaze softened at her words, feeling sympathetic towards her situation,

"I understand that he might have given quite an intense impression that day. All I can say is this, he is your classmate who will be with you for these four years. He is someone you will have to trust to some degree, as you will be doing missions with him at some point. Just trust me when I say this."

He let his eyes wander the room, making sure that each and every one of the students caught his words, stopping at James,

"Miren will never be a danger to anyone who just lets him be, but if you try to fight him, he will not hold back. This is what I have personally taught him, and this is what I will continue to teach him."

James seemed to understand what he wanted to convey, although the teacher didn't know his underlying plan of trying to get Miren out of the number one position.

Making sure that the other students felt safe would, in turn, lead to Miren not being feared as much.

If he could stand as a sort of guardian, showing he could protect everyone, they would not have to feel scared.

It would also eliminate the chances of others trying to challenge Miren because of his small stature. A lot of students wouldn't accept someone with that physique being the strongest.

"Do any of you have any other questions?"

Both Akane and Bayyan finally sat down, a bit defeated by the clear and undisputable words of their teacher.

Instead, another student took their chance. Lindsey stood up, proud as always, and with he hands behind her she had something to ask,

"Lindsey?"

"Yes! I just have one question."

"Yes?"

And then she dropped a bomb,

"Is Miren really the strongest among us?"

A moment of silence filled the room, with competitive excitement rising from most, and fear from a few.

"That is a hard question to answer. Why do you ask?"

She took a moment to collect her thoughts, and then explained her thoughts,

"It's a bit weird that he got the first place ranking without having to go through with all the matches. Thus the only reason he would get the rank is because of the intervention of either you or the principal, and so that means you regard him as such."

A slight smile finally appeared on the usually relaxed teacher, having held his serious face for the entirety of homeroom,

"As expected from my niece! Yes, we do believe that he is the strongest, and so we enforced the decision."

An agitated James also stood up,

"But how can he be the strongest?! Didn't he have the lowest mana grade of all of us? It makes no sense!"

It wasn't clear what the reason for his agitation was. Maybe he felt threatened by there being a person surpassing him or maybe he was genuinely surprised. No matter what, he got an answer he didn't want to hear.

"It is true that at the start of the semester, Miren held the lowest mana grade of all of you, but that is not necessarily true right now. But none of this mattered when we made our decision. There is one clear reason as to why he got the first place ranking, something that didn't have anything to do with physical prowess or mana at all."

"What?", slightly confused, James urged him to continue.

His face turned serious once again as he spoke,

"Even if Miren might not hold as much value as you in a group setting, in the case of a one-on-one battle, there is no question about what would happen. There is not a single one of you who would survive if you fought with Miren. All of you would die, unable to do anything. This is the reason he got the rank one."

Silence once again, not a single member of the class uttered a single word. Everyone seemed to ponder what their teacher had just said.

His statement meant that not even the prodigy James would stand a chance against the tiny Miren. The strong genius would lose to a no-name student whose head didn't even reach his chest.

"I'll take that as there being no more questions. Then you will continue the rest of your day as usual."

Mike went on his way, leaving the class stuck pondering the information they had just acquired.

It had been a weird situation. Instead of anyone caring to ask about their classmate's condition or wondering if he would be alright, they had mostly focused on the strength of Miren.

Even Sarah and James had gotten sidetracked and stuck on the fact that Miren was, supposedly, the strongest of them all. At the end of class, James's eyes wore a different kind of determination than what he usually carried.

Unknown even to himself, a spark had been made inside of him. Hearing that the little Miren, who he had been wanting to protect and keep away from danger, was stronger than him had set something off.

Miren hadn't been wrong at the celebration, a lot of his identity was planted in the fact that he was the strongest, the protector of the weak, thus if he wasn't the strongest, what was he really?

That was the day when James took his already insane training to another level. Not for the sake of his abducted friend, but because of his own insecurities.