Chapter 246: Announcement

Famin's eyes contracted and expanded upon seeing the figure in front of him. "Nina!?"

It was a medium-height young girl with dark-green hair. She was looking at him nonchalantly without a single emotion visible on her face. This wasn't the first time she had met him but it's certainly the first time in more than two years that she met.

After all, he was someone who left her with small memory.

Within a span of a few seconds, Famin managed to regain his composure by forcing himself to stand straight and forced a stiff smile on his face. "How… how are you doing? Haha. I never expected to see you here."

"Tsk." Nina refused to say anything and walked away.

Looking at her back, Famin bitterly sighed. He didn't know and didn't want to guess why she didn't say anything because he was sure that it wasn't anything good.

'Good God. I look terrible.' Soon enough, he examined his condition and headed towards the washroom.

Washroom.

Famin heaved a sigh of relief when he found no one in the washroom. Needless to say, he didn't want anyone to see himself in this condition.

However, soon, he realized that he had judged soon.

There was a single person in the washroom aside from him. It was a pale-skinned white-haired young man about the same age as him. He was unfamiliar with him so he wasn't much bothered.

As he walked past the person to wash his face, the white-haired young man seemed to notice his appearance from the mirror. "Holy shit, dude. You are looking terrible. Did you get into a fight?"

"Yeah, something like that." Famin gave a vague reply. He didn't want to say that he was bullied.

The white-haired young man opened his mouth to reply but just then, the speakers placed at the top corners of the washroom sounded.

"Attention everyone. Please don't leave the academy premises and gather at the 1st Grade Training Ground. I repeat. Please don't leave the academy premises and gather at the 1st Grade Training Ground. Thank you."

The speaker went quiet after that.

The pale-skinned white-haired young man didn't have any reaction and was simply washing his face but the orange-haired young man beside him couldn't help but groan.

As if understanding the reason behind the groan, the white-haired guy turned sideways and took a good look at him. "Did you bring the Infirmary Card?"

Very obvious from the name itself, an Infirmary Card is needed to visit the infirmary. When it was issued, several objections came from all sides for obvious reasons. What if someone is on the brink of death and he/she hadn't brought the Infirmary Card? Should the person be left to die?

There's no denying the fact that this is rather an extreme question but the idea is clear.

However, despite the overwhelming number of objections, they were ultimately overruled.

Back then, it was decided that it's mandatory for students to bring their Infirmary Card every day. Checks were done every single day. Slowly and gradually, however, the regulations became less strict and it came to a point where no checks were done. Naturally, students also felt very lazy to bring their Infirmary Cards every day.

The situation right now is – Famin forgot to bring his Infirmary Card and couldn't immediately help his wounds. Initially, he had planned to leave the academy and get himself treated but with the recent announcement…

"I didn't." Famin shook his head. He wasn't different from any other students that go to the academy.

The pale-skinned white-haired guy lightly laughed when he heard him. "People say greed or lust is a human's primal instinct in an attempt to downplay laziness. Even though it wasn't particularly difficult to bring the Infirmary Card, no one is exempted from the laziness they bear in their minds."

"Perhaps." Famin agreed with a sigh. "Do you have any idea about the announcement?" He asked in curiosity and also in an attempt to strike up a conversation as he thought it'd be awkward if he were to just leave it at that.

The white-haired guy gave a sign of affirmation by nodding his head. "I'm quite confident that it's about the dude who died yesterday because of terrorism. He's from my class."

"Oh?" Famin showed signs of interest. It's been a decade or so since the last terrorist attack on the Eastern Dream Kingdom. Previously, it was by a minor anti-imperialist group which was taken down very quickly. So naturally, he was surprised by the emergence of terrorism.

Out of curiosity, he asked. "Who is it?"

"It's Rewen Klofar. If you are involved in the academy's social media sites, you'd have heard of him." The white-haired guy answered.

Rewen Klofar was often described as a "notorious" and "troll" around the academy. The titles have been attached to him since the time he beat up Ruby. Rough footage that went viral showed that he was mercilessly hitting Ruby. Even though it's debated to this day whether it was really Rewen Klofar that was beating up a popular idol, it stayed as an interesting story.

Coupled with the first talk he had with his Instructor Venitt, him making up stuff when questioned about the ridiculous question, and his "racist" remarks of when he didn't want to entertain a student from the [Political Science] department; all of this made him infamous and an object of conversation in the online discourse.

Of course, his "popularity" never went beyond the academy.

Famin's eyes widened when he heard the name. "By Rewen Klofar… the one with red hair…?"

"Yeah." The white-haired guy said. "Do you know him?"

Famin sucked in a mouthful of air and released it. "I had a brief encounter with him a few days ago. Are you sure it's him?" Rewen was someone who left the deepest impression on him since he came to the academy.

During his suicide attempt, Rewen was the one who brought him to his senses. He was secretly thankful but never got himself to express his gratitude.

Later, he met him in the [Heart Domain] and found himself in a dilemma when he compared Rewen's confidence and calmness to his own. He also discovered that there was a thick sense of mystery around the young man.

That's why he found it hard to believe that such a person just died.

"There's no doubt that it's him. It's a tragedy. Regardless of how most people perceived him, I think that he was an honest and genuine guy." The white-haired guy washed his face with his handkerchief, then headed outside the washroom.

Famin stared at the mirror and sighed. 'What has the world come to?'

Then, he washed his face.

***

1st Grade Training Ground.

More than a thousand people gathered in the training ground with a couple of media reporters from local news channels. There were even some well-recognized news channels present.

Eastern Dream Academy is the most prestigious academy in the north-eastern region of Nat Province. It is one of the branches of the only Super-academy in the entire Eastern Dream Kingdom. Now that an event of national importance occurred, new channels wouldn't dare to neglect it.

There was a spacious arrangement of seats. The front seats were all reserved for staff and the rest were for students. There was no class-wise or grade-based arrangement of seats for students. Anyone could sit anywhere they want.

There was an elevated stage at the center front.

"Everything's done. Director is backstage. Bring in the students and staff."

The Academy Secretary instructed a couple of staff.

The staff did as they were told.

Within a span of a few minutes, the training ground got filled with people. Chattering became commonplace.

Around the middle seats sat Bianca and Co. (for a lack of a better term). Even Francesca was with them.

"Hurry up and search for Zel!" Bianca said to her friends before herself starting to look at her surroundings.

Salica playfully said. "Hmm… I looked deep into the south and still couldn't fin---"

"Be more serious!" Bianca tapped on her head and said with a frown.

[A/N: It was a reference to an old video game. It'll be explained later.]

"She seems to be hiding somewhere…" Junar said after not being able to spot a not-tall girl within a crowd of a thousand people.

"It's okay. I'll search for her after this is over." Francesca helplessly said.

The group immediately agreed.

Meanwhile on the last seats.

Famin quietly sat on one of the last seats while watching everyone chatting among themselves.

He looked to his right.

There was a wall.

He looked to his left.

There was a cute girl fiddling with her smartphone.

'Huh?'

Famin properly looked at the person sitting on his left. It was a moderately short-haired girl with her light blonde hairs making a side bang almost covering her left eye. Her small and baby face perfectly aligned with her hairstyle making him completely dazed for a short while.