Chapter 435 - Obtaining Funds (6) - Alex's POV

"You're being too lenient towards Rika," I found my cousin letting her go for the weekend.

Luke was surrounded by piles of skyrocket numbers of doc.u.ments in front of him in his room. Other than giving himself some free time during some of the breaks, he spent most of his time on the given fraction work. I found the Impalia fraction a bit too cruel sometimes, taking up half of the files on the table. Meanwhile, Charles made sure his fraction would only give him the b.a.r.e minimum possible. Meaning, Luke still had to work on another pile placed on the ground for them.

I started to help my cousin with some of the work from our fraction, knowing that Rika could never help with his work. The neutral fraction was also merciless, almost giving him the same number of folders as our fraction. Many of the fraction leaders coming from the fractions Luke was inside had graduated in the summer. Taking advantage of Luke, most of their work fell on him. I didn't want to imagine how he would handle them once social week would be nearby.

"It'll take me more time to go through the work while watching over Rika," Luke continued to go through the doc.u.ments.

"You need a break," I watched him exhaust himself ever since he came back from summer vacation.

"I can't," he sighed.

"Some of the deadlines are today," he started to work on another pile.

I pitied my cousin as these days, both of us never left his dorm room, fixing all the mess Rika had created. After convincing him to take a short walk, I found everyone warily avoiding us. Even the teachers tried not to meet our eyes, walking the other direction as soon as they noticed us. It was only us who was treated like this, everyone making sure to lower their voices so they couldn't be heard. We were being excluded from the entire school.

"It's them!" A person whispered to her friend.

"Ignore them, let's take another route," Her friend elbowed her.

"Honestly, they're not usually here at this time," A person behind me was a bit irritated.

"Pretend they don't exist," A person warned him.

The crowded hallway was quickly emptied as if these people informed each other to avoid coming here. I clenched my fists, wondering what other trouble Rika had caused this time. When I turned to Luke, he seemed to enjoy the new peaceful atmosphere, not thinking much about what was happening. Normally, Luke was crowded by many people since he was inside four fractions with each of them having their own event. He had to explain and promote each of their events as we would be interrupted many times during the only break that he took for himself.

"It's them, run!" a group of people spotted us.

"The high school students are so lucky. They don't have to run into them like we do," a person mumbled while running away.

"Lower your voice, they still come from the Roselia and Monete families," his friend advised him.

"It's just annoying," he lowered his voice.

It was the first time either of us were treated this way. Maybe we were too lenient towards the people from the neutral fraction yesterday. I still remembered how one of them burned my shirt a few weeks ago while another ripped my pants. None of them appeared remorseful, especially Rika who was one of the leaders in the fight.

"I know that Rika is behind this," Luke calmly enjoyed his walk.

"I can't believe even the teachers are in her plan," I was disappointed in them.

"And you can stop following us," Luke waited for someone to come out.

I stiffened as I found Henry uncovering his invisibility spell. It explained why Luke was reluctant to talk once we were outside his room. He was putting on an act for the person following him. I couldn't believe I didn't notice him following us for the entire time.

"You knew?" Henry warily walked towards us.

"One of you has been following us since the fights stopped," Luke studied his expression.

"It was me. I was the one who lost the fight," he explained.

"Did Rika make you do this?" I narrowed my eyes.

"It was a dare. We were betting on how long it could go without getting caught," he pretended everything was a joke.

"Then why aren't you leaving?" I found him suspicious.

"We're fraction members," Henry made up a poor excuse as he turned to Luke.

"I came to help with the fraction work," he offered.

"Let's go back to my room," Luke didn't hesitate to take his offer.

Once Henry entered Luke's dorm, he was stunned with all the work in the living room. Luke immediately passed him all the work from the neutral fraction as he started to touch the ones from the Impalia fraction. Henry's jaw almost dropped, not able to hide his surprise. He stiffly took a seat that Luke offered him and silently shrank as he began to work.

"You can start helping us every day instead of following us," Luke showed him another pile he could work on once he finished with the current one.

"I won't follow you anymore since I already lost the bet," Henry's hands trembled.

"It's not bad," I thought it would be nice to have him help my cousin with the burden.