Chapter 180 Desertion From Comrades

Chapter 180 Desertion From Comrades

There was deafening silence all around.

The students all looked at one another, each glance depicting multifaceted emotions.

Some students already had resolute expressions on their faces, while others seemed unsure about what choice to make.

Either way, it seemed that most people were waiting for who to step forward and leave first, hence the hesitation,

"The doors are open for those of you who wish to leave. Naturally, we wish you good fortune, but that is where our support ends."

Right now, the United Human Alliance had a bunch of its own problems to deal with. They couldn't afford to exert more energy on soldiers who did not wish to fight for them.

"Also, in case some of you are yet to make up your mind, there will be an Expedition for those who choose to remain behind. It will be compulsory, and it will also be dangerous."

The moment Conrad said this, the students who had been so hesitant to make their move soon began to blurt out their true intentions.

"T-then... I'll be leaving!" A random guy said, stepping forward from the bunch.

Before he had room to breathe, many other students blurred out the same thing.

Boys and girls stood out from the rest of their classmates—their numbers being an absurd chunk of the entire class.

Out of the twenty-eight, nineteen students were leaving.

Only Rey, Adonis, Belle, Billy, Trisha, Clark, Justin, Eric, and Alicia remained in place.

Everyone else seemed to have already made up their minds about what they would do.

They all wanted to leave.

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'Even you too, huh, Noah...?' Rey smiled a little sadly as he looked at a crumpled white envelope in his hand.

It most likely contained a letter, and Noah had quickly given him while stepping forward.

'I wonder what kind of message he wrote there for me.'

Rey already knew he wouldn't be able to work with Noah forever. In fact, their separation was inevitable.

'Right now, I don't really need him in my Black Market dealings. Plus, I already decided not to have anything more to do with them.'

In essence, there really wasn't anything holding them together.

Still... Rey couldn't help but feel a stinging sensation in his chest; one that he couldn't properly explain.

'Why...?'

Why did he feel so sad, and slightly frustrated, to see that Noah was leaving just like that?

Perhaps it was due to the sole reason that Noah had slowly become his friend over the course of their time together.

Sure, the relationship was a bit unbalanced, but Noah was privy to the aspects of Rey's life that he would never show anyone else.

He knew his secrets, and they both shared a bond that couldn't be replicated anywhere else—even though it was mostly tied with money.

'I'm more surprised you stayed, Belle. Aren't most of your puppets leaving the Estate? Wouldn't it be safer to follow them?'

He looked at the glassy facade that Belle displayed, feeling a lump in his throat.

'Is her desire to destroy Adonis and Alicia strong enough that she would just choose to remain here despite the dangers?'

Or did she simply have other intentions? It was difficult to tell.

'The important thing is that the strongest cards chose to stay. Sure, we've lost quite some capable people and their unique Skills, but we managed to retain the best ones.'

It was a given that people like Trisha and Clark would remain, given their personalities.

He didn't know Eric very well, but he was very close with Justin, who was very adventurous and playful.

Even after barely surviving the Dungeon, he recovered the earliest out of everyone.

He was just that kind of guy.

Then, of course Billy wouldn't leave Alicia, and Alicia's goals aligned with helping the people of H'Trae.

As for Adonis, Rey still didn't know what really drove him to help the people here, but he knew the boy truly wanted to help.

There was no way he'd abandon them now.

'As for the others...'

Rey's eyes glowed brightly as he looked at the nineteen who were leaving.

His [Absolute Appraisal] was activated as he glossed through their Status Windows.

'They're all pretty weak, so this is the best move.'

To properly raise the best crop, one had to whittle down the weeds.

The deserters wouldn't have done much in the long run anyway, aside from costing the Council more resources to maintain.

As Rey was having these thoughts, he suddenly saw something among the cluster of students.

'W-what—?!'

His eyes widened—nearly bulging out of their sockets—as he noticed the details on the panel that was exposed before him.

'T-that's him?! The mastermind!'

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[A/N]

Thanks for reading!

Looks like we finally get a reveal of the guy that has been messing with Rey and everyone else.