Chapter 201: Surrender

After the announcement of the emcee, the Verrater Academy's Ice Queen decided to propose to Kraftvoll, "Let's just settle this with a fight. We don't really have that much time. How about we settle this matter in a quick duel, President vs. President?"

After hearing the proposal of the leader of the opposing side, a fear suddenly coursed through Kraftvoll's heart. Without him knowing it, he became suddenly frozen at that spot. His fear got the best out of him.

After seeing his friend acting like that, Princess Kyomi decided to come to his side without hesitating for a moment.

When she was by her side, she said to him, "We can let them have it, Kraftvoll. We can start going down the mountain now to arrive at our base earlier."

She said these words to him because she understood why Kraftvoll was acting like this. In the previous yearly tournament, he saw him and his teammates fall into despair when they lost miserably toward the three-man team of the eighth graders.

After hearing what she said, Kraftvoll glanced at her with a little shocked expression. He knew Princess Kyomi better than anyone in their class. When she said those words to him, he understood that she understood what he was feeling.

With all the heaviness in his heart, Kraftvoll decided to say their surrender to the Ice Queen of Verrater Academy. "We surrender. Our class will surrender the right to fight for that treasure clue," said Kraftvoll with a very serious face.

After hearing the words of their president, the other students of the 210th class nodded in approval. Although they were a little shocked about the decision of their president, they knew deep inside that they don't have a chance to win against their seniors.

Although it was hard for him to do, Kraftvoll commanded his classmates, "Let's go! We are now going to start going down the mountain".

Without complaining about the decision, they decided to go down the mountain now. Also, there was no time left to search for another treasure clue so they gave up trying.

After five minutes, a resounding voice can be heard throughout the Mt. Verrater.

The voice of the emcee said, "Students of Verrater Academy, cease whatever you are doing! The Treasure Hunt event is over! Follow the guide from the Shadow Corps down the mountain!"

After Kraftvoll and the others heard that statement, a member of the Shadow Corp suddenly appeared beside them. As soon as she appeared, the Shadow Corp's member said to them, "Follow me down to the mountain."

Without hesitating for a bit, Kraftvoll and his classmates followed her to their own base camp. A member of the Shadow Corp came to guide all of the students to their destination. 

All of these members of the Shadow Corp were also sent with the task to ensure that the students would not be able to get additional treasures. After all, there were still some treasures that were not discovered yet.

After dozens of minutes of walking, all the students of the 210th class and their guide finally reached their base camp. "My work here is done. Farewell," said the one that guided Kraftvoll and the others.

After she said those words, she disappeared out of nowhere after she was swallowed by a shadow.

After all day of transversing the mountain, Kraftvoll and his classmates unanimously decided to rest at their base camp. They were pretty fatigued after a whole day of transversing the mountain while searching for treasures and solving puzzles.

When they entered, they saw their homeroom teacher, Teacher Kyleen, who was patiently waiting for them to get back here. She knew that all of her would rest here for a while after the Treasure Hunt event's conclusion.

She did not hesitate to wait for them because she knew that she was right. She came here because she was worried that one of her students might be injured or wounded in the event.

After seeing her students, Teacher Kyleen thought to herself, 'It seems like I worried for nothing. Wait a minute. Why do those three misfits look down after getting this much treasure?'

When she observed the three misfits' mood, she saw Kraftvoll and his sworn brothers looking down. As their homeroom teacher, she decided to come to them to ask what happened to them.

Teacher Kyleen asked Kraftvoll and his two sworn brothers, "Why are the three of you look so down? Look at the cart you have brought. It is filled with many boxes that contained treasures."

She continued, "Isn't this something worth celebrating for?" 

Before answering their homeroom teacher, Kraftvoll took a long sigh. He was extremely feeling down because of the experiences that they had in the last minutes of the event.

After a pause, he said in response to his homeroom teacher, "Teach, we were able to face her again! And I was paralyzed in fear after just seeing her face! I'm such a coward!"

Teacher Kyleen asked him what happened but the three of them could not answer her. Since she had no choice, she turned into Princess Kyomi and Belle to explain everything that happened.

After hearing the context of the whole story, she quickly understood what transpired in the competition. She understood how all of those actions made the three misfits frustrated.

To cheer the boys up, Teacher Kyleen decided to give them some advice. It was her job as a homeroom teacher to their class, after all.

"Sometimes, giving up doesn't mean losing the fight. Someone who flees because they know that the fight is impossible to win is not a coward," said Teacher Kyleen to the three boys.

After hearing her, the three boys decided to take a glance toward their homeroom teacher.

After seeing her students' reaction, she continued, "Only those people who got lost their life because they did not do anything to escape a fight are the ones who can be called cowards. That's why you don't have to be down when you surrender or run away. It's part of survival."