Chapter 214: Chapter 214: Calculated Greed

While Jash was wondering why she wasn't responding to Ronan, he heard her words in a very convinced tone.

"He will not be joining Sword Arts."

"Eh?"

However, Aileen's words only confused Ronan as Aileen, of all people, would never allow such a thing to happen.

The most hard-headed individual he had met in his whole life was allowing someone to play around and not focus on the things they were talented in.

Wasn't it that Aileen wished to groom such people, focusing on them and changing their decision to focus on the thing they are talented in.

Opposite him, Aileen had only delayed her response because she was scrutinizing Ronan.

She instinctively knew he was making up a lie, but his expression was too real, but she couldn't just accuse him like that. Sёarᴄh the NôᴠelFirё.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

For one, she had heard some unsavory news about Ronan, and second, they were in a conflict for being the teacher of Sword Arts Class.

In the end, she could only tell him the harsh truth. It wasn't her concern if he could accept it or not, though.

'She did take my side, huh?' Jash mused, a little surprised from her tone of finality.

He knew that a professor could show favoritism as it was allowed in the Solarnelle Academy, but professors seldom took the initiative to do it.

After all, factors like class performance affected their authority, and would be taken into account before the professors were given more stars.

"But don't you think it's a waste of talent?" Ronan rebutted, refusing to accept it.

"There is no need to say anymore. Students can choose whatever path they want to choose," Aileen interrupted Ronan before he could come up with anything.

While Jash's lips curled up unconsciously, Ronan shifted nervously, feeling restless at the turn of events.

He just recalled that Jash had already arrived, thinking of it as a chance, he just decided to act on it.

"Professor Aillen, why don't we ask the person in question himself?" the curly-haired instructor Ronan asked respectfully with a smile.

Hearing those words, Jash's face hardened, and his smile faltered, emotions swirling like his unstable mana.

"What do you want?" Jash spat those words with a cold voice with no respect.

Ronan was an S-Rank Hunter, so he naturally had a reputation, but Jash's words made him frown further, although he kept it in.

He remembered he couldn't make any mistakes lest he implicated someone he shouldn't, so he carried on with his acting.

"Jash Ramille, if you don't want to participate in the sword art class, why don't you prove that you are better than all the first years?"

Still, Ronan was a bit dissatisfied and challenged Jash, trying to hurt his pride and make him accept it in haste.

Unfortunately for him, he hit an iron wall today.

"Why should I?" Jash directly asked, cocking his eyebrow with intrigue.

At the moment, he really wanted to ask if Ronan was stupid or was acting that way.

Even the expression on Ronan's face made Jash almost lose his sense of cool and laugh it off.

Contrary to him, the students nearby had mild confusion at Ronan's actions to rope Jash into the Swords Art Class.

Each student could decide the subject they wanted to study, and nobody could deny them until they failed that class.

That's why Ronan would not be able to do anything after Jash refused, and that's exactly what happened.

Some even felt a bit of pity for Ronan to meet someone like Jash who was so damn stubborn.

Unlike Ronan's expectation, Jash walked by and nodded at Aileen, silently expressing his gratitude for refusing Ronan.

"You really know how to annoy others," Ziva commented, shaking her head as Jash approached her.

"Not like he can force me," Jash shrugged, ignoring the looks of mockery and scorn directed at him.

Naturally, the prideful students gloated at seeing Jash being a coward and felt they could mock him until they heard Ziva's casual words.

"Yeah, you would only do it if there's some reward, no?" Ziva smiled mischievously, as if she hadn't said it on purpose.

But Jash didn't seem to mind, as if he had expected such an outcome. "You got me," he chuckled lightly.

'This time is different, everyone already knows about my capabilities and won't let their guard down,' Jash thought.

He was sure that some would have been planning countermeasures for him after seeing his entire performance in the Entrance Test, or at least what was publicized.

However, Ronan's simmering anger immediately calmed down after those words.

It was always easy to take care of greedy people and lure them in with lucrative stuff.

In fact, Ronan relaxed completely after knowing that Jash was greedy, though he wouldn't believe it until seeing it himself.

"Then, will you prove it if there's some reward?" Ronan asked in a hurry, intent on getting Jash to agree by offering something he could.

"Sure, why not?" Jash replied with a smile, surprising even Aileen, making her raise her eyebrows for a bit.

But Jash wasn't done. "It depends on what you can offer, though," he said with a smile.

"...Alright," Ronan spat through gritted teeth, trying to control his temper which almost flared up.

"How about 1000 YP?" Ronan asked, surprising the students around as their eyes turned into crescents.

"Too little," Jash commented indifferently before the students could chime in and ask for a prize if they won too.

'Tsk, so stingy. I can barely exchange a low quality E-Rank Mana Gem for that much,' Jash cursed inwardly.

If not for knowing that the Mana Gems being sold in the store had standard quality and shady deals with lower prices were scams, he really would be greedy like the others.

From the corner of his eyes, he noticed that Helios and Amael seemed to have no interest in this conversation, surprising him a bit.

Opposite him, Ronan was on the verge of exploding, barely holding on as it wasn't like he could give anything on his own discretion.

"2000," he spat through gritted teeth, almost grinding them.

"Hm, manageable," Jash said with a contemplative expression as if he wasn't sure when he heard the final offer.

"2500."

"Deal!"

Before Ronan could retract the offer, Jash hurriedly agreed and just as everything seemed to be going good, he heard a sudden voice.

"Count me out," Ziva declared, bringing attention to her and even some scorn-filled eyes.

Unfortunately for them, she had long sensed that Jash was sure of his victory or he would never agree to anything.

There wasn't any need to do anything as he could just keep refusing and Ronan would be disliked for forcing a student to change classes.

And the only backlash for Jash would be getting ridiculed, but that was even easier to solve: just defeat the idiots.

Of course, only ZIva thought so and if Caera was here, she would surely agree with her.

But those were true thoughts and she didn't want to play along either way, so she just distanced herself.

Nearby, Ronan got annoyed as Ziva was one of the students who had the most complex weapon and skill to handle it in close combat.

And not only did Ziva get out of it, her exit started a chain reaction, allowing as many as nearly thirty students to drop out.

In the end, only 20 students remained standing and the majority of these students were those that disliked Jash, wanting to crush him for once.