Sin and Virtue System

[The Royal Academy]

Earlier this week, Kevin received a quest from the system and it was to find out about Thomas' trouble.

...

[# Quest 1:

Find out Thomas' Trouble.

Reward: A <B+> skill

Penalty: None]

...

[# Quest 2:

Help Thomas.

Reward: Thomas' favorability (+50), [Michael Descends] Comprehension (+1%)

Penalty: None]

...

It was an optional quest and the rewards were great.

Although Kevin was ignorant of the situation, he did not like the fact that Lisa and Anna, along with other girls got into the grasp of demons. Thus, he decided to talk with Thomas.

...

There was a subtle tension in the room as both Thomas, the brown-haired boy, and Kevin, the blue-haired boy stared at each other.

While Thomas' gaze contained slight hate, anger, and alertness, Kevin stood with a stoic face.

"Why are you here, Kevin?"

Thomas' eyes turned cold as he expressed his irritation. In the aftermath of Kevin's arrival, Jin had been worse than ever, and Thomas was his best friend so he turned to hate Kevin as well.

"Can I at least sit down?" Kevin joked, taking a step forward with a friendly smile on his face.

"!" Thomas' senses were heightened as he slowly channeled mana into his hand.

"Ha... Looks like I won't have any choice." Kevin's friendly face crumbled and the air inside the room turned cold with each passing moment. The aura Kevin radiated turned blue and small ice flakes formed around Kevin.

Snap!

Kevin snapped his fingers and soon a chair made of ice got sculpted out of thin air. Although the chair wasn't that sturdy, it still pressured Thomas.

He confidently sat on the chair, and Thomas looked at Kevin with a face filled with horror as he felt a sense of dread. The hair on his back stood and his senses turned wild. Kevin's simple display of power forced Thomas to back off.

"I will ask you some questions and you will answer." Kevin's demeanor changed completely. The air around him felt like sitting with a king.

Gulp!

Thomas gulped a mouthful of saliva as he understood that Kevin no longer requested, but ordered.

"U-understood." He nodded his head as the shivers did not stop.

"What happened to you and your group in this expedition?" The first question from Kevin was vague and he did not ask anything specific.

"W-we got ambushed by demons and I got injured badly." Thomas still decided to test the waters. Although he did not want to provoke Kevin, he still played it safe and told the half-truth.

"Hmm..." Kevin rubbed his chin and thought for a full minute.

"Quite unfortunate... Anyway, tell me in detail." His sudden reply startled Thomas, but he had to answer.

"A demon..." Thomas tailed his half-truth and spun it into a story, hiding Lisa's abduction, Anna's disappearance, and all the other facts.

"It must've been difficult for you... But why did the demon target your sister? Kevin wondered as his brows furrowed.

"I-I don't know..." Thomas answered honestly.

"Hmm... That demon must be a clever one. It wouldn't be a surprise if your sister is..." Kevin blurted something out loud, which Thomas heard and felt like Kevin wanted to rub salt on his wound,

"BASTARD!!!!" Thomas channeled his mana and prepared to kick out Kevin. It was at that moment he was about to attack Kevin, he heard,

"Ah! So that's how it is." Kevin lightly pounded his palm with his fist as if some pieces of a puzzle connected.

"Eh?" Thomas stopped mid-way as he looked at Kevin's face with slight determination and a sense of accomplishment.

'Thanks for the help, Michael.'

[Understood, Kevin.]

Kevin thanked Michael as he helped Kevin use his energy efficiently to intimidate Thomas, think fast, and come to an answer. Immediately the cold air in the room died.

"I am sorry for blurting out something unnecessary, but I think I have found something," Kevin said and touched Thomas' shoulder.

"I have a proposal."

...

After leaving the infirmary, Kevin met with Mia.

"Hm? What are you doing here?" Mia asked Kevin with her eyebrow raised.

"Good evening Miss. Aubry, I came here to meet Thomas." Kevin greeted her and stated his purpose.

"Oh, good, good. He is fine now, only a few days and his health will be back to normal." Mia said.

"Then if you'll excuse me." Kevin left with hurried steps.

She thought it was interesting, but did not inquire further. Even if all beings were nothing to her, she still paid attention to her surroundings. So she knew about the tension between Jin and Kevin. Hence, Kevin's meeting with Thomas was an odd occurrence.

"I will ask them later," Mia said out loud and left as she had a meeting with Alice.

Meanwhile, Kevin sped up and headed to a secluded place.

"Michael, are you sure about this?"

<Kevin, the situation looks planned. The headmistress of the academy, even after such an incident hasn't apologized publicly.>

"Hmm... Now that I think about it, she didn't even come to look after the remaining students."

<That is, Michael is certain that something lies deep in the roots.>

"..." Kevin went silent and continued to think about the situation. Something was off, and Alice's behavior confirmed his doubt.

...

[The Royal Academy, Teacher's Conference Room]

Inside a huge hall illuminated with bright lights, where a big round table was placed in the middle of the hall with a seat of honor. All of the teaching staff sat according to their ranks and chatted with each other. One or two attendees stood behind their respective professors. Those were the assistants of the professors.

In the aftermath of the ridiculous event of the death of the teachers, many seats were empty.

Two weeks after the incident, Alice finally made her appearance for the first time.

"We greet the headmistress!" All the teachers in the meeting room got up from their seats and greeted Alice in unison while bowing deeply.

Alice's appearance was anything but better. Due to the stress she has been experiencing for the past two weeks, she had dark circles under her eyes. Yet, her natural beauty and her fierce aura did not lose their original charm.

The seats around Alice were also the seats of honor. In the past, Mia sat on her left, and Adelio sat on her right. But, Adelio's seat was now empty. Consequently, the males had an opportunity to grab it, while the females felt empty inside.

"Ahem!" Mia coughed as she brought everyone's attention.

"Honorable headmistress would like to have a word with you." Not waiting for Alice, Mia sat down.

"Good evening to all the Professors of the Fluger Royal Academy." Her melodious voice was loud enough to shake the entire hall.

Alice said, "The various events of the past two weeks are troublesome and hectic for everyone, and I understand that as well because I am no exception to that." The expressions of those complaining about the workload hardened as Alice scanned the audience.

"However, fret not. The Academy will be hiring new teaching staff soon, and those who are here working overtime will be compensated accordingly.

"I, the headmistress of the academy, am holding this meeting to demonstrate that I am completely responsible for the incident. Also, we will be provided with only one teacher from the Demon Hunter Association. Because of this, we will be hiring Adventurers. The purpose of this meeting is to provide every one of you with an opportunity." Her speech perked the ears of professors who were mad at her beforehand.

"We will be holding a tournament to select the finest out of the best from the adventurers. And the opportunity for you is to fight with these adventurers.

"Those from the academy who will participate in the tournament and help to remove the weeds will be promoted." Her last sentence dropped a bomb on the professors. Their excitement broke the roof.

Alice looked at the teachers and a small smile appeared on her face. She glanced at Adelio's seat and said,

"You might gain this seat as well."

"..." A pin-drop silence engulfed the hall.

All of the male professors laughed hysterically inside their heads, while the assistant professors clenched their fists and a determined look appeared on their faces.

Mia shook her head as she realized Alice's plan. She gave Alice a "You just want to shove your responsibilities don't you bitch?" look.

Alice did not respond to Mia's gaze and flaunted her hair back with a 'Hmph!'

She concluded by saying, "Until further notice, all of you are dismissed." And then she walked out of the room.

After a minute, she heard various reactions from the room.

'Fufu, I can relax a little." She thought and her footsteps continued toward her cabin.

As the saying goes, "Every crisis is an opportunity, you just need to be opportunistic."

It was an opportunity to reduce her workload as well as to make the recruitment process less stressful due to the lack of teachers and the recruitment process of teachers.

She was unaware that someone else was also opportunistic enough to take advantage of the opportunity. This was a golden opportunity to enter the Royal Academy.

...

[A/N: I am back from the break and this will be the start of Volume 2, 'An Unknown Nemesis'.

I apologize, but I slept yesterday so the volume got delayed. ( ͡❛ ₃ ͡❛)

Hopefully, we will be able to do much better this time. (~ .~)]