Chapter 9

  The trio stepped into a new classroom — unlike the usual ones, this one had large wooden benches with intricate miniature soldier pieces neatly arranged on top. The room had an intense, strategic air about it.

  As they settled in, a short girl with glasses and cropped hair approached them with a calm but curious expression.

  Sera’s face instantly lit up. She rushed forward and gave the girl a big hug.

  “Guys, meet my one and only best friend in this academy — Serena Frosta!” Sera announced proudly.

  Rei, hands in his pockets, gave a small nod. “Nice to meet ya.”

  Serena smiled politely. “So you’re the famous Rei Archlight. I’ve heard quite a lot about you — nice to meet you too.”

  The delinquent raised an eyebrow and muttered with a smirk, “A shorty with short hair, your friend huh… hmph.”

  Serena’s expression darkened. “How dare you—”

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  Before things escalated, Rei casually stepped between them. “He meant your hair suits you. Good to meet Ms. Sera’s friend.”

  Sera added quickly, “Yeah, he just sucks at expressing himself. He’s not a bad guy though.”

  Serena paused, narrowed her eyes at the delinquent, then sighed. “Hmm… badmouthing that somehow gets translated into a compliment, huh? There really are all kinds of people in the world. But fine — thank you, I guess. And it’s good to see you too, Sera.”

  Sera smiled. “Say, Serena, we’re one person short for the group activity. Wanna team up with us?”

  “Sure, why not?” Serena replied as she started pulling out a few neatly stacked books from her bag. Her eyes then glanced toward the soldier figures laid out on the bench. “Looks like today's going to be more of a strategy class.”

  A young female teacher in her late 20s entered the room with a bright, enthusiastic smile. She wore a flowing long skirt and a crisp white top, her hair tied neatly into a bun.

  “Good morning, everyone! Today’s a special class on battle formations,” she announced cheerfully, clapping her hands once. “Each group should have four members — five at most. You’ll use the soldier pieces on your tables to create a total of four formations based on the tactical scenarios I provide.”

  The class murmured with interest and quickly began forming their groups.

  Sera took her seat beside Serena, while Rei ended up next to the delinquent. Rei let out an exaggerated whine, “Awww, I wanted to sit next to Sera~”

  Sera shot him a look. “Hmph, there are already too many rumors flying around about us. This is for the best.” She crossed her arms with a pout.

  The delinquent snorted. “Tch. What a stupid couple.”

  Rei and Sera glanced at each other… and burst out laughing.

  “You know, we do really look like one,” Rei grinned.

  “Yeah,” Sera added with a teasing smirk, “a very dysfunctional one.”

  Before the conversation could spiral into more playful banter, the teacher clapped again to get their attention.

  “Alright, settle down, everyone! Let’s begin. For the first formation, I want you to design a defense line — something that could protect your troops from an incoming wave of arrows. Think shields, spacing, and coverage. You have 10 minutes!”

  Serena adjusted her glasses. “Alright team, let’s think tactically. If we arrange the front row with heavy shield units—”

  The group leaned in, their fingers reaching toward the soldier pieces, sparks of strategy beginning to fly.