49 Principal's Son

Rem got ready just like any other school day.

"Just to let you know, our schedules will change depending on which faction you'll choose. A few weeks prior, you had the privilege to register to join a faction. This Friday, you will choose a faction to be in. It's mandatory. There are 4 factions you can choose from. You have to choose between the Magic Faction, Weaponry Faction, Close Combat Faction, or the Support Faction. You'll have almost the rest of this week to decide. If you don't choose one, we'll randomly choose for you." Ms. Waruki said.

'Support? Definitely a no. Magic? Nah... Weaponry..? Hmmm... Since I had the most experience in using magic and some weapons, I'll choose close combat. You can do martial arts in the close combat faction, right..? I don't know much about close combat so I'll choose that one.' Rem already finished deciding on which faction she wanted to go to.

Homeroom ended pretty quickly. After Ms. Waruki left, many people in the classroom began to chatter.

"Oiii! Remie!!! Which faction do you want to go to?" Karina asked curiously.

"Close combat." Rem replied.

"Nice! Wait... Close combat???" Karina was surprised.

"Yeah. What about you?" Rem was curious about which faction Karina wanted to pick as well.

"I think I'll go for weaponry. I'm kind of bad at wielding weapons. I need to get better somehow..." Karina said, sighing.

"I see." Rem wasn't surprised that Karina chose weaponry since her job specializes in using certain weapons.

"Why would you choose close combat, Remie? I didn't expect you to choose close combat..! You're a mage after all." Karina said, tilting her head slightly in confusion.

"I want to get better at close combat. Close combat is one of a mage's weaknesses. If I can master using weapons, close combat, and magic, I'll definitely get stronger." Rem answered.

"Oh! I get it. That's smart... You're already really good at using magic so that makes sense." Karina nodded her head, understanding Rem's thinking.

Rem walked beside Karina, walking to their next class. Suddenly, Karina bumped into someone as she turned at the corner of the hallway.

"Ouch!" Karina almost fell but with Rem's fast reflexes, she succeeded in preventing Karina from falling.

In the process, Karina's books fell on the floor. Rem could have caught the books as well as stop Karina from falling but she didn't want to show others her skills. Almost everyone throughout the school has seen how Rem was ranked first on the school board. However, nobody except Rem's classmates, teachers, staff, and the principal knew how Rem looked like. Although few people knew how Rem looked like, many of the people who knew Rem did not believe that her test scores were real. They thought there was a mistake.

Rem glanced at the person Karina bumped into. He has flaming red hair and bright orange eyes that looked like the scorching sun. He was taller than Rem by probably about a good 5 inches.

'He looks like the principal...' Rem thought.

The principal, Mrs. Fano, also had red hair. Instead of having orange eyes, she had red eyes, just like Rem.

"Are you alright?" The person Karina bumped into asked, picking up the books Karina dropped, then handed the books to Karina.

"Yes, I'm fine..." Karina said, taking the books from the person she bumped into, finally looking at his face.

"I wasn't paying much attention to my surroundings. I apologize." The person Karina bumped into bowed.

"It's alright!" Karina replied, surprised to see who she bumped into.

Rem noticed that the person Karina bumped into was wearing a red armband clipped to his upper left sleeve. The armband had the school's emblem and name on it at the top middle of the armband. Below it was the words, 'Student Council President' printed in big, bold words.

"Thank goodness." The person Karina bumped into said, smiling in relief.

*Ringgg!

"Ah! That's the bell. You guys better get to your classes fast before you get in trouble." The person said.

The person Karina bumped into walked away, waving goodbye. Karina bowed and waved back.

"C'mon! We're going to be late for our next class!!! I'll explain who that person was later..." Karina held her books tightly and ran to her next class.

Rem also ran, following Karina from behind. Karina never brings her bag with her since she would always leave it at homeroom, where students were allowed to store items in their desks. At the right side of the desks, there would always be a spot where people could hang their bags. Stealing rarely occurred but even if it did, it would be solved immediately. Almost all the stolen items were solved.

...

It was lunch and the two girls were about to go towards the cafeteria when the twins suddenly asked if they could tag along. Rem agreed and Karina didn't say anything. The group of 4 walked towards the cafeteria quietly, bought some food, and sat down. Karina sat next to Rem while Yukio sat in front of Rem with Yukio sitting next to her twin, older sister.

"Ahem..! Anyway... The person I bumped into earlier was actually the principal's son. His name is Kaito and he's currently the Student Council President of this entire school. Right now, he's a first-year, just like all of us." Karina explained, sipping her iced coffee.

"Oh... He was? I never knew that... I guess that was nice to know. I'll keep that in mind. What's the big deal with him?" Rem asked.

'Sure, he's the principal's son and he probably has a lot of power. Maybe he's smart and strong? Why's Rina so fired up about him?' Rem wondered.

"You don't know?" Yukino raised her right brow, doubting that Rem didn't know who the principal's son was.

"Well, now I know." Rem replied.

"Remie, being the same as always..." Karina chuckled slightly.

{You have become dumber and dumber.}

'What??? How??!' Rem was offended by what 002 said.

{...}

'Maybe I am... I can't even cook..!' Rem sighed.

"Kaito Caden. He's the first and only son of the Caden family. The Caden family are people who are very loyal to the king and they are obviously, quite powerful as well. His father is the duke of the family while his mother is the principal and creator of this school. Kaito himself is considered a genius since he's made many achievements. He's also strong, smart, and is the Student Council President. Plus, he's handsome." Karina said.

"Even Yukio and I know about who he is... How come you didn't know?" Yukino asked as Yukio just stared at Rem.

"I just transferred and moved here... I used to live in a small village so I don't know anything." Rem lied.

"Oh... You have a lot to learn then." Yukino smiled.

Yukio nodded.

'I'll have to learn more about the hierarchy here... What a pain..!' Rem thought.

"Anyway, have you heard of the tournament? Apparently, there will be a tournament after Winter Break." Yukino said, excited.

"What do you gain from winning the tournament?" Rem asked, getting straight to the point.

"You get fame, money, items, and you can even get the privilege to get your own training room!" Karina said, sounding like a child who couldn't wait to open their Christmas present.

'Maybe Yukino isn't as bad as I thought... Yukio doesn't talk much so I'm fine with him.' Karina thought, beginning to accept the twins.

'Receiving a personal training room... Hmmm...' Rem carefully thought.

"Oh..? How do you register?" Rem was interested in joining the tournament now.

"I don't know any details on how to register or how the tournament works... Sorry, I only know that there's a school tournament after Winter Break and what a few of the rewards are." Yukino apologized.

"It's fine, you already know way more about the events and people than what Remie knows." Karina laughed.

"Ahem..." Rem knew that what Karina said was true so she cleared her throat, trying to let Karina know that she didn't want her to talk about that matter anymore.

"Alright, alright..! Erm, anyway... To register for the tournament, we need to be in a team of 5. No more, no less. In the tournament, one team would have to fight another team. The winning team of that round will ascend to the next round. We don't know how many teams there are this year... The rules are basically the same as a regular duel. There will only be one winner. The winner would get the rewards Kino mentioned and the team who found the winning team would still get something. I'm pretty sure you would get some money if you are ranked 2nd." Karina explained.

"All we have to do is create a team, right? Let's create one then. Do you guys want to..?" Rem asked.

"Of course I'll join!" Karina said.

"My brother and I want to join as well!!! May we..?" Yukino pleaded.

"Alright. We have 4 people right now... We need to find another person." Rem said.

'In the tournament, I'll only use my shadow element and martial arts... Karina can use the wind element while Yukino can use the water element and Yukio can use the ice element. They just need some training..! As long as we get stronger, our team will be quite good since water, ice, earth, and the shadow element goes well with each other.' Rem thought.

"Let's go get the registering paper first. It's on the first floor, under the board where there are lots of club and event posters. All the registering papers are there too." Karina said, walking towards the poster board which is next to the ranking board.

Rem and the twins nodded and followed Karina.

'Who will be our 5th member of this team?' Rem wondered.