Conflicted
"I like you; T-Tracy, d- don't leave me alone."
Slap!!!
Hiro fell on his buttocks, crying even more heartbrokenly.
"I don't want to see you ever again. Being your girlfriend, even for one day, is embarrassing."
"I'll do anything... sniff. Please don't leave me."
"Stop crying," she commanded, her voice filled with irritation.
Hiccup.
"O— Okay." Hiro wiped away his tears, his face all red.
"I want you to kill Lisa Elsher for me." Tracy caressed the corners of his swollen eyes.
"Can you kill her for me?" she whispered, her voice filled with ridicule.
Hiro nodded, tears rolling out of his eyes like a broken faucet.
—-
Opening his eyes, Ryan wiped his eyes casually with his sleeves.
He had once again dreamt of Hiro's past life. This was his second time having such a dream, the only time he had dreamt about Hiro was in the seer's mansion.
Entering the bathroom, he brushed his teeth and washed his face, changing his clothes to a new set of clean uniforms.
He found that his roommate, unlike usual, was still in the room. Ryan thought as they stared at each other.
'Normally, Lisa would have come to take him by now.'
"Let's go together." Astin got up, leaving his bed.
"Together?" Ryan tilted his head.
"Yes, we've been roommates for a week now, but we've barely talked at all." Astin patted Ryan's lightly on the shoulder, shifting his gaze toward the door, indicating they should leave for class.
"I only see you in class, and whenever I'm back, you are already asleep. It's like you're trying to avoid me." Astin said in a casual tone.
'This guy is unnecessarily keen.'
Ryan pondered for a moment and nodded slowly.
"Let's. Go... Together."
Entering the classroom,
Ryan ignored the eyes that were looking at him and sat at his desk. He said, "Good morning."
Not hearing a reply from Jacob, he poked his back while lying on the desk, looking at him in puzzlement.
But the sudden fluctuation of mana around him indicated that he was clearly in a conflicted mood and didn't want to talk to him. He looked up at Tracy, who was looking in the mirror, not bothering to cling to Ryan as usual.
There was an awkward atmosphere and silence between the three. Ryan called, "Jacob."
Jacob didn't reply.
He looked up at Tracy and opened his mouth. Yet, before he could say anything, Tracy put down her makeup and turned her head to the other side, talking to her deskmate Amanda.
Tracy would probably talk to him after class after she regains her composure, but what about Jacob?
Ryan fell silent. He was at a loss for words, wondering what had happened to him.
Professor Alferd entered the classroom, and once the noisy classroom turned peaceful, he coughed and said, "Attention."
"Professor Mia has been dismissed from the Academy."
The room turned chaotic as confusion spread. The news was sudden, but most were happy, as Professor Mia was a mean, petty person who didn't care about the students.
Except for a group of people: Astin, Jacob, and Damion thought simultaneously.
'So, they decided not to announce her death.' They thought.
Professor Alferd knocked on the table gently and said, "Quiet! From now on, I will take on the role of your teacher until a new teacher comes to the academy."
Professor Alferd smiled. "Now, open your textbooks to page 47."
'So, they decided to cover it up.' Jacob thought, 'It's not surprising considering the bad blood.
between most of the academy teachers and the Ferris Hero Union.'
Propping his chin up with his hand, he was puzzled. 'Did I truly transmigrate into a parallel world instead of the real novel, or is the reason a variable like me?'
'Maybe Tracy is? Or another mob character? Or maybe the seer?' Jacob grabbed his hair in thought.
First of all, he was stupid the moment he decided to consider the fact that Hiro's name change was insignificant.
This world was so much like the novel that he ignored a lot of things because of his wishful thinking.
Here, Tracy wasn't just a mob character with no significance to the story.
Eddie as well.
But that wasn't his fault.
The author skipped a lot of details when it came to Hiro's academy life.
So, he just stupidly ignored everything and thought it was all because of his influence.
But that's idiotic.
How could Tracy suddenly become interested in and sexually attracted to Ryan just because he gained a friend he didn't have in the original novel? There's no way he could have made that big of a difference.
Tracy could have been an important factor in the story that the trash author decided not to write about and discarded in the original script.
'So, was it Ryan? However, Ryan's personality was way too similar to Hiro, or could he be just acting?' Jacob was incredibly conflicted. He was never good at using his brain, but for sure, this world is different compared to the novel.
This meant that Mia failed to become Astin's wife and was killed by him instead.
Does this mean that Astin isn't the reincarnated demon king but just pure evil?
Maybe the author just happened to write about a world similar to the one he was in.
Or maybe he hadn't died in that car accident and was currently in a coma, dreaming.
No, this was too real to be just a dream. Jacob thought, If he wanted to go back, what should he do to wake up? Should he kill himself?
No, he'd rather die than wake up to go back to the real world.
Jacob's mind was in chaos.
DING DONG---
"Next week is going to be the start of the classification exams," Professor Alferd said as he pushed open the door and left the classroom. "Good luck."
Jacob felt his sleeve being pulled and saw Ryan's smiley face looking at him. "Let's go."
He suddenly pushed Ryan and said, "I need to go to the bathroom."
In his irritation, Ryan was pushed to the ground, pushing several desks out of the way.
Jacob dashed out of the classroom, gaining a lot of exclamations of annoyance.
"He didn't cry," Jacob paused and looked around. He pursed his lips in agitation. "Hiro would have cried."
Ryan shouldn't have been able to use his power so early in the novel; he was extremely stupid.
This must be a different world, or there's a difference with Ryan.
It's not the seer, and it's not Tracy or Mia. It's Ryan.
Hiro shouldn't have been able to use his powers so early in the original novel.
No matter how hard he tried to explain Ryan's behaviors just with the fact that Hiro didn't get enough screen time, even that had a limit.
Jacob used teleportation to go out of the main building.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
His footsteps echoed in the silent corridor.
He had already made up his mind.
This world truly wasn't the world in the novel, and Ryan wasn't the original Hiro.
Jacob had already decided.
He would no longer sit idly by, playing here; he needed to go back to the tower of magic.
He had to become stronger.
A lot of things aren't the same, but one thing's for sure:
Astin must die.
He realized that he could only become strong away from the main cast in the tower.
'Coming into the academy was a bad decision.'
He walked toward the top floor of the teachers' building, where the seer's office resided.
So, he made a decision with his elemental space magic. He would become strong enough to destroy Astin.
"I want to drop out of the academy," Jacob declared. He stood up and looked resolutely at the person in front of him as if nothing in this world could change his mind.
"That's not an option," the seer's gentle, kind face, reflected in Jacob's honey-colored eyes.
"Ahhh..." Jacob regretted coming here. There is no way he will be allowed to leave when Mia's death is still a mystery.
Even if he used teleportation to leave, he would be hunted down with the false accusation of being the one who killed Mia.
Because why would someone run away from Erou otherwise?
"Can I know why?" The seer smiled.
"I just don't think I'm making any progress here," Jacob said, averting his eyes.
The seer sipped his tea leisurely and said, "Less than two weeks have passed; it's not good to be impatient."
"Besides, the academy is famously known to be just an educational institution for future heroes, not a place for them to become stronger. You have to wait until you graduate, although that itself will change starting this year."
"I'm not adapting very well here." Jacob's head was getting lower. 'The seer must have spotted his lies.'
"Hmmm, but you're getting along quite well with my grandson," the seer's gentle voice sounded.
"Your grandson?" Jacob was stunned.
"Yes, my grandson Ryan," the seer added as he put his cup down. The word flowed gently, but there was a slight threat that Jacob wasn't able to notice. "You should go back; otherwise, your godfather wouldn't like it."
Jacob's eyes widened; he was genuinely surprised and even more confused now. It came as a shock to him that the seer called Ryan his grandson.
Going back dejected all the way back to the cafeteria, Jacob entered only to find, sitting at the same table, Kevin, Steve, Eddie, Damion, Astin, Lisa, and Tracy holding Ryan's hand tightly to her chest.
He came in time to hear Kevin speak, clearing the awkwardly silent atmosphere.
"I'm sorry for what I did at the training ground that day."
"I am deeply sorry too," Steve followed suit and apologized shortly after his twin brother, "I have acted unreasonably on impulse, and I shouldn't have done that."
Eddie spoke up with difficulty. "I'm sorry too."
"W- why are… you A- apologizing?" Ryan asked, tilting his head in confusion while thinking to himself, 'It must be Damion's doing; this guy is so docile now.'
"Because we were mean to you," Steve answered curtly.
"O- Ohaky." Ryan nodded.
"…"
"huh?" He let out a confused sound as the others kept staring at him, waiting for a response.
"Do you forgive us or not, I can kneel if you want me to," Kevin said, scratching the back of his head, and just as he was about to stand up, Ryan nodded.
"Ah, yes… I forgive- you."
"That was surprisingly easy; I guess there shouldn't be any bad blood between us then."
Kevin nodded in approval and a thumbs up.
"I'm sorry too." Jacob joined the group and sat beside Ryan, his head lowered in shame. "For pushing you earlier."
"Jacob." Ryan's smile bloomed on his face, making Jacob feel more guilty.
"But why are all of you sitting at the same table? When did you all become friends? because we're not." Tracy said in a bland tone.
"All tables are occupied, so we sat here," Lisa said in a slightly down voice.
"As if." Tracy got up and looked at the half-empty cafeteria, casting a contempt filled gaze at Lisa, who lowered her head in shame.
"Tsk," She clicked her tongue in annoyance, dragging Ryan with her. She turned her head and gazed at him with absolute annoyance written all over her face. "Are you not coming, Jacob?"
"I still haven't eaten anything." He grumbled but still got up; he also didn't want to stay with the main cast.
"We'll eat out, my treat," Tracy said, dragging Jacob up as well.
"Let's go," Jacob sighed, scratching the back of his head.
'Since I can't leave, let things be for the moment. I'm stupid anyway, so thinking a lot won't do me any good.'