Chapter 40: Ch 40: The Chosen Ones

"I..."

Alan had given Ethan an offer no sane esper would ever ignore. It was the dream of every esper to be guided by a guide with a grade higher than theirs.

And even though Ethan did not know Daniel’s grade, he had sensed the strong guiding waves he gave off and realized that he was stronger than he appeared.

So it should have been natural for him to accept that offer and take Daniel as his guide. Even if the teachers and Daniel protested, he had a feeling Alan would be able to clear the air between them.

But somehow, that thought did not sit right with him.

He looked down at Noah’s face and felt like his decision had already been made for him.

"I am afraid I do not want to exchange partners without the teacher’s consent. So I will keep Noah as my partner for now."

Ethan’s arms tightened around Noah to show that he was serious. But even he did not realize what he was doing.

Alan sighed as he looked at Ethan’s serious expression and decided to back down.

"Alright! If you have thought this through and come to this conclusion, then I won’t ask you any more questions. I am sure you know what you are doing."

Ethan felt a shudder go down his spine at Alan’s look. His instincts kept telling him that he was making a mistake. And yet, his arms refused to move.

He wanted to keep being Noah’s partner for as long as he could.

"Tsk, stop causing them trouble and come with me. We need to get started before the teacher starts making her rounds."

Daniel reminded Alan and finally dragged the other esper away. The tension in the air immediately eased.

Ethan let out a sigh and looked down at the guide in his arms.

"Are you alright?"

He asked Noah, who looked confused.

"Why would anything be wrong with me? Besides, I should be the one asking if you are alright. Did Alan try anything when you denied him what he wanted?"

Noah asked in a concerned voice, and Ethan felt his insides grow warm and fuzzy at Noah’s concern.

"Don’t worry about me. We might not know what rank Alan is, but I am an S-class esper. I can handle myself against other opponents...at least well enough not to die."

Ethan joked, but it was not a funny joke. Even Noah laughed only to humor him.

"Alright, shall we start our training now? I can feel our teacher starting to glare at us from where she is standing. She might start yelling at us soon if we delay this any longer."

...

The guiding exercise ended long after that, and the students started heading back to their rooms to rest.

However, their teacher stopped Noah and a few other students before they could leave.

"This feels suspicious. Do you want me to stay back with you?"

Daniel asked as he did not immediately leave like the other students. Instead, he chose to stick around and see what the teachers were planning.

Noah was about to tell him that it was alright when their teacher walked toward them and placed a hand on Daniel’s shoulder.

"Student Daniel, you have finished your quota for the day, so it is time for you to leave now. Don’t worry about your friend here. We just need to talk to him about his training."

The teachers did not want Daniel to be here, but he still tried to argue. In the end, however, he was sent back to his room anyway.

Then only the chosen group was left behind.

Sigh

"Look, you all must have an idea why we called you here separately, right?"

Noah had an idea, but he doubted the others did. So he remained quiet and noticed their teacher’s disappointed look.

"We noticed that you all are falling behind your classmates for various reasons. In this academy, we believe that everyone needs to put in similar effort and produce similar results. So if you are not showing progress in class, that means you will have to work extra hard."

That sounded like a load of bullshit. But Noah was willing to hear the teachers out.

When no one else spoke up, the teacher continued.

"From now on, you will come here early and set up the training hall, and you will leave later after cleaning it up. Also, you are forbidden from asking other students for help. Think of it as an extra training exercise."

’Ah, so it is punishment in the form of manual labor. I am sure they are wording it like this so that it doesn’t get counted as abuse.’

Noah had expected this outcome, so he was not surprised. But he noticed the shocked expressions of the others around him.

He also observed that they were all guides and relatively less powerful ones without influential families. It was no wonder the teachers had decided they could treat them however they wanted.

"Teacher, we already come here at 5:30. When will we sleep if we have to prepare this place and then clean it up as well?"

The student asked a valid question. But unfortunately, he was asking someone who seemed to have no interest in his well-being.

"I cannot tell you that. Finding time to rest and enjoy your life is something you need to figure out for yourself. You will only be excused from your duties if you are on the verge of dying. Now, you may head back to your rooms after you clean up."

Their teacher said this and started to walk away, leaving them alone.

The handful of people left behind were shocked beyond belief and looked at each other to confirm that this had really happened.

"What the hell? This is abuse, right? Should we report what is happening here?"

"But who would listen to us? Everyone in power graduated from here. That means they already know about the academy’s true nature. But they are still keeping quiet..."

It was a testament to how powerful this academy was that it could influence politics.

Because of this, they all started cleaning before heading back to their rooms. There was no other choice left.