Xi Ya walked out of the office and closed the door behind him.
After standing at the door for a few seconds, he finally started walking toward the main entrance of the teaching building.
Only now did he realize that the academy didn’t actually want him to enter the Elite Class.
But upon thinking it over, it made sense.
Thorn Academy had never had a commoner enter the Elite Class before; he was the first case.
Among the academy’s higher-ups, there were several great nobles who strongly discriminated against commoners.
They definitely didn’t want Xi Ya to get into the Elite Class, but they wouldn’t easily violate the academy’s rules.
Unfortunately, Xi Ya’s practical combat scores were too low, which gave them the perfect reason to reject him.
Xi Ya was already at risk of falling out of the Elite Class.
From this perspective, now that the academy higher-ups saw that a commoner like him had still gotten in, they would definitely find ways to target him in the future.
Sophia shouldn’t have pulled him in.
By doing so, not only would it be harder for him to stay in the Elite Class, but Sophia would also have to bear a lot of pressure from the academy’s upper echelons.
Xi Ya didn’t know what Sophia was thinking.
She should be aware of this too.
Forcing him in against the academy’s opposition was nothing but harm to her.
Was it because she saw he came from the slums and felt pity?
Xi Ya didn’t believe that.
He didn’t even know what Sophia, a Blood Clan member, was doing lurking in the academy.
Now she suddenly pulled him, a bottom-tier student, making it even harder for him to guess her intentions.
‘Forget it, forget it. I need to figure out how to keep my spot in the Elite Class first. I can’t even save myself, and I’m worrying about Teacher Sophia?’
Xi Ya walked out of the teaching building and saw Feili sitting on the edge of the flowerbed with her arms crossed, as if waiting for someone.
“Classmate Xi Ya, you finally came out.”
Feili saw Xi Ya exit the teaching building, uncrossed her arms, and stood up from the flowerbed.
“Classmate Feili, why are you still here? What about Classmate Dailina? Didn’t you go with her?”
Xi Ya looked confused.
‘What does Feili want?’
“Mm-hmm~ Classmate Dailina went back first. I’m waiting here for you. There’s something I want to talk to you about.”
As Feili spoke, she approached Xi Ya and stopped when she was only one step away.
“What do you want to say?”
Xi Ya was alert, instinctively stepping back half a step with his right foot.
Since the day before yesterday, Feili hadn’t said two good words to him.
“Classmate Xi Ya, do you know that you’ve been possessed by the Demon God?”
Feili suddenly lowered her voice.
‘I’m really fed up. Feili just won’t stop. She’s still picking on me.’
But seeing Feili’s expression, it didn’t seem like she was threatening him like before.
It seemed like she really had something to say.
‘Should I put on an act again? See if I can bluff my way out.’
“Ah, what? So I’ve been possessed by the Demon God? I didn’t know that?”
Xi Ya widened his eyes, pretending to be panicked.
“Am I really possessed by the Demon God? But I don’t feel anything wrong with me. You’re not trying to scare me, are you?”
“Mm-hmm? Does Classmate Xi Ya really not know, or are you pretending not to know?”
Feili revealed her mysterious smile.
“I really don’t know.”
Xi Ya looked innocent.
“Is that so~”
Feili smiled, leaned forward, and got close to Xi Ya, so close that he could smell the orange blossom scent on her.
“Then, Classmate Xi Ya, explain how you made it up from the bottom of the ruins full of monsters? Also, how did you come out unscathed from the Gorge Jungle? As far as I know, there were a lot of Forest Wolves in there, but I didn’t see a single one… Could it be that Classmate Xi Ya took care of them all by himself?”
‘Damn, I can’t counter Feili’s chain of attacks.’
Those Forest Wolves really were taken care of by him alone.
How was he supposed to explain that?
“I just said in the office that I got lucky and didn’t encounter any wild beasts…”
Xi Ya continued to use the “got lucky” excuse, but before he could finish, Feili interrupted him.
“Got lucky? Who are you trying to fool?”
Feili shook her head.
“Classmate Xi Ya, I’ve been observing you for a long time. Ever since you came out of the ruins, you’ve been like a different person. The former timid Xi Ya wouldn’t dare to talk back to noble students. Your mannerisms, your way of speaking—they’re all a bit different from before~”
She put her finger to her lips and looked up, striking a thoughtful pose.
“Tell me, how can a person change so suddenly?”
Xi Ya remained silent.
‘I really underestimated Feili.’
Feili was a reincarnator.
How could such a shoddy excuse as “lucky” fool her?
“Since Classmate Xi Ya is unwilling to admit it, I’ll give you a piece of advice.”
Seeing that he didn’t respond, Feili straightened up and her smile gradually faded.
“Don’t think that using the Demon God’s power a few times secretly will leave you unharmed. The Demon God will keep tempting you to accept her power. Sooner or later, you’ll fall into it and end up completely controlled by the Demon God.”
“Right now, I won’t do anything to you. But if you lose control one day, I will eliminate you without hesitation.”
She stared into Xi Ya’s eyes, enunciating each word.
Xi Ya was stunned.
‘It seems Feili is convinced that I survived using the Demon God’s power. No matter what excuses I make now, it’s useless.’
‘Since she thinks that, I might as well go along and admit it. That way she won’t keep testing me endlessly. Besides, there’s no way Feili would kill me in the academy.’
‘And I rely on the game system, not the Demon God’s power.’
‘My acting hasn’t failed. I can keep playing.’
“Fine, I admit it. I did use the Demon God’s power.”
Xi Ya sighed and directly “came clean.”
“Oh? Finally willing to admit it?”
Feili lightly raised an eyebrow.
“But I had no choice. I was surrounded by monsters at the time. If I hadn’t borrowed the Demon God’s power, I would have died there. I didn’t want to die.”
Xi Ya spread his hands helplessly.
Feili didn’t answer, just stared into his eyes, her gaze as if she had seen through everything.
“I know this power is very dangerous, but I can’t do anything about the Demon God, and I can’t guarantee I won’t fall into it in the future.”
Xi Ya met her gaze, his eyes firm.
“Classmate Feili, if I really do lose control, don’t hesitate. Just go ahead and kill me.”
“Mm-hmm? You said it yourself~”
Feili smiled and stepped back to the flowerbed.
“Don’t worry, I’ll give you a quick and easy send-off when the time comes~”
Seeing Feili’s reaction, Xi Ya knew his act had succeeded.
‘Hmph, how about that?’
‘You think you’re on the second level, but he’s actually on the third level.’
Xi Ya held back the smile on his lips and turned around expressionlessly.
‘Now Feili shouldn’t make things difficult for me anymore. As long as I don’t “lose control,” she won’t kill me.’
‘What a big crisis resolved~’
Xi Ya snickered twice.
Just as he looked up, he saw a group of students walking toward them.