The last two and a half months had been relatively peaceful for Kevin.
For the first time since enrolling at Imperial Academy, nobody bothered him openly anymore.
No insults.
No staged "accidents."
No groups of noble students cornering him in hallways trying to provoke reactions for entertainment.
And the reason for that peace was simple—
Damian Valtor fell.
Once Damian and the Noble Society collapsed publicly, the rest of the academy's petty predators immediately lost confidence. Most of them had only acted boldly because Damian stood at the front taking all the attention.
Without him?
They scattered like frightened rats.
Of course, another major reason things settled down so quickly was Alice Draken.
The daughter of Duke Draken.
One of the empire's most powerful noble houses.
The moment rumors spread that Alice openly associated with Kevin, nearly everyone with functioning survival instincts backed away immediately.
Nobody wanted problems with the Draken family.
Especially not over a commoner.
Which honestly suited Kevin perfectly.
Less attention meant fewer complications.
And fewer complications meant more time to focus on what actually mattered.
Revenge.
His fingers tightened slightly beneath the desk at the thought.
Five years.
It had already been five years since the fall of the Astral Empire.
Five years since he watched his family executed publicly beneath the banners of Solhaven.
And above all else—
Julius Solhaven, The current Emperor of the Solhaven Empire.
The man responsible for everything.
Even after Astral surrendered completely…He still chose extermination.
An entire royal bloodline wiped from history like it never deserved to exist.
Kevin's jaw clenched unconsciously.
Hatred surged inside him instantly.
But he buried it immediately.
Because he had already come too far to lose control now.
For five years, he endured.
And now—
He was finally growing stronger fast enough to fight back someday.
The last few months especially had accelerated his growth tremendously.
Because now—
He had a master.
Catherine Vale.
Former Commander of the Imperial Royal Knights.
Current homeroom professor of Class [1-A-1].
One of the strongest sword-users in the empire.
Convincing her hadn't been easy.
In fact, she rejected him repeatedly at first.
But eventually—
After witnessing his talent personally—
She accepted.
Barely.
And since then, Kevin trained harder than ever before.
Swordsmanship.
Mana control.
Combat theory.
Battle instincts.
Every single day pushed him closer toward the strength he needed.
Toward revenge.
Everything was progressing smoothly.
Until Damian Valtor returned.
At first, Kevin expected problems immediately. The Damian he knew wasn't the type to quietly accept humiliation.
Especially not after being publicly destroyed.
But nothing happened.
Damian didn't approach him.
Didn't glare at him.
Didn't provoke him.
Didn't even acknowledge him properly beyond brief glances.
Which honestly felt stranger than outright hostility.
And then came today's lectures.
Kevin still remembered the moment Catherine Vale mocked Damian openly in class.
The old Damian would've exploded instantly.
But Damian simply responded with dry sarcasm before letting the matter go entirely.
Even during Professor Graves' lecture—
Damian answered complex questions immediately without hesitation.
Correctly.
Kevin frowned slightly at the memory.
That alone was bizarre enough to feel unsettling.
Because Damian Valtor wasn't intelligent.
Or rather—
He never acted intelligent before.
Beside him, Grace finally talk about Damian
Her blonde hair swayed lightly behind her as she spoke quietly enough for only Kevin to hear.
"He's different."
Kevin glanced toward her briefly.
Grace.
His childhood friend.
His personal knight.
And one of the very few survivors who escaped Astral alongside him.
Like Kevin, she also hid her identity carefully within the academy.
Unlike Kevin, however—Grace trusted her instincts almost obsessively.
And right now?
Her instincts clearly disliked Damian's sudden personality shift.
"...Yeah," Kevin admitted quietly.
The Damian from before and the current Damian felt almost like completely different people.
Which honestly made Kevin more cautious instead of less.
Predictable enemies were manageable.
Unpredictable ones weren't.
Still—
No matter how strange Damian acted now, Kevin had bigger priorities.
Lunch break had finally arrived.
After that came nonstop practical combat lectures until evening.
Kevin exhaled quietly before standing from his seat.
"Let's go," Alice said casually while stretching slightly.
Elena nodded immediately beside her.
Meanwhile, Grace quietly scanned the classroom one final time out of habit before following.
The four of them moved toward the exit together.
Then—Kevin stopped.
Almost instinctively.
Something felt… noisy near the back rows.
Even Alice paused beside him.
"...What's going on?" she asked.
Kevin's gaze shifted toward the source.
And there—
Surrounded by few students —Sat Damian Valtor.
---
Damian Valtor POV
—Why the fuck are you here?
Sigh, finally they started.
Now, it was time for bully to face the bullying.
I turned my head slightly towards my right and spotted group of three guys looking towards me with smirk on their faces.
If I don't teach them lesson, things like this will continue to happen in the future.
I can't let that happened.
Of course, I'm not going to use violence, after all I don't want to get blacklisted on the 'my' first day.
One of them finally stepped forward with a lazy grin stretched across his face.
Noble.
Obviously.
Only nobles smiled like that before causing problems.
Blond hair slicked neatly backward.
Expensive watch.
Perfectly pressed academy uniform.
The kind of guy who probably spent more money maintaining his hairstyle than commoners spent surviving monthly.
I recognized him immediately.
Victor Hale.
Son of Viscount Hale.
Former member of Damian's little "Noble Society."
Emphasis on former.
Funny how quickly loyalty disappeared once public scandals and punishments got involved.
Behind him stood two others from the same crowd.
Not important enough for me to remember their names.
Honestly, most of Damian's followers blended together in my memory like background NPCs with superiority complexes.
Victor crossed his arms casually.
"Well, why don't you reply huh? Scared now you don't have any backing?"
Ohh, don't worry. I have reply.
"You asked, why the fuck did I come back? Well, to fuck your mom, You motherfucker." I said with smirk on my face.
Silence, pin dropped silence settled in the classroom.
The silence afterward was magnificent.
Pure.
Sacred.
Like the entire classroom collectively stopped functioning for three full seconds.
Victor Hale's face froze completely.
One of the students nearby accidentally choked on water.
Another guy dropped his pen.
Meanwhile, I leaned back in my chair calmly like I hadn't just verbally assassinated someone's bloodline.
Honestly?
That felt therapeutic.
Victor blinked once.
Twice.
"...W-What?"
Ah.
Critical damage.
The poor guy's brain hadn't processed the attack yet.
Around us, students stared openly now.
Some horrified.
Some shocked.
Some desperately trying not to laugh.
Unfortunately for Victor—
One girl near the windows snorted first.
Then another student laughed.
And just like that—
"Hahaha..Oh god's!"