The day ended with Lucien walking away full and quietly content—even if no part of his face showed it. Calm. Composed. Hands in pockets.

  Zach packed up the grill with one hand, the other counting credits with the slow, methodical smirk of a man who just ran a black-market empire out of scrap metal and seasoning.

  “Alright… robbed ‘em blind,” he muttered, his chuckle absolutely evil as he stared at the total on Sato’s makeshift reader.

  Behind him, Class D just stared.

  Still reeling from what they had witnessed.

  Not the line.

  Not the steak.

  Not even Kira and her devour squad.

  No—what left them stunned was the simple, impossible moment of Lucien—THE Rank 2—walking away from their local walking disaster with a full stomach and a casual fist bump.

  “…What. The. Fuck. Was that?” Mika said, eyes wide like she’d just watched a unicorn file taxes.

  “I believe,” Sato said carefully, “they had a conversation?”

  “Not a fight?” Mika asked.

  “Words. Spoken. Back and forth. A social exchange,” Sato replied, but even he sounded like he didn’t buy it.

  “This time it ended without Zach getting sent to the nurse,” Derrin added flatly, sitting cross-legged in the grass and feeding small veggie chunks to his bugs. The two ant queens sat proudly on his shoulders, unmoving—like royalty watching commoners lose their minds.

  Elle didn’t say a word.

  She was too busy tearing into the last slab of meat left on the plate with silent, focused satisfaction.

  Zach looked up from his credit pile, caught their expressions, and blinked.

  “What?”

  “You bonded with Lucien,” Mika accused.

  “I fed Lucien,” Zach corrected. “Big difference.”

  “You fist-bumped.”

  “He paid.”

  “You talked to him for longer than six words without trying to stab each other.”

  Zach shrugged, sliding the cleaned grill parts into a carrying case. “What can I say? Food brings people together.”

  “Bullshit,” Mika muttered, pointing a fork at him. “You’re gonna turn into a warlord by bribing the strong with flavor.”

  Zach paused.

  Smiled.

  “…Is that not a valid strategy?”

  The sun had dipped just low enough to paint everything in gold, and with the courtyard finally cleared, Class D began the slow walk back to their dorm—bags in hand, stomachs full, and brains still reeling.

  Zach walked in front, grill case slung over his shoulder, haori sleeves stuffed as usual, looking way too pleased with himself.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  Mika jogged up beside him like she physically couldn’t let the silence last.

  “Alright. Real question time. How’d you tame the beast?”

  Zach blinked. “What beast?”

  “Lucien, obviously!”

  “I didn’t tame anything. I grilled. He ate. That’s the full story.”

  Mika narrowed her eyes. “No, no. See, that works on regular people. Lucien is… Lucien. You don’t just feed that guy and walk away with your bones intact. He eats souls for breakfast.”

  “Maybe I’m hard to digest,” Zach said with a smirk.

  Elle walked behind them, arms crossed, expression unreadable. “He didn’t correct your seasoning.”

  “That is suspicious,” Sato chimed in, already pulling up a budgeting app on his tablet. “He even praised it. That’s practically flattery.”

  Derrin just marched quietly beside them, his ant queens perched like decorative shoulder pads, eyes half-lidded with passive judgment.

  Zach didn’t answer.

  Didn’t need to.

  Because the second they reached the front of the dorm, he pulled the credit reader from his sleeve and flipped it toward the group.

  They leaned in.

  Then froze.

  The total earnings glowed on the screen.

  And the number was stupid.

  “…That’s more money than the school’s monthly food budget,” Sato whispered, genuinely horrified.

  Mika’s jaw dropped. “You made this in one day?!”

  “I could’ve made more,” Zach shrugged, sliding it back into his sleeve. “Kira almost robbed me blind.”

  “You charged Kira?” Elle asked.

  “She paid. Technically, Lucien did.”

  “…I stand corrected,” Elle said, nodding like he just qualified for sainthood.

  Mika groaned and spun around, already fishing through her pockets. “We’re rich. Oh my god, we’re actually rich.”

  “I’m making a list,” Sato muttered. “Cold packs. More drone parts. Maybe actual cups.”

  “More ants,” Derrin said without hesitation.

  “You have enough ants.”

  “Never enough.”

  Zach leaned against the doorframe with a satisfied sigh while the rest of the squad stormed inside behind him, already arguing over priorities. Elle was surprisingly vocal about wanting a rice cooker. Mika demanded slushies. Sato was muttering something about power strips and “heat flow integrity.”

  Zach didn’t say a word.

  He just listened—arms tucked in, eyes half-shut—as they turned their wishlist into a chaotic, bug-filled dorm sleepover.

  He fell asleep to the sound of Mika and Sato debating fridge space like it was a military operation.

  A small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

  ‘Glad they’re happy.’

  The next day started with something new.

  Excitement.

  Everyone in Class D got up with energy. Actual energy. No dragging their feet. No dramatic flops out of bed. Just… motivation.

  Even Elle and Derrin moved faster.

  Mika was nearly bouncing. “Ooh! Let’s go to the mall after class. I heard they’ve got a whole tech wing—I want a TV.”

  Sato was already typing on his tablet mid-toothbrush. “We’ll need proper cooling setups and outlet expanders. Maybe a signal booster. I call dibs on top bunk installation.”

  Derrin just nodded. “I’m buying heat lamps. For the queens.”

  Zach slipped on his haori as always, hands tucked into the sleeves, watching it all like the proud dad of four chaos goblins. As they moved to leave the dorm, he paused at the threshold.

  ‘I should go back to the forest soon. Replant. Check the roots.’

  Then he followed them out.

  They barged into Ishino’s class with something between confidence and a minor parade. Grins everywhere. Voices bouncing off the walls. They didn’t even try to be subtle.

  Ishino looked up slowly from his desk, unimpressed.

  One eyebrow lifted.

  “You all seem… chipper.”

  “Mhm! Yup!” Mika said with an almost suspicious amount of joy. “So what’re we analyzing today? Emotional breakdowns? Poor life choices? Sato’s childhood?”

  Even though he didn’t show it, Ishino very subtly took a step back.

  Then, with a sigh, he slid a mission folder onto his desk.

  “Well, you’ll be pleased to know that today, you won’t be running our usual ‘dissect-the-trauma’ routine.”

  Class D leaned in, instantly intrigued.

  “The Class C teacher has extended a request for joint participation in a live training mission. You’ll be heading out to a nearby academy-owned forest. Your objective: locate and secure a mock villain base. Observe, analyze, and report back.”

  “Oh hell yes,” Mika grinned.

  “There’s a catch,” Ishino added, eyes narrowing just slightly.

  “You’ll be competing against Class C. First to find the base wins.”

  That got everyone’s attention.

  Zach’s eyes narrowed slightly. Sato tapped his pen twice. Elle stopped mid-arm cross. Derrin blinked.

  “And,” Ishino continued, with a slight tilt of his head, “I may or may not have placed a significant bet with the Class C teacher. So. Do try not to embarrass me.”

  What’s the bet?” Sato asked, already scribbling the entire mission file into his tablet like he was transcribing ancient prophecy.

  Ishino didn’t even look up. “If Class D wins, I get access to all of Class C’s training footage.”

  “And if they win?” Elle asked, arms crossed.

  There was a pause. Then Ishino added, casually:

  “Then I quit as a ranked hero.”

  That got an audible reaction.

  Mika shot straight up in her seat. “YOU WHAT?!”

  Derrin leaned forward, actual surprise on his usually unreadable face. “Why would you do something like that?”

  Zach stood halfway from his chair, frowning. “And over some training footage?”

  “Yes.” Ishino said plainly, as if he’d just announced what was for lunch. “If I trained you well, you’ll find the target. If I didn’t, I don’t deserve the rank.”

  “You trained us in fights, not search and rescue,” Sato said, concern flickering in his eyes.

  “Search and locate, actually.” Ishino turned to the whiteboard, uncapped a marker, and began writing names.

  “Since you seem so invested in my well-being—let’s make a plan.”

  He wrote out every name in Class D, then circled two.

  “Sato. Derrin. As far as I’m concerned, you’re the experts here.”

  Sato blinked. Derrin looked mildly pleased.

  “One of you has eyes in the sky,” Ishino continued, “and the other can cover massive ground with a single word.”

  He paused, pacing across the room as he spoke.

  “Now, there’s no doubt in my mind Class C is going to try and mess with you. How? Unknown. But likely.”

  He wrote a bold 22 on the board and circled it twice.

  “They have twenty-two students. Some of them aren’t fond of the reputation you’ve been building. And frankly, they have every reason to take this personally.”

  “Sounds like a trap,” Mika muttered.

  “Good,” Ishino replied without missing a beat. “Let them try.”

  Then he drew a dividing line on the board. “You’re splitting into two groups.”

  Sato raised his hand. “Wouldn’t it make more sense to stay together? We’re outnumbered two to one.”

  Ishino gave him a look that shut down half the room.

  “And make yourselves a bigger target? Or would you prefer to throw away your two tracking methods for safety?”

  Sato immediately shut up.

  “That’s what I thought.”

  He started writing again, forming the two groups.

  “Group One: Mika and Derrin.”

  “Group Two: Zach, Elle, and Sato.”

  “Wait,” Derrin frowned, “why does Sato get two teammates?”

  Mika leaned over with a smirk. “What, don’t think you can protect me, Bug Boy?”

  Ishino didn’t even turn around as he replied, “Because Sato is weak. Derrin can take care of himself. Mika is there to cover his blind spots.”

  Sato sank slightly in his seat. “I feel like that was a compliment wrapped in slander.”

  “It was,” Ishino confirmed. “Now focus.”