The morning began as always: Lin dragging Ren to her early morning torture routine.
"Me too...?" Taro began to ask when Lin looked at him.
"N-no... The... The attendance," he hurried to add. "Wei still takes roll and..."
"Hmm," Lin narrowed her eyes. "Wei hasn’t been giving good classes lately."
"But attendance!" Taro insisted. "It’s important to maintain the record and my grade could..."
Lin sighed. "Fine. But after the final exam, you’ll come train too."
Taro had never been so grateful for school bureaucracy.
Min and Liu were naturally saved, having other teachers in the first hours. They wouldn’t join the torture group until Yang’s class.
When Taro entered the classroom, Wei was already there, sitting at his desk with a lost look. The usual class murmur seemed more subdued, as if the professor’s depressive atmosphere was contagious.
"Taro," a voice called from behind.
It was Mira. freeweɓnovel.cøm
Since he had leveled up, Taro had noticed a change in how his classmates treated him. Where before they barely noticed his existence, now there was always someone looking to talk to him, asking for advice, trying to become part of his circle.
It was a... strange sensation. Not necessarily unpleasant, but definitely strange.
"Have you seen any improvement in Wei?" Mira whispered as Taro sat down. "He seems worse than yesterday, after Roran corrected him in class."
"When he mentioned the canine creatures?" Taro asked.
"Yes," Mira nodded. "Wei just... froze when Roran said ’as Ren mentioned to me, iron rank canine creatures generally...’ and simply stopped functioning."
Taro made a face that clearly said "nothing to be done," but Mira wasn’t finished.
"I’m worried about the final exam," she continued. "If even the professors aren’t sure what’s correct..."
"They’re right," Han commented from a nearby seat. "How are we supposed to learn if everything they’ve taught us could be wrong?"
Wei seemed to shrink in his seat although the comment had been barely a murmur.
"Ren should teach this class," Sora turned from the first row. "Or at least grade the exam."
The professor visibly writhed in his chair, as if each word was a needle.
"After all," Sora continued, apparently unaware of the effect her words were having, "he seems to be the only one who really understands..."
"I’ll... I’ll take roll," Wei interrupted with a hoarse voice, raising the attendance list like a shield. "Klein, Astor..."
The students exchanged looks while responding to roll call. Wei seemed smaller than normal, his usual confidence completely evaporated.
"Feng, Han..."
"Here," Han responded, then added in a low voice, "though I don’t know if it matters being present when we’re not learning anything..."
Wei trembled slightly.
"Luna, Mira..."
"Present," Mira responded, her concern about the exam clearly visible on her face.
"Larissa, Sora..."
"Here!" Sora raised her hand. "Could we ask Ren if...?"
"Liora, Rosalind..." Wei continued mechanically, as if he hadn’t heard.
Taro observed his professor, remembering how he used to strut around the classroom, sure of his knowledge, proud of his position. Now he seemed a shadow of himself, reduced to taking roll as if it was the only thing he could still do with certainty.
"Hector, Taro..."
"Present," Taro responded, noticing how Wei avoided making eye contact. He was beginning to feel bad for Wei... But only a little.
♢♢♢♢
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