The next day, Theo went to school.
It was Saturday and students normally didn't go to school. He, however, could only see people after people coming into the school, showing the students' enthusiasm for the Grand Gaia Competition.
When he was about to enter the school, a crowd of people took his attention. They all faced the same direction, which turned out to be a billboard. On that wooden board, several name lists were pinned.
Each paper contained five hundred people with "A", "B", "C", "D", and so on below the lists.
Making his way through them, Theo gradually reached the very front, where he began to search for his School ID to see his group.
Surprisingly, he noticed many unusual numbers that a first year student wouldn't have.
'Seniors from second and third grades?' Theo asked inwardly before frowning. He took a glance over his number and group. 'I am in Group D. I hope I don't need to meet Laust or anyone I know…'
Suddenly, a series of love-struck shouts pierced everyone's ears as they turned around.
"Kya! It's the Wolf Prince."
"My Prince!"
The girls began to scream as if their idol arrived at the school.
Theo also became curious and turned around as he didn't know about this title thing, only to find himself regretting it in that instant.
The Wolf Prince in their mouth was someone he knew. This man had a petite figure and acted cute like a woman. Yes, he was none other than Phyrill Hilbert.
He had put him in his "Not to talk" list to avoid getting dragged into the spotlight, albeit he seemed to have accepted and relied on something he shouldn't have.
'What should I do? I have been getting used to the Magic Bullet recently. Although I have no plan in revealing it, he might know it in one way or another.' Theo's heart skipped a beat. 'I thought he was just a middle-schooler, but it seemed you couldn't judge the book by its cover.'
Only one hope remained in Theo's head.
'Please. Don't make him in my group. I want to stay away from him. God, Please. Don't let any of these guys be a part of my group.' Theo prayed to God while thinking about four people: Alea Eilric, Laust Lange, Sihan Raskaka, and Phyrill Hilbert.
'I mean, I don't mind being a part of their group, but it's only after the training is over.'
Phyrill waved his hand to the crowd while slowly making his way toward the billboard.
The normal students didn't dare to stand in his way and quickly went to the side, allowing him to check his group.
Theo also followed what the others did so as to avoid his radar while thinking, 'Still, I can't understand why I don't know a famous person like him. Has he ever gone to school?'
As Theo thought about it, he heard a few people talking.
"Ah, my prince is so tragic. To think he needs to leave school this whole time due to his body, I wonder if there is a cure for his illness. If he doesn't need such a thing, he would have surpassed Sihan Raskaka."
"Ssshh. We shouldn't talk about it so as to avoid hurting our prince's heart."
'Illness?' asked Theo in his mind, 'What kind of illness he has? And how strong he is? Did he lie to me a few days ago? As expected, this guy is dangerous. I should stay away from him.'
Phyrill looked left and right before finding his ID. "I see. I am in B Group, huh."
In that instant, Theo felt ecstatic and clenched his fist like a winner. With his wish fulfilled, he could breathe out of relief.
'Now, I only need to search for the other three. For now, I should wait here to see if there are any more people from my list coming here.'
After knowing his group, Phyrill waved his hand and said, "Those who are in B Group… Please take care of me, okay?"
"Kya!"
The girls began to scream hysterically as if they couldn't control their lust for a small kid like him.
Theo didn't care and searched for an empty chair where he could wait until the principal called them to gather.
…
Meanwhile, unlike the peaceful atmosphere outside the school, the school principal's office didn't share the same sentiment.
There were two people in the room, staring at each other. The first one was a middle-aged man with a long black mustache despite him not having even a single strand of hair on his head. He wore a brown suit and looked at the girl before him.
"Principal. Why did you agree to this term?" The woman shouted while slamming the table.
The principal remained calm and even said menacingly. "Alea Eilric. Who do you think you are? You might be a genius, but there are so many geniuses in this country that can replace you. Besides, this order is not mine…"
Suddenly, Alea felt something was wrong and stopped pressing him for an answer. "Not from you…From who?"
"It's someone above your grandfather," answered the principal with a flat tone. "There will be someone overseeing the progress of the students and will choose the students himself. He handles everything, from body training to team creation. I can only tell you one thing. He is an eccentric man. Even your participation ticket might go up in smoke the day after tomorrow if you can't even pass his test."
"!!!" Alea stared at the principal and took a few deep breaths. She might not like the situation, but it didn't mean she would blame everything on the principal, who had nothing to do with it. "So, you are saying I only need to get accepted, right?"
"From the bottom of my heart, I wish you to be one of the participants… Your chance is pretty high too. Unfortunately, I can't give you any assurance." The principal shook his head disappointedly. "In any case, I will be announcing the training regimes right now. If you don't have any more complaints, go to the gym."
Alea furrowed her eyebrows and turned around. As she was about to leave the room, she stopped and said her last piece. "No matter what you throw me, I will show you that I can get chosen."
"I will look forward to it." The principal closed his eyes, feeling that trouble would start coming.