(Arin's POV)
If hell had a luxurious VIP waiting room, I was sure it would look exactly like this restaurant.
The Golden Swan.
The name was not an exaggeration at all. This place truly glittered with luxury that blinded the eyes of commoners. Giant crystal chandeliers hanging majestically from the ceiling were not powered by whale oil or smoky ordinary candles, but by high-quality light mana stones refracting a spectrum of soft gold throughout the room. The floor was made of white marble polished so smoothly I worried even flies would slip.
Waiters in black tuxedo uniforms moved back and forth with silent and precise movements like shadows, carrying silver trays filled with dishes whose names I could barely digest, let alone eat.
I sat on a red velvet chair that was too soft, feeling like a master imposter infiltrating a royal banquet. In front of me, the large round table was crowded with confusing silverware. There were four types of forks, three types of knives, and two spoons of different sizes lined up neatly like soldiers.
"Arin..." whispered Erika beside me. Her voice trembled with fear.
I turned slowly. Erika sat stiffly like a newly carved stone statue. Her eyes stared in horror at the array of forks in front of her as if the objects would attack her.
"Why... do the forks... have... children?" she asked slowly, her brain still struggling to process the excessive visual information.
"Those are not fork children, Erika. Those are salad forks, fish forks, and meat forks," I whispered back, trying to calm her with a gentle voice. "Just use them from the outside in. Or if confused, just use your hands."
Erika nodded slowly. Three seconds later, her face finally turned relieved. "Oh... okay. Outside fork."
Across from us sat the five noble students who invited us. Tom Garius, the rust plague patient zero whose skin was now smooth again though slightly pink like a baby's, smiled widely. Beside him were two other male students, Kael and Mars, and two female students, Amel and Lisa.
They all looked at us. Not with the condescending gaze as usual, but with a gaze of... admiration and respect.
"Welcome to The Golden Swan," said Tom warmly, pouring mineral water into my glass. The water came from a sacred mountain spring whose price was probably equivalent to a barrel of beer at an ordinary tavern. "Do not hesitate. Order whatever you want. My father insisted the bill be sent directly to the Garius residence as a token of gratitude."
"Thank you, Tom," I answered politely, taking the glass carefully. "But I think water and bread are already luxur—"
"Waiter!" exclaimed Amel suddenly, cutting off my humility enthusiastically. The curly-haired girl looked at Erika with sparkling eyes like seeing a new doll. "Bring the special appetizer menu! Baked Escargot with Herbed Butter and Truffle Mushroom Cream Soup!"
Amel turned to Erika, smiling widely until her eyes squinted. "You have to try it, Erika! It is the best food to recover drained mana!"
Erika, who was still processing the word 'Waiter' five seconds ago, just blinked in confusion with her mouth slightly open.
"Es... car... got?" spelled Erika slowly, her tongue struggling to pronounce the foreign word.
"Snails," I explained briefly.
Silence for three seconds.
"SNAILS?!!" shrieked Erika belatedly, her face paling instantly imagining the slimy animal.
The atmosphere at the dining table split into two contrasting camps.
On the left side, there was the "Erika Fan Club." Amel and Lisa, two noble girls who turned out to be very cheerful and chatty, seemed to have adopted Erika as their new toy doll.
At first, I suspected they wanted to bully Erika like nobles in general. But seeing the way they looked at Erika like looking at a kitten just learning to walk, I realized they were sincere. Or maybe they were just amused seeing how slow Erika's brain response was post-injury.
"You know, Erika," chattered Lisa while cutting bread for Erika patiently. "When you fought Lady Elena in the arena... that was legendary! I mean, all of us in the girls' dorm got goosebumps watching it! No one has ever seen Lady Elena's Ice Wall shattered like that!"
Amel nodded enthusiastically, her fork dancing in the air. "Right! And the way you slid on that ice... whoosh! Like a ballet dancer carrying a magic cannon! How did you think of that strategy?"
Erika, whose mouth was full of bread, stopped chewing. Her eyes looked at Lisa, then shifted to Amel. Her brain was working hard connecting the words 'Arena', 'Elena', and 'Cannon'.
One... two... three... four...
"Hehe..." Erika finally grinned widely, bread crumbs sticking to her chubby cheeks. "I was... great... right?"
"KYAAA! So cute!" shrieked Amel and Lisa together, pinching Erika's cheeks.
"Look at her cheeks! She eats like a squirrel hoarding nuts!" Lisa laughed adorably.
"And she responds so slowly! So cute!" Amel fed a spoonful of soup to Erika's mouth. "Come on, open wide, here comes the airplane! Vrooom!"
Erika resigned herself. She opened her mouth, accepting the feed with a confused but happy face because she got free good food.
"Delicious..." mumbled Erika five seconds after swallowing the warm soup.
I sighed in relief seeing the scene. At least Erika was safe. She might be considered a cute pet by them, but that was far better than being considered an enemy.
Now, it was the turn of the men's business on the right side.
I shifted focus to Tom, Kael, and Mars. Unlike the girls busy playing with a living doll, the atmosphere on this side of the table felt more serious and heavy.
"So," I started the conversation, placing my silver knife down slowly. "You three look healthy. No lingering rust side effects?"
"None at all," answered Tom, moving his fingers to demonstrate flexibility. "This new skin is a bit sensitive to heat, but Doctor Edna said that is normal for new tissue. Thanks to your antibiotics, there is no permanent damage to our lungs."
Kael, a thin student with thick glasses, leaned forward. His face was serious. "Not just that, Arin. Actually... we wanted to talk about our position. And your position in this class."
"Position?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
Mars, who was large and quiet, nodded heavily. "In Class B. The class hierarchy is shifting."
Tom put down his wine glass. His usually friendly face now turned serious. His gaze was sharp, the gaze of a young noble starting to understand the map of political power.
"Arin, let's be honest," said Tom softly, ensuring the girls did not hear this sensitive conversation. "You shouldn't be here. I mean, among us, the 'average' students who just go with the flow."
I smiled thinly. "I am a Class C student who just moved up due to luck and a bit of recklessness, Tom. My place is indeed at the bottom, in the mud."
"Do not be humble," cut Tom firmly. "We saw your duel in the arena. You fought Gordon, Gareth, and Maya alone. One against five. And you didn't just win... you destroyed them mercilessly."
Kael adjusted his slipping glasses. "Gordon is a physical monster. Gareth has absolute defense. And Maya... her fire explosion could flatten a building. You neutralized them all without a shred of magic. That was not luck, but absolute dominance."
"Sharp analysis," I commented flatly. "So? What is the point?"
"So?" Tom looked at me in surprise. "Why do you still enjoy playing in the mud with us in Class B? With your strength... and your closeness to Lady Elena Rhyms... you could have asked for a special recommendation to move to Class A. Or even Class S."
The question hung in the air, heavy and full of meaning.
I stared at the red liquid in my glass. This expensive wine reflected my calm yet secretive face.
They were right. Technically, with the support of Duke Rhyms and Selena, I could have forced my way into a higher class. Better facilities, better food, and wider access to information.
But they forgot one important thing.
"Moving up a class is not as easy as climbing stairs, Tom," I answered softly, swirling the wine glass. "Especially if at the top of the stairs there is a big wall blocking the way. A wall covered in poisonous thorns and guarded by mad dogs."
"Wall?" asked Mars confusedly.
I looked straight into Tom's eyes. Time to test the waters. I wanted to know if their loyalty was limited to 'thanks for healing' or if there was courage to go further.
"A wall named Karl Benzzi," I said coldly.
Mentioning that name at the dinner table felt like dropping a chunk of ice into hot soup.
The warm atmosphere at the table froze instantly. The smiles on their faces vanished.
Kael's hand holding a fork stopped in mid-air. Mars looked down deeply, staring at his plate as if the answer lay there.
Only Amel, Lisa, and Erika were still laughing at the far end, unaware of this drastic and gripping atmosphere change.
The name 'Benzzi' carried a terrifying weight in this Academy. The Benzzi faction controlled nearly a quarter of the student senate and instructors. They were shadow rulers untouchable by law.
Tom was silent for a long time. He looked at me, then looked at his frightened friends.
"So that is it," mumbled Tom finally, voice low. "You did not move up not because you couldn't. But because you are being held back by them."
"Karl and Elian Delphine will not let me live peacefully in their territory," I explained casually, cutting my steak with precise movements. "To them, I am a dirty stain. And stains must be erased, not promoted."
Kael swallowed hard. "Fighting Karl... is social suicide, Arin. He can make your family bankrupt overnight. He can get you expelled with a snap of his fingers."
"I know," I answered. "That is why I need friends. Not friends who can only say thank you, but friends who know where the landmines lie on this battlefield."
I looked at the three of them alternately, assessing their guts.
"You are nobles. You know academy politics better than me, a commoner. You know who truly holds control in Class B."
Tom sighed a long and heavy breath. He leaned back in his chair, staring at the luxurious restaurant ceiling with a distant gaze. It seemed he was weighing a big risk. Helping Arin meant making an enemy of Karl Benzzi. That was a gamble that could destroy his Baron family's future.
But then, Tom touched his chest. Beneath his shirt, there was new skin growing to replace the iron rust that nearly killed him slowly.
Tom remembered who made him sick and who healed him by risking their life.
Tom straightened his body again. His eyes flashed with a new determination I had never seen before.
"We are fed up," said Tom suddenly.
"What?" I asked, leaning closer.
"We, the middle nobles... we are fed up," repeated Tom, his voice firmer but low so other tables wouldn't hear. "All this time we were used as pawns by the Benzzi faction. We were told to suck up, told to do dirty work, and when we got sick... when we caught that plague... what did Karl do? He didn't even visit us. He let us rot in the dorms for fear of infection."
Kael and Mars nodded grimly. Silent hatred radiated from their usually submissive faces.
"You came, Arin. You who were nobody, you who we even mocked at the start of the semester... you saved us selflessly," continued Tom emotionally.
Tom leaned forward, pushing his wine glass aside. He looked left and right warily, ensuring no waiters were near the table.
"If you intend to fight Karl... you cannot do it with muscles alone, Arin. You need to know who your enemies are, who is only pretending to obey, and who holds a knife behind your back ready to stab."
My heart beat fast. This was it. This was what I had been looking for. Intelligence information.
"What do you mean, Tom?" I whispered.
Tom reached into his inner coat pocket. He didn't take out paper, but he took a pristine white linen napkin from the table. He took a quill from his vest pocket.
"Class B is not a unified entity, Arin. It is a nest of vipers," whispered Tom while starting to write something on the napkin quickly. "There are thirty students in Class B. But not all are loyal to Benzzi."
Tom wrote down several names, then circled some with thick ink, and crossed out others.
"This is the true power structure of Class B," said Tom, handing the napkin to me with a hand slightly trembling from the adrenaline of betrayal.
I looked at the napkin intently.
Written there were grouped Class B student names.
[Gaston - Direct Spy (Caution)][Lianne - Illegal Logistics Supplier][Gordon's Team - Hired Muscle (You Destroyed)][Neutral Group - Can Be Influenced]
And at the very bottom, there was one name circled twice with thick ink.
[Vesper - Shadow Treasurer]
"Who is Vesper?" I asked, pointing at the unfamiliar name. I rarely heard his name.
"He is the key," answered Tom seriously. "He looks quiet and harmless, but he manages the flow of gambling funds and the black market in the Academy for Karl. If you want to hit Karl where it hurts most... do not hit his face. Hit his wallet."
I looked at Tom with a new perspective. Behind his innocent friendly face, turned out to be a sharp and dangerous politician's brain.
"Why are you telling me this, Tom? This is dangerous for you. If Karl finds out..."
Tom smiled thinly, a smile containing a bit of reckless revenge.
"Because I want to see Karl's face when you bring down his empire, Arin. Consider this... a down payment for that spectacle. I want to sit in the front row when he falls."
I took the napkin, folded it neatly, and put it into my inner coat pocket.
"Thank you, Tom. This info is more valuable than any Escargot."
Right then, loud laughter exploded from the end of the table, breaking our tension.
"HAHAHA! ERIKA! YOU ATE THE SHELL TOO?!!" exclaimed Lisa hysterically while holding her stomach.
I turned quickly. Erika was chewing something with difficulty, crunch-crunch sounds heard from her mouth. Her face was beet red. There was a snail shell on her plate that was already shattered to pieces.
"Hard..." complained Erika five seconds later. "Does this snail... have bones?"
The political tension at our table shattered instantly by Erika's extraordinary stupidity. I slapped my forehead hard.
"Erika... the shell is not eaten, you fool," I groaned in frustration.
"Huh? Why... didn't say... earlier?" she asked innocently.
"I TOLD YOU FIVE MINUTES AGO!"
That night ended strangely. On one hand, I gained political allies and a crucial enemy map for the war ahead. On the other hand, I had to help Erika pick snail shell fragments out of her teeth with a teaspoon.
But as we walked out of that luxurious restaurant, staring at the star-filled capital night sky, I felt something different in the air.
I was no longer alone in Class B. I had a most trusted partner (Erika), I had a shield (Elena), and now... I had a spy (Tom).
I turned to Tom who was about to go home. "By the way, I have a plan."
"What?" Asked Tom confusedly.
The war against Karl Benzzi was no longer an impossible fight. This was the beginning of a grand coup.