Chapter 718 - Taming the Fifth Year - Patience - 2

The murmurs began immediately.

"How is that even possible?"

"The restrictions were supposed to..."

But all murmurs died when Julius raised one hand.

The gesture was minimal... Just a simple movement that somehow commanded absolute attention from hundreds of students.

"All materials were verified by experts," the director announced, his voice cutting through the noise. "There were no irregularities in the evaluation process."

The statement was clear. The results were legitimate and any suggestions otherwise would be dealt with harshly.

Selphira smiled from her position beside Julius, clearly enjoying the discomfort of nobles who’d bet against Ren.

She’d known... Of course she’d known.

She had the satisfaction of someone whose protégé had just validated every investment she’d made in him.

The nobles who’d schemed to handicap Ren were learning an expensive lesson about underestimating people.

On the other hand, the allies...

Liora had thought about following Ren during the exam. The idea had been tempting for all of them, even Taro and Larissa had considered it.

Copy his route. Learn from his methods. Ride his coattails to success.

But they knew him too well.

They knew that trying to copy him in a competition where they were technically opposed and where he wouldn’t explain anything he was doing was simply a terrible idea.

Ren helped almost anyone. Would spend hours teaching if you asked outside competitive contexts. Would share knowledge freely when it didn’t compromise his own goals.

But if you were competing against him? You solved your own problems.

That was the unspoken rule. Competition meant you stood on your own merits or you fell on your own failures. No hand-holding there.

It was better to act without interfering with each other mutually.

And again they’d obtained good places. This time closer in score to Luna than before. That was progress in their relative level. Real and honest progress they could be proud of having earned through their own merit.

They’d improved. Genuinely.

But looking at Ren...

Ren who was much higher. This time even more than previously.

They couldn’t help feeling the gap kept growing despite their improvements.

It was frustrating in ways that were hard to articulate. Like running as fast as you could only to watch someone else pull further ahead without seeming to try harder. Like climbing a mountain only to realize the summit kept receding with each step forward.

"Furthermore," Julius continued, his voice carrying satisfaction that suggested he’d been waiting to deliver this particular announcement, "I’m pleased to announce that student Patinder generously shared his route and knowledge not only with his team companions, but for everyone in a program that will be integrated into other gathering curricula at the academies."

The statement landed like a bombshell.

Shared his methods? The techniques that had let him achieve seventy million in restricted conditions? The knowledge that would represent months or years of accumulated expertise?

Just... gave it away?

Klein, watching from his position among the crowd, felt gazes turn toward him.

But it was too late. He’d already been paid for Ren’s method, the same one both had known Ren decided to reveal to everyone.

The money was spent. The knowledge was public. And Klein found he didn’t regret it even slightly.

♢♢♢♢

The celebration should have been joyful.

Students who’d improved their rankings were feasting, sharing food and drinks they’d bought with their new earnings.

Music sounded from various windows. Laughter and victory shouts filled the spaces between buildings. The academy felt alive in ways it rarely did.

Klein found Ren in one of the back gardens, away from the noise.

He was sitting on a stone bench, looking at the stars with a distant expression. Not sad, not troubled. Just... contemplative.

"Aren’t you going to celebrate?" Klein asked, sitting beside him.

"Already celebrated for a while. Bought everyone a round of decent food at the Gold-rank dining hall." Ren responded without looking away from the sky. "But I needed a moment to think."

"Think about what?"

"About what’s coming." Ren finally looked at him. "About how we’re going to make this work."

Klein didn’t need to ask what he was referring to.

Since their conversation one day ago, he knew Ren had been processing, planning, calculating every possible angle. Turning the Luna situation over in his mind from every direction.

"Still have doubts?"

"Some," Ren admitted with the honesty that Klein was learning to appreciate. No bravado or false confidence... Just genuine assessment of uncertainty. "I’m mainly worried about how she’s going to react tomorrow."

"She won’t run..."

"You’re right about that." Ren smiled slightly, the expression carrying both fondness and concern. "But yes, maybe that worries me more..."

He looked toward the building where the girls’ dormitories were located. Where Luna was probably in her room right now, carrying her own burden of worries, making her own calculations about impossible choices and desperate negotiations.

"I’m going to help her," Ren said quietly but with absolute conviction. The kind of certainty that suggested this wasn’t up for debate or reconsideration. "One way or another. Even if I have to change the entire noble system to do it."

The declaration should have sounded absurd. Arrogant... The kind of grandiose statement teenagers made without understanding the weight of what they promised.

But from Ren, sitting in the garden with starlight reflecting in those determined jade eyes, it sounded like a statement of fact.

Klein smiled. "I think you could actually do it."

"Change the system?"

"Yes." Klein stood up, stretching muscles that had tensed during the day’s excitement. "If there’s anyone stubborn enough, capable enough, and crazy enough to try it... it’s you."

Ren laughed, the sound genuine but brief.

"I suppose I can try... if it works, we’ll see one day."

They stayed in comfortable silence for a moment, listening to distant celebration, each lost in their own thoughts about what would come.

Finally, Klein broke the silence.

"We should rest. Tomorrow they announce the next tests."

"Right." Ren started walking back toward the dormitories, his pace casual despite the weight he carried. "It’ll be interesting to see their faces."

Klein smiled to himself while following Ren.

If they knew how interesting it would really be...

♢♢♢♢

The announcement board the following day was surrounded by an even larger crowd than the previous day’s.

The next tests always generated excitement, but this time there was something different in the air. Anticipation mixed with curiosity and, for some, notable apprehension.

Ren and Klein made their way through the crowd, finally reaching the front where they could read the announcements clearly.

The board was new, the ink still smelled faintly.

FINAL EVALUATIONS - FIFTH YEAR

NOBLE PROTOCOL COMPETITION

Date: In one day. Solo competition

FORMAL NOBLE DANCE COMPETITION

Date: In one week. Partners assigned by the academy for all fifth-year students

Ren read the list...

The protocol was the usual theater. Arguments and counter-arguments. Demonstrating you understood noble games well enough to play them without revealing you thought they were mostly theatrical nonsense.

He’d manage. Had been learning all from Larissa long enough to navigate that particular minefield.

But the dance...

"Partners assigned by the academy," Klein read aloud, a smile beginning to form on his lips.

There was something in his tone...

Amusement and anticipation... Like he wanted confirmation before fully committing to the reaction.

Further down on the board, another sheet was posted. This one with a title in larger letters that made it impossible to miss:

PARTNER ASSIGNMENTS - CENTRAL ACADEMY DANCERS

The list was long. Names on the left were ordered alphabetically. Ren started scanning, looking for...

And he stopped.

Ren Patinder - Luna Starweaver