Chapter 51: The Tyrant and the Outcast
At least for this semester, there shouldn\'t be any more evaluations of this level. So, he could be of some help.
"I need to talk to him anyway."
The group evaluations for the second semester were just beginning. There are a few more to come.
Plus, there\'s the dungeon practice and the mock battle, known as the highlight of the second semester.
All of these require partners. It means I need at least one group member to fill the numbers.
Of course, even though it\'s a class without any notable names, I originally planned to just fill the numbers and get by...
"I like his diligence."
I spoke to myself as if a store owner was evaluating a job applicant. If the skills are all the same, naturally, the diligent one is better.
No, his skills are actually among the better ones in the common class. He might even be suitable for the middle class, the nobles.
However...
"His mentality is a bit..."
Excessive timidity and zero affinity, it seems that he couldn\'t perform well when it mattered because of his timidity.
And because of his zero affinity, he was isolated from his surroundings.
If he were a natural loner, it might be okay, but he wasn\'t. I could tell from his tofu-like shattered mentality earlier. He must be under severe stress.
Probably because of his strong ego and the current situation not keeping up with that ego.
Anyway.
"If I can just do something about his mentality, he might be worth rolling with."
I\'ll need one or two members to work with for the rest of the semester anyway. It wouldn\'t be bad to have Sunny, who seems decent, as one of those members. Of course, there\'s no rush to decide.
"I\'ll see how it goes this time."
I chuckled.
***
"Huh?"
Sunny, who was barely stabilizing himself in the dorm room bed, shuddered suddenly, feeling a chill. His spine felt cold.
"Is it a cold?"
He quickly touched his forehead, but fortunately, it didn\'t seem like he had a fever.
"Phew."
With a sigh of relief, Sunny wrapped himself in the blanket again. His head still hurt.
It was all because of that damned guy. Ever since he became part of that guy\'s group, nothing has gone right. The stress seemed to have gotten worse.
"Kuh, once this is over, I won\'t even spit in that guy\'s direction."
Sunny gritted his teeth, firmly resolved. But whether he could really do that was something only heaven knew.
***
Time passed quickly, and the day of the group evaluation arrived. All second-year classes gathered in the large open space behind the main building. But their appearances were very different.
The Royal Class, with its relaxed and confident appearance. A noble class with eyes burning with fighting spirit, as if determined to show that they were not inferior to the royals.
The common class was unusually frozen, as if intimidated by the aura of the upper class.
"Ha, this is really ridiculous. Even if it\'s a joint class, do I have to share it with those losers?"
A blond young man with an arrogant look muttered to himself. Even though it was a soliloquy, he spoke loudly, as if telling others to listen, so some of the students in the common class heard it clearly.
But no one stood up and said anything, just holding back their anger.
Because they were dealing with a bad opponent.
He was Dennis Douglas, a famous troublemaker from the noble class.
But even though they were both problem children, they were of a different category from Max.
If Max was the type who relied only on his family and wealth and ran wild in ignorance, Dennis could be said to be a more cunning type.
To those he considered superior, he was like a docile lamb, and to those he considered inferior, he was like a tyrant.
In a word, strong, weak, weak, strong.
Because of his attitude that changed like the palm of a hand depending on the other person, people who knew him gave him this nickname: Dennis of "Split Personality."
So, it was no wonder that Dennis openly looked down on the common class.
"Why don\'t they just include them in the combined classes… huh?"
He was about to start rambling again when he suddenly stopped talking and fixed his gaze on someone.
Soon, a bitter smile appeared on his lips.
The look on his face was as if he had found some interesting prey. Soon, Dennis was striding toward his target.
"Hey, who is this?"
Dennis spoke as if he was happy to see him. But it was obvious from his voice that it wasn\'t something he was truly happy about.
"I see stuttering Sunny in places like this." His words continued.
That\'s right.
The person he discovered was Sunny Benesse.
They were classmates in the same Noble class until the first semester of their second year.
Of course, they were just classmates, not close friends or anything. To begin with, Sunny didn\'t have a single close friend.
In any case, their relationship was closer to bad blood. No, it was definitely a bad relationship.
You could tell just by looking at the fact that Sunny, who was timid and had a habit of stuttering when he was nervous, was sarcastically called "Stutterer" Sunny.
"Uh... Yeah. Oh, it\'s been a while."
Sunny opened his mouth with a bad expression. He was so nervous that cold sweat even ran down the back of his neck.
He looked more nervous than when he was dealing with Max. That was understandable. Dennis was the person who had bullied him the most since first grade.
"Long time no see? Yeah, it\'s been a while. Why are you here?"
Dennis suddenly became serious, his smile fading away. His eyes also became sharp, like a snake. This was the image of Dennis the tyrant, who treated the weak with disdain.
"Why-why am I here? Today is a joint…."
"Hey."
Dennis cut him off coldly.
"Huh?"
"You don\'t know what I\'m talking about?"
"....."
"Why is that idiot who fell into common so presumptuously trying to take the same class as me?"
This was an outrageous excuse.
Everyone knew it.
But there was no need for logic in words that were said deliberately to provoke trouble.
Sunny\'s hands were shaking.
In his mind, he was probably swearing at Dennis ten times more. But the problem was that he couldn\'t do anything in reality because of his personality.
"That, that kind of nonsense….."
That was the only sound he could barely make out.
"Ha, our stuttering Sunny has grown a lot, hasn\'t he?"
Dennis snickered and tapped Sunny on the shoulder. Then suddenly, he gripped Sunny\'s shoulder tightly with force.
Sunny\'s eyes crinkled in pain. Dennis cast a cold gaze at him.
"Hey, get out."
"Wh, what…"
"Get out now."
Sunny was frozen and cornered. But the classmates around him pretended not to see it and just sat there.
They didn\'t want to get involved in something annoying for no reason.
To begin with, there was not a single classmate who was close to Sunny, so it was perhaps natural that no one would take the trouble to come forward.
If things continued like this, he would continue to be bullied until the professor arrived.
But at that moment.
Swoosh—!
Dennis\'s hand, which had been holding Sunny\'s shoulder, shot up.
Because someone kicked it away.
The eyes of the students watching grew wide in surprise.
No one expected anyone to step forward.
That\'s right, that person.
Sunny also looked dumbfounded, as if he couldn\'t believe it.
"Hey, you get out."
That very man, Max, blurted it out.