When Cid returned to the classroom from the office, it seemed like none of his classmates had noticed he had left.
Which was normal. Who would spend their time paying attention to a background character who barely had any presence?
Well, not exactly no one noticed.
In a corner of the classroom, a plain-looking black-haired girl waved at him when she saw him return, signaling him to come over.
"Morning, Cid. What did Rossweisse-chan call you over for this time?"
"What else could it be? My grades, of course."
"Oh."
After asking that single question, Asagi Aiba fell silent.
Cid simply shrugged. He was used to it.
In Cid's eyes, Asagi Aiba was actually quite an outstanding girl. She looked rather plain at first glance, but that was mostly because her glasses hid most of her facial features, making it hard to see her true appearance. Her outdated hairstyle also made her look gloomy.
But that kind of disguise meant nothing to Cid, an Eminence in Shadow.
With his eyesight, he could easily tell that Asagi Aiba had a classic oval-shaped face. Beneath those loose clothes was a well-proportioned figure, and combined with her delicate facial features, if she actually dressed up properly she would probably be a beauty comparable to Alpha and the others.
Not to mention her talent was quite impressive.
Unlike Cid, who appeared to have trained since childhood yet only showed a B− level of talent, Asagi Aiba had reached C+ in less than a year. By now, quite a few people were probably already keeping an eye on her. The real question was how strong she would become by the time she reached her third year.
"By the way, how come you had time to come to class today? Did you finish dealing with your problem?"
Cid looked at Asagi Aiba with a puzzled expression.
Judging from how she looked last week, there was no way she would be attending class normally this week. In his estimation, she would definitely have to take leave and work overtime.
Cid didn't know much about Asagi Aiba's job, and she didn't like talking about it. Still, he had a few guesses.
With how much overtime she worked, and the way teachers approved her leave slips without even glancing at them, it definitely didn't look like the ordinary job she claimed it was.
Then again, working part-time for the Gigafloat Management Corporation already wasn't exactly normal.
Maybe because she thought he wouldn't understand, Asagi Aiba often pulled out her computer and wrote code right in front of him.
Well, she guessed correctly.
He really didn't understand it.
But someone else did.
Did she really think he wouldn't ask someone else?
So Cid memorized all the code and later showed it to Eta. Seeing Eta's shocked reaction and hearing her repeatedly praise how impressive it was, Cid didn't even need to ask questions to realize something.
Asagi Aiba's technical skill was extremely strong.
Strong enough that even Eta was surprised.
"Tsk. What kind of look is that? Do you really think a small problem like that would stump me?"
Noticing Cid staring at her, Asagi Aiba clicked her tongue in annoyance.
Cid looked away, making sure she couldn't see the doubt in his eyes.
His intuition told him she was lying.
Compared to their rather fragile friendship, he trusted his intuition far more.
Still, the matter had nothing to do with him. Asking one question to show concern and maintain their surface-level friendship was enough. Asking more questions wouldn't increase goodwill and might even annoy her.
He wasn't someone with poor social awareness.
"Has something big happened lately? I saw our classmates gathering and talking about something."
Hearing that, Asagi Aiba looked at him with mild surprise.
"You really think someone who's been sleeping through the past few days would know the answer to that?"
Cid nodded calmly.
There weren't many things in this world that could be hidden from her.
Thanks to her, Cid didn't even dare save recordings of the Eminence in Shadow on his phone.
"Well, I do know a few things. But seeing how confident you are in my information network makes me feel like you're treating me as a tool. Sigh."
See? Just like he thought. She knew.
As for her complaints, Cid didn't really care.
She might act dissatisfied now, but whether she would even remember this tomorrow was questionable.
"You're my only friend at school. Who else am I supposed to ask?"
That was what he was thinking, but he still gave Asagi Aiba a proper explanation.
"Alright then. What do you want to know? There's quite a lot of news recently. Just so you know, I can't guarantee everything is accurate. Most of it I saw online."
Cid knew how she operated.
Unless something personally involved her, Asagi Aiba rarely bothered to verify information seriously.
"If I knew already, I wouldn't ask something so vague. Hmm... focus more on things that might affect us."
"Hmm... that makes sense. Let me think."
Asagi Aiba paused for a moment.
"Oh right. There are new transfer students coming soon. Does that count?"
"Anything special about them? If not, skip it. Transfer students aren't exactly rare."
At an ordinary school, transfer students might be unusual.
But not here.
This school was practically built for nobles. It wasn't uncommon for people from various factions or talented commoners to transfer in from time to time.
"Well, the rumor is that two of the strongest members of the younger generation from the Underworld are transferring into the third year. Does that count as special?"
She opened some files on her computer.
"One is Sairaorg from the House of Bael. The other is Diadora Astaroth, who defeated Agares and became the new heir of the Astaroth house. I also gathered some information about them and their Peerage. If you need it—"
She suddenly paused.
"What's with that look on your face?"
"No, nothing."
Looking at the woman in front of him casually pulling up detailed files on her computer, Cid desperately suppressed the urge to complain.
You call this "mostly stuff from the internet"?
You even gathered data on their Peerage.
What exactly are you planning?
Trying to start your own faction and obtain your own King piece?
Of course, that was just an internal joke.
Cid didn't think Asagi Aiba was that foolish.
Her talent among the students was indeed good.
But just good.
If she joined someone else's Peerage and later received permission from her master, starting her own faction in the future might be possible.
But relying solely on her own talent right now, without any extraordinary background, and trying to obtain chess pieces on her own?
Two words.
Dream on.
"There's been another transfer student in the first-year class lately. Apparently she's connected to the Lion King Organization. She's very talented and quite strong."
(Whispering) "For now, I can't tell whether she came to compete with me for pieces or to become part of my Peerage."
Cid was stunned.
"Asagi, what were you just muttering?"
Was she seriously planning to compete with others for the free pieces the school released? Didn't she know that around eighty percent of those free pieces had already been reserved by descendants of gods and Demons from prestigious families, those who for various reasons had failed to outcompete their own relatives?
As for the remaining twenty percent, those were even harder to obtain. She would have to compete with the truly gifted commoner geniuses for them.
"Hm? Did I say something just now?"
Seeing Asagi Aiba blatantly play dumb, Cid stayed silent for a moment before deciding to pretend he had not heard clearly.
"No, I must have misheard. What were we talking about?"
"Besides that, there's another interesting bit of news. The 'Saintess' from the first year has apparently dropped out. She hasn't come to school for quite a while."
"Saintess?"
"She's not a real Saintess. It's just a nickname the other students gave her."
"If she already dropped out, then there's no point bringing it up. Next."
"That's it."
"That's it?"
Asagi Aiba nodded.
"There are a few other things, but none of them should affect us… Wait, actually, there is one more."
As if suddenly remembering something, Asagi Aiba pulled up a page on her computer.
"What is it?"
"According to rumors, the Netheril Emperor, one of the strongest people in the world, truly ranked within the top five, and known by titles such as the God of Magic, Demon King, and Savior of Witches, will appear at the Three-Nation Friendship and Peace Conference hosted by the Aldegyr Kingdom. The venue for that conference is Itogami Island."
"That's definitely fake. Even I have never heard about something like that."
Asagi Aiba's hands stopped on the keyboard. She looked at Cid with a strange expression.
"Even though I also doubt the legendary Netheril Emperor, someone who rarely ever shows himself, would casually appear in public, what's with that tone of yours? You sound like you're speaking as if you were the Netheril Emperor himself."
"You should remember that this is only a rumor right now. Yet you're speaking so confidently, Cid. If he doesn't show up, that's one thing. But if he actually does appear, then what you just said would count as spreading rumors. If those Witch fanatic believers find out, you can expect to be arrested."
"Uh… uh… Well, it's just the two of us here, right? I trust you won't report me. Anything else, Asagi?"
Faced with Cid's attitude, Asagi Aiba could only respond helplessly.
"You really are bold. You should understand that some factions are already starting to suspect things. Those Witch fanatics have gathered intelligence about their King to the point that if anyone even mentions him, they will know."
Cold sweat began to run down Cid's forehead.
"You're exaggerating, Asagi. No matter how you look at it, that's impossible."
Asagi Aiba rolled her eyes.
"That's exactly why it's no surprise you even failed Rossweisse's exam, Cid. That's a legend who nearly sent the Eurasian continent flying into the sky with a single spell and almost destroyed the entire world. Someone capable of that level of magic doing something like this would not be strange at all."
Fortunately, Asagi Aiba did not turn around. Otherwise, she would have noticed something odd. Despite the classroom air conditioner running, cold sweat was pouring down Cid's face.