Reincarnated as the Weakest Shadow Queen in the Academy-Chapter 45: Class Officially... Starts?

Ciel went ahead with Quia outside, as a sleepy Shire followed behind with draggy steps.

Crowds of students, packed with enthusiastic juniors, filled the walkway.

The rooftops atop shielded them from the morning glow, the space affording comfort and leisure.

If not for the occasional seniors who passed by. Shoulders hunched, face drained, yet burning with a stubborn vigour that crept up somewhere, as if the apocalypse was still before their hollow eyes.

"Scary..."

The elf shuddered as another one walked by, not bothering to glance at her comment.

"Ciel." Quia’s tone was stern. "Never be like them, alright, my shortie?"

The said shortie smiled, raising her head to the elf’s serious look. "Miss Quia."

"What?"

"...nothing."

Ciel was not offended. Not one bit.

Her monstrous form reached over five men tall. Now was just a compensation, probably.

She breathed through her nostrils before glancing at her side as Quia’s hand was an inch away from hers.

Her skin felt dry. It was as if the gap between them carried a lingering heat.

And as natural as waving the smoke out, she caught the elf’s hand by her thumb and the index finger.

Those two small agents roamed inside the elf’s slender one, slow and tender, as if afraid to hurt.

Ciel pursed her lips, and with a clench, her two fingers grasped onto Quia’s thumb like a lifeline.

Their journey was silent afterwards. Quia was filled with questions, but the small bit of warmth that connected them was enough for now.

They were happy. Each small step counted, and eventually, they will accumulate into something meaningful.

—--------

To the South of Academy Hall lay the real faculty: the Blacksteel Training Ground.

Classrooms. Training arena. Dining hall, so you could eat at one place and quickly go back to lectures.

All faculties were built in one area, facing just towards the South, where the frontline against the Shadebeasts lay.

Ciel and Quia gazed up.

A towering building stretched across their vision, arching just beyond their reach to fit in more facilities.

Windows plastered all over the wall facing the arena revealed the classrooms within.

There were more curious gazes. This time? From the dreadful seniors themselves.

Ciel recognised those gazes. They carried not a hint of greediness, selfishness, or even jealousy.

Just cold, judgmental peeks, like a farmer’s eyes when reaping out useless weeds.

They couldn’t let those thirty-one deaths lead to waste. After all, the past sacrificed so that the future won’t.

Naturally, those who remained will loom as stubborn ghosts.

Ciel squinted. Through the translucent rooftops, the pale glasses failed to hide those wary gazes.

Was it luck? Because she couldn’t recall tearing apart any student in her monstrous forms.

Just as she reminisced, a boom echoed nearby, an explosion occurring in her ear.

She watched the right. Outside the walkway stood a burning tree, its leaves dancing with the flame, each flutter a silent rebellion.

Before it was a certain redhead with a palm stretched, the culprit of this situation.

"..."

Silence lingered, and Ciel felt a strong pull to the entrance.

"Ignore. Her."

Quia, who nudged them inside, quickly hurried away.

Ciel caught those seniors’ gazes again.

This time, they carried an immense, unmistakable sense of disappointment.

Perhaps, if the loud-mouthed Shire was to comment for them-

"This generation is so fucked." That is what the redhead would claim.

Somehow, the joke inside lifted a weight off Ciel’s shoulders.

—------

"Why in the hell did you two leave me?"

"What do you mean by ’ why?!"

Quia shouted over her shoulder. Pure rage drummed through the empty corridor, screeching at Shire in the distance.

The redhead chased after them with slow, methodical steps like a serial killer. "I burn it with a reason."

"And that reason?"

"There’s a surveillance magic up there, you dipshit."

"Oh. Oh!" The elf took it as a complete and utter excuse. "Maybe it’s to monitor dipshit like you, you dipshit!"

Shire’s steps fell into stomping. "Stop the childish mockery and bring Ciel to me."

Ciel blinked as Quia turned them over a corner, climbing the stairs as the elf huffed out a loud, mocking groan.

"Fuck off." The elf stated. "You’re not in your right mind."

Quia scowled at Ciel. "You. Do not ever learn from that mad dog, understood?"

As they ascended a few steps, halfway across to a flat floor, Ciel gave a dazed nod.

Perhaps the former shadebeast was experiencing what humans called emotional overload.

"Elf." Shire, who finally caught up, stated with a flat voice. "You fucker. Our classroom is downstairs."

Quia utterly froze, then retorted. "If not for escaping a certain nutjob, my sense of direction wouldn’t be distorted!"

A sigh escaped Shire. "Calm down calm down. I promise I’ll be... uh."

The noble’s fingers then found her chin. "Mm, normal. Yes, normal."

"You hesitated, didn’t you?" The elf scowled.

"I clearly didn’t." Shire’s look was as calm as a flat sea, just like her chest. "Hesitation was never in my dictionary. If it did, it was because I needed to ponder the meaning known as ’insanity’."

"...what the fuck are you talking about?"

"Indeed." Shire raised her head high like an arrogant scholar. "What indeed the fuck am I talking about?"

"Grr-"

Ciel’s eyes flickered between both of them.

One was an elf she met by accident. The other was a human noble who tried to kill her.

Yet now, their bombardment of arguments filled the hallway’s silence, never promising Ciel alone without troubles.

Somewhere, it tickled inside.

Ciel smiled, just small enough for her own.

As odd as it was, she was glad these two bonded together despite their differences.

Because of Ciel alone, she made an impact she could cherish, however small it may be.

But then, her friends’ chatters drifted into noise, cackling and seething out of control.

A deep breath escaped her, having been placed between both of them.

Telekinesis activated, and with her pulsing palms, Ciel allowed her balance to loosen.

Her grip lost with the elf’s. Screams erupted as Ciel threatened to tumble down, the few steps promising not fatality but at least a world of hurt.

Then a force nudged Ciel mid-air. Her feet lifted and folded the small body into a backflip before her feet landed softly downstairs.

Her two admirers, Quia and Shire, froze.

Ciel shrugged before commanding.

"Let’s move."

A silent nod came from both of them.

Yet judging from Quia’s trembling fist, it seemed Ciel would receive a scolding later.

For now, the former shadebeast did well to make clear the hierarchy!

Summer would praise her for this, probably.

—------

Across the hallway to the end was a gold-laced door, its surface a lush, healthy mahogany that painted its magnificence.

Shire led forward and smashed the door open.

Every eye snapped to them. The attention seekers? Not quite.

Quia, after finally losing control, smacked Shire on the head.

This mere gesture elicited a gasp throughout a scene, even as the crazed noble grumbled with annoyance.

Ciel chuckled as admiration filled the entire hall. The students, bearing grudges older than the elf’s lifespan, descended upon Quia with a quiet pressure.

The little Queen allowed the flushed elf to drag her to the classroom’s back row.

As the trio settled herself, with Ciel cleanly separating the arguing duo, time passed in the classroom’s nosy chatters.

Summer filled in the information previously.

The class Ciel stayed in was the cream of the crop.

Not limited to the Mimic hunt, other entrance exams took place before it, and the results accumulated till they were selected to this class.

Ciel was the exception.

Summer used to emphasise this, but the little Queen couldn’t know why.

Could the Dragon Principal, perhaps, use her authority to cheat Ciel in?

Ridiculous. Her stubborn Miss Dragon would never do that!

Ciel shook her head inside. Eventually, a familiar figure stepped into the classroom.

Her pink hair fluttered with grace. Her smirk was just a cat’s whisker away from raising. The purple witch hat was tightly wrapped around her head, proclaiming her identity.

As she stepped up to the podium, Ciel caught a loud click of the tongue in the air.

She peeked. A few rows ahead, at the most forward seat, lay a man with pale skin and equally pale, short hair.

The eyes he wore were an intense, narrow silver, zooming in on his target as if to wipe out all impurities from within.

In this case, it was Melisra on the podium, a witch deemed to be a taboo-like existence.

Ciel stilled.

Then, she tilted her head, confused.

"Orion Christania."

Unfortunately, Melisra called him out all the same, the smirk always so endearing.

Oh, so that’s his name. Ciel nodded to herself. Mm, the little Queen wouldn’t forget it for later.

Orion, upon his name being called out, only twitched with a mad fury.

Melisra continued. "Our witches were not responsible for the fall of your Holy Kingdom. Your weaknesses did."

The pink-haired witch chuckled. "Learn to be as cruel as the world, young man. Then, you are allowed biases as the strong."