I gave a small shrug, though it felt heavier than it should have. "So people like me can have a chance at life."

"People like you?"

"Weaks."

"And who decides which people deserve that chance?"

"Me."

"That sounds convenient."

"It usually is."

Her eyes stayed fixed on mine, calm and unreadable. "Who do you kill?"

"Bad people, Your Majesty."

"And how do you determine whether someone is bad or good?"

"Common sense," I answered, meeting her gaze.

The Queen tilted her head slightly. "Would you kill a starving man for stealing bread?"

"No."

"What if he stole it from another starving family?"

I hesitated for a second. "Still no."

"Then theft alone is not enough for death."

"No."

"What about a man who violates a little girl?"

"Yes," I answered immediately.

"Even if he regrets it afterward?"

"Yes."

"What if he was drunk?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"What if he was raised in violence and knew nothing else?"

I frowned. "That explains it. It doesn’t excuse it."

"And if killing him changes nothing? The girl remains broken, the family remains ruined, and another man like him appears a week later. Does his death still matter?"

"At least he can’t do it again."

The Queen slowly folded her arms. "So your justice is practical, not moral."

"I don’t know what you mean by that, Your Maj—"

"You do not kill because it is righteous. You kill because it removes a threat."

I stayed silent.

She stepped closer, her heels clicking softly against the stone floor. "Tell me this, then. If a murderer kills ten people to feed his starving village through winter, is he evil?"

"Yes."

"Even if fifty innocent villagers survive because of him?"

I clenched my jaw. "There were other ways."

"And if there weren’t?"

"There’s always another way."

"You sound very certain for someone so young."

"I’ve seen enough."

For the first time, something in her expression shifted. Not pity. Not sympathy. Something quieter than that.

"Have you?" she asked softly.

The question hit harder than it should have.

I looked away from her, exhaling slowly. "People like to pretend the world is complicated because it makes them feel smarter. Most of the time, it isn’t. Some people hurt others because they enjoy it. Some people destroy lives because they can. I kill those people."

"And if one day someone decides you are one of them?"

That one made me pause.

The Queen noticed immediately.

"You speak as though your judgment is absolute," she continued. "But every monster in history believed they were justified. Every tyrant thought they were necessary. That includes the elves. What makes you different from them?"

"I know I’m not a good person," I replied quietly. "That’s the difference."

Silence settled between us after that.

The Queen studied me for what felt like an eternity before finally stepping back and letting out a slow breath.

I honestly felt like I was suffocating under the pressure of her gaze. In the end, telling the truth had been the only real option. Strangely enough, though, I didn’t regret it. If anything, it felt like some invisible weight had finally loosened around my chest.

Hearing those thoughts out loud, admitting them to someone else for the first time in years, felt strangely liberating.

"I shall arrange a cart and a coachman for you," she said. "You may leave once the healers finish checking your shoulder."

Relief immediately loosened the tension in my chest. "Thank you, Your Majesty."

She left without another word, leaving me alone.

Finally... some silence.

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The royal carriage came to a stop in front of the dormitories, and I stepped down onto the stone street while trying not to irritate my shoulder. The coachman offered me a polite smile before guiding the horses away from the academy grounds, leaving me alone with the dozens of students already staring in my direction.

The moment people recognized the royal crest on the carriage, the murmuring started.

Great. Exactly what I needed.

Before I could make it inside, the front doors of the boys’ dormitory burst open and Ken practically jogged toward me.

"There you are!" he said before stopping in front of me and looking me over from head to toe. His eyes moved from my cleaned uniform to my polished boots, and his expression shifted into disbelief. "Man, you actually look good."

Honestly, the palace servants deserved a reward for what they had done to my uniform. They had somehow removed all the bloodstains and repaired every rip and tear like the thing had never been dragged through a battlefield.

"How’s the shoulder?" Ken asked.

"It hurts if I move it too much," I replied. "But I’m alive."

"You’re telling me everything that happened," he said immediately as we started walking toward the dormitory entrance together. "The amount of spells you used yesterday was insane. And the classes too. Seriously, Ace, what the hells even are you?"

"I just know a few things," I replied with a weak smile. "The school’s closed today?"

"Yeah. After yesterday’s attack, the administration canceled classes." He pushed the door open for us and continued talking as we entered the building. "The tournament got delayed too. It’s happening in three months now instead of two."

"That’s good," I muttered while we crossed the main hall and headed toward the stairway. "Makes no difference to me anyway since I’m not joining."

Ken groaned dramatically as we began climbing the stairs. "You are still saying that after what happened yesterday?"

"Not gonna join. Nope."

"Come on, man. People are already talking about you everywhere. You used Shadow Leap in front of the entire academy. Even those idiot S-Rank students can’t cast that properly."

I sighed. "Ken, let it go. I’m not joining the tournament."

He shook his head with a grin as we reached the second floor and stepped into the long corridor leading toward the shower halls and student rooms.

"You said the same thing about the practice match," he reminded me. "Then you joined those too."

Yeah, because the Queen practically forced me into it.

I decided not to mention that part. "What’s for dinner?" I asked instead, trying to change the subject.

Ken looked at me like I had lost my mind. "Dinner? There’s still hours left before evening."

"I’m hungry."

"We could head to a tavern after showering."

"That sounds good," I admitted. "I smell like a corpse."

Ken laughed quietly before his expression became more serious.

"Yesterday was crazy, though," he said as we continued down the corridor. "Honestly, that fight scared the shit out of me."

"I was scared too."

"You didn’t look scared."

"I was trying to look cool in front of the Queen."

That earned another laugh out of him just as we reached the room. Ken opened the door and we stepped inside.

A student sat behind the reservation desk near the entrance, reading a book with round glasses perched on his nose. The moment he noticed me, he closed the book and sat up straighter.

"Ace," he greeted with a nod. "Glad you’re alive."

He knew my name? Huh.

"Same here," I replied. "Do you have any shower rooms available?"

He leaned over the ledger beside him and scanned the page. "Two hours. All the stalls are booked."

"That works."

As he wrote our names down, Ken leaned casually against the counter.

"You hear what happened yesterday?" he asked the student.

The guy snorted. "Hard not to, Ken. Everyone’s talking about it."

"We won a three-versus-five," Ken said proudly. "And this idiot can apparently use every class in existence."

"Ken," I muttered.

"What? You literally used Shadow Leap." 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

"Uh..."

The student looked back at me with visible curiosity now.

"And he’s Ambly-Blessed too," Ken added.

"Oh, Ambly..." the student muttered dreamily while staring upward. "What I wouldn’t give for her blessing."

I immediately cleared my throat before this conversation became even more uncomfortable.

"Right. Thanks for the reservation," I said quickly. "We’ll come back later."

The student nodded, and Ken followed me back into the corridor.

Students continued moving through the halls around us, though the mood inside the academy still felt off. Groups whispered quietly among themselves, and every now and then someone glanced toward me before quickly looking away.

Honestly, I couldn’t blame them.

An elven attack inside the academy arena was the kind of thing people remembered for years.

And their plan had nearly worked perfectly too. They had trapped the Queen inside the barrier while isolating everyone already inside the arena. The only reason things went wrong for them was because I happened to be there when the attack started.

Considering my luck lately, though, maybe that shouldn’t have surprised me.

Then again, nearly dying to elves still ranked below getting murdered by my girlfriend’s goddess mother on the list of worst experiences in my life.

"So," Ken said as we turned down the hallway leading toward our room, "you and the Queen..."

I already knew where this was going. "No."

"You didn’t even let me finish."

"You were about to say something stupid."

He grinned shamelessly. "She personally brought you to the palace. And you’re blessed by the Goddess of Lust. I’m just saying maybe she wanted—"

"No," I cut in immediately. "Maybe in my dreams, though."

"Really?"

"Yep."

Ken burst out laughing as we finally reached our room.

The moment we stepped inside, I dropped onto my bed with a quiet groan and stared at the ceiling for a second.

Unfortunately, relaxing reminded me of another problem entirely.

The system.

People in this world only had one class. Rangers stayed Rangers. Mages stayed Mages. That was simply how things worked here.

Meanwhile, I was casually combining multiple classes together like some kind of broken game mechanic.

And if the elves who escaped yesterday started asking questions about the human student using impossible abilities, I had a feeling my life was about to become much more complicated.

"We still have two hours before the showers," Ken said while sitting on his own bed. "Want to grab food?"

I thought about my remaining silver and immediately decided against it.

"Let’s just wait for dinner."

"Fair enough."

"Actually," I added, sitting up again, "I wanted to buy a few things before then. Do you know any decent shops nearby?"

Ken nodded immediately. "I was planning to buy armor anyway. Come with me. I know some cheap blacksmiths that sell decent gear."

"That works." I stood up and started removing the academy uniform carefully so I wouldn’t irritate my shoulder again. "Let me change first."

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