Damian Desmond

"Is that you, Mr. Forger?"

Karen called out, pretending to be groggy, then rubbed his eyes.

Twilight quickly ducked behind a bicycle parked nearby, blending into the darkness.

After rubbing his eyes, Karen took another careful look ahead. By then, Twilight was already hidden.

"Am I seeing things because I'm drunk?"

Karen delivered a stellar performance, looking no different from an actual drunk as his flashlight beam swept back and forth around him.

The beam skimmed past Twilight several times. His heart pounded so hard he could hear it echoing in his ears.

The flashlight beam suddenly stopped beside the bicycle he was hiding behind, and Twilight's heart leaped into his throat.

Do I have to fight? The plan is already complete. Getting out is my top priority.

He was ready, a handful of dirt prepared to throw the instant he was discovered before making a quick escape.

"Is that a cat?" Karen muttered to himself. He crouched down and reached for the bicycle seat.

Just then, a cat darted out of the nearby bushes with a piercing yowl, its orange figure shooting past like lightning.

Karen pretended to be startled and staggered backward. His flashlight hit the ground with a clatter that sounded especially harsh in the quiet night.

"What the hell? Which teacher left this cat here?!"

Twilight seized the chance to run. He slipped through a patch of bushes and quickly climbed onto the roof of a nearby building.

He glanced back. Karen was still struggling with the cat and seemed not to have noticed his departure.

Twilight recalled the map of Eden Academy, established his position, then found his way out from memory. He returned to where he had hidden his coat and put it back on.

"I almost got caught. Mr. Karen really is alert. Even drunk, he can still move that well. I'd better avoid letting him spot me in the future."

Recalling what had just happened, Twilight felt a lingering chill of fear.

Karen had been far too perceptive for someone that drunk. If there hadn't actually been a cat in the bushes, Twilight would have been in trouble.

He couldn't imagine how much pressure he would be under if he had to face a sober Karen.

Karen had displayed incredible speed and strength during admissions, and now he had demonstrated extraordinary perception as well. He was practically an all-round powerhouse.

Even now, Twilight hadn't realized Karen was faking it. His drunken act had been too convincing: the stumbling steps, the flushed face, the swaying body...

He had looked exactly like a drunk on the street.

"Phew... Eden Academy really does live up to its reputation. Even its teachers have extraordinary skills." Twilight collected himself, walked briskly until he was a kilometer away from Eden Academy, then hailed a taxi home.

Meanwhile, Karen was carrying a cat from door to door in the teachers' dormitory, asking around.

Time flew. Two days passed in the blink of an eye, and Eden Academy's opening day was almost upon them.

The headmaster stood in the center of the assembly hall. Directly in front of him was a semicircle of tiered seating occupied by the first-year students and their parents.

Teachers such as Henry and Karen stood behind the headmaster.

Karen felt that the headmaster looked less like a headmaster and more like a preacher. His words made that clear enough.

"You are all chosen ones. Through your own efforts and those of your guardians, you have distinguished yourselves amid the fierce competition at Eden Academy and earned your place here."

"To our two hundred honored new students-congratulations on your admission!"

"Everyone at Eden Academy extends you a heartfelt welcome!!"

The longer Karen watched, the more it looked like a mass manipulation session.

It was just like an interviewer making grand promises to fresh-faced university graduates.

Seated in the stands, Twilight was deeply moved. They had finally made it this far.

Anya looked around. "Papa, there are lots of people here wearing the same clothes as Anya."

Twilight answered while lost in thought. "That's your school uniform. You have to wear it at school."

There may still be a mountain of problems, but Twilight-you are a top-class agent. This operation concerns the peace between East and West. You must succeed!

He glanced at Anya, then closed his eyes again.

Good thing I came up with plan B. With Anya's abilities, expecting her to rank near the top in a school packed with outstanding students would be asking far too much.

Beside him, Anya took a crushing blow. Even though she already knew about plan B, and even though she knew she couldn't do it, she still wanted to burst into tears.

There had to be a subject Anya was good at!! She would prove it to Papa!!

At the center of the hall, the headmaster had stepped down and the director of studies had taken his place. He looked over the students around him and the teachers behind him.

When he spotted Karen, he couldn't help shrinking back a little.

Working alongside a killing machine was terrifying enough. Worse still... one of his subordinates had a grudge against him.

"Ahem. Next, I will announce your class assignments and homeroom teachers."

"Please come forward when your name is called. First, the first house, Schezbecket House. Theodore Russell..."

"Next, the second house..."

Anya sat excitedly in the stands. "Which class will Anya be in?"

Twilight replied gently, "I don't know either, but we should find out soon."

"Next, Damian Desmond!"

As the director of studies called his name, a handsome boy with brown hair that curled slightly at the ends walked forward.

His gaze was haughty, like a lion surveying his territory.

And he had every reason to be, because he was the son of the leader of the National Unity Party!

Twilight fixed his eyes on the boy. The male lead of plan B, "Operation Get Along," had appeared.

"Next, Anya Forger!"

Twilight withdrew his gaze and looked gently at Anya beside him. "Go on."