“Oho~” Ewan Krueger, the Homeroom teacher of Class F, looked at the little girl that was seated beside William with great interest. “Ms. Gremory, aren’t you supposed to be in Class C?”
“Y-Yes,” Chiffon replied as she lowered her head.
Ewan adjusted his glasses when he saw the uneasiness of the little girl, who had her head bowed. A smile appeared on his face as he thought of an idea.
“Ms. Gremory, would you like to stay in our class for the time being?” Ewan inquired. “I’ll talk to your Homeroom Teacher and ask for a Class Transfer.”
Chiffon raised her head in surprise. The Professor in Class C was a woman in her early thirties, and she had shown open dislike to Chiffon after being in her class for three months. In the end, the Professor even hinted to Chiffon that there was no need for her to continue coming to class.
She even added that Chiffon should just do self study in her room because she was dirtying the air in her classroom.
After that day, Chiffon stopped coming to classes and just wandered the Academy during class hours.
Ewan had heard about her circumstance and he pitied the little girl, but he was just a professor in the Academy. There were some things that he could, and couldn’t do. Now that an opportunity had presented itself, he planned to execute the plan he had thought of long ago, and that was to bring Chiffon to his classroom to study.
“C-Can I really stay here?” Chiffon asked back.
The boys and girls inside the classroom grimaced because they already knew who Chiffon was. She was the girl that had been labeled as the Trash Eater and, to be perfectly honest, some of them were disgusted with her.
“Of course you can stay here.” Ewan chuckled as he ignored the faces of the students who seemed to have eaten a rotten egg.
Clearly, they were not enthusiastic about the idea of having the Little Girl who eats trash from the Garbage Dump as their classmate.
One of the boys stood up and was about to protest, but Ewan raised his hand to cut him off before he could say anything.
“Those who don’t like the idea of Ms. Gremory staying here can leave the classroom,” Ewan declared. “I’ll be more than happy to write recommendation letters for those who want to transfer to other classes. Of course, whether the homeroom teachers of those classes will accept you will depend on your ability.”
The boy’s words got stuck in his throat. He gave Chiffon a side-long glance before going back to his seat.
They were students of Class F.
The rejects of the Third Years, and no other classes would want to accept them into their ranks. Even if they succeeded, there was a high chance that they would get ganged up on and bullied by their classmates after a day or two of their transfer.
They would rather endure Chiffon’s presence than suffer humiliation from the noble households of the Kraetor Empire.
William stood up from his seat. He already knew how the students of the Academy saw Chiffon, so he had already expected this outcome. The Half-Elf didn’t expect that Professor Ewan would extend the pitiful girl an olive branch and accept her into his class.
Since an opportunity had presented itself, William would be foolish if he were to let this go. But for now, he needed to pacify his classmates in order to prevent any problems from happening in the future.
“I know what all of you are thinking,” William said as he scanned the faces of his classmates. “This girl beside me is the one that this Academy has labeled Trash Eater.”
Chiffon’s body shuddered because she felt the stares of everyone in the room gathered onto her.
“I intend to erase this label from her,” WIlliam declared as he placed his hand over the head of the little girl who was on the verge of crying. “From now on, I will be this girl’s caretaker. I will give you my word that she will never go to the Garbage Dump again. I will also ensure that she looks presentable at all times.”
William paused as he pulled the little girl close to him, to give her some encouragement.
“I know that it will not be easy for any of you to accept her, because of the things she had done in the past,” William said softly. “All I ask is that you give her a chance. We are Class F. We are the discarded students of this academy. Right now, Chiffon is one of those discarded students. Having said that, isn’t this classroom a place where she should belong?”
William’s words resonated within the hearts of his classmates because what he said was true. However, some of them were still reluctant to accept the little girl into their fold.
The Half-Elf knew that he needed to give them one more push in order to get their consent, and allow Chiffon to study together with them.
“Every quarter of the year there is a Class Performance Assessment,” William stated. “How about this? I will make sure that our class will get the highest Merit Points this month.”
William smirked. “Don’t you want to taste that feeling of looking down on those other classes who treat us as trash? Once we become the Academy’s Top Class for the Third Year, all of them will not be able to say anything. That also goes for Class A.”
The boy who stood earlier pointed his hand at William and sneered.
“Hah? Become this month’s top ranker? I thought you were going to say something good, but you’re just spouting nonsense,” the boy said in disdain. “If you can really make us the Top Rankers then I will call you Boss.
“However, if you fail to keep your words, how about you become my servant for a month? Don’t worry, I will treat you fairly.”
William nodded. “Okay. If our class fails to snatch the top spot this month, I’ll be your servant for a month. Professor Ewan, and the rest of you will be the witness of this bet.”
“Don’t regret your words, Ainsworth.”
“I’m doing this because I don’t want to regret anything. Just wait and see.”
William sat down and held Chiffon’s hand under the desk. “Don’t worry. Leave everything to me.”
Chiffon looked at the hand holding her own and nodded her head. William’s hands were big, encompassing her own. It was also rough due to calluses, but it was warm.
The little girl felt that she didn’t mind if William were to hold her hand like this more often. In fact, she preferred it if he would always hold her hand. That way, she would feel that she was not alone in the world.
“Oh my~ what a bold declaration.” Professor Ewan clapped his hand. “Getting the top spot in the Quarterly Class Assessment is no easy feat. I will definitely get a raise if that were to happen. Mr. Ainsworth, please, do your best. My salary increase depends on you.”
William gave the professor a soldier’s salute, and the latter did the same. The girls giggled because the comedic exchange dispersed the tension in the air. The boys also breathed a sigh of relief because the confrontation ended.
“Chiffon, I already promised everyone that I will be your caretaker,” William said. “Please, promise everyone that for the duration of this school year, you will no longer go to the Garbage Dump. Don’t worry, I will ensure that you don’t go hungry while I am around.”
Chiffon raised her head to look straight at William’s eyes. She was looking for any signs of deceit in William’s words, but found none. The little girl nodded her head and stood up from her seat.
“I, Chiffon Val Gremory, hereby swear that I will no longer go to the Garbage Dump for the rest of the school year,” Chiffon swore in front of everyone in the room. “I will do my best, so please, allow me to stay here.”
Chiffon bowed her head before going back to her seat.
The students of Class F exchanged glances before nodding at each other. They had decided to give William and Chiffon a chance. Although they didn’t expect their class to hold the top spot for the month, they still wanted to see if the Half-Elf would be able to keep his promise.
The Academy had a special test every quarter of the month. The students would get merit points depending on how well they performed during the week the test would be held.
They could choose to do a written exam, a commission from the Academy, or a quest from the adventurer’s guild. They could even do all three at once. It doesn’t matter what they chose, as long as the points they gathered were sufficient.
All the points of the class would then be pooled together and the outcome would become the overall Class Merit Points. The highest one within their respective year would be deemed as the Classroom of the Elites, and would be given special privileges.
William had already thought of a way to earn as many Merit Points as possible during that one week assessment. Even if his classmates underperformed, he was sure that he would be able to carry their class to the top.
“Can you really do it, Big Brother?” Chiffon asked.
William lightly squeezed the small hand that he was holding as he returned Chiffon’s gaze. “It’s not a matter of whether I can do it or not.”
“It’s I Will.”
