147 Oh man, it is really hard playing the villain...

\"His name is not One, like our teacher claim to be. His name is Zero and he is the first ability holder that has ever lived. I have come across countless ancient documents describing him and his achievements.

Unfortunately, I have no idea why our teachers decided to cover this up, but I have some guesses. You see, recently I have uncovered some interesting facts that pointing at our dear teacher Ms Snow is actually working with the-\"

\"Objection!\" Linri rose from his seat and made a Phoenix Wright pose as everyone turned to look at him. Wasn't that the lunatic that stood up to the terrorist? What's he planning now? Of course, at the time Linri was thinking how damn cool he looked.

He was in his usual black edgy get up. It was almost as if he was screaming that he was a bad boy, or at least he looked like a wannabe.

\"As I was saying before-\" Elvario looked at Linri just like others, yet he thought he was just looking for trouble so he continued his speech.

\"I am sorry to interrupt you, Prez... well, I am not really sorry, but I have to stop you right there. I can see where this is going. You are going to accuse Ms. Snow with colluding with the Renegades, right? That's a pretty serious accusation, ain't it?\"

Elvario looked perplexed. He couldn't see where Linri was going with this.

\"Yes, that was what I-\"

\"Then, before you embarrass yourself, do you have any proof to back up your accusation? I think Ms. Snow might very well be an angel in disguise,\" Linri said as he started to walk towards the stage.

\"Yes, but-\"

\"Yeah yeah, people need to be aware and she needs to be investigated and stuff, but why should they? Just because of the words of a single student? How do we know that you are not the mole from Renegades?\"

\"Can you sto-\"

\"Nope, I can't stop cutting your sentences in half,\" Linri said sarcastically.

Elvario was becoming redder and redder with each second. He did not like how this lunatic was treating him. It was a wonder that he didn't start screaming at him yet.

The teachers, on the other hand, were watching this spectacle with quite the interest, especially Richard who liked all sorts of conflict. If he could he would- Wait, he already had a bucket of popcorn on his arms!

Linri climbed to the stage. Zave wanted to intervene, but Richard stopped him.

\"Prez, I know you have the best intentions in your mind, but think of the situation from the others' perspective. Because of your words, they are going to doubt a respected teacher. They might even take this a step further and start doubting each other. What you are doing is creating a civil war. I know you are immortal and lived for centuries, but this is not the way to do things, now is it?\"

When Linri revealed that Elvario had lived for centuries students started to chatter among each other. Elvario did not like the fact that someone was revealing his personal information. He was this close to blowing up, but then he took a deep breath and calmed down.

\"You are right. I was wrong in the way I handled the situation, so I have to apologise for my previous conduct. Though, I can't help but wonder, how would you have handled the situation if you were on my shoes?\"

Linri was honestly baffled by the degree of self-control Elvario was exhibiting as he just threw the ball into his court. What he said was right and Linri never disagreed with it, he just changed the public perspective of the situation. Noticing this fact, he wanted Linri to admit to that fact and gain back some credibility.

Linri could not help but smile. He liked Elvario because of this. He was too smart for his own good and, in the future, this was going to be his downfall. You just can't provoke the final boss of the game during the tutorial.

\"Me? I would just tell them to suck it up and get stronger! That's why we are here in the first place, isn't it? It doesn't matter if the school is attacked or someone here is a mole. The world is dictated by the whims of the strong. So, if you don't like this fact, just become strong so that you would be the ones making the decisions. Look at them, who here had guts to stand up when we were attacked? If they keep being protected like flowers in a greenhouse they will just die in the real world. So I would much rather be a weed in the wild than be like them, at least that was what I would say if I were in your shoes.\"

Linri managed to draw aggro into himself and managed to divert the public attention to himself. He had to play the villain because they couldn't antagonise Snow just yet. Just like he said, you can't provoke the final boss during the tutorial.

The crowd started to get heated and teachers finally had to step in to defuse the situation.

\"Everyone, please be seated in silence,\" said Ms. Snow with a megaphone she took out from who knows where. The students sat there in silence, but it was obvious they were still not happy with what Linri just said. Oh man, it really was hard playing the villain... actually can it really be called playing when he was an actual villain?

\"Why are you guys looking at me that way? If you don't like what I said we can always let our fists do the talking. Of course, that's assuming you can even get close to land a punch.\"

[Fire Ball]

Linri created a fireball behind him and used [Flame Manipulation] to change its shape to flip the bird at them.

The students who were silent got riled up once more.

\"Silence!\" Ms Snow used the megaphone again.

\"Mr. Harclaw, this is your first warning. If you act unbecomingly of a gentleman again I will have to give you detention, so please stop provoking them,\" Ms. Snow couldn't help but warn him. However, from her expression, it was obvious that she liked this chaos very much.

\"I am sorry, Ms. Snow. It won't happen again.\"

\"Good. Assembly dismissed.\"

\"Assembly dismissed!\" No one was leaving so Ms. Snow had to repeat it again with the megaphone. Goddamit! His ears were going deaf from the sound! Did she really have to do that right next to his ear?

Now that people started to get up and leave Linri started to think of a way to get out of this place. It's not like he was afraid of getting beat up. No, he was actually stronger than 90% of the student base here. Against ability users, he had his buffed attributes and against attribute users, he had his broken primary ability. He was currently in the sweet spot where only a select few can actually hold a candle to him. Still, that didn't mean that he wanted to fight each and every one of them. That would take too much time! Then again, they would probably give up after beating up four or five of them... but still.

\"Was that really a smart idea to anger them?\" Elvario asked him. He was honestly curious about the boy in front of him. He looked like your run of the mill ruffian, but he was a really good talker. He also wanted to learn the reason why he decided to get involved. He had to assess if he was just some idiot or if there was something more going on.

\"Easy for you to say considering you are the one that put me in that situation. Also, are you out of your goddamn mind!? Why would you try to go against the school itself?\"

\"They were lying and someone needed to shed light into the situation.\"

\"Duh! Of course, they are lying! I am the one who informed them about Zero and Renegades in the first place.\"

\"You did? Then why did you speak up for them? Wouldn't it be better if they learnt the truth?\"

\"Of course not! You only know one side of the coin. Zero attacked the school because of a divine revelation. Exposing him would mean going against the Church of the Sun. Also, Renegades are planning an attack on the school, so of course, it would be better to put the blame on them. That way it would seem as if the school only has a single enemy while there are actually multiple. At least that is my take on the situation. So, for the love of Solas, can you stop stirring the pot?\"

\"Solas?\"

\"Just a god I am worshipping. Anyway, if you are done, I still need to find a way to get out.\" Linri shooed Elvario away with his hand. That was quite rude, but Elvario didn't take it to heart.

\"I can help you with that,\" he said with a mysterious smile.