The Greed of Kronos

Upcoming Event

Sixty: Upcoming Event

The dining table was fun, and the exi was in a very good mood while talking about their first day at their own clubs, except for one person who was utterly disappointed with the thought that she seemed to be the only one worrying about the upcoming event.

Hence, when she had already reached her patience, that particular student placed down her snack and cleared her throat to gain everyone’s attention before crossing her arms and opening her mouth. “But we all are too lax, are we not?”

With that being said, everyone fell into silence. It was just a moment ago when everyone was laughing merrily and was actively chattering with each other. But then, when someone cleared their throat and suddenly spoke, everyone shut their mouths and looked at the owner of the voice.

“Huh? What about it, Kallen?” Asisi raised a brow.

Kallen sure had a reason for breaking a good atmosphere for something so important, right? After all, Kallen was not the kind of person who would crash something just because she just felt like it. Something must have happened for her to act that way.

Seeing that everyone except for her seemed to know nothing, Kallen scowled. How could they be clueless about something so important? Were they feigning ignorance, or nothing so far was an act? More importantly, what would they gain if they were really feigning ignorance?

After a moment of pondering, Kallen separated her arms as she adjusted her glasses and looked at them. “Listen well. A senior in the imperial history club told me that the monthly exam is coming.”

As soon as Kallen uttered the words’ monthly exam’, everyone’s eyes widened as they stood up while looking at her. “What?! When?!”

The lively atmosphere for a while ago was changed into a chaotic one. Everyone was anxious in their seats, and the others were even praying that the monthly exams would not be tomorrow as they were not aware. Hence, nobody reviewed even one piece of the lesson. Had they known that there’s a monthly exam coming up, they should have been in their rooms, studying instead of talking about their funny experiences at the dining hall.

Even Kronos, who had prior experience of studying in his past life, forgot about monthly exams. He remembered diligently studying during prelim, midterm, semi-finals, and final exams. But then, when he was reborn, he forgot that exams were everywhere. Was it because all he had in mind was to protect his family and survive in his new world? Or he seriously got dumber than his past life? Just the thought of it made Kronos to cover his head with his hands, and he lay down on the table with an anxious look.

Kallen, on the other hand, replied so that they could hear the exact date clearly. “The end of the month. Specifically five days from now.”

Their burdened faces seemed to get lighter when they heard that they still had time to study before the examination day. When Kallen was done observing each of her classmate’s reactions, she realized something. She seemed to get upset over something that they were not aware of. How childish of her.

“Why are we only knowing this….” Luca dumped his phone as he acted as if he was about to cry.

All he did was to play and play. How could he possibly pass the exam even if he would study? More or less, the answer that he could write is anything related to games.

With that being said, the worried Mikhail replied as he came up with his own conclusion. “Maybe because Papa wanted to figure it out on our own? You know, being a normal student and all.”

It would be possible if they would think about it. Sir Samael tasked them to enjoy being a normal student and join a club. But joining a club was merely a step to becoming an ordinary student. As a normal student, they should be aware of the examination days, no? Hence, that must be the reason why Sir Samael never mentioned anything.

Pondering about the possibility of it being one of their missions to be a regular student, the others nodded and replied as if they were talking about themselves. “Well, that’s true.”

But if it’s the truth. Then what would happen next? With that on his mind, Asisi leaned closer towards the others and asked with a dumb expression on his face. “So, what are we going to do now?”

Hearing this, Inoa looked at Asisi and replied with her usual frowning brows. “What else? We need to study!!”

Of course, they should study. Thanks to Kallen, they could prepare for the exams longer than they expected. Within five days, they should be able to study enough to pass a subject, right? Yes. That must be it. They just need to trust and convince themselves that everything will be fine.

But Asisi was an honest lad. “Man! I suck at studying!”

The ones who had convinced themselves that everything would go their way started to drop their shoulders as soon as they heard Asisi voicing out his honest thoughts. Even though they have plenty of time to study, if they still could not study because of distractions or just that they hate studying, it would still be no good.

Seeing this, Kallen felt like it was her responsibility to take care of them since she was the one who opened up the topic. It was funny enough that demons do not have a conscience. But when it comes to the exi, Kallen could not help but to feel emotions that she does not think of other people.

“Can I suggest something?” Kallen raised her hand.

And even before she could react, all of their eyes were already on her. “Yes?”

Their eyes were sparkling as if they saw the light after wandering in the abyss for too long. Kallen may not be good at getting along with them because of her sternness and straightforward personality. She could not help but to genuinely laugh at the sight of them. They look like a bunch of puppies waiting for their food.

Kallen may not have noticed, but the other kids were agape as soon as they saw Kallen laughing genuinely.

“How about we all study together? We will be divided into two groups. The first one is the teachers and the second one is the students. You know what I mean.” She replied in a way that her good mood was showing off to others.

Hearing her suggestion, the others celebrated, and the others like Kronos nodded. The others, like Asisi and Luca, clung to Kallen as they cried heavily. “As expected for Kallen! The genius of Exi!”

They thought they were already a goner. Group Study is what they really needed the most. Thankfully, Kallen suggested it, so they should be able to survive the examination day.

“So let’s study as a group after our club activities. Let’s use the library upstairs.” Mikhail smiled as he looked at everyone while pointing at the ceiling.

When Aeria and Mikhail checked for the closed rooms to see if there was something that could be useful, they happened to stumble upon a library room. Since the Academy Library would be distracting because of the other students, it was a good thing that they had their own library in their dormitory.

“Wait! There’s a library here?!” Asisi asked with a shocked expression on his face while Kallen was pushing his face away from her shoulder.

Seeing that Kallen was struggling with the two leeches, Aeria walked towards them and pulled Asisi and Luca away from Kallen while nagging the both of them. “If you would care to wander around, then you sure would know.”

And by doing so, Luca scowled and asked why he was included while Asisi wriggled like a worm and retorted. “I don’t want to. I’m lazy!”

Seeing this, it was as if the cheerful atmosphere was back once again that some of them were laughing while looking at Asisi and Luca.

Astian even joined the fun and teased Asisi while laughing in a warm tone of voice. “Well, you can’t be lazy because starting tomorrow, we will study hard.”

“It’s for our future so let’s do our best, guys,” Mikhail added and was in high spirits.

Because their Mayor was in high spirits, they also replied with a determined look on their faces. “Yes!”

Shortly after that, they then parted ways as they went to their rooms to retire for the day. Many things happened during that day. They just got out from the Hotspot Area, they joined a club, and then Kallen announced that the exam was just around the corner.

Among the things that happened to them, the very exciting thing for Astian was the stage play. He was very excited that he could not sleep and instead did a cold reading outside their bedroom. Because Kronos got used to having someone by his side when sleeping, he too could not sleep.

The two of them ended up pulling an all-nighter as they were cold reading with their respective roles. However, even though they did not have enough sleep, the two of them were surprisingly full of energy the next day.

After their regular class, when Sir Samael dismissed the class, Mikhail stood up in the front for a moment and reminded everyone to attend the group study. The other kids then responded with a yes before teleporting towards their respective club rooms.

And as soon as they used the badge, they were inside of the little room in the club room. Specifically in front of Senior Steffi and Senior Tatiana, who seemed to be busy with some paperwork.

The first one to notice them was Senior Tatiana. And when she did, she placed down the papers and greeted them with a question. “Oh, there you two are. Are you done familiarizing your roles?”

With that being said, Astian replied as he dipped his head lowly. “Hello, Senior! Yes, we had a cold reading last night.”

The table in front of them was a mess. There were plenty of files everywhere, and even the enthusiastic Senior Steffi merely smiled at them and got back to work immediately. The drama club must be on a hectic schedule.

Hearing Astian’s response, Senior Tatiana praised them before she shifted his gaze towards the working Steffi. “Wow, you guys are so diligent. Steffi, you should learn from them.”

The comment made Senior Steffi to halt from what she was scribbling, and she looked at Senior Tatiana with disbelief as she replied. “What?! I’m the most hard-working person in the whole empire!”

“Huh? Surely you jest.” Senior Tatiana replied in a playful tone of voice.

Given the fact that they had a lot of work to do, they should never forget to joke around from time to time. Or else, they could get workaholics like the others. It’s scary to think of it.

Because it was apparent that the two of them were busy, Astian looked at the papers and offered a hand. “Ah, Senior, is there anything that we can do here? Or maybe anything that needs help?”

That way, they could at least have something to do since they were done with cold reading and even memorizing half of the script.

However, contrary to what they had expected from the seniors, they shook their heads and rejected the help. “Oh no, it’s fine. The only priority of those members that hold a role is to focus on the script. Since you two already had a run of cold reading at your dorm, then you can lounge around here until the club activity ends.”

Even though they had a mountain of works to do, they would never hand it to the other members as it was their responsibility in the first place. Hence, because they seemed to reject offers, Kronos would not be surprised if the other members were only lounging around if not carrying props or scripts.

“Alright then, thank you, Senior!” Astian replied. He, of course, respects their decision. Maybe the seniors felt like they could finish it faster if only the two of them worked.

Hence, the two of them bowed before exiting the small room. Just what Kronos imagined, the others were merely lounging around. They were focused on the role given by them. If one’s in charge of the props, then you could see tools and props in their hands. If one’s in charge of having a role on the stage, then you could see them reading on the corner or practicing with other people.

As for them, when Astian found an empty chair, he dragged Kronos, and they decided to settle down for a moment. “It sure is lively in here, right? Good thing we found a spot to settle down!”

With that being said, Kronos then looked around and simply replied. “Yep.”

Shortly after that, they then discussed if they would lounge around the club room or just go to the library of their dormitory in advance and lounge around there while waiting for the other kids.

And in the middle of their conversation, a senior with a basket in his hand approached them with a smile. “Hello, I am handing out drinks to everyone.”

The lad was a peculiar one. His hair was black, and his skin color was tan. It complimented his long nose and long lashes. Also, his smile ever so brightly that Astian could not help but to admire his beauty. “Hello, senior! Thank you for your hard work!”

Hearing this, the senior shook his head as he handed two drinks for Astian and Kronos and introduced himself while he was at it. “Oh, it’s nothing at all. Since I do not have a role to play and I’m done with the props, I tend to help in distributing snacks and drinks. I am Jurgen by the way."

Astian then accepted the drinks and replied as he introduced himself and Kronos. “Nice to meet you, Senior Jurgen! I am Astian, and this is-”

However, even before he could finish what he was about to say, Senior Jurgen cut him off as he looked at Kronos with a smile. “Kronos, right? I know the two of you since you’re the only first years here.”

“Ah, did we leave a bad impression?” Astian asked in a worried tone of voice.

It would be the worst if ever they left a bad impression. Meaning it would cause damage to Senior Tatiana’s potential.

Fortunately, that was not the case. “Oh no, not at all. It’s normal to know everyone here. We’re family, after all.”

Hearing this, Astian replied with his usual warm expression. “Senior Jurgen is such a good person- wait, Kronos?”

However, he was cut off again. And that time, it was Kronos who pulled him away from the seat, leaving Senior Jurgen behind.

“Let’s go,” Kronos replied as he was dragging Astian away.

Hearing this, Astian then replied as he let Kronos drag him away. “Huh? Hey, what about the drinks?”

That was actually not the question that he wanted to ask. However, he blurted it out because he was thinking of drinking as he was thirsty.

Thoughts aside, Kronos did not bother to reply and continued to walk, aiming at the door. They even met Senior Steffi and Senior Tatiana while they were trying to exit the club room. “Oh, Kronos, Astian?”

And that made Kronos to halt. Shortly after, he looked at the seniors and dipped his head, and bid goodbye before he continued to drag Astian. “Bye.”

“Eh? Leaving already? Alright then, have a safe trip and see you tomorrow.” Senior Steffi bid goodbye.

Upon hearing this, Astian waved at them with his free hand and bid goodbye. “See you tomorrow too, Seniors!”

Astian may not know what Kronos was thinking about, but he had a good hunch that Kronos discovered something bad at the Drama Club.