My System Doesn't Give Power

"And here I thought I would never have come back here again," Zac said sleepily, slouching in his chair.

Marty, sitting beside him, nodded. "Yeah, me too. Just two days ago, she said it would be our last regular class. Then early this morning, she suddenly messaged all of us and told us to come here."

"What do you think happened?" Marty added.

"Who knows?" Zac replied with a shrug. "She just ordered everyone to show up."

Adrian turned around in his seat and placed a hand dramatically over his chest, as usual.

"I belong to one of the highest-ranking noble families in the world. For heaven’s sake, does she not understand that someone of my status requires a formal invitation before being summoned at such short notice?"

He shook his head with a wounded expression. "This is nothing short of an affront to my pride and noble dignity."

Shobin glanced toward the classroom entrance. "There must be some kind of emergency if she called all of us here."

"We’re only first-years, Shobin," Daniel replied. "An emergency serious enough to concern the academy wouldn’t require our involvement."

"That’s right," Kelly added. "And if it were truly urgent, they could have simply sent us a message instead of gathering everyone here."

She then looked toward Sabrina. "What do you think, Snow?"

Sabrina sat calmly in her seat with her eyes closed. "I think all of you should shut up and wait for Miss Matilda to explain it herself. Instead of wasting time speculating, why don’t you meditate and improve your Mana control?"

Hearing her reasoning, Zac commented from the back, "This is why you should never attempt to have a conversation with an ice cube."

Without even turning around, Sabrina replied, "No one asked for your opinion."

Zac snorted but did not respond.

Before anyone could resume talking, the sharp sound of heels echoed from outside the classroom, and everyone immediately straightened in their seats.

Matilda entered the room and stopped behind the teacher’s desk. Unlike her usual smiling self, her expression was completely solemn.

She surveyed the students for a moment before speaking. "I have one piece of news and one question for all of you."

The unfamiliar severity in her voice made several students shift uneasily in their seats. "The news is that ten second-year students were recently killed by an unidentified person."

The entire classroom fell deathly silent.

Each student reacted differently. Some looked visibly shocked, while others exchanged uncertain glances.

Matilda calmly scrutinized every face in the room, paying particular attention to the strongest students.

However, Zac, Sabrina, and Daniel, who were widely regarded as the strongest members of the class, showed no discernible reaction. Their expressions remained composed, almost as though they had heard nothing unusual.

Shobin slowly raised his hand. "Ma’am, could you elaborate? There hasn’t been any mention of this on the academy website."

"Of course there hasn’t," Matilda replied. "Do you think the academy would publicly announce something this dreadful before determining what happened or identifying the perpetrator?"

She paused briefly. "Yesterday evening, the bodies of ten second-year students were discovered inside the Summer and Winter Realm."

Daniel frowned. "Ma’am, are you suggesting that because we spent the past week inside the realm, we may have been responsible?"

"I never said you were responsible or even suspects. I merely want to know whether one of my students happens to be a murderer in disguise."

[Such unwavering faith in her students is truly inspiring.]

Zac thought, "She has only known us for a little over a month. What else did you expect?"

Shobin spoke again. "Ma’am, simply being inside the same realm doesn’t mean any of us killed them, does it?"

"It isn’t merely because you were inside the same realm, Shobin." Matilda’s gaze swept across the classroom.

"All ten students had been punished for a particular offense and confined within the prison section of the Crimson Snowy Wasteland. They only had a few days remaining before their sentences ended."

"However, instead of waiting for their release, they escaped from their cells while your class was inside the realm."

She folded her arms and continued.

"Rather than attempting to leave the realm, they remained within it and began roaming the surrounding region. Their bodies were later discovered in the same area where several members of this class had been teleported."

"Their estimated time of death was approximately one day before your class returned. That naturally makes everyone who was sent to the Crimson Snowy Wasteland a primary suspect."

The atmosphere inside the room immediately grew heavier.

Marty, Daniel, Adrian, Shobin, and the other students who had been transported to the Bluish Hellfire Wasteland visibly relaxed.

Those who had been sent to the crimson region, however, remained tense.

Daniel raised his hand again. "Ma’am, even if the academy considers us suspects, they were still second-year students. Shouldn’t they have been considerably stronger than us? How could anyone here have killed all ten?"

"You’re correct," Matilda replied. "But that argument would only hold if every student in this class were an ordinary first-year."

She slowly looked around the room. "I know for a fact that several students here are capable of fighting second-years and even defeating more than one of them."

Her gaze settled on Daniel. "You are one of those students."

Daniel fell silent.

"Besides, the ten who died were hardly among the strongest second-years. They were bottom-feeders who relied on numbers and seniority to intimidate weaker students."

A trace of disdain entered Matilda’s voice. "They had a reputation for bullying first-years. Nearly anyone in this classroom could defeat one of them in a one-on-one fight."

Her eyes then shifted toward Sabrina and Zac. "You two are among the strongest first-year students New Dawn Academy has seen in years."

Hearing that, the other students gradually turned toward them. "I’m certain neither of you would have much difficulty dealing with those ten."

Matilda looked between them. "So tell me. Did either of you have anything to do with their deaths?"

Neither Sabrina nor Zac showed the slightest disturbance.

"No, ma’am," Sabrina answered calmly, and Zac also shook his head. "No."

At his denial, Matilda’s attention shifted entirely toward Zac. "Mr. Delencore, didn’t you have a personal grudge against one of the second-year students who was killed?"

Zac looked up at her with an innocent expression. "I’m not sure what you mean, ma’am. As far as I know, I’ve never caused trouble for anyone."

Nearly everyone in the classroom rolled their eyes.

"Is that so?" Matilda asked. "Didn’t you have a minor altercation with a second-year student in the marketplace a few days ago?"

"Oh, you mean that?" Zac raised an eyebrow. "It was merely a small skirmish between fellow students. Hardly enough to establish a motive for murder."

He leaned back slightly. "Sir Simon can attest to that."

"So you’re certain you know nothing about their deaths?"

Zac shook his head.

"In that case, let me clarify something for you." Matilda tapped her fingers against the desk. "The student who confronted you in the marketplace was among the ten victims. He was also the leader of that pitiful little gang."

She continued, "The reason he was imprisoned in the first place was for bullying first-year students. That gives you a plausible motive and makes you one of the primary suspects."

Zac shrugged. "First of all, I wasn’t the reason he ended up in prison. His own actions put him there. I merely helped the academy notice them."

[Public service at its finest.]

"You humiliated him in a public marketplace, wounding his pride and giving him a clear motive to retaliate. While you were inside the Summer and Winter Realm, he seized the opportunity to escape, freed nine other prisoners, and formed a group of ten."

She looked directly at Zac.

"Instead of fleeing the realm, they entered the region where the first-year students had been teleported and attempted to kill you. However, they underestimated your strength."

Her gaze sharpened. "Rather than killing you, all ten of them were killed instead. What do you think of that theory?"

Zac nodded calmly. "It’s a compelling theory." Then he added, "But it still doesn’t prove I was responsible. Because I wasn’t."

Matilda slowly tapped the desk once more before lifting her tablet. Images of the deceased students appeared across the classroom displays.

"Every one of them was killed with a sword." She tilted her head toward Zac. "And unless I’m mistaken, you’re also a swordsman."

"I don’t know what you’re trying to imply, ma’am." Zac glanced around at the students staring at him.

"Being killed by a sword doesn’t automatically make me the culprit. There are hundreds of swordsmen within this academy and millions more beyond it."

One student hesitantly raised his hand. "He also uses lightning. Were there any traces of lightning at the scene?"

"Fortunately, or unfortunately, no," Matilda replied. "We found no distinct elemental residue."

"The Summer and Winter realms behave unpredictably when it comes to elemental energy. Any traces that may have existed had already dissipated by the time the bodies were discovered."

[And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what mortals call escaping by the skin of your teeth.]

"Don’t celebrate yet," Zac replied inwardly.

Matilda studied him for another moment. "I sincerely hope you’re telling the truth, Mr. Delencore."

She then turned toward the rest of the class.

"The VSBs belonging to the deceased students have already been examined. Their location records were, in fact, what allowed us to discover the bodies."

Several students shifted uneasily. "This afternoon, the location histories of every student in this class will also be reviewed."

Zac’s expression remained unchanged.

[Now might be an excellent time to say, ’Oh, fuck.’]

Matilda’s voice grew colder. "I hope none of my students were involved. Remember, New Dawn Academy strictly enforces its three cardinal rules."

"If any of you are found guilty, expulsion will be the least of your concerns. You will be charged by the association with the murder of ten variants."

She swept her gaze across the classroom.

"Killing fellow variants without legitimate justification is considered one of the most reprehensible offenses in the variant world. No reputable organization will recruit you, and no academy will agree to train you."

"And even if you somehow rise to prominence on your own, no major faction will willingly associate itself with you."

Matilda gave the class one final, piercing look. "If convicted, your future will effectively be over."

She picked up her tablet. "That is all. You may leave." Without allowing any questions, Matilda turned and walked out of the classroom.

The moment her figure disappeared down the corridor, the room erupted into chatter.