Villain Retirement

"Why can I not attend your class, Professor Riley? I am one of your original students. This treatment is hardly fair."

"It is out of my control, Princess Esme. A lot of things were out of my control as soon as I landed on Theran."

Riley and Esme were once again in the hallways of the large castle. This time, however, they were clearly no longer lost as they stood in front of a door.

"But why is Zac going in with you?"

"I… I have been ordered to follow Lord Riley as much as I possibly can, Your Highness. I would trade places with you if I could, please believe me."

"..."

Princess Esme had heard the deal between Princess Tifa and Riley, about serving as a professor to her daughter, and to her daughter's friends. And of course, as someone who still pretty much considers Riley as her professor, Esme wanted to sit in during the trial class.

"Then what am I to do here, Professor Riley?" Princess Esme then started looking around, but not really looking at anything in particular, "I came here to learn by your side about the world."

"I suppose you could try and search for Aerith, Princess Esme?" Riley squinted his eyes as he looked at Esme, "Perhaps let her know of our presence in the castle if you do?"

"..." Esme let out a small hum as she looked down. But after a few more breaths of contemplating, she nodded,

"Should I try and free her?" She asked.

"No," Riley immediately shook his head in response, "Princess Tifa and I have a deal. I would like to know the outcome of that first, as she told me she would try and convince her brother to reconsider his decision to execute Aerith."

"But if the deal does not push through?" Esme's eyes started to squint.

"Then I suppose we follow mother's supposed plan," Riley nodded, "We will create chaos."

"Very well," Princess Esme nodded, "I will see you again later, Professor Riley."

"Hm."

"...Is it really alright to leave Her Highness walking around alone like that?" And while Riley just casually waved his hand to bid Esme farewell, Zac could not help but take in a very large gulp, 

"She is basically a walking weapon of the other nation. Wait…" Zac's eyes then suddenly squinted as he realized something, "Come to think of it, maybe Hel is deliberately ignoring her as a show of power?"

"Maybe," Riley shrugged, "But I am not really interested in the politics of the themarians, Star Sergeant Zac. Our priority is to meet Aerith, nothing else."

"...What about your daughter?" The tone of Zac's voice slightly lowered as he stood closer to Riley, "Is she not a priority?"

"No," Riley shook his head without any hesitation, "You might not have noticed while she was in the Order of the Grand Militia's care, but Karina is strong."

"Hm…" Zac could really only breathe out as he didn't push the topic any further. He then looked at the door… and looking at it some more.

"...Aren't we entering?"

"We are. But it is not yet time for my class."

"Th—"

"I give up! You and your friends are unteachable!"

And before Zac could respond to Riley, the door suddenly swung open—brushing past Riley's nose by an inch as someone hurriedly stepped out of the room.

"..." The woman abruptly stopped as she saw Riley standing there and blocking her path. But after a few seconds of them looking at each other, the woman let out a very long and deep sigh,

"It's better for you not to enter that room. These children are… these children are monsters in the guise of themarians!"

And with those words, the woman just ran; disappearing from the hallway in almost an instant.

"Well, that can't be a good sign," Zac turned to look at Riley. Riley, however, did not seem to think much of it as he calmly stepped inside the room. And as he did so, every themarian inside all quickly looked away and just started doing their own thing—some even sitting on top of their desks and talking to each other.

No one was acknowledging his presence. Well, there is one that was obviously looking at him, Gary, who flinched and looked away as soon as he saw Riley looking at him. Gary seemed to want to leave, but since he was the only one sitting at the front of the class, he wouldn't really be able to.

"..." Riley then scanned the students to see if the people bullying Gary were in the class, but the only one he could really recognize was Princess Tifa's daughter, Claudyne. Riley was already informed before, but it would seem that Claudyne and her peers truly did not value anyone's time.

Zac continued to watch as the students continued to ignore Riley, not even glancing at him for even a single second.

"Wouldn't… you fail to even uphold the deal if this continues?"

"We're only just starting, Star Sergeant Zac," Riley then took a step forward, before clapping his hands together, "Attention."

His voice, and even his clap weren't even loud; but all the chairs, the desks, and even the entire room started to tremble as his words began to ripple across the air. And with this sudden quake, one of the students sitting on his desk almost fell buttocks first on the floor.

And finally, everyone stopped whatever it was they were doing and all turned their heads toward their new professor.

Claudyne, who was seated at the furthest seat at the back surrounded by her peers, squinted her eyes to try and get a good look at Riley to size him up; but after a few breaths, her eyes started to widen.

"You!?" Claudyne stood up and pointed at Riley, "You're the professor mother was talking about!?"

"Now that I have everyone's attention, let me introduce myself," Riley, however, completely ignored her and instead started scanning everyone's faces, "My name is Professor Riley Ross, you may call me Professor Ross and I will be your professor for the day, as personally requested by Princess Tifa."

"Lies!" Claudyne slammed her desk, causing it to split in half, "Why would even mother choose someone from Varoif!?"

"Princess Tifa and I have a deal that I can not discuss with you or anyone in this room, Lady Claudyne," Riley's voice remained calm even as Claudyne's voice started to fill up the entire class,

"She became aware of my short venture into the academics at the Supreme College of Varoif. And therefore, I am here."

"You don't—"

"Why should we learn from someone obviously weaker than us?"

And before Claudyne could continue her outburst, another student stood up from his seat. And judging from the smirk on his face and the side glances she was giving Claudyne; it was obvious for even someone like Riley to realize that he was doing this to impress her.

"..." Zac, who was quietly standing on the side, slowly approached Riley,

"I don't think they know that you are a Champion Sergeant of the Order, Lord Riley," Zac then leaned closer to Riley and whispered into his ear, "Even if I know that someone just hacked our system and placed you there, they don't. And if they knew of your ranking, none of them would even dare to try anything against you."

"Hm…"

"Especially at their age, they would shit their pants if they knew who you are; I think the best course of action is to reveal that," Zac said before returning to stand on the side. For some reason, he was slightly getting irritated and pissed by the way the students were treating Riley. Even if it was fake, Riley is, legally and on paper, his superior for now.

And an insult to Riley was an insult to him, as well as the Order.

"What are the two of you whispering about!? And who is that!?" The boy started pointing back and forth between Riley and Zac, "Do you think we can't hear you whispering!?"

"You can't," Riley stepped forward and started walking toward the rowdy student, "I made it so that you wouldn't hear us. What is your name, male themarian student?"

"Alain, Alain of the house of Lez!" The boy, Alain, did not back away from Riley and even stepped closer to him as he approached.

"Very well, sir Alain'Lez," Riley nodded as he stood right in front of Alain. The other students around them could really only make some space as different kinds of amused expressions started to crawl onto their faces,

"If I can prove that I am not weaker than any of you, can we proceed with the class?"

"How can you even prove anything if I can't even detect any energy from you, Riley Ross?" Alain smirked as he once again glanced at Claudyne, who only rolled her eyes in response to Alain's obvious wiles,

"But since you are so eager to prove yourself, then how about you and I perform a duel?"

"Hm," Riley could really only sigh as he heard Alain's words.

"What… don't tell me you're afraid of being hurt by one of the students you're supposed to be teaching?" Alain then suddenly burst out in laughter, causing the other students circling them to also chuckle. And as soon as Alain noticed that Claudyne was also laughing, his nose almost inflated from excitement.

"Very well, Alain'Lez," Riley then nodded as he started walking back to the front of the class,

"But since I am short in time as I said, let us do it here and now," Riley then said as he placed his hand behind his back, "I do not know how these duels proceed yet…

…so why don't you start it?"