The Author's POV

7:32 P.M. Section B, Lock

Walking along the corridors that lead towards the professors office area, inside of the main building of the B section, I couldn't help but feel lost.

The corridors of the building seemed to stretch endlessly, and the numerous office spaces made it hard for me to find the exact location of Donna's office.

...I didn't know if this was because she was too humble or that she couldn't be bothered, but Donna, one of the few ranked heroes in the academy, decided to have a regular office.

One that was mixed within the masses of offices in the building.

"Office number 948...949...950...951...and it should be this one"

Arriving in front of an office space with the number 952 displayed on the side, I made sure to double-check with the data on my phone before knocking.

-Knock! -Knock!

...Didn't want to end up knocking on the wrong door.

"Come in"

A couple of seconds after knocking, Donna's crisp and pleasant voice traveled from the other side of the door.

"Excuse me..."

Heeding her order, opening the door, I soon spotted Donna sitting on her desk going through a pile of files. Without glancing at me, wearing a pair of glasses, Donna's brows were knit in a tight frown.

-Clank!

Closing the door behind me, I patiently waited by the side. It would be better if I didn't disturb her as she looked busy with something...

As Donna was busy sorting out some papers, I couldn't but glance at the office. It was rather small. About the size of a bedroom.

Decorations were sparse as apart from a calendar on the side of the wall, everything looked rather plain and boring.

...Right, there was also a small plushie next to her gray sofa on the side of the office. The lighting was also not that great. Altough there was a large window on the other side of the office, it was currently nighttime, hence why it was dark outside.

On top of the office, a small lamp lit the office space, however, its power wasn't very strong as the corner of the rooms were dark.

It was kind of sad.

"huuu...done."

Five minutes after I came in, exhaling slightly, Donna finally finished what she was doing. Stretching her arms, Donna took off her glasses revealing her two amethyst-like eyes.

Noticing that she was done, I coughed a couple of times to get her attention.

"keumm...keuhmm...excuse me?"

Surprised by my voice, Donna's brows shot up. Soon after, her head snapped in my direction.

"huh?"

Spotting me waiting in the corner of the room, Donna couldn't help but freeze for a couple of seconds. Shortly after, lightly sighing as she massaged her forehead, she apologized.

"sigh...I'm sorry, I was so immersed with my work that I didn't know notice you"

Smiling understandably, I shook my head

"It's okay"

I too had those kinds of moments where I would forget everything that was around me and immerse myself in my work.

...It was understandable.

Altough she did respond to my knocking, it seems like, at that time, she had subconsciously responded without being aware of the situation.

Plus, it's not like I could really get angry at Donna. She was after all a <S> ranked hero in the Hero ranking.

With just a glance she could flatten me on the ground...yeah, let's not get on her bad side.

Glancing at me from her desk, with her brows still knit, Donna asked

"...So what have you come here for?"

"I'm here to submit my application for the exchange"

Taking out the sheet she had given to us this morning, I showed it to her. Everything from top to bottom was filled.

"Yes, there was that..."

Nodding her head, Donna pointed towards her desk.

"Okay, put it on my desk here on top of the other applications"

Smiling, I complied and placed the paper on her desk. On top of a pile of papers filled with sheets that were similar to mine.

"Alright."

After making sure my application was neatly stacked on top of the files, I nodded towards Donna and proceeded to head out.

"Thank you very much, have a good day Miss Longbern..."

As I was heading out, halfway through my way back to the door, I heard Donna call out for me

"Wait"

"hmm?"

Glancing at Donna in confusion, I couldn't tilt my head.

Did I perhaps miss something with my application? Glancing at my application on top of the piles of papers, I couldn't notice anything missing.

...maybe something else.

As my confusion grew, staring at me, Donna slightly lowered her head and said

"Student Ren Dover, I would like to formally apologize"

Opening my eyes wide, I froze on the spot as a small audible gasp escaped from my mouth.

"huh??"

Why was she apologizing to me?

I was genuinely beyond confused at the moment. What did Donna do to warrant an apology?

Glancing at me, Donna had a meaningful look on her face.

"Let me be more clear. I want to apologize for immaturely assuming that you were slacking off with your training"

Snapping me out of my confusion was Donna's charming voice. However, hearing what she had said, my mouth couldn't help but twitch.

...ah, did she perhaps find out?

How?

I don't think she found out during the mid-terms as I was sure I beat up Arnold when no one was present...

I was sure that apart from Kevin and the others no one else should've known about my abilities

Actually, aside from the midterms, there was no other way she could've found out about...ah

Crap.

...now that I thought about it, there was one way for her to find out.

Because I focused primarily on making sure no one saw me, I completely neglected the fact that Donna could tell the time it took me for me to kill the 79 goblins...

Moreover, with me suddenly entering <F> rank, it was no surprise that she had caught onto something.

...However, I didn't know the full extent of Donna's knowledge regarding my abilities.

Hopefully, it was only to that point...

Reading my current expression, seemingly having confirmed her suspicions, Donna smiled and said

"Anyways, enough with that. I would like to ask you a favor"

"A favor?"

"Yes, a favor"

Once again, I was confused.

What kind of favor would a <S> ranked Hero, ranked 156th in the Hero ranking possibly ask of me?

With her influence, without a doubt, she could get anything she wanted. Therefore, what could she possibly ask of me, a sixteen-year-old student?

In the end, though skeptical, I nodded my head.

"Sure..."

Smiling even more after hearing my confirmation, playing the pen in her hand, with a faint smile on her face, Donna said

"I would like for you to participate in the tryouts for the Multi-Academy tournament in a month's time"

Listening to Donna's request, everything started to click.

Right, I understand now.

Professors had incentives. Be it for students achieving rewards or getting the best overall scores in the whole academic year, teachers would receive a bonus as compensation for their accomplishments.

...and therefore, as obvious as it may seem, there was also an award for the professor that managed to get the most students into the official squad for the Multi-Academy tournament.

Moreover, if the students excel in the actual tournament, their bonus would multiply by several factors. Therefore, with Donna having a rough estimate of my strength, she wanted me to participate so that she could get an extra bonus.

...in the end, I was put into this situation just for a measly bonus.

Just why?

Putting on the most beautiful smile I could muster, I nodded my head repeatedly.

"A months time huh...I think I'm going to be sick that day"

"..."

As soon as I said those words, silence prevailed in the office space. Soon after, Donna's eyes shone slightly, and instantly a slightly overbearing yet gentle pressure bore down on me.

"khh..."

Surprised by the sudden pressure, I couldn't help but let out a strange sound.

Fortunately, although she exerted pressure over me, with the fact that I was still standing, it was evident that she had gone easy on me.

Bitterly smiling, I couldn't help but ask.

"...do I have no other option but to accept?"

Amused by my reaction, snorting lightly, Donna said

"Of course you don't."

Resting the side of her cheek on her hand, Donna said

"However don't worry, I'm not going to ask you to do this for free...If you somehow pass the tryouts, I will personally coach you in preparation for the upcoming tournament"

"...hmm"

Frowning slightly, I fell into deep thought.

Getting taught personally by Donna. That didn't sound too bad.

...let's exclude her beauty aside. One thing that I had noticed in the past four months I had been in this world was that I lacked guidance.

Everything that I had achieved up to this point was by myself. From reaching <F+> rank to reaching the minor realm of mastery for both of my sword arts...all by myself.

However, things would've been much easier if I had someone guiding me throughout the process. Often times I would find myself stuck in front of a wall that I would have to break by myself in order to reach a higher level.

I know that I didn't have to worry about my rank not increasing, but regarding my sword arts...without guidance, I really couldn't achieve a higher level by myself. At least not at the pace that I wanted...

...If only I had someone to guide me throughout the process. Perhaps I would've reached a higher level of sword mastery than now.

Looking at Donna from the side of my eyes, I couldn't help but realize that she was indeed the perfect person to coach me. With her extraordinary abilities, altough she may not use the sword, she could definitely guide me into reaching a higher level.

In terms of mana mastery, she was definitely on a league of her own. I could definitely utilize her knowledge to improve myself.

Moreover, regarding the tournament thing...

Altough I disliked standing out, as long as no one found out about my real strength, everything was going to be fine. Moreover, I could just participate in the non-combat-related events, this way I wouldn't draw too much attention towards myself.

...and if I looked at this in a positive way, it could serve as good publicity for my mercenary group

*Sigh*

Glancing at Donna and seeing her expectant eyes, I could only sigh to myself. Bitterly smiling, I said

"What other choice do I have?"

"None"

Bitterly shaking my head, I eventually nodded my head.

"Alright, I'll be there"

Smiling widely, Donna took a paper from her bottom drawer and wrote my name on it.

"Great, I'll see you in class tomorrow. When the time for the tryouts comes, I'll let you know"

"Yeah..."

Nodding my head in defeat, I glanced at Donna for a couple of more seconds before heading out of her office.

I definitely lost this time.

This was probably the karma I got as a result of me scamming Melissa.