Chapter 714: Debate

The morning sunlight shone over the Mix Arena as students made their way through the streets.

However, they weren’t heading towards their different clubs today.

Instead, most of them were making their way to the assembly grounds of the Mix Arena.

The place was already filled with students.

Some stood with members of their respective factions, discussing the day’s events, while others occupied the neutral spots scattered around the assembly grounds.

Groups had formed throughout the area, with students gathering around whoever had the latest information.

A few held Starlix devices, Zphone, and Paras in their hands, showing the news to their friends.

Others had already read the articles and were discussing their contents with anyone willing to listen.

This day was supposed to be the main event for Prince Tristin Aethelmont of the Royal Blue Faction and Prince Charles Aethelmont of the Golden Circle Faction.

The two princes were scheduled to face each other in a debate concerning why they deserved the position of General First-Year Student Representative.

However, everything had changed because of the early-morning news that had dropped like a bombshell on the students of the Academy.

The True Identity of the Candidates for the General First-Year Representative Position.

A First-Year student read through the news with his friends at the assembly grounds.

Several of them huddled around him, their curious expressions fixed on the screen.

"Sir Ravenor Burnwick, with his indifferent personality, wouldn’t be fair to all the students. He would only care about students at the top of the Academy rankings. Plus, he would just be a pretty face to please the ladies and nothing else."

The boy read with a surprised expression.

He paused briefly, looking at the others gathered around him before continuing.

"I can’t believe someone actually wrote all this about the Young Lord of Burnwick."

"Yeah, are they trying to start a war with the Burnwicks?"

"That’s just small."

Another member of the group cut into the conversation, pointing towards Paragraph 12 of the article.

"See the news written about Lady Fatima Drakes."

The others gathered around her to read the section.

"Lady Fatima Drakes, with her inability to back up her reputation as a talent of the Drakes, lost in the first round of the Combat Festival and ranked very low in the Academy Rankings. The only reason she was able to win ahead of Maxwell, who is Number Two on the First-Year ranking list, was because of the help of her elder brother, who is the Student Council President."

The girl read aloud what had been written about Fatima.

"That’s so crazy."

"I knew, Lady Fatima Drakes couldn’t have won over Maxwell."

"But the voting wasn’t about strength though."

"Hey guys, check this, Prince Tristin Aethelmont’s own section is quite funny."

"A leader who is incompetent and a bad person."

Another student laughed under his breath.

The discussion quickly shifted towards the other candidates.

"Prince Charles Aethelmont is labelled a weak leader who has nothing to show that he possesses the true qualities of a leader. The only reason he has any standing is because he luckily got the Young Lord of Ash and Sir Starke Drakes to become his aides."

"More like he begged them to become his aides."

"Hahahahaha!"

The laughter attracted a few glances from nearby students.

Some of them were supporters of the Golden Circle, and they didn’t seem particularly pleased with what they had just heard.

But the students reading the article continued.

"Lady Grace Evergrey is basically a combination of Prince Charles Aethelmont and Lady Fatima Drakes. A puppet leader controlled by her elder brother, the Young Lord of Evergrey, and a low-ranking First-Year compared to the likes of Lady Vera Ashenlocke and Sir Ravenor Burnwick."

The group continued reading.

More overlapping conversations about the candidates spread throughout the assembly grounds.

It wasn’t limited to one faction either.

Students from the different factions had gathered around the news, reading the sections concerning their candidates.

Some laughed at the accusations directed towards rival factions, some even laughed at their own faction representatives, while others became irritated when they reached the paragraphs concerning their own representatives or the representatives they liked the most.

A few tried defending their candidates, arguing that the article had exaggerated certain things.

Others simply pointed at the rankings and results mentioned in the news, using them to support the claims.

The atmosphere was becoming increasingly lively.

And because of this sudden release of news, the Student Council decided to intervene.

They changed the theme of what was supposed to happen that day.

Instead of proceeding with the planned debate between the two princes, the council arranged an addressing session that would allow all the candidates to express themselves.

By the time the students began settling down, all the candidates were seated on the assembly stage.

The stage had been arranged to accommodate them, with tables placed in a row and the crest of each faction imprinted on the front.

The arrangement made it easy for the students below to identify which candidate belonged to which faction.

Prince Tristin looked around, faintly annoyed by the discussions about him that he could still hear.

His gaze moved across the crowd, where a few students were whispering to one another.

Some seemed amused, while others were still discussing the statements written about him.

He didn’t look particularly pleased.

Prince Charles, on the other hand, felt a little nervous and saddened by the way people thought of him.

He sat quietly, his expression not quite as composed as usual.

His eyes occasionally moved towards the students below, but he didn’t seem interested in drawing attention to himself.

Ravenor didn’t react at all.

He simply sat with his hands folded, relaxed, watching the students below talk about him with different emotions.

Whether they were criticizing him or praising his appearance, his expression remained indifferent.

Grace Evergrey sat elegantly, patiently waiting for the program organized by the Student Council to commence.

Her posture remained composed, and she didn’t appear interested in responding to the discussions happening below. She simply waited.

Fatima Drakes also maintained her composure while seated.

The comments directed at her had been rather direct, but she didn’t show an obvious reaction. Her attention remained towards the front of the assembly grounds.

Willow Derlis sat quietly with her walking stick resting on her lap.

She looked at the crowd of students, observing the different groups gathered below the stage.

Stacy Brittan sat with a mixture of excitement and nervousness.

Her eyes moved across the assembly grounds as she waited for the program to begin.

The number of students gathered there was enough to make the occasion feel different from an ordinary Academy event.

And Vera Ashenlocke sat bored with the whole thing.

She rested one arm on the table, supporting her cheek with her palm as her dull black eyes wandered across the assembly grounds.

The students below were still discussing the candidates, but their voices seemed to have little effect on her.

She briefly glanced towards Prince Tristin when his name came up in another conversation, only to lose interest and look elsewhere.

Her fingers lightly tapped against her cheek.

A few moments later, she shifted her position in her seat, letting out a quiet breath before resting her gaze on the other candidates.

She didn’t seem particularly interested in what any of them had to say.

Even with hundreds of students gathered before the stage, Vera looked as though she would rather be somewhere else.

Especially because she actually had plans for the day.

All eight candidates from each faction were seated, with their respective faction crests imprinted on the fronts of their tables.

However, there was another chair and table placed a little away from them.

It was meant for another person whom the Student Council wanted to address the students about his own situation.

Even though he couldn’t reveal anything.

They still wanted him to speak about it a little, so the students making a fuss could finally settle down.

That person was Ezra Ashenlocke.

He didn’t want to be present in the Mix Arena today.

He had already made plans to go to the private Workshop so he could begin working on the creation of Lucy’s dual Katanas.

He also intended to work on creating an Alchemy System Automated Drone for combat and scouting.

Those were the things he had planned to spend his time on.

But...

He had received a meeting video call late at night, around the time he was studying, from his Faction Board.

They had informed him about the sudden release of the news concerning the candidates.

His name had also happened to be included in the article.

And now...

The Student Council wanted him to address his own situation.

Ezra sat at the separate table, away from the candidates.

Unlike the others, he wasn’t there to defend a position in the upcoming election.

His presence was connected to the sudden controversy surrounding his name, and the Student Council wanted him to address the students before the situation grew any further.

"Alright."

Prince Aldric Aethelmont spoke calmly.

He was seated to the left of all the candidates, with Ezra sitting a bit far to his right.

He looked across the assembly grounds, waiting for the remaining conversations to settle before continuing.

"Shall we begin the addressing session and debate?"

He said calmly.

The crowd of students immediately settled down.

The sudden quiet spread from the front towards the back of the assembly grounds.

Students who had still been whispering stopped their conversations, while others shifted their attention towards the stage.

"Now, before I call on our first speaker, I do have to inform you all that the investigation into the case of Basil Evermont is still ongoing, and we will surely get to the bottom of what happened."

He said firmly, looking at the crowd of students.

His expression remained serious as he addressed them.

"However, this news has really shaken the students. To avoid any arguments turning into a brawl, we decided to hold this debate and allow all the candidates to express themselves."

Prince Aldric concluded.

His announcement made the purpose of the gathering clear.

The Student Council wasn’t going to ignore the situation surrounding the candidates, especially with the amount of discussion taking place throughout the Academy.

Instead, they had decided to give the candidates an opportunity to address the students directly.

"The first speaker taking the podium will be Prince Tristin Aethelmont."

Princess Victoria, the Events and Ceremonies Officer of the Administrative Student Council, called her brother’s name lightly.

Tristin shifted in his seat.

He glanced towards the podium before slowly getting up.

Clap!

Clap!

Clap!

A few students from the Royal Blue Faction and Tristin’s supporters began clapping for him as the prince stood in front of the podium.

Their applause spread across a small section of the assembly grounds.

A few others joined in, although the response was far from overwhelming.

Tristin placed his hands on the sides of the podium and looked towards the gathered students.

"I will be handling the questioning today, my dear students of Royal."

Eleanor Tempest said calmly.

She was also seated with Prince Aldric, alongside the three other members of the council handling the debate program.

Her gaze moved towards Tristin.

"When you are ready, speak."

Eleanor said with an amused expression on her face.

Tristin adjusted himself.

He looked a little nervous because of the situation he was currently facing.

The news released that morning had already drawn attention towards him, and he could still see students watching him from different parts of the assembly grounds.

He took a moment before responding.

"I’m ready."

He said calmly.