Chapter 12 || A Matter of Trust

Chapter 12: 12 || A Matter of Trust

Code’s eyes drifted quietly toward Meira.

He noticed she wasn’t wearing her hair clip.

Sena stared at Meira’s hair like she was searching for something.

Meira frowned. "What is it?"

"You aren’t wearing your hair clip today..."

Yua looked at Meira. "True. Did you misplace it?"

Meira sighed softly. "Yes. I actually took it off when I was changing into our uniforms last night, but then I forgot where I kept it."

Kira tilted her head. "Have you checked the locker room properly?"

Meira nodded. "Yes."

Sena shrugged. "Leave it. I didn’t even know why you bothered wearing that hair clip. It was old anyway."

Meira looked down at her desk.

"Yes... it was."

She spoke in a quiet voice.

Sena gently touched her shoulder. "Don’t worry. After class, we’ll head to the mall and get you a new fancy one."

Meira gave a small smile. "Thanks, but I don’t need a new one."

Sena froze. "Why?"

Neela tapped Sena’s shoulder. "Don’t ask her questions, Sena. Maybe she just doesn’t want to use hair clips anymore."

Kira nodded. "Don’t worry, Meira. We’ll be on the lookout for your hair clip."

"...Thanks."

Ivy walked up to them. "Hey, girls."

She looked at Meira’s dull expression.

"Meira, is everything alright?"

Before Meira could reply—

Yua spoke. "Meira misplaced her hair clip. She looked around, but she couldn’t find it."

Ivy looked troubled.

"If it’s so important to you, I can give you mine if you want. We both have similar hair clips, after all."

"What about you, Ivy?" Kira asked.

Ivy smiled. "I can just get a new one. It’s no big deal."

Meira shook her head lightly. "No. It’s fine, Ivy. You can keep yours."

Ivy pushed on. "You can really have it, Meira. I insist."

Meira frowned. "No, I don’t."

Ivy pulled out her hair pin. "Here, take it."

Meira suddenly stood up.

"I said I don’t want your damn hair clip, don’t you get it?"

She yelled.

The whole class turned their attention toward the group.

Aria looked up from her book, then shook her head and went back to reading.

Huegene smirked at the chaos in front of him.

"It looks like the princess and the bunny are having a fight."

Ken spoke from behind him. "Learn to read the room, Huegene."

Caden quickly joined in. "Yeah. You tell him, Ken."

Torin stared at Caden.

Caden raised a brow. "Why are you looking at me like that? I was just supporting Ken."

Riven stood up from his seat. "What’s the problem, Meira?"

Sena frowned slightly. "You didn’t have to yell at Ivy, Meira. It’s just a hair clip."

Ivy folded her palms and lowered her head slightly.

Lily watched from her seat. "...Ivy?"

Yua spoke gently. "Ivy was just trying to help you."

Just then—

The front door slid open, and Code 11 walked in with a black tablet in her hand.

Immediately, the class went silent.

Everyone returned to their seats.

Code watched Ivy as she silently took her seat and fixed her hair pin back into her hair.

Lily turned slightly to look at her.

Ivy forced a small smile and whispered, "I’m fine."

Code stared at her for a moment, then turned away from her and faced the class.

Code 11 dropped her tablet on the table and looked at the students.

The air became tense.

Riven stood up. "Miss 11, I can explain—"

Code 11 tapped her tablet.

Click.

"There’s no need for that, Riven."

Riven froze.

Code 11 raised her head and looked at the students once again.

"I have no interest in what happened. It’s your class’s personal affairs, so you deal with it."

Riven sat down calmly. "...Yes."

She continued. "You all have experienced firsthand what part-time jobs are like, and I believe you all did your best to satisfy your master’s needs."

"Yes," the class responded.

"Good... now let’s start our class."

She looked down at her tablet.

"Open to page 5 on your English textbook."

Immediately, bags unzipped, and everyone placed their textbooks on their desks, flipping through the pages.

...

When the class was over, Code 11 powered off her tablet.

"We’ll stop here for now."

Caden sighed as he collapsed onto his desk.

"Finally..."

Code 11 continued. "Get a separate note and finish the questions under the passage. It’s your homework."

"Yes..."

The class responded.

Then they all began closing their textbooks and placing them back into their bags.

Ivy stood up from her seat and walked over to Riven’s desk.

"Hey, Riven. Can I make use of your note?" she asked politely.

Riven nodded. "Sure."

He handed her the note. "Here you go."

Ivy smiled and returned to her seat with his note.

"Sure."

Code 11’s voice came again. "Class..."

The students froze.

"Someone is here to see you."

"Huh?"

Whispers flew around immediately.

Caden turned to Ken. "Who do you think it could be?"

Ken replied, "Why don’t you ask Miss 11? I’m sure she’ll be happy to tell you."

Caden frowned. "Never mind."

Immediately—

The front door slid open.

A familiar, playful voice came in.

"Good morning, everyone."

Code 12 stepped into the class. "It’s your favourite instructor, Code 12."

The whole class froze.

Code 12 walked over and stood beside Code 11.

Code 11 spoke. "I believe you all have met Code 12. He would like to address you."

Code 11 stepped aside, and Code 12 took his position where she once stood.

He looked at the students.

He spoke in a smooth, emotional tone.

"Yesterday you all took your first steps into becoming a slave, and I’m very proud of you. I also know you all must have given it your best efforts to satisfy your masters. Some of you got off easy, while some of you didn’t."

He shook his head.

"Such is the face of society. I can feel your pain. Most of you didn’t know what to do. How to address your master? Cook, clean, and organize your master’s belongings."

"But that won’t happen again."

His voice suddenly returned to its playful tone.

"Because a course has been introduced into the Grents’ syllabus."

He picked up the marker on the table, walked up to the board, and wrote the words.

S.E.R.V.E. [Servitude, Etiquette, Responsibility, and Vocational Execution]

Whispers flew around the classroom.

Juro frowned. "What does that mean?"

Code 12 returned to the table.

"This is a course designed to teach you how to serve your masters properly."

"Huh?"

"This can’t be happening."

Code 12 spoke again.

"Congratulations, Grents, and to me as well, for I am no more a part-time teacher."

He began clapping.

Code 11 joined in.

Riven slowly clapped his hands, and one by one, the students began clapping along with the rhythm.

After a while, the clapping stopped.

"Putting the joyous occasion aside. Each of your accounts was credited with the sum of 5,000 bronze coins yesterday, right?" Code 12 asked.

"Yes." The class answered.

He continued. "That was your academy allowance. So every month, each Grent receives a sum of 5,000 bronze coins in addition to your salary allowance."

Caden blinked.

"So we get 5,000 Bronze coins every month. That’s awesome. If we add how much we receive as our salaries, it could reach 10,000 Bronze coins."

He looked at the class.

"Guys, maybe ascending to the fourth floor won’t be that hard. It may take time, but if we save up, we might just pull it off."

Riven nodded. "That’s right, Caden."

Caden smiled. "Of course."

Torin looked at him. "I’m impressed. You actually said something of importance this time around."

Caden’s smile widened.

Juro spoke. "Still, can we trust ourselves to save up? I mean, we could get tempted to take from our savings."

Aria spoke without looking up from her book.

"If that happens, it only goes to show how most of us here lack self-discipline."

The whole class turned to her.

Code glanced at her.

’She just loves inviting trouble for herself.’

Sena retorted. "And you’re the one who has more self-discipline? What a joke."

Aria closed her eyes.

"At least I, for one, don’t fantasize about materialistic things."

Sena shot up from her seat angrily.

Catherine turned to Aria. "You can just keep quiet if you don’t have anything sweet to say."

Aria looked at Catherine calmly.

"I’ll keep in mind to have sugar for breakfast tomorrow."

Catherine’s eyes sharpened. "You’re unbelievable."

The boy in front of Code sighed.

"Another argument. How simple-minded are you girls?"

Everyone faced him.

Code watched him from behind.

He continued. "You can at least behave maturely for once. You’re not the only ones here."

Neela frowned. "Shut up if you don’t have anything good to say, Ryan."

Ryan froze slightly.

’Did she... Did she just tell me to shut up?’

He stared at Neela.

’Why don’t you shut the hell up, missy. I don’t see you contributing to anything.’

He looked away, then slowly pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"Very well."

Huegene gave a small smile where he was seated, closing his eyes and humming to himself.

Riven stood up.

"Everyone, let’s calm down. I know we all are stressed about this, but let’s relax. We can talk about this some other time. We have two teachers in front of us."

Riven faced Code 11 and 12, who simply stood there watching the chaos unfold.

Riven bowed his head slightly. "I apologize on behalf of the class."

Sena sat back down in her seat.

Code 12 raised his hand. "It’s fine. In fact, I would love to see where this is going to."

Riven raised his head in shock.

Code 12 continued. "The matter hasn’t been resolved yet. You can’t just drop it. Let’s end the matter once and for all."

Riven straightened. "But—"

"I have a suggestion."

The class turned to Ivy, who stood up from her seat.

Riven spoke. "What is it, Ivy?"

Ivy spoke calmly.

"We all want one thing, and that’s to ascend to the fourth floor. And for that, we need to save up to the desired amount."

She turned to Juro.

"I agree with Juro’s opinion. Most of us might feel tempted to touch our savings, but that doesn’t mean that having self-discipline is wrong either. I just feel the students need enough time to develop that..."

She turned to Aria. " ...like you did, Aria."

Aria looked at her, then returned back to her book.

Ivy faced the class once more.

"And as such, I have come to a conclusion that we should each donate a certain amount of coins we want to save to a student we trust, who is capable of keeping the whole class’s coins."