Chapter 13 || London Bridge is Falling Down

Chapter 13: 13 || London Bridge is Falling Down

Ivy faced the class.

"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."

Lily turned to Ivy, her brows slightly furrowed.

"...But Ivy, who will be that person? We barely know each other as classmates."

Ivy lowered her head. "...True."

She said it in a quiet voice.

There was a brief silence in the classroom.

Then—

"I will take full responsibility of the class’s coins."

Everyone froze.

Ivy raised her head.

It was Juro.

Juro stood up, adjusting his glasses as he looked around the classroom.

"I believe I can keep the class’s coins safe."

Sena looked at him skeptically.

"You? Weren’t you the one who called out being tempted by saving in the first place?"

Juro frowned.

"I wasn’t referring to myself. I was speaking for the whole class. I obviously have enough self-discipline to control myself."

Meira continued pressing on her phone without even looking up.

"Well, it would have been better if you could wear all that self-discipline. Maybe then we could have taken your word for it."

Juro slowly turned his head toward her. "...Very funny, Meira. Very funny."

Yua glanced around the classroom, her voice quiet.

"Then who can we trust to keep our savings?"

Ivy spoke first. "Riven..."

Riven raised his head.

Ivy continued. "If you’re up for it, I think you should be the one to keep our savings."

Kira looked toward Riven and nodded. "Yes... that’s right. Riven should be the one."

Juro froze. "What? Why Riven?"

Ivy turned toward him.

"Riven has been the one trying to organize the class. He was also trying to calm everyone down and take responsibility for our actions. So I thought... we could at least trust him to keep our savings."

Ken nodded. "Riven it is then."

Caden smiled. "Alright, Riven."

Torin nodded in agreement. "Agreed. Riven is the best choice."

Ivy looked at Riven.

Riven had his head lowered, shadows looming over his face.

"So, Riven, are you up for it? The class wants you to be the one responsible for our coins," Ivy asked.

Silence.

Complete silence.

Yua looked at him with concern. "Riven, are you okay?"

Riven still didn’t say anything.

Code stared at him.

Juro dropped back into his seat and folded his arms.

"He can’t even respond. You all should have just picked me."

Neela glanced at Juro. "Someone’s jealous."

Juro’s frown deepened. "Mind your business."

"Everyone..."

Riven’s voice came out low. Too low.

Everyone turned toward him.

"I..." he began.

Clap!

Code 11 clapped her hands once, drawing everyone’s attention toward her.

Code 12 spoke. "There’s something you all deserve to know before I leave."

Everyone froze.

Code 12 continued. "Aside from your respective masters given to you, you all are still slaves to one other person."

Ashir raised a brow. "What’s that supposed to mean?"

Code 12 looked across the classroom.

"In each rank, there’s always someone within that rank that is higher than the others, and that person is called the master of that rank. And one of you here is a master. The Master of the Grents."

Aria froze. "...The Master of the Grents?"

Code 12 nodded. "Yes... The Master of the Grents has the ability to control and seize all your coins, and you all won’t be able to do a single thing about it."

He turned and walked toward the door.

"I will leave you all to add that to your discussion. Try and figure out who is your master."

He slid the door open and stepped out.

The door closed behind him and the room became silent once again.

Slide.

The door opened again.

Code 12 stood in the doorway.

"You all should prepare. The Grents’ academic schedule will be revised to add the new course which I’ll be taking. And just so you know, you all will be wearing your part-time uniforms for my class."

They all had shocked expressions on their faces.

Code 12 walked out the door. "Ah... I can’t wait."

The door slid shut behind him.

Silence.

No one spoke.

Everyone was silent.

Code looked around the classroom, then stared at Riven, who hadn’t moved an inch. His fist was tightly clenched.

Code stared at him for a moment.

Then he turned away toward the window and rested his face on his hand.

Caden spoke first. "So who is it?"

Torin turned to him.

Caden continued. "Who’s the Master of the Grents?"

Juro spoke calmly. "There’s really no point in asking. If the person wanted to, he would have done so already."

Everyone lowered their heads again.

"If anyone needs to come clean, it’s you, Juro."

Aria said it in a solemn voice.

Juro froze. "What do you mean by that?"

Everyone looked at Juro.

Juro stood up, his chair scraping against the ground.

"Look, I’m not the Master of the Grents, okay? If I was, I wouldn’t have volunteered to even keep the coins. I would have just ordered you all to give them to me."

Huegene sat with his arms folded, his eyes closed and his smile intact.

"Like anyone would listen to you. It’s not like Aria said you were the Master of the Grents. She simply asked you to come clean, but here you are panicking like a mouse caught in a trap. I guess self-discipline doesn’t make you self-confident after all."

Juro clenched his fist tightly, then slowly loosened it.

Aria spoke again. "Are you ready to tell the whole class the truth?"

Juro looked at her angrily. "What truth? I’m not the Master of the Grents. Why don’t you get it?"

Aria didn’t back down. "You aren’t the Master of the Grents, but you know who it is, isn’t it?"

Juro froze. "I... I don’t know what you’re talking about."

Aria stared at him for a moment, then sighed.

She placed both hands on her desk and stood up.

Her chair scraped against the ground.

She looked at the class.

"Everyone... Riven is the Master of the Grents."

She turned toward Riven, who had raised his head and now had a shocked expression on his face.

"Isn’t that right, Riven?"

Riven gritted his teeth, then lowered his head.

The class was dumbstruck.

Yua looked up at Riven in shock. "R... Riven is the Master of the Grents?"

Ivy’s voice came out quietly. "Riven... Is that true?"

Riven didn’t say anything.

Caden’s eyes widened. "I can’t believe it."

Ken stood up. "You haven’t answered Ivy’s question, Riven. Speak up."

Ashir scoffed. "He can’t talk now. He always seemed to have something to say. What a fraud."

He looked at the class.

"And you all planned to give him all your savings. What a great way to remain a Grent for the rest of your lives in Ordinis."

Meira finally lowered her phone.

She looked at Riven. "You need to answer our questions, Riven. Speak up."

Riven slowly walked to the front of the class.

Everyone became silent.

Code 11 walked down the stairs and moved toward Riven.

She stopped behind him and placed both hands on his shoulders.

"Come on, Riven, tell your classmates the truth. They deserve to know the truth."

Riven’s fist tightened.

Her voice felt like a siren in his ears.

"Now... Speak up, Riven."

Riven’s fist slowly loosened.

He raised his head slowly and looked at the class with a calm expression on his face.

"Yes... I’m the Master of the Grents. Riven Halden."

The whole class froze for a moment.

Then—

Sena yelled. "You’ve got to be kidding me."

Torin spoke up. "Why did you keep it a secret from us?"

Riven lowered his head and didn’t say anything.

Ashir spoke again.

"What else can he say? He’s been exposed. All that talk about working together was just a facade. If you simply wanted the money, you could have just cut to the point."

"Everyone..."

Riven’s voice was quiet. "I... I..."

Then—

"? London Bridge is falliiiing down... ?"

A voice sang melodiously.

Riven raised his head in shock.

Huegene sat in his seat, his arms still folded and his eyes closed, a wide smile spread across his face.

He was clearly enjoying everything that was going on.

Everyone turned toward him.

Huegene continued singing, stretching the final words of the melody.

"? Falliiiing down...

Falliiiing down...

Looondon Bridge is falliiiing down...

My faaaair... Ladyyyyyy... ?"

The classroom fell silent.

Huegene’s smile remained.