Chapter 33 || Twenty-Four Thousand Coins

Chapter 33: 33 || Twenty-Four Thousand Coins

The students stood in two lines facing each other, the boys on one side and the girls on the other.

Code 12 stood beside the grand piano, his hands resting neatly in front of him.

"Give your greetings before leaving."

The girls gathered the sides of their gowns, lifted them slightly, and bowed their heads. Ivy offered Code a small smile before joining them.

Code and the other boys returned the greeting, placing their right hands against their lower torsos before bowing.

"That’s all for today," Code 12 announced. "Class is over."

The students straightened and began dispersing.

Within minutes, the ballroom had emptied. The last footsteps faded beyond the doors, leaving the enormous room quiet.

Code 12 returned to the piano bench.

He settled himself before the instrument, placed his fingers on the keys, and began playing again.

Soft notes drifted through the empty ballroom.

Outside, Code walked down the hallway alongside Caden, Torin, and Ken.

Ken stretched both arms above his head, letting out a satisfied breath.

"Now that we’re done with all that boring stuff, how about we head to the Annex building and watch my team play basketball?"

Torin nodded. "Sure. But we still have to wait for the announcement first."

"Right!" Ken snapped his fingers. "I completely forgot about that."

Caden adjusted the strap of his bag.

"All right, then. We’ll transfer the money, and afterward, we’ll go make some money."

Torin raised an eyebrow. "You mean watch basketball, right?"

Caden gave him a strained smile.

"Of course. That’s exactly what I meant."

He turned toward Code.

"Are you coming with us?"

"I’m tired. I’d rather rest in my room."

Ken shrugged. "Fair enough. We’ll tell you how the game goes later."

"Okay."

The four continued down the hallway until they reached the elevator. They stepped inside, and the doors slid shut behind them.

...

Riven and Juro stood at the front of the classroom, facing their classmates.

Riven clapped his hands once to get everyone’s attention.

"As you all know, we’ve received our salaries. Our original plan was to contribute part of our earnings to the class account we created, which is why we’re having this meeting."

He gestured toward Juro.

"He’ll explain the calculations and tell us how much everyone is expected to contribute."

Riven stepped aside.

Juro pushed his glasses up with one finger, his expression as serious as ever.

"Since we’ve received different salaries, we’ve decided to make the contribution equal for everyone. After running the numbers, we’ve settled on five hundred Bronze Coins per person, just as we did last month."

A murmur spread through the classroom.

Riven glanced toward Aria.

She sat with her arms folded, her expression clearly displeased.

"Do you have something to say?" he asked.

Aria closed her eyes briefly.

"There’s no point. Nothing I say will make a difference anyway." She leaned back in her chair. "Keep pampering them if you want."

Juro adjusted his glasses again.

"You’re not wrong to feel that way, Aria. Even I think five hundred is too little."

Meira turned sharply toward him.

"What are you saying now, Four Eyes?"

Juro ignored the nickname and continued.

"Initially, I thought we’d contribute a thousand or even two thousand coins each. But I underestimated how low our ratings would be. Given our current circumstances, keeping the contribution at five hundred is the more sensible option."

Riven nodded.

"Depending on the ratings we receive each month, we can increase the amount accordingly."

"Right," Catherine agreed.

The rest of the class seemed satisfied with the explanation.

Riven looked around the room.

"Let’s begin the donations."

Phones appeared almost immediately. Screens lit up as students opened their accounts and transferred their contributions.

A series of notification chimes sounded throughout the classroom.

Juro and Riven took out their own phones to make their transfers as well.

Then Ivy rose from her seat.

"Riven, Juro, there’s something I’d like to suggest."

Riven looked up. "Of course. Go ahead."

"Since Aria is unhappy with the amount we’re contributing, I think the three of us should donate more."

Lily turned toward her, concern crossing her face.

"You don’t have to do that, Ivy."

"Exactly," Sena added. "You shouldn’t have to sacrifice more just to satisfy Miss Discipline over there."

Yua nodded in agreement.

"We’ve already agreed on five hundred coins each. There shouldn’t be any exceptions."

Kira stood up, looking around the classroom.

"All right, then. Who’s in favour of keeping the contribution at five hundred?"

Almost every student raised a hand.

Ivy kept hers down, as did Code, Aria, Juro, and Riven.

Huegene and Ashir were absent.

Kira surveyed the raised hands with a satisfied smile before turning toward Aria.

"And who’s in favour of satisfying Miss Smarty-Pants?"

Silence.

Not a single hand went up.

Ivy looked around the room with an innocent expression, as though she couldn’t understand why nobody supported her suggestion.

Kira lowered herself into her seat.

"Well, majority wins. Ivy, you don’t have to sacrifice yourself for her."

"But—" Ivy began.

Riven raised his hand.

"I’m in favour of Ivy’s decision."

Juro turned toward him so quickly that his glasses nearly slipped.

"What?"

Neela leaned forward.

"Riven, everyone has already voted. We’ve settled the matter."

Riven placed one hand on the table and shook his head.

"No. We haven’t."

He turned toward Ivy.

"Ivy, Juro and I received the highest ratings in the class. I received the highest of all."

The classroom fell silent.

Ivy stared at him in surprise.

"What? I thought the three of us received ten thousand coins in total."

"You and Juro did," Riven explained. "But I received fifteen thousand Bronze Coins. I believe it’s because of my master’s position. My academy allowance was ten thousand instead of five thousand."

Caden’s eyes widened.

"fifteen thousand? That’s a lot!"

Riven nodded.

"It is. At first, I intended to set some money aside to help our classmates if they ran into trouble, especially Code, Ashir, and Huegene, since they received the lowest ratings."

His gaze moved briefly toward Code’s empty expression before returning to the class.

"But after hearing Ivy’s suggestion, I think I can contribute more to the class account while still keeping some money aside for emergencies."

Ken smiled.

"That’s generous of you, Riven."

Torin gave an approving nod.

"We couldn’t have asked for a better leader."

Riven returned their smiles with a modest one of his own.

"Then, Ivy, let’s contribute a thousand coins each instead."

Ivy nodded sweetly.

"Of course."

"Wait—" Juro started.

Meira folded her arms and gave him a pointed look.

"Someone doesn’t seem ready to make a sacrifice for the class."

Juro’s mouth tightened.

Ivy turned toward him.

"Come on, Juro. Don’t you think it’s the right thing to do? If we contribute more now, we can speed up our progress instead of letting our low ratings hold us back."

Juro fell silent.

He looked around the room, taking in the faces watching him. Several students waited expectantly, while Meira continued to regard him with open suspicion.

He finally let out a resigned sigh.

"Right... Of course. Let’s contribute a thousand, then."

"Great!" Ivy replied.

Caden watched her with open admiration.

"The Grent class is lucky to have such an angel in our midst," he whispered.

Aria picked up her bag.

Without saying anything, she rose and left the classroom.

Code followed her with his gaze for a moment before looking back at the others.

Meanwhile, Riven, Juro, and Ivy completed their transfers.

Juro stared at his phone, his brows drawing together as he checked the updated balance. After a moment, he cleared his throat and straightened his glasses.

"Now that all the contributions have been deposited, our total balance is... twenty-four thousand Bronze Coins."

Ken exhaled.

"We still have a long way to go."

Caden dropped his forehead onto his desk.

"Dreams don’t come true that easily..."

Riven gave the class an encouraging smile.

"We just have to remain consistent. If we keep working toward our goal, things will eventually work out."

"Yes!" the class responded.

Satisfied, Riven and Juro returned to their seats.

The meeting came to an end. Students began packing their bags, chatting as they prepared to leave.

Caden, Ken, and Torin headed out together.

Code slipped his bag over his shoulder and started toward the door with his hands in his pocket.

"Code..."

He stopped and turned.

Riven approached him.

"Thanks for coming. I know you aren’t contributing anything, but I’m glad you still came to join the meeting."

"It’s fine," Code replied.

Riven gave his shoulder a light pat.

"Take care."

With that, he walked past him.

Juro rose from his seat, and the two left the classroom together.

For a while, the room remained empty and quiet.

Then Ivy’s voice broke the silence.

"Let’s go, Code."

She walked over to him, smiling as though nothing unusual had happened.

Then the two left together.

They reached the elevator, where Ivy pressed the button.

When the doors slid open with a soft chime, she glanced at him playfully.

"Going down?"

Code stepped inside without answering.

Ivy followed, and the doors closed behind them.

...

The elevator doors slid open.

Code and Ivy stepped into the fifth-floor corridor, where students moved between classrooms. Conversations overlapped with bursts of laughter, and footsteps echoed along the corridor.

They walked side by side, making their way through the crowd.

Meanwhile—

Near the café, Cassian stood facing Aria.

His tie was absent, and the top button of his white shirt hung undone, leaving his chest slightly open. His black coat completed the otherwise dishevelled uniform.

Three students stood behind him: a boy with short dark-brown hair and steel-blue eyes, another with slightly tousled ash-gray hair and hazel eyes, and a girl with a short, voluminous lavender-purple bob, its darker violet tones concentrated around the roots and beneath the layers. Her hair curved outward around the sides and nape, while uneven, side-swept bangs fell in wispy strands across her forehead, framing her bright golden-yellow eyes.

Unlike the other girls, she wore a loose tie instead of the ribbon that was part of their uniform.

Aria looked Cassian over before meeting his gaze.

"It seems you’re not with your girls today."

Cassian’s lips curled into a smirk. He tilted his head slightly, seemingly amused by her remark.

"Would you like to meet them?" he asked. "I’d be happy to introduce you properly."

From the opposite side of the courtyard, Code and Ivy continued forward.

"You must be starving," Ivy remarked, giving Code a teasing glance. "You still haven’t told me what we’re having for dinner."

They turned the corner.

Then both stopped.

Aria stood in front of Cassian, with the three unfamiliar students behind him.

Ivy leaned closer to Code and lowered her voice.

"Looks like Grumpy Aria has gotten herself into trouble." She glanced between the two groups. "What do you think? Should we help her?"

Code watched the scene without changing his expression.

The conversation between Cassian and Aria had stopped. The students surrounding them had noticed Code and Ivy as well, and the atmosphere in the corridor had grown noticeably tense.

"I’d rather not interfere in matters that don’t concern me," Code replied quietly.

Ivy shrugged.

"Great. Let’s go, then."

They turned around and began walking away.

"Wait right there."

Cassian’s voice rang out behind them.