Chapter 1.9

Having reviewed the materials until dawn, she still felt dazed even after waking up. Clutching her throbbing head, she gathered the summary, presentation script, and report for submission to give to her foolish group members, and left the dormitory. The thought of facing those fools again made her already aching head throb even more.

She trudged along and just reached the classroom door.

“See, we didn’t do a thing. Ah, having someone do it all is really convenient. This is why you need to find good group members.”

She heard the loud voice of the boy from her group beyond the door. The girl giggled, saying, 

“So mean!”

She rolled her eyes with a sigh. Things were going exactly as expected.

“Wow, really? I’m jealous. If I had known, I would have asked to be in the same group.”

“If you can handle her temper.”

Hmm, doesn’t it sound like they’re talking about me?

Group members who were chatting with other group members suddenly remembered and asked.

“But what about the presentation? You were in charge. We don’t even know the topic well since she did all the research and report writing.”

“Eh, she’ll handle it herself. Someone as obsessed with grades as she is wouldn’t let anyone else mess up her project.”

The boy in charge of the presentation chuckled, leaning back in his chair. He acted as if he was something special, rocking with the chair.

“What will she do, even if she’s annoyed? Even if she gets sponsorship from a Marquis family, she’s just a commoner. She should be grateful to attend here with us….”

Watching silently through the window, she slammed the classroom door open with a bang.

“…….”

As attention focused on her, silence fell over the room. At least they had the decency to shut up when the person in question showed up.

The students from other groups who had been chatting with them started to return to their seats, glancing at her. A wise choice, as she felt her temper about to explode.

She glared at her group members with her mouth tightly shut and spoke.

“So, you’re not going to do the presentation?”

Of course, she had been prepared to take on all the roles of these fools from the start. She was in a much more desperate situation than they were, and she wasn’t of a status to reprimand them, nor did she have the leadership skills like Leonard Klein, having only taken on the leader role by chance.

But no matter how obsessed she was with grades, no matter how many times she had heard the word “commoner” to the point of scoffing at it, and no matter how self-centered and unkind she was.

She had no interest in doing a good deed only to be badmouthed behind her back.

She glared at her group members with a cold expression.

“Wh-what?”

Honestly, she thought they would have nothing to say at this point, but having a thick skin was a talent too.

The boy in charge of the presentation, perhaps embarrassed in front of the students, raised his voice, standing with his head held high. What did he do well to act like that?

“Are you mad at me because of that? Who do you think you are? What’s the big deal about doing one presentation?”

“Yeah, he said there were circumstances. You said you understood last time, so why are you annoyed now? You probably know the content best anyway.”

The girl, following the boy’s outrageous behavior, spoke as if making a logical argument.

She raised an eyebrow. She had done group projects with failed groups before, but this was a first.

She wasn’t annoyed; her tone was just naturally like this. And wouldn’t anyone be annoyed in this situation?

“Ha….”

She sighed, brushing her hair back. The girl, thinking she had scored a point, shrugged with her arms crossed. Watching her made her blood boil, but even in this situation, her mind remained cold.

Calm down, Raven. It’s not worth the time to argue with them. After this class, you’ll never have to talk to them again. Don’t waste your energy.

“You guys are….”

She twisted her lips, letting out a chuckle.

“Shameless.”

“What?”

Then she sneered at the group members with their reddened faces.

“Well, I get it. If you’re not capable, you should at least be good at clinging. It’s a shame for you that the person you’re clinging to is a lowly commoner like me.”

“Hey! You….”

“Even if you didn’t make excuses, I was going to do the presentation. Here, take this.”

Cutting off the girl’s words with a harsh tone, she handed over the prepared papers as if throwing them.

Fine. Why would I bother lecturing you? Let’s just end this and never see each other again.

“This is the summary, so at least read it.”

“Wow, really….”

Though the group members glared at her with annoyance, they took the papers, and the atmosphere turned even colder. She couldn’t understand what they were so proud of, staying silent like that. Not that she wouldn’t have been angrier if they had spoken up.

Reading the presentation script again, perfectly aligned with the spacing and font size, she gradually calmed down.

As she silently mouthed the words for practice, someone shouted from behind.

“Oh, Leon’s here!”

The classroom became noisy with just the opening of a door, so she didn’t need to turn around to know Leonard had arrived.

How annoying.

She pursed her lips in displeasure and focused back on the presentation script.

“Hi, Raven!”

Despite silently praying for him not to come her way, Leonard approached right next to her and greeted cheerfully. He then glanced at the presentation script she was holding and spoke brightly.

“Is Raven presenting for your group? So am I! Let’s do our best!”

She gripped the paper silently. The paper crumpled miserably, and she thought she heard a tearing sound from somewhere.

Is this guy provoking me?

Just as her enthusiasm was waning due to her ignorant group members, her determination returned.

“Yeah.”

She nodded, gritting her teeth, and Leonard’s face lit up with color.

“You responded this time! I’m happy, I think I’ll do well on the presentation thanks to you.”

…Just go away.

She suppressed the urge to bang her head on the desk and let out a small groan. Fortunately, the professor entered the room just then.

“Hmm, I’m a bit late. Sorry about that. Let’s start with Group 1 right away, shall we?”

Her group was Group 3.

She straightened her posture and listened to the other group’s presentation while preparing for her turn.

“Everything is good, but the research part is a bit lacking. It would have been better if you found more credible sources.”

The feedback was more meticulous than she expected, making her feel suffocated. It might have been because it was painful to watch her foolish group members lounging around carelessly as if it wasn’t their business.

“Now it’s Group 3’s turn, right? Let’s proceed.”

When it was her turn, she took her presentation script and materials and went to the front of the classroom.

“I’m Raven Winston, the leader of Group 3, and I’ll be presenting on the culture during Emperor Julius’s era.”

Thankfully, her voice came out smoothly and clearly. Since she had read the presentation material multiple times, she was able to finish without difficulty.

The professor also seemed satisfied, looking at the report she had submitted.

“Very good. The topic is good, the materials are impeccable. You seem to have divided the roles well. Excellent work, Group 3.”

After the praise, the professor smiled and pointed at the boy in her group.

“Then I’ll ask a question to the group member who researched this material.”

…Ah, life.

“What is the source of the case related to the system? It’s very intriguing.”

She held onto a sliver of hope while suppressing a sigh.

The question was simple, and she had even organized the sources in the distributed materials. If he couldn’t answer such a question, she might really commit murder.

“Ah, it’s from Chapter 5 of the old edition of ‘Herais Imperial History.'”

Fortunately, the boy who received the question checked the material she had given him and answered without much issue.

“Oh, the old edition. Got it. Then, what do you think was the reason Emperor Julius’s reign could blossom with so many cultures?”

“…….”

It was a surprise question.