Despite John's worries, everything went very well the following day. Draco had hired a servant, despite the rules against such an action, and he'd somehow managed to get onto the island as a janitor. Regardless of the mistake made in the past, this was now helpful to everyone involved.

The man explained that he'd been sent out after telling Draco that John was nearby. He had seen a strange pill in Draco's drawer while cleaning his room, but hadn't thought much of it.

This lined up similarly with John's story, who had explained exactly what had happened. He left out the part about messaging Prota for help, but otherwise, he kept everything in. How Draco had somehow blackmailed Prota, how he'd gotten upset, how he'd challenged Draco to a match, and then the fight that ensued.

Prota, with her brief sentences, explained how John had left cryptically, only for her to hear explosions and fighting nearby. Assuming her brother had gotten into trouble, she'd rushed out to help.

In the end, everyone wound up believing the story. There wasn't a single soul in the room who had a favourable opinion of the noble, so everyone was inclined to believe it anyway.

"Say," John said to Draco's servant as they left the headmaster's office. "Where are those two? You know, the knight and the witch?"

"Oh, Marcus and Elena?" the servant said, surprised. "Those two were Draco's caretakers. How do you know them?"

"We've uh… we've met briefly," John said. "Aren't they strong? Why didn't they stop this from happening?"

"Strong?" the servant laughed. "They're not strong. They were his caretakers, not official bodyguards. What gave you that idea?"

"...I see," John said quietly.

He and Prota returned to their room, where he began to comb over the situation in finer detail.

Prota had explained what'd happened before John had messaged her, and from what she'd explained, John wasn't a fan of the situation in more than one way..

To begin with, Prota hadn't heard any fighting sounds at all. She wouldn't have known John was in trouble had he not messaged her. She'd only been able to tell there was fighting once she'd gotten close. This explained why no teachers had come to their aid; nobody had known there was fighting.

But then, how had Hikari found them? The likely answer was that the Mystic had simply been strolling the grounds and had smelled or seen the wreckage of the fight. Or maybe some kind of sensor had been tripped. Regardless, John didn't think that was something that warranted investigation. After all, he'd barely encountered the Mystic during his time at the school. There was really nothing that suggested their involvement.

He still couldn't help but feel uneasy, though. He shook his head. Lupin and Leora were still his most likely candidates. There was no way a third professor was involved. If anything, this was probably a red herring, a false lead to distract him from his original theory.

There was no point worrying about it. What he needed to consider now, however, was the two lines that were currently running astray.

As he saw it, there were two lines to the [Story] he needed to worry about. One [Plotline] was the original [Story]: the story of Destiny and his journey to defeat the Demon King. Since that was the case, demon cultists and Scholaris were probably part of that original [Plot]. If that was true, then whatever professors had turned traitor were also likely part of the original [Plot].

Anything part of the original [Plot] could likely be handled by Destiny and his friends. After all, that was what was meant to happen. John had been busy figuring out just what the original [Plot] was meant to be, but having spent a few years with the hero, he was starting to figure out what kind of [Story] this was.

The second [Plotline] John was worried about was the changes to the world he'd made. People like Diaboli and Doctor were anomalies that wouldn't have existed without him. They were enemies Destiny couldn't defeat, even with his status as the [Protagonist]. People who harboured some form of [Deus Ex Machina] energy, people who, like him, went against what the [Story] was meant to be.

And so far, nobody like that had shown up. Nothing remotely close. And while it made John worried, it also let him relax a little. The [Author] wouldn't just throw an impossible enemy in his face. Situations like Elfin being the spy were unexpected, yes, but ultimately, they weren't things that would harm John.

The [Author] liked hurting John emotionally. That much was true. But John needed to be alive to be hurt, and so doing something like throwing a final boss in his face with no warning or hints whatsoever wouldn't be their style.

…or would it? John frowned. Now that he'd come to this conclusion, it was entirely possible that the [Author] would do something like that, just for fun.

No, he couldn't consider extreme possibilities. All he could do was press on with his plans.

Right now, the plan he had in mind wasn't a good one. But it was one he was determined to follow through on.

"Looks like we part here," the servant said, waving to John. "Shame what happened to you."

"You're not… upset, or anything?" John said, surprised.

"I'm just a servant for hire," the man shrugged. "And… well, he didn't treat me too well, you know? I'm used to it, of course. But that doesn't mean I like it."

"So you posed as a janitor, risked sneaking into the school… to work for a guy you don't like?"

The man shrugged again. "I was paid pretty well. I'm good at my job, you know."

John suppressed a grimace. "Yeah, makes sense. Well, good luck."

The man nodded, waving as John and Prota left. As soon as he was out of view, John let his face of disgust show.

"Draco?" Prota said quietly.

"No, no, not right now," John muttered. "Just… this school keeps dropping its standards. I don't get it. These stupid stories where nobles keep getting away with shit… seriously, it shouldn't be that hard to manage this kind of stuff, right?"

He paused for a moment. Stuff like this did happen in real life all the time, didn't it? People got away with stupid things all the time. John shook his head. Political commenatry wasn't his to do. In the first place, he didn't even know how long it'd been since he left reality. Perhaps humanity had died. Well, no. He wouldn't exist if humanity was gone. Someone was writing this [Story], after all.

"Prota," John said quietly. "That stupid thing I mentioned. Do you remember what Destiny said back in the Town of Beginnings? Something about taking on an entire noble household on our own?"

The girl flinched. Right, she'd agreed to do something stupid the night before, but that'd been out of fatigue and emotional confusion. Now that she was much calmer, she wasn't sure how she felt about this.

But then she remembered the pain Draco had caused her. No, not just Draco. The entire household. They'd done much more than some minor bullying.

And she'd never really gotten back at them for having a hand in killing John, right?

"Do you think we could do it now? Me and you?"

Prota was surprised. John hadn't wanted to take on Draco when they'd left the Town of Beginnings. He had been reluctant, stating that he didn't have the power to fight off an entire nobility. Even with Draco, he'd been a little hesitant in taking any action. He'd always emphasized how much of a risk it'd be to fight the Wynton household.

So what had changed?

"I can't take it anymore," John muttered.

He didn't say anything else until they got back to their room. The siblings were quiet as Prota changed clothes, cleaning up and getting ready to go to class.

Suddenly, John spoke once more.

"I've had enough. To be honest, I've been holding back, ok? This whole Draco business has gone on long enough. I've been holding back to try and respect the rules of the [Story], but I don't care. I don't wanna put up with it anymore."

Prota remained silent, but her feelings resonated with John's words. She, too, was fed up.

"Hey. Remember when I said I wanted to write my own story or something like that?"

Prota nodded, feeling a little nervous. She did enjoy it when John got honest with her, but at the same time, whenever he was like this, he had something quite heavy on his mind.

"So far, I haven't done anything. I've been trying to follow the [Plot]. But what's the point in that? Sure, I shouldn't interrupt Destiny's journey. But what if it has nothing to do with Destiny? Why should I care? I have things I want to do, too. I can't keep letting the [Story] dictate my actions."

John turned to her, his eyes taking on a dangerous look. Prota recognized that look.

It was the one he had before saying something utterly nonsensical.

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"We have an excuse now," he said, a dim fire burning in his eyes. "An excuse to take down the entire household. Something we haven't had until now."

He was serious. John was serious about this. He wanted to take out an entire household on his own. And what was this excuse he spoke of? What had changed between the first year of school and now?

"Do you remember what he said? His father gave him something. His father, Prota," John emphasized, getting excited. "The whole family is corrupt. They're demon cultists. And that gives us a reason to barge in, doesn't it?"

Prota nodded slowly, but she wasn't very happy about it. A reason that weak had given John the confidence to barge through? Sure, she'd been worried about his psyche, but this was too sudden a switch.

"Ok, look, it's not that stupid, ok?" John said, seeing the look on his sister's face. "Do you remember when I said I had a job to do? You were asking about it a while ago, but I never explained it. The thing is, I made a deal with the Elf king. I'd protect Destiny and deal with anything [Story] related. In return, he'd offer his support."

At that moment, Prota understood.

For so long, Draco had been some kind of blockade. Something set up by the [Author] for some unknown purpose. John had never been afraid of Draco, now that Prota thought about it. He'd been afraid of the [Author]. Draco, as a person, hadn't been intimidating. It was his status as a particular type of [Character] that had been so worrying.

But now that Draco was dead, that didn't matter anymore. The [Author] had effectively given him the green light to move on his own.

Interestingly enough, John had been holding himself back, much to Prota's surprise. His eagerness to follow through on this task was more than enough for her to see that. He was a good actor, she had to admit, but when he cared about something, he really cared about it.

Now that the [Plot] was no longer holding him back, he could go as wild as he wanted. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. If this was what it took for John to let himself go…

She was ok with it.

"Ok," she said quietly. "When?"

John grinned as he got the seal of approval from his sister, unaware of the revelation she'd just had.

"This summer," he said confidently. "After exams. Destiny will probably have his own stuff to do back in Lunaris. Or maybe he'll end up going on vacation with everyone else. I don't know. But he'll definitely get his own little arc."

He seemed to realize something as he spoke.

"Oh, um… hey. If they go on vacation, are you ok with, like, missing out?"

Prota tilted her head to the side. What did John mean?

"Like, they might go to a tropical resort or something. Maybe a cabin in the woods. Do you want to go with them?"

"Is John going?" Prota asked.

"Um. No."

The answer, then, was obvious.

"Alright," John nodded. "Then, this summer, we take down a noble household. Are you… are you ok with this? I feel like I should've asked that first…"

While John didn't feel nervous about such a thing, he did at least seem to realize that such an action was not very logical. Anybody normal would feel nervous about making such a plan. Prota was normal enough that she did, in fact, feel nervous.

But John was so confident that it was hard to say no. After all, when had his plans failed? When had he ever led her into a losing battle? With Doctor? That didn't count. Their situation then had been a result of her own actions.

No. John might not be the [Protagonist], but he had a way of ensuring he started things in an ideal, optimal situation. He had a way of making sure he wouldn't lose.

"Ok," Prota nodded. "Revenge."

"Yeah," John grinned. "Revenge."

Unfortunately for Prota, most of John's plans revolved around knowing the [Plot]. At the moment, there was no [Plot] to be had. The sequence of events they'd encounter was never meant to be part of the [Story] in the first place.

Of course, the [Story] still existed. But John was unaware of its path. As long as he was with Destiny, no matter how little he knew, he understood that he was on the journey of a hero trying to defeat a Demon King.

Here, however? He didn't consider himself a [Character]. [Plotlines] and such didn't apply to him. There was nothing to predict.

And that meant that John had no strategy up his sleeve, no backup plan in case things went wrong. This time, he didn't care if he lost. He just wanted to get a hit back at the one they'd initially thought untouchable.

He was charging in blind.

~~~

Hushed voices. Cloaked figures. A hidden room in an abandoned area of the school.

"Has he taken the bait?"

"He has."

The voices were masked, unidentifiable, so that cultists would fail to identify each other in the event of capture. Not a single soul in this room knew the true identity of another.

"And the girl?"

"Does such a thing need to be said? If the boy takes the bait, so does the girl."

"Good. There have been too many coincidences around those two. We must find out what it is that they hold."

A few nods. A few mutterings. Nobody objected.

"First, that boy… the records on him make no sense. Two entries. Two!" one of the cultists exclaimed angrily. "And one of them was classified? Do you even know how long it took me to look into him?"

"I understand, but-"

"No, you don't! Apparently, he was one of the prime forces in wiping out our branch in Vulcan! And get this, he ran a bar. A bar! How does that even make sense?!"

"Calm down. It may have been falsified. What is even more concerning is that he, along with two others, played a part in the eradication of our branch in the Town of Beginnings. That one was… it was special."

There was a moment of silence.

Special.

Everyone was aware that the Town of Beginnings was not to be touched. A special project was being conducted there. They'd been told to wait for results, and that no information was to be released until then.

But now, no information would ever be released.

"Just like our experiment ten years ago…"

The room went quiet.

"No matter. The Wynton household will be of great use to us. If those two are as powerful as we anticipate, then that house may fall, but they have long since served their purpose. Our time is soon. Then, it is decided. Some of us will deal with the half-elf. The rest will deal with the siblings. Do we understand?"

There was mostly noise of agreement, but one cultist hesitated.

"Say. If they are as strong as we believe, then… won't they just escape? All we will know is that those two are strong, nothing more. How does that help us?"

To the cultist's surprise, everybody else just laughed.

"You must've gotten here recently. See, we have something they don't."

"What?"

"We have the power of the Mystics on our side."

~~~

The following days were a little tumultuous. John had been questioned about his incident with Draco, but he just shrugged it off. He did, of course, explain what had actually happened to Destiny, but neither of them did anything about it. After all, what was there to do?

Nothing.

Prota would've been questioned by her classmates as well, only she had already developed a reputation for being non-verbal. Additionally, those who had been used to target her still felt a little afraid of the white haired girl, so nobody approached. Prota didn't mind.

The Rose twins still interacted with her, and while they sensed something was off, they didn't push too deep. Of course, everybody wanted to know what had happened to Draco Wynton, but nobody knew anything definitive. Some said he'd been killed by a student who'd gotten too fed up. Others said he'd been expelled quietly. This made a couple of students nervous. However, since nobody had reported anything about him, nobody could definitively point out what had happened.

Still, the results of his disappearance showed themselves almost immediately. Students felt more at ease. There was more socializing. More interaction. People stopped tiptoeing around class and started hanging out more.

Smiles. Laughter. Such things had been lacking while the Wynton noble had been present.

Nobody missed him. Nobody wanted him back.

And despite all he'd done to Prota, she couldn't help but feel a little bad. Not because she wanted him back or anything. No, far from it. He was, without doubt, the only person she could say she hated.

But part of his circumstances reminded her of herself. Someone nobody wanted. Someone nobody cared about. For the longest time, the world had hated her, and for what reason?

The answer was nothing. There was no reason. It was simply how things worked.

And so nobody would accept her, because nobody cared for her. Nobody would look into her circumstances when it was her fate to be rejected in the first place. But in a way, wasn't it Draco's fate to be hated? To be despised? Would anyone try to give him a second chance when he was meant to be the enemy in the first place?

So even though she hated Draco himself, there was something about his circumstances that felt… a little off.

He was, like her, a victim of circumstances.

"That bitch was just unlucky," John muttered as he fell onto his bed, snapping Prota out of her thoughts. "I don't like him any more than I did. But in the end, he was just a projection of the [Author] in a way. So… well, sucks to be him, I guess."

Prota flinched. Right, in the end, if John's statements were true, it was the [Author's] fault.

What was she supposed to do with that information?

Nothing.

"Well, I can't pity him too much. He had a pretty good time shitting over everyone while it lasted." John sat up, shaking his hair out of his eyes. "Still, it's just… a little unlucky, I guess?"

Prota closed her eyes.

Unlucky.

If there could be a word that described their lives, it would probably be that, right?

~~~

The rest of the year, surprisingly, went off without a hitch. The second year's final exam was a little tricky. Students had been expected to learn finer mana control techniques, advancing their mastery of their powers. Unlike the previous year, this year's exam was a simple one-on-one with their respective Mystic professor. This wasn't an issue for Prota and Destiny, of course, as they'd been receiving private tutoring in their own time.

Prota's skill had especially developed, with her new skills reaching unprecedented levels of proficiency. Her Blossom and Frozen Flame were now spells she could cast semi-regularly. While their effectiveness had dropped relative to the opponents they were facing, they were still incredible spells. Of course, power had been traded for speed, dropping the power of said spells to that of a fourth-circle spell, but being able to cast them more often was worth the trade-off.

This was because Prota simply had more powerful spells in her arsenal. Plasma Disk and Absolute Zero were both incredibly potent spells that could easily be called her ultimates. Rain of Arrows, the spell she'd used against the cultists in the casino, was another highly potent spell that she could now cast without John stalling for her.

Kit had taught her the fundamentals well. Leora had built upon those fundamentals. Sofya had amplified them to their peak.

Prota's understanding of mana as a concept was likely the best of any student in the school. Her "curse" had become her greatest gift.

All that was left was John.

~~~

Lupin faced off against his student in the examination room.

"Due to your circumstances, we can-"

"No."

John withdrew his sword. This time, it wasn't one of the cheap training blades meant for students. It was a craft weapon made by Briar. Of course, she hadn't made it for free. It'd cost him a few tokens. But tokens were something he had in abundance.

And he couldn't afford to have his blade broken right now.

"Let's just get this over with, all right?"

John's tone was unusually serious. But serious was something he needed to be right now.

He was often foolish. Headstrong. Rash. But stupid was something he couldn't afford to be in a few weeks. He'd been dead serious about taking on the Wynton household. And if [Determination] failed to activate properly, he needed to know if he was good enough without it.

[Resets] were gone. He couldn't afford to slip up right now.

The mana pills Arthur had given him would have to be enough. He didn't care if Lupin was a cultist. If that were the case, they'd end up fighting anyway. Now was as good a time as any to see if he had what it took to win.

He didn't have a plan. That didn't mean he wasn't taking things seriously. John understood the risk he was taking.

It was just that, having been accustomed to being emotionless, he was finding himself swept up by the torrent of emotions Draco Wynton had caused him to feel. And even if he was being swept away in a stream of rage, he could still hold onto what little rationale he had left.

"Are you sure about this?" Lupin frowned, slowly revealing his blade. "I understand your position. This is a test of mana, boy."

John nodded. "And mana is what you're going to test me on."

"But-"

John raised his blade, a thin line of energy coursing around it. Aura. The sign of a Master. A rank no student had yet to achieve. Destiny was close, but he wasn't quite there. How was a manaless boy doing this?

"What are you doing, boy?" Lupin frowned. "This isn't like you."

"Maybe I decided it was time to further my education."

Lupin sighed. "Very well. I will not question you. Would I be correct in assuming you are taking this seriously, for once?"

John simply nodded. Lupin's eyes narrowed, his blade poised to attack.

"Good. Then I will test you accordingly. Let the examination begin."

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