How to Redeem a Trashy Side Villain

Chapter 108: Moment of Silence

It was about thirty minutes into class when an announcement was made in the speakers set up all throughout the academy.

"Attention students and faculty. All classes are to be suspended immediately. In an orderly manner, please proceed to the main auditorium when your year is called. First-year students, please begin heading there."

The room fell silent.

A second later, murmurs erupted around the classroom.

"The auditorium?"

"What's going on?"

"Is this about the demon attack?"

When the topic was brought back up, many eyes glanced over at me.

Ms. Morgan seemed already aware of the announcement, as she was quick to pack up her things. "Alright class. Pack up your things. Take everything with you and no running in the hallways."

As everyone began to stand, I could hear the sounds of chairs scraping.

Putting my school bag back on, I had also been expecting this. This sequence of events had also occurred in the novel. Only this time, I was curious what had changed due to my presence.

As we began pouring out into the hallways, over a thousand students began converging toward the massive central building.

I was a few hallways into my journey when someone suddenly appeared beside me. It was Diana.

"Hey," she thought. "What a coincidence."

Are you sure about that?

Because we shared locations due to the connection we had, I knew that even though her classroom was closer to the auditorium, she had made a detour to meet up with me.

On my other side, I could hear Ichiko grinding her teeth.

The main auditorium was so large that it was basically a coliseum.

All of its doors were wide open with staff members standing outside.

Ignoring the looks I was getting, I entered. Inside, it was massive. Tiered seating that nearly reached the ceiling, which could comfortably hold thousands of students. There was a massive stage at the front.

Each year had a designated section of the seats and one by one, we took a seat. Although I would've preferred to sit up top, I chose to sit in the bottom row because I was more comfortable with people staring a hole into the back of my head than turning their bodies just to stare at me.

Once the last student was seated, the second-year students began entering.

Then the third.

Then the fourth.

Other than whoever was absent or was running late because they were in the bathroom or something, the entire student body was present in a single room.

When was the last time that this happened?

Behind me, I could hear everyone whispering. They were either whispering about what they thought we were doing here or about me.

Once everyone had settled, a figure slowly stepped up onto the stage.

The strongest person in the academy. One of the strongest humans alive.

Our Headmistress.

Standing behind the podium, her hands were clasped behind her back. Her gaze swept over the crowd and the chatter slowly died down until the entire auditorium was silent.

When her gaze reached where I was sitting, she stopped for a few seconds, which only made the attention on me grow even further.

She nodded her head before looking away.

"I brought everyone here today," Headmistress Catherine began, speaking normally but her voice was still projected to even the students sitting the furthest away from her, "to address the recent event that is on your mind."

She paused for a moment.

Before anyone could whisper or even breathe too loudly, she continued, "But before I address anything, let's take a moment of silence."

I could see her pupils shaking a bit.

"For the 37 students and the 12 faculty members who lost their lives during the demon attack. Silence… please."

Her words hit extremely hard, reminding all of the people in the room that although they had overcome the demon attack two weeks ago, it wasn't without casualties.

Just as she requested, everyone was silent. It was an absolute silence where not a single body shuffled, no one whispered, and even if someone had the urge to cough, they held it in.

Thousands of students were sitting perfectly still.

Sadness spread through the auditorium as they began to recall the fellow students that they lost. Or maybe one of their favorite teachers was among those who passed.

Some people began to clench their fists.

Others lowered their heads.

I could feel anger, grief, and fear around me.

In scattered places, a few killing intents had raised but none of the students doing it were scolded.

Considering that in the novel, the total death toll was closer to a hundred… I'd say that this is actually a victory we should celebrate.

Of course, I didn't say that out loud.

After a full five minutes of silence, Headmistress Catherine lifted her head.

"That is all the silence I will allow," she said flatly. "Grieve later. Take that anger, that sadness you're feeling, and don't forget it. Remember every one of their faces always."

Her tone had shifted to something darker.

"From this forward, we will no longer have the luxury to mourn," she continued. "Our academy will no longer exist to simply raise warriors."

People began talking, confused about what she was saying.

Without sugarcoating her words, she continued without hesitating, "We will be training each and everyone of you into killing machines."

At her words, a few students stiffened up while some others paled.

"Whether you like it or not," she said, "war is inevitable. The demon king is back. His army will enter our world very soon and when they do, millions will die."

She made another sweep over the auditorium but this time, much faster.

"Some of you in this room will die."

The words she just said were like a flashbang that stunned most of the students.

"Others will rise and become heroes."

When she said that, heads slowly turned all across the auditorium.

They were looking at me. Resisting the urge to sigh, I continued looking at Headmistress Catherine, waiting to see what else she had to say.

"But before either of us can come true," she said with a firm tone, "my responsibility, the academy's responsibility, is to give every single one of you the best fighting chance possible."

There it is. The day that the academy changed into what is essentially a military school.

Placing her hands on the podium, she continued, "And to do that, all of your schedules will be changed."

The crowd stirred at this because the arrangement of classes and courses was one of the best parts of the academy.

"Starting next week," she announced, "every other week will no longer follow your standard academic curriculum."

As confusion rose and students got louder, she clapped her hands, which got everyone to shut their mouths.

"Instead," she said, "those weeks will be entirely dedicated to combat training, survival training, tactical coordination, and live exercises."

A few students swallowed hard as they could already picture their lives becoming much harder.

"We will be pushing each and every one of you harder than ever. We will break you down, then once you're nothing but a pile of trash, we will rebuild you from scratch. Stronger and better than before."

Her eyes narrowed.

"You may find this unfair but the enemies will not show mercy. If you don't think you can handle it, drop out. Leave and let someone else protect you and your family the day the demons arrive."

The auditorium was so silent after those words that the sound of a pin dropping would've been enough to grab everyone's attention.

"But for those who choose to stay and fight, thank you."

She then turned her head to the doors.

"You guys may enter."

Who was she talking to?

The doors opened up and one by one, a large group of people began flooding in. Hundreds of them.

As they were walking and filling up the space that was in front of the stage, my eyes widened as I recognised a few people.

Quentin? Is that Master Omi? Jerman's teacher? Wait… is that the vice-leader of the Facold family?

The Headmistress glanced at me before looking away.

"In front of you are new instructors. All of them will be working with you on those other weeks when you won't have your usual classes. Due to the lack of instructors compared to the number of students, we decided it was best that we reach out for help. I'd like to thank House Agnus for sending these people and supporting our cause."

"...Wha?" I uttered.

Diana and Ichiko both looked at me, wondering if I knew.

I shook my head and could instantly feel the glares at me amplify.

I don't know anything about this. Look away!

"By the beginning of next week, I want every student to have formed a group of four in their year. Then we will assign an instructor to you who will become your mentor, master, and protector. Your group will remain until the very end of the semester, so choose wisely."

…What?!

This didn't happen in the novel.

"Your assigned mentor will be the one personally training you. It can take place here. Take place somewhere else. And for those who the mentors deem are ready… they will be taking you out to the abandoned lands."

There was a brief moment of silence before the entire room erupted.

"Is she trying to get us killed?"

"I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I don't want to die."

"...Should I just drop out?"

Telling the students that they would be taken to the abandoned lands was like being told that they would be entering a demo version of the underworld, home of the demons, also known as Hell.

To say that I was also shocked would be an understatement.

Currently, the abandoned lands just have demonic monsters, corrupted monsters, evil entities, and other dangerous beings. But it wouldn't be long before demons started appearing there if they hadn't already.

The Headmistress must've also known this.

So why? Why had she made this decision?

"Calm your horses!" she screamed.

"..."

"..."

Everyone nervously gulped and closed their mouths.

"I said those that the mentors deemed worthy. If you're scared to go there, then clearly you aren't worthy of going yet. That means I'm not referring to you at the moment."

The realization made a few students feel awkward about their reaction.

"As of now, most of the students who will be heading there are the fourth-year students. But even then… only a select few."