♰
EVERYONE TALKED ABOUT the incident at the Dining Hall earlier. It was the only thing the students talked about that some of the professors even started threatening them that if they ever mentioned that incident again, they'd get punished.
No one expected that a mere brotherhood like PHD could have the power to kick someone out of the entire school. But while everyone was busy talking about how terrifying the ex-princes genuinely are, there was a particular group of White Uniforms who...
Didn't really seem to care.
"Have you guys started cleaning the cafeteria?" Max asked while he and Keigo were in the laundry room, washing bed sheets that were so dirty that Max couldn't help but gag.
"I think they're planning to do that last. We're all still cleaning our individual rooms, and then we'll clean the halls and the bathrooms after. Stefan also called for maintenance to fix the pipes so the toilets won't clog anymore," Keigo explains.
Max nods his head and takes a seat to catch his breath after cleaning all night. While waiting for the laundry to finish, he looks down to check his wounded hands. After two days, it seems to be healing much better. But while Max stares at the bandages, he spots the bracelet he's wearing and instantly remembers what Vesper told him.
Gavriil is a dangerous man, and Max is very much aware of that fact. He has seen the bruises in his knuckles and how his eyes would sometimes feel distant. He's also careful with him as if he's afraid of messing things up. Max couldn't help but wonder...what are the things that Gavriil is willing to do for his sake?
"I can't believe the Prince Law still applies here. Everyone wouldn't stop talking about it," Keigo suddenly says, making Max snap back to his senses so he can look back at his friend.
"You're PHD's underling, right? Do you know anything about that?" Max asks him, and Keigo takes a deep breath before staring at the washing machine in front of him.
"To be honest, I don't. I just heard from Blade that when President Janus proposed the Prince Law to Kim Hee-joon, he was given a condition. I'm not entirely sure what that condition might be, but all I know is that the condition still applies here," Keigo explains, making Max tilt his head to the side, his expression showing confusion.
"Condition...what type of condition would my uncle make for PHD to freely use the Prince Law," Max wonders, and all Keigo could do was shrug his shoulder.
Max doesn't know why everything seems to be connected. PHD, Paradox, and even the Ministry in St. George Academy. All of them seem to be connected in one way or another, but it's still a literal mess. Max couldn't help but look over his objectives again.
OBJECTIVES:
(1) Help serfs produce 50,000 merit points for next week's tax collection.
(2) Find clues on who's working with Payton Wolfe.
(3) Prove there was foul play to get PHD back in J.S High.
(4) Ask about the previous president who proposed the Divisions Program. (Old Saints President: Klyde Vitus Von Hatzfeld, brother of Klaus, member of Paradox)
- Serfs mistreatment(?)...why are serfs treated like this?
- House of Bishops' involvement with PARADOX (Klaus & Klyde Vitus Von Hatzfeld)
- WHO IS THE ARCHBISHOP?
- Do all this in 1 MONTH: April 22, deadline.
Everything was overwhelming, and if you look through the objectives, you might even think that nothing makes sense. But Max knows. He knows that all this has a definite solution. He just has to find out what.
"Keigo," Max calls out, making Keigo look away from the washing machine so he can turn back to him. Max doesn't say anything for a while, but then he turns to Keigo and suddenly grabs him for a tight hug, catching Keigo off guard.
Keigo's entire body freezes, confused as to why his crush is suddenly embracing him like that. But just as Keigo was about to ask what this was all about, Max leaned against his ear and whispered, "Keigo, you trust me, right?"
"Trust you? Of course," Keigo whispered back.
Max paused for a couple of seconds, but afterward, he finally told him, "St. George Academy's Archbishop...find his real name for me."
Before Keigo could even react to the strange request, Xander, their roommate, suddenly arrived at the laundry room, panting heavily as if he had just run a marathon. "Oh shit. Did I come in at a bad time?" Xander asks in surprise, but Max immediately pulls away from Keigo before laughing it off.
"No, I was just asking for comfort because of how tiring everything has been. Right, Keigo?" Max asks, and Keigo instantly fakes a smile and nods his head before turning to Xander as well.
"Anyway, what's up? Are you guys done for the night?" Max then asks, and Xander shakes his head, the nervous expression on his face instantly making both Max and Keigo stand from their seats. They haven't even heard what Xander has to say yet, but they already know that it's something bad.
"It's the gaffers," Xander finally reveals, and that alone made Max and Keigo run back to the Hell Sanctum to see what was going on.
When they came back, they saw all the serfs standing outside. Max and Keigo pushed forward, and as soon as they got to the front, Keigo covered his mouth in shock while Max could only clench his fist in complete anger. Their dorm's facade was a complete mess. The windows that the others were cleaning were now covered in red paint. And their division's banner was even engulfed in flames. Thankfully, two serfs arrived with an extinguisher to put the fire out.
Max looked at the serfs and saw the devastation in their eyes. Most of them were tired, and the hope they had was starting to disappear again. Max knew that they had to do something about this, so he ran to Stefan Kross, their Division's assigned leader, and told him, "Emergency meeting."
Stefan nods his head and starts telling the serfs to head to the cafeteria for the emergency meeting. As everyone was heading back, Max looked at their burnt banner before turning to the other dorms. Just when he thought he could try to understand them, they decided to pull a stunt like this.
"No more Mr. Nice Guy," Max says as his roommates Xander and Keigo stand beside him. "It's time we fight. This is war. And this time...we're firing back."
...
"Those bastards are truly evil! They just came to our dorm all of a sudden and started throwing paint," one of the serfs complained while Max, Stefan, Keigo, and Xander stood in front of all of them.
"They're probably mad at what PHD did to them and tried releasing their anger at us," another serf assumed, which was actually something Max and his friends thought about, too.
Kim Hee-Joon mocked them and even got one of them expelled. That's the biggest disrespect any of them has ever experienced, so they probably did this to the serfs so they could remind them of the power they held. If you ask Max, it's a pretty petty move. But pettiness is still troublesome regardless.
"What do we do about this, Max?" Stefan then asks, and Max, who had his arms crossed, stares at the serfs before coming up with a plan.
"I have an idea," he tells them. "This is something that might be new to most of you, but we don't really have much of a choice. Our dorm will be inspected next week, and the Tax Collectors will also be coming to collect our debts. What I'm about to suggest might be risky, but are you guys ready for it?"
The serfs looked at each other, unsure if they were ready to accept whatever Max had in mind. But considering how they're now actually making progress, the best thing they can do is continue to trust in this white uniform, no matter the cost.
"What do you have in mind?" One of the serfs asked.
Max smiled and got on top of a table so everyone could see him. "If we want to be able to successfully go with our initial plan, we need to do three specific things. First...we need the help of Vesper Cinna," Max reveals while showing his index finger, and everyone instantly reacts, even Keigo, Xander, and Stefan.
"Vesper is a serf like us because he got demoted when he fought with a brotherhood. Everyone fears him, even the gaffers. He has a reputation that can help protect our Division. And if he's around, incidents like these might lessen," Max explains further.
Most of the serfs were still not on board with the idea of having Vesper as their guard. If the gaffers are afraid of Vesper Cinna, then the serfs are more afraid of him. Vesper is like a wild child. No one knows what he's thinking, and he might just explode before anyone can stop him. They do agree that Vesper can protect them, but the real question is, how are they going to convince him to do such a thing for a bunch of serfs like them?
"Vesper doesn't even acknowledge himself as a serf, so how are we going to ask him to help us?" A serf asks, which is a question that Max already expected.
"I talked to him earlier, and I think we can convince him somehow. I'll speak to Vesper tomorrow. Just tell me if you agree with this, and I'll immediately do it," Max says, and the serfs start talking amongst each other again.
After careful discussion, they finally agreed.
"Alright, now let me tell you about the second thing we need," Max says as he puts up two fingers for everyone to see. "Vesper Cinna can act as a guard, but we need something more practical. And this is where you come in," Max reveals as he turns to look at his roommate.
"Me?" Xander asks in confusion.
"Yes, you. When I first got here, you made this contraption that released pepper spray. Do you think you can do something similar outside our dorms? Can you make more traps for us?" Max asks, surprising the other serfs.
"Wait, you can do that?" Stefan says in surprise, and everyone else starts looking at Xander and asking him questions.
Xander didn't expect that all the attention would suddenly go to him. He instantly felt anxious, and for a second, he thought he was going to faint. But when he looked up and saw the look on Max's face, he suddenly felt something change inside him. If Max can trust him enough to fulfill such a task, then he has to do everything he can to not disappoint him.
It seems like Max has this innate ability to push others to do well.
"I think I can do that," Xander finally answers, and the serfs start looking hopeful again. Looks like they're starting to see what Max is trying to do.
Max smiles at Xander as a sign of thank you before turning to the other white uniforms and showing them three fingers. "Now for the third point," he starts. "We're gonna fuck up Paradise Cove and make those gaffers know that we're not backing out from a fight," he then reveals. And as expected, the serfs weren't particularly happy with that idea.
"You want us to destroy their dorms too?" A serf asks.
"We can't do that. We're gonna get caught!"
"And if we get caught, we're the only ones who will get punished for it."
Max patiently waits for everyone to voice out their concerns and calm down. When no one said anything anymore, he cleared his throat and explained, "I know you're all worried, but I have a plan. Rest assured, we're not gonna get caught. We're gonna strike inside where they least expect it."
"Inside?" Stefan asks, also worried.
"I have hope in you, Max, but how on earth are we gonna get inside Paradise Cove? Not only is it filled with Gaffers, but I heard there are guards outside too, as well as a ton of cameras," Keigo asked, and the mischievous smile on Max's face instantly removed all of Keigo's worries. He shouldn't have doubted his friend for a second.
"Keigo, if we can infiltrate the Campbell Mansion, we can infiltrate anything," Max confidently says, talking about the time they successfully infiltrated Felix's house once. "But don't worry, I actually have a friend among the gaffers who might be willing to help."
"A friend?" Xander and Stefan ask in unison.
Keigo then furrows his brows, also uncertain of who Max is referring to.
"Who?" Keigo asks, and Max steps down from the table and looks back at the serfs before answering, "A friend I made during Mr. Brains & Brawn. Tsukumo Asahi."
[At Dante's Inferno, 2nd level]
"Thanks for your help yesterday. Because of you, the Saints weren't able to intervene," Kim Hee-Joon, leader of Rank 12 brotherhood, PHD, says to the man standing in front of him—Vice President Leviathan Dubois.
"It still a shame that we weren't at the hall to see how everything went down. I bet they had such cute expressions," Blade then says, standing on Joon's left while Killshot stood on the right.
Levi looks directly at Joon's eyes with an impressed look before giving out a low chuckle.
Two days ago, Joon summoned him here and asked him for a favor. He told him that PHD was going to pull a stunt at the Dining Hall, and whatever happened, Levi had to make sure that the Saints didn't intervene. The Saints and the brotherhoods don't have a great relationship, but since Joon is an old friend of Levi, he agrees. But what the vice didn't know was that the stunt Joon mentioned was actually the Prince Law.
"The Saints could have stopped me before I declared the law, so thank you for making sure that didn't happen," Joon says before adjusting himself in his seat. "And the threat to deliberate us was a nice touch. Having them feel hopeful and then crushing that hope right before their eyes is the best revenge anyone can ask for."
"That wasn't my plan. It was Justice's. If that officer from the Brotherhood Association didn't come on time, things would have ended differently," Levi explains, but Joon didn't find it much of a problem.
"Anyway, I still have a lot of plans in store. I'm gonna turn this school upside down. Those white uniforms will definitely regret looking down on us," Joon declares, and both Blade and Killshot nod their heads, smiling in excitement.
Levi felt uneasy about all this. Joon wasn't the type to be pulling such flashy stunts, even back in J.S High. He was definitely planning something.
"What are you really trying to do, Joon?" Lev finally asks, making Joon and his wingmen look back at him.
"What am I trying to do?" Joon repeats. "I'm trying to make the lives of your gaffers a living hell, and I'm gonna show them what brotherhoods are truly capable of doing. To be honest, it's embarrassing that Uchdryd, Ruby, and the rest of the leaders haven't taken this opportunity yet," Joon explains, making Levi furrow his brows in confusion.
"What are you talking about?"
"House of Bishops is a house where the Saints and the Gaffers rule, but when you look at it, it's actually the perfect place for the brotherhoods to wreak havoc. It's true that the Division Program protects them in a way, but there are a lot of loopholes in that rule. Your brotherhoods are aware of that, but the problem is, they don't really care. At the end of the day, the Division Program favors the gaffers, not the brotherhoods. The brotherhoods here are nothing more but accessories," Joon explains further.
"Loopholes?"
"That's why I'm gonna make my move. As soon as the gaffers realize that they're nothing but their titles, they're all gonna run around like rats. And once that happens, I'll also be able to capture him," Joon says next, confusing Levi even more.
"Him? Who are you talking about?"
"The man who Payton Wolfe is working for is a gaffer in this house. We're only flushing out the rat so that he can come out himself. With our plan, he's eventually gonna have to make a move," Killshot then answers.
Levi looks at the three strong black uniforms with shock, but then it eventually turns into anger. "That's it? You're gonna influence the other brotherhoods to find a loophole and make the white uniforms lives miserable just because of that? You're going to do exactly what Paradox did to us in the past just so you can go back to your castle?" Levi angrily asks.
Joon grinned at the vice president's response, but after a couple of seconds, the grin turned into a frown. "Looks like you're no longer as sharp as I thought, Lev. It's quite disappointing," Joon says as he gets up from his seat.
The lord of gluttony adjusts his uniform and walks his way to where the vice president is standing. As soon as he stood just a few inches away from him, he told him, "I'm gonna create chaos. I'm gonna make your house experience what real hell feels like. I'm gonna make them suffer and realize that they are nothing but cowards who hide behind their titles. And when everything has been said and done, all of them..."
Joon paused, and then he suddenly reached out to Levi, surprising the Saint. Levi thought that the leader was going to touch him, but Joon stopped just inches away from Levi's face before pulling his hand away.
"All of them...would finally want the White Uniform Protection Code that our old president died to create," Joon reveals, instantly making Levi's eyes widen in shock.
"W-What did you just say?" Levi asks as he stares at Joon, who now has a sad expression on his face.
"You know the reason why your new house is such a mess, Lev? It's because St. George Academy...is exactly how J.S High was in the past. You experienced the exact same thing, and we fought, and we bled just to create a solution. But Lev...what is this? Why are you still living in hell?" Joon asks, and a tear suddenly falls from Levi's eyes, making both Killshot and Blade look away.
"You haven't progressed. You might have left J.S High, but everything around you is still the same. And it's still the same because you are still a coward," Joon then coldly admits.
"Joon, I think that's enough," Killshot interrupts, but Joon ignores his right-hand man as he takes a step closer to the vice president.
"You couldn't stand up for your students and passed everything on to Justice Thorndyke in hopes that he can be different from you. That's why you could never continue Grey's legacy. You had nothing else to offer, and the state of this house is proof of that. You were never meant to be our Elites' President. You're just —"
"Joon, that's enough," Killshot says again, but this time with a much more commanding tone.
Vice President Levi stared back at Joon with tears in his eyes, but he couldn't say a thing. Joon, on the other hand, quickly looked away from him and turned around, praying that the tears in his eyes did not fall, especially in front of him.
"You had nothing else to offer Lev because J.S High already took so much from you. So why...why are you still here? I invited you to the banquet and made sure you failed it so you could give up and just focus on your health. But you fucking decided to—" Joon paused and clenched his fist, trying to suppress the emotions he had bottled up inside.
Killshot didn't say anything either, while Blade was already crying. As much as all of them want to forget their past, it will still come back to haunt them.
Joon isn't entirely doing all this so he can go back to J.S High and become the prince again. He's doing all this because he wants Levi to finally let go of St. George Academy and leave. He wants to take his burden away so he can finally move on.
When Grey died, Levi believed that he had this moral obligation to continue what Grey left behind. He believed that he had to continue the vision that their old president wanted for all the houses, even though he knew how small his chances were. Joon has tried everything he can to make Levi realize that he doesn't have to do all that anymore, but the vice president doesn't listen, so the only resort Joon has left...is this.
"Joon..." Levi calls out. "Do you still blame yourself for what happened to me?" He then asks, and a tear finally falls from Joon's eyes. Thankfully, he was no longer facing the vice president.
"Our discussion is over. You may leave," Joon answers instead.
"But—"
"I said you may leave," Joon says louder. Levi flinches, but he takes a deep breath and touches his chest before finally walking away. But as he takes his leave, he glances at PHD's banner and remembers something.
"The strong protect the weak."
It was a bold phrase, and not everyone can proudly use it. But despite that, it's still PHD's brotherhood motto. Joon always acted cold and heartless. He made an image for himself so others wouldn't think he was weak. But even if he tries to hide what he truly is behind that cold expression, Joon will always be the strong and protective boy that Lev will deeply love.
"Grey told me to join Hans and the others. They're planning to create a brotherhood to defeat Paradox, but I don't think I can do it," Joon once said when he and Levi were hanging out at the gardens in J.S High.
"Why not?"
"You know why, Lev."
"But I think you should still do it. Grey wants you to join them for a reason. He trusts you, and the fact that Grey trusts you already says a lot. Besides, you're fierce, strong, and despite being hot-headed, you actually have a chance to help and protect J.S High," Levi once insisted.
"And why would I want to help J.S High when it has done nothing for me?"
"It's because the strong protect the weak, Joon."
"The strong protect the weak?"
"Exactly."
- END -