Chapter 41 Spotlight
Nami walked with her head bowed, passing by the people who stared at her in the same way they had outside the academy when she did something that seemed beyond reason to everyone.
Although the world they now lived in was different, where monsters who had been imprisoned in hell for thousands of years after the gods successfully sealed them away were reappearing on earth one by one and mysterious powers were emerging, seeing humans possess such incredible power remained a mystery that remained unsolved.
"This feeling again," she thought. She felt déjà vu again. Despite her best efforts to avoid the spotlight, it would eventually happen. But what made her uneasy was the fact that she had broken her promise to Levi.
All this time, Levi had never asked her to make any promises. He always let her do whatever she wanted, even when she was reckless and made mistakes. He remained the only one who stuck by her side and didn't abandon her in her most difficult situations.
"That's Nami Ziegler, the one who destroyed the hall and challenged Prince Jacob to a fight last night, right?"
"You don't remember her face? She caused quite a commotion last night. She's completely out of her mind. How could she even think of challenging Prince Jacob? It seems she's tired of living."
"Hey, but she's so strong! I saw their fight last night. Prince Jacob's attacks couldn't even hurt her. She's that strong!"
"That's impossible! No one can defeat Prince Jacob. He's the strongest human ever recorded in history."
"You're right, but you should have seen their fight last night. It was incredible!"
"I'm sure Prince Jacob must have tried to restrain himself from hurting that girl. Prince Jacob is an honorable nobleman, a son of a king."
"I heard he also challenged the elastic girl Mariah to a fight. Mariah was seriously injured and taken to the hospital by ambulance."
Nami just smiled awkwardly as she listened to the rumors about her. Ever since she stepped out of her room this morning, in the corridors, on the stairs, and in the halls, people had been talking about last night's incident, which had caused such a stir throughout the academy, and news of it had even spread outside the academy. She hadn't even been here a week, and she had already caused trouble she should have avoided.
"Nami, don't think too much about it!" Sydney tried to comfort her. But Nami only laughed awkwardly. She felt like there was nothing she could cheer her up right now.
"But they're clearly wrong if they accuse Nami of starting the fight. Who would spread such misinformation?" Lea blurted out. She, who had previously blamed Nami, was now the one most upset by the negative rumors about Nami.
"Looks like I'm going to be kicked out of this place, haha... just like all the places I've worked before, I couldn't last more than three months and ended up getting fired, haha... what an idiot, I'm so unlucky." Nami laughed dryly with a glazed look in her eyes, making Lea and Sydney very worried for her.
"Nami, don't worry. We'll both testify if you're ever asked to appear before the academy leadership!"
"Syd's right, we were both with you when Prince Jacob blocked our way and challenged you to a fight. You were only trying to defend yourself. The academy leadership will definitely only give you a light punishment, because otherwise, Prince Jacob would be the one who would be most to blame for the incident."
"And about Mariah, you're clearly innocent, Nami. You did it to save both of us."
Nami sighed, deeply touched by Lea and Sydney's efforts to reassure her that everything would be fine and that she didn't start the chaos.
"You're both right. I wish I could explain to the leader that I—"
Her words stopped when she saw Prince Jacob walking across from her, and they were about to cross paths in a few steps. Her body froze when she saw him, not out of fear, nor out of guilt. Instead, it was a strange feeling that made her feel, for the first time, someone possessed such immense power.
When Prince Jacob attacked, she could feel a tremendous vibration as everything flew and shot at her at breakneck speed. She had found her match.
Prince Jacob simply walked past her, though their eyes met for two seconds as they passed. The look in his eyes, hinting at both anger and challenge, made her certain that the young man would definitely attempt a second attack when the time was right.
"Nami, are you okay?" Sydney asked. She felt her heart beating rapidly as Prince Jacob walked past them. Although she had been captivated by his handsomeness, remembering what she had done to Nami made her feel irritated.
"Even though he caused such a big scene last night, people still adore him. It's so unfair," Lea protested, seeing that even the people she considered ordinary people in this place were always attracted to and adored the prince's charm. No matter what mistakes he had made, in everyone's eyes, he was still in the right.