Staying Neutral

Chapter S

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Today is a weird day.

Y/n wakes up one morning to find out that Sera has a copy of UnOrdinary (given from John) and accidentally got caught, Remi shows up to school and Blyke finds out that her brother was murdered, and now Arlo is nowhere to be seen in any hallway. Y/n could only pout as she roams the empty halls of the large building. "...There's no one to annoy..."

"———-"

"——"

"Huh? What was that?

That sounds like Isen..."

Curious to see what it was about, she leans against the door and eavesdrops on the conversation where Isen was having.

"So, you called for me?" The reporter asks. "Isen, I need your expertise. You can find any sort of information on anyone, right?"

"Arlo. That soup bowl." Y/n clenches her fists when she realizes what he was going to request from Isen. "I can't believe I thought he actually tolerated John for a second there.

But then again... Maybe he's just trying to get to know John without actually asking about it? I mean, that's what I would do."

"Well, that's kind of an over-statement," Isen says sheepishly, "But what kind of info are you looking for specifically?"

"Do you know a guy in your grade, John?" Arlo asks.

"That cripple who always hangs around Y/n and Seraphina?" Isen recalls. "Yeah, he's pretty infamous. Why are you interested in him?"

"I had a few encounters with him..." Arlo crosses his arms and stares at the floor. "...and he seems pretty suspicious."

Y/n widens her eyes. Now that I do think about it... She frowns. I shouldn't think about my friend like that.

But is he truly my friend if he knows that I don't know much about his background? It's like he doesn't even bother.

Is he truly my friend if he doesn't even know anything about me?

But that's on my part, isn't it?

But we never had a problem with that for the two past years...

"He's powerless and completely unaware of his surroundings...

...gets mediocre grades...

And has no respect for the social hierarchy." Arlo glares. "Someone as useless as him should have been put in his place a long time ago."

"Yet somehow, he got into one of the top schools... and can casually get along with Y/n and Seraphina."

"The facts don't line up."

Looking back up to Isen, Arlo says, "So I want you to look into it. Find out what he's hiding... What his history is... How he got accepted into Wellston..."

"Everything," the king demands.

"What? Is this all that really necessary?" the reporter tries to reason. "You must be overthinking it. He probably just got lucky. You don't need to waste your time on—"

"Isen."

With bright blue glowing eyes, Arlo responds, "I don't remember asking for your opinion."

Isen immediately stiffens began to regret his words. With a trembling figure, he simply says, "Ah... my bad. Just leave it to me..." He shudders from fear before shakily turning around to exit the classroom.

"Oh, and one more thing," Arlo calls out, making Isen stop in his tracks. With a threatening look, Arlo raises his hand and says in a dark voice, "Keep your mouth shut this time."