The sun hung lazily overhead. The students stood at the training grounds for mana manipulation practicals.
"Ajax…Storm, come forth," Professor Rashord Karl called.
On his cue, they joined him on the dais.
"From today, consider these two my disciples. They will be taking care of lectures whenever I am not around.
"Make sure to give them your utmost respect," he said firmly.
"Tch… What does he see in those two?" A student from behind murmured beneath his breath.
There was a burning gaze of rage from someone in the crowd. The students sensed his anger and instinctively gave him space. It was Steve.
Ajax had topped their class in every course—theoretical and practical. Storm came next, and Steve followed behind.
Steve had been trying to get Ajax's attention since their first encounter, but Ajax never acknowledged his presence. This stung his pride. He was filled with a burning desire to tear down the academy when he saw Ajax on the dais.
Not only is Ajax ignoring him, but he's also refusing to treat him as an equal.
"I will crash him with everything I've got," he often thought.
After the introduction of Ajax and Storm as his disciples, he announced a three-month project.
The class was tasked with running a financial firm set up by the academy across the city. As he spoke, the upperclassmen joined.
Two second-year students, along with an upperclassman, will manage a firm.
To avoid being biased, the upperclassmen were selected at random, and the second-year students were to pair any of their choice among their classmates.
Storm and Ajax stood on the dais, so they were the first to be paired with an upper-class student.
Their performance would impact their grades significantly, so they were spared from class activities during the three months.
After the announcement, the class was dismissed.
Storm, being his usual self, began chatting with the student they were paired with, but Ajax felt the need to inform Master about the project.
He received terrifying news upon his arrival at the shop. A student had reported Master to the authorities, claiming he had forced students into working for him. When asked about his plea, he admitted to having a student work under him.
"…but it was on his own accord," he claimed.
The authorities refused to accept that, leading to him being fired.
"Fired yesterday?" Ajax asked with a confused tone.
He asked if they knew of the student, but unfortunately, the staff had no clue who it was.
A tremendous rage began to build up within Ajax.
He headed to the principal's office to question her.
Soft knock.
"Sorry for my imprudence," Ajax said as he bowed respectfully.
"Please, there is something I'd like to discuss with you."
Before Ajax could speak, the principal spoke up, "You are Ajax Romanov, am I correct?"
"Yes, I am," Ajax responded respectfully.
"And you want to tell me you voluntarily worked for the blacksmith, right?" She asked.
"Yes, ma'am," Ajax said.
"Get out of my office," the principal ordered angrily.
Ajax stood motionless, locking eyes with her as she gazed at him intensely.
It was awkwardly silent for a moment, and suddenly "Okay, ma'am," Ajax said and walked off.
In truth, Ajax knew he was in the wrong for working for the blacksmith.
"Why must working be prohibited if the academy emphasized business?" The question that ran through his mind.
Despite his awareness, he was certain of one thing: he would make the student who lied on Master pay for their action.
The night fell quickly, prompting a sudden morning.
"Ajax, this is Berry Blossom, she's our partner for the project," Storm introduced.
"Nice to meet you, Berry," Ajax said politely.
Berry grinned, "Nice to meet you too."
They made their way to their firm.
The only things the academy provided for the project were the building, capital and limited furniture.
A capital of 20 million Luna was given to each group to manage the firm. Failing means running at a loss at the end of the project.
There were constant checkups by the professors and daily cash flow statements, which must be presented weekly. The academy kept a close eye on their performance.
Ajax, Storm, and Berry opened a hedge fund firm. They took money from wealthy individuals who wished to invest but lacked the time, expertise, strategic and financial understanding of how and when to invest. Their firm was named B.A.S Hedge Funds. Staff were hired to ease their responsibilities.
Their choice of business was risky and they knew it, so to minimize their chances of going bankrupt, their investment ranged from 400,000 to 1 million Luna.
A fortnight into the project, some students lost almost three-quarters of their capital, which failed them immediately.
The streets were calmer than usual as Ajax and Storm walked to their firm. As they approached, they saw Berry crying in front of the firm.
They hurried in to check up on her. To her left side was the guard they hired, lying flat, completely unconscious.
"What happened?" Storm asked, as Ajax checked on the guard's pulse.
"The statement for the week is gone," Berry said, her voice trembling, "when I got here they were gone."
[This person must be strong, I hand-picked this guard,] Lucius said furiously.
They couldn't report the incident—no excuses were permitted.
Ajax approached Berry, stretched his arm and wiped off her tears, "we will get it back, don't worry," he assured her.
This wasn't something that would fail them, but they would lose a few points—points neither of them could risk.
Ajax was certain of one thing, the person who took the document was the same person who got Master fired, and the person's main target was him.
Despite the tragedy, they had to run the firm for the day.
Berry Blossom was from a first-class noble family, she's extremely skilled with her water magic, strategic and brilliant.
Losing a point wasn't something she could afford because she had always tried to top her class, but that spot was always taken by Lisa Yarnsong.
Later during the day, the guard gained consciousness. Immediately after Ajax realized he was awake, he confronted him and asked him about incident.
He saw nothing. He was hit from behind, he said.
Ajax asked Berry and Storm to take care of the day; he had an errand to run.
He decided to confront a selected few about the incident.
[Do not ask questions. Blame them and I will handle the rest.] Lucius ordered.
There were three people on his list: Simpson Hellhart—the notorious student in his class, Albert Varvatos—Simpson's partner in crime, and Lisa Yarnsong.
Albert was the first he confronted.
Ajax gazed intensively into his eyes, "Tell me the truth, I am listening," he said firmly,
"What?" Albert asked, confused.
[Not him,] Lucius said.
Without a word, Ajax left to Simpson.
[Not him,] Lucius said.
He confronted Lisa afterward.
"Have you ever noticed how guilt can change a person?" He asked sarcastically.
Before she could speak, "I wonder how long this one would last," Ajax said.
Lisa stood, still trembling in her boat.
"Where's he?" Ajax asked.
She raised her head, her eyes flickering.
"How did he know?" She thought.
Before she could utter a word, Steve reached in and pushed Ajax back.
"Leave her alone," Steve yelled.
Ajax cut to the chase, "Where is the document you took?"
"Oh… so you recognize me now, huh?" Steve grinned.
Without a word, Ajax punched him in the face.
"Where Is The Document?" He asked, raged.
He got up slowly as he wiped his nose and said, "Not until you agree to duel with me."
Ajax looked at Lisa, shocked to death by Ajax's punch, and he calmed down.
Initially, he had wanted to kill Steve, so a duel would take him a step closer and settle things at that moment.
So he agreed to Steve's request and returned to his firm safely with the document.
That morning, Lisa saw Steve returning from the B.A.S. hedge funds with the document and was threatened by Steve to keep her mouth shut about it. As a third-class noble, she had no choice but to obey.
Before long, their project was over. Berry and Ajax became pretty close after the incident. Lisa came over regularly to apologize for her actions.
The B.A.S. hedge fund firm made over 6 and half million Luna in profits, passing them with flying colors.
However, the duel between Ajax Romanov and Steve Celestine was permitted by the school authorities and scheduled for the next two weeks, on the fifth day of that week.