Parallel Memory

"What is my crime again?"

"Huh? Don't you still not understand after all that?"

Professor Yoel bellowed.

( Can you please stop acting like a small-time villain? )

I could not help but be curious about how Professor Yoel even reached Rank-B. If even a person like him could reach it, does it not mean that anyone can accomplish it?

Though the truth was far from it. Reaching Rank-B would be considered as being talented. Most Explorers were in the Rank-D, and being in Rank-C was considered strong.

So Rank-B could be considered quite powerful from this fact.

Only 0.01% of the population is at that rank. While not rare but it was still excellent compared to many people. As an Explorer, he would be able to hunt high-rank monsters and would have earned lots of money.

"I know that there are many news articles smearing my name but what does that get to do with my crime? They can say all they want, it does not mean I did those things."

"Humph! Don't try to act innocent. There are many news companies saying you did it."

"Just because of that? Are you saying that when many people talk about something then it will become true? Then what happened to the victory over demons in the last war? Did we win as many newspapers said?"

Professor William's face was gloomy. He should know where I'm going with this. News companies write a lot of bullshit all the time so why should I care about the things they say is what I was trying to convey here.

"You and I know that humans have not won the war. Just because many people tell something, it does not mean it will turn out to be true. If you want to accuse me, please show me some evidence."

"There are videos and pictures of you roughly smacking someone's hands and also the girls who testify against you."

Professor Yoel said.

"Haha… you call them evidence? I have indeed smacked his hand away but that is because he was not letting my hands go. As for the girls, who can tell whether they are hired by them or not?"

"Zero Elea, stop with the lie. Just admit it and we will lightly punish you."

Professor William bellowed. He must be desperate seeing that the situation was working in my favor.

"Lightly punish me? For what? Telling the truth? It is not necessary to waste time discussing these issues if you have already determined that I had done them. I had already told you the truth."

I didn't need to admit to anything.

"Professors, you can all see that this boy is lying. His reputation is already low and many people are insulting our Academy."

Professor William said to every professor present there.

Anyway, Professor Mia was not there. It might be because she is my mentor that they have decided to exclude her. Because there would be discrimination if Professor Mia were present.

There could also be other reasons.

"Yes, he is destroying our Academy prestige."

One of the professors said,

"Many people are criticizing our academy. Telling us that we are not teaching our students properly."

( Yes, I agree. How can you just appoint William as professor otherwise? )

I thought. Ace Academy was definitely doing something wrong by having William as our professor. Furthermore, there are too many arrogant students in the school, so I agree that Professors are not teaching students well.

However, the blame should lie more with the parent who had shaped them into being arrogant in the first place.

"With your reputation, how can we entrust you to participate in the Tournament of Academies? You will only drag down our academy name. I beseech everyone here to ban Zero from attending the tournament."

Professor Yoel said.

Looks like Professor Yoel and William's aim is for me to not participate in the tournament. If I perform well in the tournament, The Authority will extend their protection making it harder for Professor William to mess with me.

Also with all the prizes that I might get if we win, I would be promoted to another level which Professor William didn't want from me.

But did he really think that I needed to participate in the tournament to do that? I already have more than enough resources to make even young masters from a Diamond guild cry.

The mana herb which I got from the Gate is not only rare and high quality but compatible with my Ice energy.

Even the resources I might obtain from the tournament would be a drop in the bucket of the many resources I already possess.

Moreover, I participate because of Professor Mia's request and because I will receive an Art I really need. But even without the reward, I have other ways to get the Art.

So threatening me to take away my participation right was nothing but a joke in my eyes.

"This is not appropriate. Zero earned his right through the selection process. We can't just ban him due to some false news."

One of the professors said,

"Letting him participate will further affect our school's honor. We can't let him represent our Academy."

"What do you know? We cannot win if we ban someone as strong as Zero. Don't you know that our participants this year are weaker than other schools already?"

The professors started arguing. On one side, the professors want to withdraw my participation and on the other side, they disagree with that idea.

-CLAP!

The Vice-Principal clapped his hand stopping the professor from arguing further. After the silence, he looked at me.

"What do you think, Zero?"

Vice-Principal asked.

"I didn't do those things. If they want to use the opportunity to take my participation right then I have no problem. I don't want to participate in a childish game anyway."

It would be a loss for Ace Academy if I did not participate in the tournament. Do they really think I care about the fame and glory that I would get from the tournament?

The reward is barely enough to make me participate in the tournament. It is not enough to make me desperate.

"Haha… You said it. Vice-Principal I think that Zero is inappropriate for participating in the tournament. We should withdraw him and put another student."

Professor William was obviously happy that Zero had given up so easily. To him, Zero looked like a loser who had lost the opportunity to get all the rewards from the Tournament.

Although he was arrogant, Professor William could at least accept some facts. Considering Zero's power and age, he knows he would get a good place in the Tournament, and considering how talented he is, he knows that The Authority and other guilds would consider him to be a capable fighter.

He was happy that he could take away Zero's opportunity to get the resources from the tournament. What can talent and hard work do without enough resources? You would only advance faster with enough resources.

He knows that Zero doesn't have the background to get the resources to advance to a higher rank.

"I think we should stop our discussion for today. Whether Zero will participate or not, we will wait and see for a few more days."

Vice-Principal interrupted his happy moment.

With that, the discussion came to a halt. Professor William was obviously irritated that he could not completely get rid of Zero but soon calmed down at the thought of his plan.

The reputation of Zero was only going to get worse day by day. He believed that by next week, he could fully convince everyone to remove Zero from participating.

While everyone was signaled to leave the room, the Vice-Principal asked Zero to stay behind.

"Zero Elea, have you thought this through? With your power, it would not be difficult for you to make a name for yourself in the tournament."

"I know but I don't really care about fame."

Zero said.

It was true that fame yields nothing more than animosity. If he were to choose, he could rather be an unknown boy than someone who is known by everyone.

The Vice-Principal nodded his head with a smile.

"I am happy with your state of mind. Superficial things like fame and glory are obviously not as important as strength."

Vice-Principal emphasizes. He has been teaching students for many years and has seen many talents. Most talents would be blinded by temporary fame and glory.

Therefore he was happy to see that someone as young as Zero has got his priorities straight and does not care about fame.

"But the news will not only hurt your reputation but also Professor Mias."

"Huh?"

"The fact that you are Professor Mia's student for the Tournament has spread. If the news continues to spread, it will be harmful not only to you but also to Professor Mia. If you don't stop the spread of news and withdraw from your participation, Professor Mia's reputation will go down."

( I don't really care about what becomes of my fame. One moment people will talk about these things and tomorrow they will forget about them. )

I am an unknown boy and even if I really did those things that are mentioned in the news articles, those things would be forgotten quickly.

But it was different for Professor Mia. With everyone keeping their eyes on her, even the slightest things about her would be remembered by many people.

If the news spread that her student was committing all those crimes, wouldn't people blame her?

Zero didn't really care because nobody really knew him and he didn't care what other students thought about him. Not like many young masters have a better reputation than him.

"I don't need to say how many people have their eyes on Professor Mia these days. And not all have good intentions towards her."

"Hehe… They are really messing around. Vice-Principal rest assured. I will solve this problem."

It's time to show who controls the biggest social media sites.