Chapter 25. Commoner

“Ken! Time to get up.” Lovetta called out at 8:15 on the dot and waited for him to get ready with Alice and Genesis. Shortly after, Ken came out of his room, and the group headed for the dorm room of the merman girl.

“Did any of you ask for her name? I don’t even know what her name is. I hope she isn’t sharing a room, or it might get pretty awkward.” Ken asked as the group arrived at the floor of her dorm.

After Lovetta knocked a few times, they saw a tiny opening as the girl peeked out verifying who was outside her dorm room.

Seeing that it was Ken and the girls, she let out a sign of relief and opened the door to greet Ken and the girls.

After collecting the merman girl, the group headed to the dining hall to grab some free breakfast before it was too late and Lovetta ended up paying for an extra portion since they were missing the one from Clare and with Ken’s growing appetite, he ended up taking the one Alice got.

When they got their food, the group headed upstairs to the top floor of the 4 storied dining hall, something Ken had never done before. But since they weren’t sure how long they would be staying, the group decided to head upstairs to get a secluded spot so they could have the conservation in a more private setting.

“So, before we get started, let us at least have a simple introduction and get to know each other’s names. I am Ken, this is Lovetta, Alice, and Genesis.” Ken took the lead and introduced himself and the girls to the merman girl.

“My name is Indra Atlan; I am from the kingdom of Atlantica. Thank you for taking the time to sit down with me and listen to my concerns.” Indra answered in a timid voice.

“Where have I heard that name before? I remember! You are the one who got the worst score after I crushed the midterm!” Ken said excitedly remembering how he didn’t feel bad at all for whoever Indra was for being in last place when he moved up the rankings.

Nodded embarrassingly, Indra confirmed that she is indeed currently the lowest ranked student for the first years but she does have a good reason for finishing this low. Saving that story for another time, Indra took a deep breath and began telling the group her struggles and why they were her last chance of staying at the academy.

“I am not sure if you are aware of the situation but students on the bottom of the hierarchy get treated extremely poorly. It didn’t take many days before I got targeted by a group of nobles and they started treating me like a servant and made me run errands and do all the grunt work. It was to the point that I couldn’t even attend any of the classes because they are always forcing me to do things.

Since I don’t have any of your money or know anyone, I was at a loss and decided to turn to the professors for help. The response I got was disheartening as they told me there was nothing they can do unless I have physical proof of the bullying.

After talking with the professors, I was positive that they knew exactly what was going on and with how they treated us and only tortured us mentally but never physically. I was stuck in a position where no one offered me any help and I couldn’t escape the cycle.” Indra stopped talking to calm down as the more she spoke the more her voice quivered, and tears started to roll down her face.

Of course, Ken was well aware of the situation and like Indra said, he too had walked by many commoners on a daily basis and pretended he didn’t see how much they were getting treated cruelly.

“Sorry. I knew how terrible commoners are getting treated and every time I saw it happen, I always thought to myself that I am lucky that it’s not happening to me. As much as I feel bad for you and the others, I am in no position to help.

I am sorry to say this, but I don’t have the ability to help all of the commoners that’s suffering from the way this academy operates. I don’t have the money, power or strength.

Sure, I got Clare to protect me, but I don’t want to burden her with any more responsibilities that she didn’t sign up for.” While the girl sobbed, Ken was only able to tell her the harsh truth.”

“Ken! You didn’t have to be so brutal did you? Sure, you can’t help all of the commoners, but she came to us for help so the least you can do is try to help her out.” Genesis replied, feeling sorry for the merman girl knowing that if it wasn't for her lies and Alice, she would most likely have been in the same situation as this girl.

“Calm down Genesis. No one said we won’t help her; I just want to let her know there is a limit of how much we can do so her expectation won’t be too high.”

With Lovetta and Genesis by her side to offer her comfort, Indra was able to regain some composure to continue with her story.

“For the entire first semester, they talked down to me, treated me like I am worthless and bossed me around, but I endured. As you know, merman have mostly stayed isolated from the land races, but my kingdom decided to open up and I was the only one to be selected in the 5 years and my people have high hopes for me.

I thought about dropping out so many times but when I went back during the break, instead of being able to tell my family how terrible the experience was. I couldn’t look my family in the eyes when they were all so excited and proud that I am part of this prestigious academy and how maybe one day I could be shown to the world during the tournament and make my race proud.

They were especially excited when they saw you and how a human and a beastman girl could get so close and they all wanted that for me, to be able to form relationships just like the one they saw.

I just couldn’t bring myself to tell them how much I wanted to drop out and now that I am back for the second semester, things just got so much worse that unless someone could help me, I would have to drop out because I refuse to let them do that to me.

Unlike the first semester where they just talked down to me and treated me like a servant. They are now trying to force me into sleeping with them and others. They told me that since all of the higher-class girls have protection spells cast on them, it’s up to the commoners to satisfy the needs of all the men here.” Couldn’t control her emotions again, Indra started tearing up again.

While Ken had seen commoners getting treated like trash countless times, it was the first time he had heard about commoners being forced into sleeping with people. Even for him, someone who doesn’t go look for trouble, it’s hard for him to not get angry and want to punch those fuckers in the face.

“I guess even in this case, the academy wouldn’t do anything? Since they are not technically forcing you and just pressuring you into doing it willingly? If you don’t mind, can you tell me how they are making your life more miserable than it already is?” Ken asked while trying his best to keep calm.

“They had gotten way more physical with me. They would touch me and grab me as they please and when I refuse and try to get them to stop, they would just laugh at me and taunt me, and I am scared that it would get worse, and I just can’t take it anymore.

I am exhausted from the fear and have tried everything I could think of. I know some girls and even a few guys that had given in to the constant harassment and intimidation that they stopped caring and just do what they are told but I can’t let them control me like that.” Indra answered while shaking in fear.

"How come I haven’t heard about any of this before? I know commoners are getting treated terribly but there are still quite a few in the higher grades and plenty of commoners have graduated from the academy. I know you are not lying, and I believe you one hundred percent, but something isn't right.” Ken asked, getting visibly angry and heated from Indra’s recounting.

“It’s because of him. Luke Darrumburgh.” Indra answered softly.

“I told you he was too suspicious!” Alice suddenly shouted, feeling validated for not liking Luke.

"Darrumburgh? That handsome guy every girl had dreamt about and wanted to be with? Why would someone like him with the Darrumburgh name, the connections, the looks, the grades do something like this?” Ken wondered in confusion not understanding his motives.

“I don’t know what he tried to achieve, but most of them changed from the beginning of the second semester because of him. He was causing the other nobles and royals to be more aggressive and treating us even worse than we were already getting treated.” Indra answered, telling the group what little information she had.

Before Ken and the girls could get any more answers out of Indra, they were approached by a group of chattery human nobles and Indra immediately started to coward in fear.

The group of nobles arrived at the corner table Ken and the girls were sitting at and from the middle, a handsome young man appeared smiling brightly with his blonde hair flowing and sat down gracefully at the table with the other nobles surrendering the table and concealing the group even further from the general view.

“Hello, your name is Ken. Correct? It’s unfortunate that we haven’t had a chance to have a conversation during the first semester of school.” The handsome young man said gracefully without a hint of malice or hostility.

“Hi. It’s Luke, isn’t it? What can I do for you?” Ken answered calmly while trying to keep his cool after knowing what he now knew.

“Sorry for bothering you while you are eating but I couldn't help but notice that my friend Indra here seemed to be rather scared, so I am just here to check on her to see if she is doing alright.” Luke answered with an innocent smile.

“Wow! What an observant friend you are! You were somehow able to notice her distress all the way up here in the corner? No wonder you were good enough to finish second behind Clare for our grade.” Ken commented sarcastically.

“She already told us what you nasty sickos are doing. Stop pretending to be some prince charming, no one is buying your crap.” Alice cuts in, disgusted at what she heard from Indra.

“You know, I have the ability to read people rather well. I was intrigued by you when I first heard about this commoner who was able to get the princess of Yelwraek to melt and wondered just what kind of men could possibly achieve that when she ignored even me?

Turns out, that elf is just an idiot. I know a commoner when I see one and I can see right through you. You can be snarky with me and put on this act, but I know. You are nothing, a nobody and you won’t do anything to me because you commoners can’t back up your words with action.” Maintaining his smile and even tone, if someone saw him without hearing his words, they could very well believe that he was reminiscing with an old friend.

At this point, Lovetta’s had enough, and she was right up onto Luke staring down on him both angry at the story Indra told but more so how he talked down to Ken.

While the nobles surrendering the group got all rowdy and antsy with Lovetta staring Luke down, Luke was quickly able to calm them down with a wave of his hand like they are nothing more than his servants. Standing up while examining the wolf girl, Luke’s facial expression never changed.

“Take her. Consider it a gift from me. But know this, I am giving her to you as a peace offering because I don’t want to deal with the elf. You, the vampire and this beastman, none of you are anything and I could crush you right now. However, since that idiot of an elf fancies you, take the merman as a gift but stay out of our business.

A bit of advice. Train your women better and don’t try and pretend to be a hero when you are nothing. Stay out of our business, play with your band of misfits, thank the heavens for the elf and don’t make me target you because I am not afraid of the elf, it’s just a hassle that I rather not have to deal with."

After giving Ken the warning, Luke left with his group of nobles acting like nothing had happened without a single change to his expressions.

As much as Ken wanted to be brave and act tough and help all of the people that got involved with this mess. He knew that what Luke said was right. He is no hero, he has no power, he is nothing but a commoner who got lucky and no matter how confident he pretends to be, he is in no position to take action.

When the group met up with Clare and Emma during lunch time, after hearing the story, Clare was ferocious and ready to go confront Luke before Ken grabbed and hugged onto her to prevent her from storming off.

“Calm down Clare! Think before you act. Before you storm off to confront Luke, think about how it will affect the people who are already getting bullied or those that are already so broken they aren’t fighting back.

If you just go up to him and confront him and turn this issue public and make it into a big deal, those people will end up suffering more and it won’t even work out for you. Do you have the time? Power? Energy? Ability to help all those that are in need?” Ken stated while still holding onto Clare while trying to reason with her.

“Are you telling me I should just watch people get turned into sex toys without doing anything?” Clare replied heatedly.

“Did I tell you to do nothing? I said to calm down Clare. Let's think it through and talk it through before you do anything irrational.” Ken answered calmly, trying to think what they could possibly do.

Too irate to care about classes, Clare volunteered for the first time ever to skip the rest of her lessons for the day and the group headed into town to get away from the academy and discuss the issue at hand.

To keep Clare calm, the group with Indra now tagging along arrived at the bakery where Ken got the cake the day before and the group ordered some sweets and got a table to discuss the situation. Since it’s midafternoon on a weekday, the small bakery deep in town far away from the academy was empty of customers except for the group.

“Let’s discuss the issues at hand. First, as much as we are all extremely angry at what they are doing, just as Luke said, Clare here is the only one that actually has any sort of power and the rest of us won’t be able to accomplish much.

Now, here is the issue. As much of a princess as Clare is, she did not use it to her advantage and for the whole semester plus more, not only did she not make any connections with other nobles and royals, she was cold and dismissive of them.

None of the other people with any sort of power is on our side except for Alice and the common issue once again is me. Because of me, Alice is not building the connections she needed and being that she is a vampire and Luke is from Darrumburgh, even a commoner like me knows there is a limit on what Alice’s nobility would be good for in front of a Darrumburgh.

Compared to our situation where neither Clare nor Alice had done anything, Luke is not only a noble from Darrumburgh, but he is also friendly with all of the nobles and royals and has built a large connection.

If we were to go directly against him, I do believe in what he said that he is not scared of Clare and not only would the commoners that are already getting targeted have an even worse time trying to remain at the academy and getting taken advantage of, I am not even sure what he is capable of doing to us.” As Ken explained the situation logically, the girls listened intently with all the sweets and desserts untouched.

“What do we do Ken? We obviously can’t just sit around and do nothing! I understand that technically speaking, he's got more say and authority than me because of my behaviors up until now and I know I am being a hypocrite since I only cared about myself and my studies before but after hearing the story and seeing Indra here, I can’t just let that piece of shit do what he wants!” Clare asked while getting heated once again.

Not able to come up with a good plan, the group left the sweets and small cakes they ordered untouched while discussing possible actions they could take to help those commoners while also not getting targeted themselves.

“Here is what I am thinking.” Ken started talking again after thinking hard about what Luke said.

“Like I said, I truly believe that Luke isn’t afraid of going head on against Clare if he was put into a situation to do so. For example, if Clare was to march up to his face and declare war. I am positive his pride and status won’t allow him to back down and he has more than enough connections to do some things that I couldn’t even imagine. Compared to the likes of Xandrian or Dimitri, I feel like Luke is on a different level.

However, after thinking about it all this time, I think he made a mistake. The fact he approached us and threatened us and let Indra go is making me rethink the whole situation.

If he only got involved in the second semester, maybe something happened? Since it hasn’t even been that long since school started, does he even care that much?

What does he gain from his actions? Is it worth getting into a dispute with a Yelwraek? It's not like he needs to abuse commoners to get girls or money. The more I think about it, the more his actions don't make any sense and I have no clue why he is doing all of it.”

“What do you think we should do Ken? What you are saying makes sense but without a solution, more and more people will get hurt by him.” Emma added feeling terrible for all of the other commoners that had to go through the trauma.

“I think that’s yet! Indra approached us, Luke let her go without putting up a fight. Let’s go approach the victims and see how it goes. If it doesn’t work, we will think of something else, but I feel like the best course of action for us right now is to try and see if we can resolve this without direct confrontation.”

After coming up with the plan, Ken went over the actions they needed to take, and the girls listened and nodded and finally, with some hope of overcoming this terrible event, the girls started to cheer up and started snacking on the desserts.

“You know Ken. I can say with certainty that Luke can’t read people all that well. Sure, he is right to call Clare an idiot, but he is definitely wrong about you, and I am positive you will one day achieve greatness.” Alice said sincerely while biting into Ken’s neck to get a meal, finally having an appetite while Lovetta and Emma had to hold Clare back from launching at Alice for a fight.

With an improved mood and Indra finally feeling slightly better, even when they just had a feast yesterday and some desserts now, the group stayed in town for a nice dinner for Indra and eventually headed back to the academy to turn in for the night with their plans ready to be put into action.