The Retired Hero is an Extra

Perhaps the person most confused by the warm reception was Jash himself as he was expecting some kind of payback for his elder brother.

'Did Caleb help somehow?' Jash furrowed his brow, unaware of the true situation behind the scenes.

In all honesty, he expected something like an early meeting time to make them sit there for a needlessly long period.

Maybe even scolding them outright for disrespecting their seniors but nothing of the sort happened, making him feel strange about it.

One thing was for sure though, Jash didn't trust Ivan to have done any good job as the guy was seated at one corner with a frightful expression.

But Jash knew that Caleb was someone who always looked at the long-term results rather than short-term gains.

'Someone like him would surely consider things outside the Academy and that crazy trio having just graduated.'

Nevertheless, it was all Jash's guesses in his heart and nothing more than that.

'Let's hope things stay like this,' Jash prayed inwardly, looking at the new arrivals as they settled into their seats.

It went without saying that Aeris and Caleb took the central seats while the rest of the group sat around them, awaiting the start of the meeting.

"Good morning, everyone," Aeris greeted, her smile warm as she took her role as President to start the meeting.

Even though some seats near her and around the corners were empty, she started anyway.

"As this is our first meeting with new first-year students who have joined us, could you both introduce yourselves?"

Her tone was polite and warm as she looked at them, surprising Jash who kept it within himself.

"Jash Ramille," he answered, too lazy to give proper introductions and half-expecting everyone to already know him.

Yet no one called him out on being rude or anything, knowing that he was still a Duke's child.

'No matter how many times one says that status inside the Academy is equal, it is not,' he mused, taking in their reaction.

"Ziva Arne," Ziva followed with a curt bow of her head, and nothing more than that.

Unlike Jash, she had no excessive movements and didn't appear nervous in the slightest.

However, Aeris nodded warmly to their succinct introductions, even congratulating them.

"Congratulations on being elected as the Year Representative," she said, her authoritative tone commanding everyone's attention.

Although Aeris appeared gentle and kind with her welcoming smile, she was one of the most powerful students in the academy.

"This year's freshmen are quite talented, I must say," Aeris commented, glancing at Ziva.

While Jash's performance was indeed better than her, Ziva's element alone made up for most of it, being praised to be stronger than Jash.

Ziva met Aeris's gaze with complete confidence in her abilities, disregarding her current strength and standing.

"Well, it sure was fun," Jash shrugged, breaking the silence and staredown as Ziva agreed to his words, knowing why he said them.

"True, it was more difficult than previous years, but it wouldn't have been challenging otherwise."

Their words shocked many people as it was somewhat similar to saying that their seniors were pathetically weak.

Despite that, the situation didn't escalate as Aeris diffused it. "Doesn't that mean that you will have a harder time, though?"

'Ugh, damn you, Brandon!' Jash cursed his brother inwardly, scowling as he knew those words were directed at him.

He was sure that Brandon blabbered about him being lazy and whatnot.

"Anyways, the point of the meeting isn't this," Aeris added, not wanting to get into a round of bickering with her juniors.

She herself knew how it felt to be on the receiving end as she always lost in logic against that crazy trio.

Just remembering those days made her want nothing except making things difficult for Jash and Ziva.

However, she was sure that Jash just wanted to maintain his Year Representative position, and burdening him with work would yield no result.

And she definitely didn't want to remove both of them from the Student Council, planning to make things hard for them inside the Student Council.

How else would she get her payback if the two ended up leaving the Student Council?

"What I wanted to explain to you was that your spot in the Student Council is not permanent until you secure your position as one of the Rankers,"

"And it would be better for both of you to not take things lightly, given the abundance of talented students in your year," Aeris advised with a pleasant smile.

Though it didn't seem pleasant in the least to Jash, who could somewhat guess her thoughts, but couldn't be sure of them.

Turning to Ziva, all he saw was a determined expression.

'Seems like she wants to get further inside the Student Council,' Jash noted, matching it from the novel information.

'Even after so many changes, some things are the same, huh?' he mused, finding it quite interesting.

Suddenly, the door opened as the remaining Student Council Members with distinct features walked in and settled into their seats.

"Well, it seems everyone has arrived," Aeris mentioned as the door closed with a loud,

—Thud!

That signaled the closure of the Meeting Hall, implying that whoever was still yet to arrive would be better off if they didn't try entering.

"The atmosphere is no joke," a boy muttered with a grin, sitting on the center seats while a girl poked him.

The ones who arrived were the Committee Heads who were a part of the Student Council as just one group couldn't take care of everything.

Committees units that operated independently of the Student Council despite being a part of it.

Each head had similar authority to the Vice-President of the Student Council, and this was why the real meeting had yet to begin in its truest sense.

Sadly, the committees could align with other factions, weakening the authority of the Student Council.

'Tsk, tsk, nothing is as good as it seems on the surface,' Jash sighed, knowing that certain Committee Heads were already in cahoots with factions.

"Firstly, the discipline committee..."

Finally, the meeting had begun with Aeris giving points for the day and some agreeing or disagreeing with her.

New roles were given out and things about duels or other scuffles were talked about before the topic about freshmen began.

"You're free to explore the different committees or if you wish to join the core of the Student Council as well."

This was what Caleb said to Jash and ZIva who sat quietly throughout the meeting despite Jash not wanting to.

If he could, he would've left early, but there was no such way out.

'Just when will their recruitment begin?' Jash wondered, trying to recall the exact mention of it in the novel, but couldn't remember it.

Originally, he wanted Ziva to take care of his workload as well, but it seemed unlikely and he didn't want to end up being the one taking care of all of it by himself.

That's why he needed some new blood in the Council who he could force to also do his part.

Jash didn't want to do anything to an extreme, not even the regular patrols around the Academy to prevent bullying.

Thankfully, he was lost in his thoughts when the meeting ended and directly headed towards the Ranker's Dorms, not noticing that Ziva had stayed behind.

She was getting explanations about the different committees to decide which ones to actually go and explore before considering joining one.