Both!


    The obvious answer and my choice were both!


    Shrugging my shoulders to Ruby''s question, I replied.


    "I''m free, are you?"


    Silent, staring at me for a second, Ruby sighed before saying.


    "You know, you don''t have a very good poker face."


    "..? I don''t?"


    I had actually thought that I was rather good at concealing my emotions and true intentions.


    Especially after all the scenarios I''ve been through where lying and hiding yourself is necessary!


    Shouldn''t I be an expert at making a poker face at this point?


    "...ah."


    Recalling how Ruby had managed to discern my dangerous thoughts and emotions when I had seen my father for the first time during the training camp, I sighed.


    No one else in the room, even my father himself, had managed to notice anything wrong with my smile or way of acting.


    To other people, I was just an overly happy student walking around.


    Yet...when no one else had, Ruby had somehow noticed that something was off with me.


    And, now, she was doing it again.


    Maybe... she was immune to my poker face for some reason or another.


    Seeing my silence as an admission of guilt, Ruby let go of my wrist before asking.


    "What is it you need?"


    ncing around for a moment, I made sure the corridor was clear of any students, especially the main cast members.


    Confirming that there were no other students, I leaned against the wall and stared at Ruby for a second.


    ...should I?


    I could just straight-up ask what Lily and the main cast''s exact n is to prevent the djinns from robbing the principal''s vault.


    That information would help me majorly in my n as I wouldn''t have to guess their locations and actions.


    Also, I highly believed that they probably had a countern for me.


    Even though I had shown no signs or hints of participating in this event, I knew that the main cast had still prepared some backup n in case I interfered.


    If Ruby had told me that n, then I would have been able to outmaneuver the main cast and avoid being caught or captured by them.


    It was such an easy thing to do...just ask Ruby to tell me the n.


    Not only would this speed up my process of nning, but it could potentially save me from getting caught and attacked by the main cast.


    Yet... as I stared at her fidgeting figure, I couldn''t open my mouth.


    I had already put her in an awkward situation... when I had called in my favor to get her to betray the main cast and help me during the battle royale.


    And now, here I was, doing the same thing.


    I was asking her to betray the friends she made thus far just to benefit myself.


    Sighing, I shook my head.


    I couldn''t do it.


    I couldn''t bring myself to ask her for the n, no matter how much it would help me execute the robbery.


    Noticing my silence, Ruby leaned to the right before staring up at me.


    Shaking my head, I replied to her question.


    "It''s not-"


    Letting a smile creep onto her face, Ruby interrupted me mid-sentence and curiously asked.


    "It''s not about that djinn robberying up tomorrow, is it?"


    "...is my poker face that bad?"


    Chuckling, Ruby leaned on the wall beside me before saying.


    "If you want to know, Lily, Kevin, Alya, Liam, Zach, Irene, and I are nning to head t-"


    Raising my hand, I stopped Ruby mid-sentence and said.


    "It''s no fun if I already know what the enemies are going to do, is it?"


    Shocked for a second, Ruby turned around and faced me before smiling and sarcastically replying.


    "Are you calling me an enemy!?"


    Breaking intoughter, I followed Ruby as the two of us headed to the library building, which was only a minute''s walk from the first-year building.


    Heading into the library after Ruby, I recalled the hour I had spent here upon returning to the academy.


    Back then, I was paranoid that people were going to find me out as not being the real Ren, so I frantically tried to learn everything about this world to fit in perfectly.


    Looking back on it, it didn''t really matter... because the people around me didn''t care if I was the real Ren or not.


    They hated me regardless.


    Finding a seat, the two of us sat side-by-side before pulling out the homework that had just been assigned by Professor Robinson.


    ...


    ...


    ...


    "I just want to check my answers with yours!"


    "Oh yeah, why don''t you hand me your sheet, and I''ll check for you."


    "...it''s more efficient i-"


    Standing up from her chair, Ruby stared at me with a confused expression.


    "How did you even manage to pass the first exam."


    Sighing, I pressed on with the worksheet in front of me.


    During this short-lived homework session, I learned something very important.


    Initially, I believed that Ruby had used her djinn connections to get herself a high score on the exams without even trying.


    Oh...but It was wrong... so very wrong.


    She was a... genius.


    And... I was a student who was over ten-years behind everyone else!


    Being from another world sucks, man...!


    Stuffing the half-finished worksheet in my backpack, I got up before following Ruby out of the library.


    Seeing the clouds shrivel up, indicating that it was about to know, I recalled something from yesterday.


    Turning to Ruby, I curiously asked.


    "Oh, yeah, did you see snow for the first timest night?"


    Shaking her head, Ruby dimly responded.


    "I only saw it from my window... I didn''t go outside."


    "...so you just watched it snow instead of going outside? Why, though?"


    Staying silent, Ruby simply pointed at the sky before halting just as we were about exit the cover of the library building.


    As snowkes began to descend from the sky and the temperature decreased, Ruby tugged on my jacket sleeve, forcing me out of the cover of the library and into the snow.