F-ranker Sword Saint: My Soulbound Sword is Secretly SSS-tier!-Chapter 262: A Misunderstanding

"D-Damn it, why is the queue suddenly so efficient?!" Cody cursed. "You absolutely must continue later, once the first day is over!"

With that, he followed the staff member to his waiting quarters. Elune’s name, too, was called soon after Cody.

"Later, Daru! Good luck in your matches!"

Daru had somehow improved in explaining, but not by much. At least his improvement was not enough to allow him to explain everything before the three of them had to part ways.

The opening ceremony of the Inter-Class Representative Competition was about to begin, so their conversation could only be delayed.

Daru was soon brought into his waiting quarters as well. It was quite small, and the stone interior was simple.

It even reminded him faintly of the empty rooms in the Stone Castle, except his waiting quarters at least had a chair and a table with an assortment of berries held by a wooden bowl.

He sat and waited for a while.

A dozen minutes later, someone knocked on the door. The staff member.

"Class 70, Daru Finnley, please follow me," the woman said.

That he did, exiting the quarters and tracing the dimly lit confines of the inner halls of the Crownspire Arena.

The pathways are quite ancient — proof of Crownspire’s history in the Sword Trials.

It was eerily quiet, too, and the clacks and clangs of their footsteps were the only sound.

But not for long.

A few minutes later, there was light ahead, then distorted noises. Everything got clearer and clearer as he neared whatever exit of the arena it was that he was headed for.

Only, it wasn’t an exit at all, but the entrance to the main grounds.

The noises...they were cheers. The novices of the Southern Bladeborn Academy cheered for their representatives, while the rookies and other professionals roared for their bets.

Then, almost at the exact moment he emerged from the entrance, he heard his introduction.

"Class 70, F-ranker, Omaru."

The entire arena suddenly grew silent, everyone in disbelief, especially the crowd of Class 70.

They were petrified, following the blonde young man with bewildered gazes.

There were so many things they couldn’t believe.

First was the mere fact that Daru Finnley, who they thought was long dead, was walking before their very eyes, well and alive.

Second — for the academy outsiders — was the fact that he was a darned F-ranker.

How the hell did an F-ranker even make it to the Inter-Class Representative Competition?!

And third, mostly those who were more informed thought Class 70’s representative would be Lynn Pemberton.

Some of them even saw her causing a commotion earlier. Then, everything clicked in their minds.

Perhaps this was the reason?

There were two people, however, who were the most affected by his sudden appearance: Secretary Helen and Instructor Talon.

The latter had submitted a petition for Lynn Pemberton to be the class representative after being pressured by her family.

Since Daru’s status was unknown, he decided that it was for the better that the A-ranker represented his class instead of allowing Class 70 to lose in the first round by default — sound logic backed by an appropriate conditional petition.

If Daru Finnley did not register on the day of the competition, Lynn Pemberton would be the class representative...except that it was denied by Secretary Helen.

She wanted finality.

Lynn Pemberton would be the Class Representative, and it would be up to Helen to obtain the principal’s approval.

Talon complied with a bit of guilt.

To the instructor’s surprise, Principal Jebroham actually approved of his petition. Everything should’ve been perfect.

So...why was Daru Finnley, his guilt, right in front of him?!

Even if he somehow showed up at the last moment, his slot should’ve been transferred to Lynn, no?

This had to be a mistake.

And it was — one that made Secretary Helen clench her jaws, seething in anger. That arrogant F-ranker...the day he dared defy her was still fresh in her mind.

She immediately activated a communication sigil, connecting to all the academy staff assigned to be event organizers.

Meanwhile, as chaos ensued at the backoffice, the class representatives were called one by one.

Daru stood at his assigned spot at the main stage, looking around without too much care in the world, when he noticed that the person beside him was looking at him quite intensely.

He didn’t recognize Iris, as her hair was now shorter, but the Snowflower certainly recognized him.

In fact, she was so shocked that she still hadn’t recovered herself from the moment Daru arrived.

"Oh, Iris. Sorry for not recognizing you immediately," he bowed slightly in apology, finally snapping Iris out of her stupor.

"D-Daru!" she exclaimed, though the below-average volume of her voice was thoroughly drowned by the enthusiastic hubbub. "Y-You’re back...Welcome back..."

"Ah, yes. Thank you."

In the end, Iris couldn’t effectively gather her thoughts, and the conversation died almost as soon as it began.

She wanted to reach out again, but was too shy to. She felt regretful, thinking she had blown her chance.

Iris decided that she would find a chance to talk to Daru again before the competition ended.

The novices could only stay in the Myriad Sword Realm for a limited amount of time, so the opening ceremony couldn’t take too long. The moment all 256 Class Representatives were called, the event host proceeded to the next portion, which was announcing the competition brackets.

Only, a special instruction suddenly came from an academy staff through a Whisper Sigil.

An uncomfortable grimace showed on Nathalie’s face for a moment before she masked it professionally with her signature smile.

"I apologize, ladies and gentlemen. There seems to be a misunderstanding. Class 70’s representative is Lynn Pemberton. Sir Daru Finnley, I apologize for the confusion as well. You may now choose one of the remaining VIP seats as consolation for the scare of suddenly being declared a class representative."

Meanwhile, in one of the VIP seats, a slightly seething, cherry blossom-haired young man suddenly turned into a sitting husk.

Caleb immediately left the Myriad Sword Realm to complain to his sister!