Heroes were supposed to be loved. Villains were supposed to be hated.

That was how stories worked. It was simple and it worked.

"I'm the hero," he whispered. "I'm supposed to win."

Behind him, a presence appeared, a mix of shadow and air that couldn't be seen or felt. Something that had been with him since his awakening.

'You are the hero' the presence said. It had no voice, not really. Just thoughts that appeared in his mind. 'But heroes must overcome challenges. Hadeon Ravana is your trial'

"He's making me look bad."

'Then make him look worse. You have the power. You have the backing. Use them'

"The pressure...."

'Is only the beginning. If that doesn't break him, escalate. Heroes do what's necessary to win'

Adrian nodded slowly. "What's necessary."

'Remember: You are destined to succeed. He is destined to fail. That is how its done'

"The story demands it," Adrian repeated.

He felt better now. The presence always made things clearer. Simpler.

He was the hero. Hadeon was the villain. Everything else was just details.

"Tomorrow, the pressure increases," he said. "And we'll see how loyal his precious faction really is."

The presence approved. He could feel it.

But somewhere, in a part of his mind he didn't quite acknowledge anymore, a small voice asked a question he refused to hear:

'If you're the hero, why do you need to destroy everyone who questions you?'

He pushed the thought away and went inside.

Heroes didn't have doubts.

They had destiny, they do things others won't do.

☆☆▪︎▪︎☆☆

Morning came too early, my ribs still protesting yesterday's duel with Seraphina. Felix's healing potions were good, but they couldn't completely eliminate the deep tissue damage from being thrown ten feet by a holy barrier.

I was reviewing Isabella's alternative supplier contracts when Damian entered with breakfast and a concerned expression.

"Young Master, three things you need to know."

"Good morning to you too." I set aside the documents. "What's happened?"

"First, word of your duel with Seraphina has spread throughout the academy. Students are... impressed."

"That's good, right?"

"Mostly. But it's also made you more visible. More scrutinized." He set down the breakfast tray. "Second, five more students have requested to join the faction. Three from Adrian's former followers."

I raised an eyebrow. "Three defections?"

"They claim they're tired of being treated as disposable. Your duel yesterday showed them that you're also strong." Damian hesitated. "Should I schedule interviews?"

"Later today. After I handle the registration paperwork." I pulled the documents Thomas had prepared. "And the third thing?"

"Adrian gave a speech this morning in central plaza and called you a 'dangerous element' and warned students against associating with your organization."

Of course he did.

```

[REPUTATION UPDATE: ADRIAN'S PUBLIC CAMPAIGN]

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

PUBLIC OPINION SHIFT

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Students Favorable to Hadeon: 35% → 40%

Students Neutral: 45% → 40%

Students Hostile: 20% → 20%

Adrian Supporters: Concerned (some defecting)

Neutral Students: Increasingly Curious

MC Supporters: Emboldened

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

ANALYSIS

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Adrian's speech had mixed results.

Intended to isolate you.

Actually increased interest in your faction.

Classic Streisand Effect.

People want to see what's so dangerous.

Some see through his rhetoric.

Your actions speak louder than his words.

```

"How did students react to the speech?"

"Mixed. His core supporters applauded. But I overheard several students questioning why the 'hero' seems so threatened by one villain." Damian allowed himself a small smile. "One student said, and I quote: 'If Ravana is so dangerous, why did he save Adrian's life?'"

I couldn't help but smile at that. "The poison incident keeps being useful."

"Saving your enemy's life was good politics, even if you didn't intend it that way."

"I intended to not die and catch an assassin. The politics were bonus."

"Happy accidents are still victories, Young Master."

☆☆▪︎▪︎☆☆

Two hours later, Thomas and I stood outside the Academy Administration building, arms full of prepared documentation.

"You're sure this will work?" I asked for the third time.

"Legally? Absolutely. Politically? We're about to find out." Thomas adjusted his glasses, checking the papers one more time. "Everything is in order. We're registering as a business entity under commercial law, not academy regulations. They can't refuse us."

"They can try."

"Then we cite the specific statutes." He patted his briefcase. "I brought three sets of documents and four lawyers' certifications. If they want to fight, we'll bury them in legal precedent."

I looked at the mild-mannered accountant with new respect. "You're surprisingly aggressive about bureaucracy."

"I spent five years watching corrupt officials manipulate rules. I learned to use those same rules against them." He smiled thinly. "Never underestimate the power of properly filed paperwork."

We entered the building.

The secretary looked up, saw me, and her expression soured immediately. "Mr. Ravana. What brings you here?"

"Registration. As required by the new regulations." I kept my tone professional. "Is the Headmaster available?"

"For you? I doubt....."

"We have an appointment." Thomas showed his documentation. "Scheduled this morning. As per regulation 47-B, all organizations must be given fair opportunity to register within the seven-day window."

She checked her ledger, clearly unhappy. "Fine. Wait here."

Ten minutes later, we were ushered into the Headmaster's office.

Headmaster Aldric was in his fifties, gray-haired and distinguished. He'd been neutral toward me so far, not hostile like some faculty, but not supportive either.

"Mr. Ravana. Mr. Gray." He gestured to seats. "I understand you wish to register your... organization."

"Yes, Headmaster." I remained standing, this needed to be formal. "We're here to register the Ravana Security and Trade Consortium under commercial business statutes, as permitted by academy charter section twelve, subsection four."

His eyebrows rose slightly. "You're registering as a business?"

"Correct." Thomas laid out documentation. "Full incorporation papers. Tax registration. Business licenses for security services and trade operations. Insurance certificates. Employee contracts. Everything required for commercial entity operating on academy grounds."

The Headmaster picked up the papers, began reading. His expression shifted from skeptical to surprised to... was that impressed?

"This is extremely thorough."

"We take compliance seriously," Thomas said. "All our employees are properly registered. All financial records are transparent and available for audit. All required permits and licenses are current."

"The new regulation requires student organizations to submit to Board oversight," the Headmaster noted.

"Indeed. However, we're not a student organization." I pulled out the relevant legal code. "We're a commercial entity that employs students. Different legal framework entirely. Commercial operations fall under commercial law, not academy student regulations."

He set down the papers, studying us carefully, a thin smile on his face. "You found a loophole."

"We found a legal alternative," Thomas corrected. "No loopholes. Just proper application of existing law."

"The Board wanted oversight of your activities."

"And they're welcome to request standard commercial inspections through proper legal channels. Same as any business operating near academy grounds." I kept my voice level. "We have nothing to hide. Our books are open. Our operations are legal and we simply prefer commercial oversight to political oversight."

The Headmaster leaned back, and I could see him processing the implications. If he rejected this registration, he'd be violating commercial law. If he accepted it, the Board's trap was neutralized.

"This puts me in an interesting position, Mr. Ravana."

"We're not trying to embarrass anyone, Headmaster. We're trying to operate legally within the system."

"You're trying to outmaneuver the Board."

"We're trying to survive their attempts to shut us down without cause." I met his eyes. "If our organization was actually dangerous, actually breaking laws, you'd be right to shut us down. But we're not. We're students forming a legitimate business. It's legal and it's encouraged by academy charter."

A long silence.

Then the Headmaster stamped the registration papers.

"Approved. Ravana Security and Trade Consortium is officially registered as a commercial entity operating under academy charter." He handed back the stamped documents. "I'll inform the Board of your registration."

"Thank you, Headmaster."

"Don't thank me yet. The Board won't be happy about this. They'll find other ways to pressure you."

"We're aware. But at least now we're legitimate."

As we stood to leave, the Headmaster spoke again. "Mr. Ravana?"

"Yes?"

"Off the record, this was clever. Very clever." He paused.

"Is that a compliment, Headmaster?"

"It's an observation." But there was the hint of a smile. "One more thing: Be careful. Winning this battle doesn't mean you've won the war. The people backing Adrian have resources beyond academy politics."

"I know. But thank you for the warning."

Outside the administration building, Thomas exhaled heavily. "That went better than expected."

"He stamped the papers. That's all that matters legally."

"The Headmaster is sharper than I thought. He saw exactly what we were doing but approved anyway."

"Because we gave him legal cover. He can tell the Board he had no choice and our paperwork was perfect." I looked at the stamped registration. "One problem solved. Ten more to go."

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