[Location: Courtyard]

"Haaa!"

"*Grunts*"

It was needless to say, Jack might have underestimated Lynette and her fighting skills a bit. He noticed how pretty fast her reflexes were, using her legs for her attempts of kicking him while balancing her footing on the ground instead of her hands for punching his face directly.

What caught him off guard was that he noticed that she was going faster after her attempts of hitting him.

But alas, when Jack took a few step backwards after dodging her fast kicks. Gave Lynette her one chance of winning against him.

She pulled out her hidden dagger from her left hidden dagger holder (well to be skeptical, it was hidden in her left high knee socks, in her thigh) Catching the wolf's attention.

Jack saw the incoming dagger as his eyes grew wide. While Ace, Deuce and Grim started to shiver intensely.

What?! She has a dagger?!

Good luck Jack!!

Gotcha!

After the wolf got startled by the incoming weapon the little fox has, Lynette made her move.

Lynette swiftly continued attacking Jack with her dagger in her right hand, and now adding her left foot to attack as well. Jack was carefully dodging her attempts again but has to be quick.

One wrong move or he'll be a goner for sure!

It was then Jack was finally seeing Lynette's potential skills in this, but in a more frightening way that is.

It was then, Jack has accidentally made a wrong step while dodging. Lynette saw the chance, she put her dagger away and gave the wolf one final blow.

"AAAHH-"

It was then Jack took the impact at his stomach, causing him to take the blow immediately. After that, Jack was pushed to the ground, unable to move.

Which means... Lynette won.

This shocked Ace, Deuce and Grim immediately. Who would have thought that this little, innocent, and sweet girl would be this deadly? Like a cute box with a deadly surprise in it.

Now they feared that there's more than that battle, feeling like she can do something worser.

Okay, note to remind themselves. Never mess with her and territory, or you'll be digging your own grave. 6ft below.

After that one-on-one physical battle was over, Jack slowly stood up while holding his stomach as Lynette gave him a helping hand for him to stand up.

"It's my win." She answered with a smile, Jack took her hand as he stood up.

"Heh, You put up a pretty decent fight there Lynette..." Jack answered after standing up as pink half-myth shrugged it off.

"Ah, it was nothing. I was only playing fair with you. That's all." Lynette smiled as the three walked up to her.

"Lynn! That was sick and scary!" Ace yelled as he patted Lynette's right shoulder.

"That scary punch has sent a shockwave to my heart..." Grim mumbled, hoping he won't get the same treatment if he ever disobey her.

"But hey, atleast she won." Deuce answered.

"You’re getting too carried away. I don’t care about being a player anymore. It’s too tiring..." Ace whined in a exhausted tone and it looks like he wanted to give up.

"Oh? I thought you all wanted to get approval to play?" Lynette asked as she looked at the three.

"Oh please, I gave up."

"Too bad."

"Alright... Now that we’ve settled this, I’ll tell you everything that I know." Jack answered as everyone looked at him, especially Lynette.

"What exactly did we settle, man...?" Ace mumbled quietly.

"Everything. Ace." Lynette answered.

"The conflict that’s been raging in my heart. Since I’m practically betraying my own dorm." Jack explained in a low tone which everyone listened to him carefully.

"But I can’t bear it anymore!! The real essence of a fight is winning by pure effort no matter how tough it gets! I tried to test how far I could go in our fight, too. Choosing to win by lowly methods makes me want to puke! That defeats the purpose of a competition! I wanted to reach the top by winning using my own power!" Jack yelled in anger, especially when it comes to a competition.

"Ah, this guy’s the totally annoying type." Ace mumbled till Lynette pinched his ear.

"Ouch!"

"Don't say that! And ah, it’s not like you’re completely excusing injustice either, huh." Lynette scolded, as she listened to his words, she finally realized the situation Jack was saying.

Ah... So cheating tactics. Is that what Savanaclaw dorm are doing?

"I get it! I totally understand that feeling!!" Deuce shouted alongside with him.

"And here’s our totally annoying guy..." Grim mumbled.

"You guys..." Lynette sighed.

"Ruggie-senpai’s unique magic is... It’s making people mimic whatever he’s doing. He controlled the person he wanted to control and made it look like the accident was only because they were being careless." Jack explained, which that was the answer to one of Lynette's questions.

I knew it. He can make people mimic his movements.

"I see now. That’s how he managed to trade Grim’s bread for his without looking suspicious back at the cafeteria." Ace explained.

"That kind of magic is rare to have isn't it?" Lynette spoke, sounding quite serious.

"Damn it! I get pissed off when I hear that incident! Grudges over food are to be feared, yanno!" Grim whined, remembered his sandwich incident as Lynette patted his head gently.

"But, wait... Wouldn’t it be suspicious if he started pretending like he fell down the stairs near the target?" Deuce wondered till Jack answered him.

"It’s not like Ruggie-senpai was acting alone during all those incidents." Jack mentioned, which Lynette knew the answer.

"So then, don't tell me... Is everyone else in Savanaclaw are..." Lynette asked as Jack nodded at her.

"You pick it things up fast, and yeah. The other guys from Savanaclaw are probably in on it, too." Jack answered.

"Wha–!?"

"So he wasn't doing this workload alone then..." Lynette mumbled.

"If they’re around, he won’t stand out too much even if he did his unique magic. That’s why the other students acted as Ruggie-senpai’s wall so he wouldn’t be seen." Jack continued as Lynette nodded at his statement.

"That's definitely logical. With more people on his side like the whole dorm itself. Ruggie would have an upper-hand on accidents too." Lynette explained carefully.

"A conspiracy caused by a whole dorm... Why go so far...?" Deuce wondered, which Lynette had though the same thing.

Suddenly a bad feeling rose up in her guts. She remembered a certain conversation she listened during her first time in the dorm leader's meeting.

Wait... Could it be about...

"Hm… The Magical Shift Tournament’s really beneficial to your future if you win, right? Then I guess I can kinda understand why they’re doing it, but..." Ace slyly spoke till-

Jack was now growling at him in anger.

"You’re so scary, man! Don’t bare your fangs like that, I was just joking!" Ace trembled.

"As if that was a joke..." Lynette mumbled quietly. Knowing her two older brothers are wolves like Jack, they would do the same thing at him but a lot worser.

"Hmph! The present matters more than the future! If you can’t show what you can do now, your future doesn’t matter!" Jack answered.

"The one I really can’t stand is our Prefect Leona Kingscholar!" Jack yelled, the moment when he mentioned his dorm leader's name... It caught Lynette's full attention.

"I have a huge hunch about him into this too Jack, well he did mentioned about 'secret methods' of winning during the meeting with the other dorm leaders." Lynette explained, which it made Jack even more angerier.

"WHAT?!" Everyone yelled.

"Yeah, he did." Lynette answered with a serious expression.

"God why... He’s a really great player, but he doesn’t put in effort at all!" Jack yelled in frustration.

"True… That guy looked lazy, but he was crazy strong." Grim stated, after having a magift match with the Savanaclaw dorm but ended up failing.

"Right?! He’s so powerful, but why doesn’t he use it!? I hate those kinds of people the most! The plays that Leona-senpai did in the tournament three years ago were really amazing." Jack explained as his hands curled up into fists.

"That’s why I entered this school... I got into Savanaclaw and I thought that I would be able to draw out his full potential in a game, but..." The wolf continued, till Ace whispered to Lynette's ear.

"Hey, Lynn. I only keep hearing complaints about their Prefect, but..." Ace explained but the pink-haired girl whispered back at him.

"Yeah, I know. It looks like he actually looks up to him a lot." Lynette replied back.

"The incidents so far are like child’s play to them. I know that they’re still after something bigger." Jack explained, which everyone wondered about it.

But Lynette seemed to know the dorm's bigger plan.

"Something bigger?" Deuce asked.

"Is it Diasonmia Dorm?" Lynette asked carefully, till Jack nodded at her.

"Yeah, it is. It’s Diasomnia’s Prefect, Malleus Draconia." Jack explained.

"He’s got monstrous power and brought two consecutive victories for Diasomnia. Thanks to him, Savanaclaw keeps getting eliminated at the first round. I bet that my seniors all have a grudge against him." Jack mentioned and remembered their expression when Malleus's name was mentioned.

"Losing at the first round without scoring points... As previous top-placers, that must have been frustrating..." Deuce replied, which Lynette nodded alongside with him too.

"Yeah. They stopped being the center of attention ever since then. They’re trying to gain that back... But they’re using such cowardly means...!" Jack answered.

"So then, this whole issue is." Lynette stated till Ace spoke it for her.

"So you’re thinking that they might do something to Diasomnia on the day of the tournament, huh." Ace asked, as Jack's face fueled with anger afterward.

"Yeah, that’s why I want to break their plan!" Jack explained, until-

"I’ve heard enough." A stern voice answered. Everyone turned around to fine Riddle and Cater, walking up to them.

"Prefect Rosehearts and Diamond-senpai?" Deuce spoke after seeing the two.

"To think that they would trample on such a traditional event. How unforgivable." Riddle stated the situation carefully.

"What do we do, Riddle-kun?" Cater asked, looking at his dorm leader.

"We can’t apprehend Ruggie right now because we lack proof. We’re dealing with the sharp-witted Leona-senpai. I doubt that we’ll get them to confess smoothly, but thanks to Rose's skills as the investigator." Riddle stated.

"In other words, we have no choice but to catch them in the act, with Lynette holding the evidence?" Ace asked.

"Of course, why Rose did most of the work. She did the job well." Riddle answered as everyone turned to Lynette, who smirked back.

"There's no way for them to escape from me, I'll corner them like a bunch of rats." Lynette smiled wickedly.

"As expected of you Rose. I have a plan. First, let’s..." Riddle spoke until-

"Wait. I only told you what I know, but I have no plans on joining you." Jack states, which everyone but Lynette didn't saw this coming.

Knew he would say that...

"Eh~? You’ve gone this far and yet you’ll still say that?" Cater asked which Jack had remained unfazed at him.

"I’ll handle my own dorm’s problems by myself. See you." The wolf answered and was about to leave the team, but-

"You know, you haven't done anything to stop them from doing something like this from the beginning. And also, working alone wouldn't be the best idea too." Lynette stated, of course those words had reached to Jack's ears.

"Huh?!" Jack growled which it didn't scared Lynette, since she's a half-myth.

"A-ah... Her tongue is sharp like her words are ..." Grim mumbled quietly.

"She does have a point." Deuce mentioned as Lynette walked up to the tall wolf.

"Jack. You and I can relate when it comes to working in a situation alone. But in your POV, you haven't done anything to stop your dorm's schemes so far. To prove that point, your behavior towards to your dorm mates were shown as proof, alongside with your actions." Lynette stated as she looked at him in the eye.

"And also, you're facing against something larger than a regular situation. But all you did was to stay silent in the shadows. You can't call that 'handling the situation alone'. Do you think you can get an upper hand by doing this job alone?" She continued.

"Plus, don't wolves like you work in a pack? Cause a lone wolf like you will get hunted by a crowd." Lynette stated as her eyes gazed up at Jack's eyes, her pink rose eyes were sharp as her words.

"...Very well then. I’ll listen to what you have to say. But, I’ll do something on my own if I don’t like it." Jack stated, completely surrendered to Lynette and her words.

"This guy’s really annoying..." Ace mumbled quietly afterwards.

"Stubbornness is your specialty though, Acey~" Cater explained as well too.

"Then, continuing what I said earlier. First, we..." Then Riddle explained the whole plan.