Chapter 43: I’ve Never Been Good at Keeping a Low Profile

Chapter 43: I’ve Never Been Good at Keeping a Low Profile

At exactly 1:30 in the afternoon, a sleek, dolphin-shaped transit vehicle cruised along the highway toward Trilan Junior High in the Coastal District.

To conceal their identities, Tendou and the others had been split into two separate groups, each traveling under the guise of exchange students.

Unsurprisingly, Tendou ended up paired with Caroline, while Chen Xing and Chen Kong—the sibling duo—formed the other group.

The Chen siblings had already arrived earlier that morning to complete their registration ahead of time.

“Tendou, once we get to the school, please remember to keep a low profile, all right?”

Inside the dolphin-shaped vehicle, Caroline fixed him with a stern glare, repeating her warning for what felt like the hundredth time.

Lounging lazily in his seat, Tendou replied with a yawn, “Yeah, yeah, I know.  You've told me that at least ten times since yesterday. You can stop repeating it already.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t cause any trouble—promise.”

Caroline didn’t look convinced in the slightest. She knew him far too well.

Sure, Tendou was capable, confident, and quick on his feet… but when it came to his personality?

Let’s just say “low profile” was not in his vocabulary.

Getting Tendou to behave quietly was harder than getting him to give up desserts.

And under normal circumstances, that might not have been a problem—if they were still back at the Ember Base, their own territory.

There, his antics would’ve been nothing more than an annoyance.

But right now? They were on a foreign assignment, operating in a completely unfamiliar city within the New Federation.

If Tendou went around showing off like he usually did, it could easily attract the attention of the Deep Blue Metropolis branch of the Starbearer Association.

And once that happened, their simple protection mission would suddenly spiral into something far messier—potentially dragging every one of the Children of the Stars into serious trouble.

After all, within the New Federation, their organization—Ember—was officially recognized by the Association as an “evil organization.”

Of course, Tendou—being someone who knew the original story inside and out—was perfectly aware that whether he acted high-profile or not, those troublesome figures in Deep Blue would end up coming for them anyway.

After all, for someone like Dorian, the city’s wealthiest man, to secretly cooperate with a “villainous group” like Ember—it could only mean that the trouble and pressure he was under had far exceeded what any normal person could imagine.

And the ones capable of putting that kind of pressure on him?

In Deep Blue Metropolis, there were only two forces:

The official government, represented by the Deep Blue Guard, and the Starbearer Association’s Deep Blue Branch.

Having read the original, Tendou already knew the truth that Dorian’s current predicament stemmed from his desire to seize control over the mining rights to “Tear of Deep Blue”, a precious resource monopolized by one of the Federation’s Four Great Houses: the Glacial Hymn House.

To make Dorian back off from his reckless ambitions, the Glacial Hymn House had secretly influenced several of Dorian’s major shareholders in BluEther Group, offering them very tempting benefits in exchange for their support in pressuring him.

Fortunately, Dorian wasn’t without backing of his own.

In fact—his own allies were also members of the Glacial Hymn House.

Yes, Dorian wasn’t stupid. He knew perfectly well which lines could be crossed and which couldn’t.

The fact that he dared to publicly announce his intent to contest for the Deep Sea District’s mining rights meant he already had the confidence—and the support—to do so.

That confidence came directly from the backing of certain Glacial Hymn House higher-ups.

So in truth, what appeared to be a simple power struggle between Dorian and his company’s shareholders was actually the spark of a much larger internal feud within the Glacial Hymn House itself—a clash between two inner factions fighting for greater influence and profit.

“Miss Caroline, Young Master Tendou—we’ve arrived.”

As the dolphin car glided to a stop before the grand gates of Trilan Junior High,

Tendou and Caroline exchanged a quick glance before stepping out together into the bright afternoon sun.

Gazing at the enormous, shell-shaped building before him, Tendou exclaimed dramatically, “Caroline, tell me—do you think we might find a giant pearl inside that huge shell?”

Caroline rolled her eyes. “That’s not a shell. That’s Trilan Junior High’s main building, it just looks like one.”

“Really?”

“Why would I lie to you? Didn’t you read the Deep Blue Travel Guide? There’s an introduction to Trilan right in there.”

“Oh, that boring booklet? I tossed it ages ago. Nothing worth reading. I’d rather trust my own eyes.”

Caroline sighed, utterly done with him, and started walking toward the campus gate without looking back.

Trying to reason with Tendou? She’d learned the hard way that it was a lost cause.

Behind his sunglasses, Tendou’s cerulean eyes curved with an odd gleam.

‘Just a shell-shaped school building, huh? Somehow I doubt that.’

When he momentarily removed his shades, the “building” before him transformed.

In his sight, countless faint blue streams of energy—like blood through veins—flowed through the structure’s walls, connecting every corner of the campus.

Star energy.

The building itself was alive.

Tendou wanted to trace that power to its source, but protective wards and layered star energy circuits obscured it completely.

Not that he was here for that anyway.

After one last glance at the pulsating “shell,” he slipped his sunglasses back on.

‘In a place this unfamiliar, instead of wandering alone, I might as well let Kong show me around later… get a feel for the place.’

‘Still, before that, I should probably find out where the cafeteria is. I’m starving.’

And with that, instead of heading to the staff office to report in like a normal student, Tendou strode straight toward the non-academic wing.

Why report first when you could jump right into the scene?

He remembered clearly that at this point in the original story, Chen Kong, the protagonist of Stellaris, was having a rough time here.

As an outsider with no standout talents or family backing, he’d immediately become the target of those self-proclaimed “noble locals.”

In less than half a day, his classmates had already started discriminating against him.

Even knowing it was coming, Tendou couldn’t help finding it absurd.

You’re the protagonist of a shounen anime. You’ve fought monsters at Ember Base—and now you’re getting bullied by a bunch of middle-schoolers without even a hint of star energy?

Where’s your Star Core? Your Star Origin? The combat training you learned from the organization?

Just because they told you to “keep a low profile,” you went so low you can’t even fight back when you’re being bullied?

That’s beyond sad.

Under the golden afternoon sun, Tendou—wearing Trilan’s blue-and-white uniform and his ever-present black sunglasses—strode boldly across campus toward the cafeteria.

‘Low profile?’

‘Sorry.’

‘Of all the things I can do, keeping a low profile has never been one of them.’

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