The Scumbag's Guide To Heroism novel Chapter 307

Chapter 307: 307 | I’m Going to Study Insurance Law Tonight

The room stayed quiet for about thirty seconds after Castillo left, which might be a record for twenty teenagers processing the death of their childhood dreams.

I watched Percy scribbling notes like his life depended on it, his pen moving with the kind of religious dedication usually reserved for cult members or people who actually read terms of service agreements. Rina sat beside him, her purple eyes tracking his writing with an expression somewhere between admiration and mild concern for his mental health.

"Well," Caden said eventually, leaning back in his chair until it creaked, "that was traumatizing."

"That was educational," Petra corrected, though her voice carried less conviction than usual. She’d been staring at her planner for the last five minutes without writing anything, which was probably the first time in her life that premium stationery had failed to provide adequate therapy.

"Same thing," Marco said cheerfully. "I’m going to have nightmares about contract negotiations."

Felicity stretched in her chair, the movement doing interesting things to her blouse that I definitely didn’t notice because I’m a professional. "At least we know why my mom complains about agency fees now. Apparently they’re stealing our souls through fine print."

"Your mom complains about agency fees?" Camille asked, her brown eyes finding Felicity with genuine curiosity.

"My mom complains about everything. Agency fees, costume approval processes, sponsors who want to put logos on inappropriate body parts." Felicity’s smile turned wicked. "She has stories about the early days that would make you lose faith in humanity."

"More faith than we just lost?" Theo asked.

"So much more."

I gathered my folder and stood, recognizing the conversation was about to devolve into shared trauma bonding over the death of our collective innocence. Also, I had somewhere to be, and if I stuck around much longer, either Camille or Petra was going to corner me for a conversation I wasn’t ready to handle in front of witnesses.

The Oracle Feed pinged softly, flagging movement patterns. Camille’s trajectory suggested she was calculating the optimal moment to intercept me before I reached the door. Petra’s suggested she was doing the same calculation but from a different angle. Felicity’s suggested she was waiting to see which one moved first so she could enjoy the show.

I moved toward the door before any of them could commit to their respective strategies.

"Lukas," Percy called after me.

I turned back. He was still seated, his notebook closed now, his expression carrying that particular intensity that meant he was about to say something that would either be brilliant or deeply uncomfortable.

"That insurance analysis Professor Castillo corrected me on. The Aspect classification risk categories." He paused. "Your file lists you as Unmarked."

The room went very quiet again, but this time the quality of the silence was different. Sharp. Interested. The kind of silence that meant everyone was suddenly paying attention to a conversation they’d been ignoring thirty seconds earlier.

"Yeah," I said.

"Insurance companies don’t charge premiums for Unmarked individuals in hero agencies. There’s no Aspect risk to calculate." His pen tapped against his notebook once. "But if someone’s file was inaccurate, and they were actually a high-risk classification, the agency could face retroactive premium adjustments. Penalties. Possible contract voiding."

He wasn’t accusing me of anything. Percy didn’t operate that way. He was simply observing patterns, connecting data points, and sharing his conclusions with the same clinical detachment he applied to everything else. The fact that his conclusions happened to be correct was just Percy being Percy.

Also, it was probably going to destroy my life.

"Hypothetically," I said.

"Hypothetically," he agreed.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify