It was midnight as the turbulence had died down. The rain was still hammering onto the roof of the building. News has spread across the school like wildfire. S rank Namo was killed in the forest by an assailant. The listed assailant? It was Akashi's name that was smeared across the subject as foul rumors about him started. Even though he is seen as an E rank. Even those who possess a little aptitude for hunting monsters can kill a defenseless S rank healer. Surprisingly though, almost nobody knew the true face of Namo since she wore a hood over her head all the time, covering her face. The broken staff, how he used the partnership to his leverage, how he dragged her into the forest using an enchanted weapon to kill her etc. False evidence. A trial had said to have already taken place privately and Akashi was already handed with a punishment. The trial never happened this whole story was serving as a cover for the actions of Kelvin and Kriss. Kelvin's father had manipulated the news to cover their tracks. The two students that were at Kelvin's side got expelled and sent back to where they came from. As for Kelvin, his partnership with Jin-Ae was void immediately and had a private written record of attempted murder. Kriss got off with nothing because he wasn't at the scene. All of this happened in twelve hours.
"Fuck...", Akashi murmured
He sat there on the ground next to the body lying in the bed. He started to doze off as he couldn't stay awake for much longer after using the exorbitant amount of magic in one day as he couldn't access his true mana.
"I feel like I'm floating... it's nice...", she thought to herself. "... am I dead?... Is this the afterlife?..."
Then she heard the light rain and the sounds of thunder. Only three hours have passed since midnight. She opened her eyes slightly and looked to her right. She could see the bookshelf filled with magic spellbooks. She looked to her left and looked out the window to see the night sky filled with clouds and rain. Then she saw him. Akashi was sitting on the floor in the corner. His arms were crossed and his hair was all messy from the rain. He changed into a new tailcoat as the other one was drying. She looked at her right arm suddenly remembering the large wound that was left there but there was no trace of it. No scarring nor marks.
"That's impossible... I clearly remember getting stabbed in my right arm... even with the most talented healer, there would be a sign of a scar or a mark... did I just dream of it?...", she thought.
She shook her head and sighed. There was no way that it was a dream, the weather was the same as she remembered as she blacked out. Her staff was also missing as she remembered it getting shattered by Jin-Ae's partner. She started thinking about it too much and that caused her to doze off back into sleep.
***
Morning came as the rain never ceased to end from yesterday. All that could be heard was the light thunder and the rain hitting the roof. Namo woke up from the sound of rain. There was a faint smell of something fragrant and appetizing in the air. She got up and saw that Akashi was nowhere to be found where she last saw him last night. She walked out only to find that a set of her traveling clothes have been set in the bathroom and all of her stuff is already packed. The clothes brought another question to her head.
"How am I so clean and why are my clothes different?..."
She shook her head as she dismissed these questions and changed into the clothes that were laid out for her. She went into the living room to find Akashi in a very dark-looking tailcoat that seemed to blend into the surroundings. He was sitting at the dining table with two bowls of miso and rice with raw eggs. He seemed to have sat there for quite a bit but the food was still steaming.
"G-Good morning Akashi..."
He looked up to see that she already had changed into her traveling clothes and nodded with satisfaction. Though through the stoic face that he has, he's glad that she turned up to be fine after the massive amount of blood loss.
"Good morning to you. Have a seat and eat, I have some things to tell you."
She sat down with him at the table and as they ate, Akashi saw this as a good moment to give her some details of what's going on.
"I'm sure that you have many questions but you can save them for later when we get going."
"Get going? Are we leaving the academy?"
"Yes, all of the money you spent on this room have been given back due to the circumstances right now."
"Circumstances?"
Akashi sighed and gave her a newspaper and she was shocked at what she saw
"You're proclaimed dead. So we have to leave this kingdom at once."
He thought to himself once more
"This should fulfill the second condition...", he thought.
Her hand was trembling and she set the paper down
"Where do you plan on taking me? As you know, my family is the lordship of-"
Akashi put a finger up to her lips
"I've been thinking about this for a while. When you told me that you're family was under the Shinora family, I immediately suspected that you were telling a lie. Of all the years I remembered being in that family, not once did I hear about a lord or mistress under us who was an elf."
She gasped in disbelief
"Who knew that you would be part of the Shinora family... I guess my lie has been seen through..."
Akashi raised an eyebrow at that and finished his coffee
"You got one thing right. The Shinora family is a dreadful family who takes advantage of the other surrounding lower nobles. What you got wrong is that I am not a part of the Shinora family. I have been cut off from that noble line for four years."
This information caused more of a surprise. There was news that the Shinora family had lost their son and had his funeral privately. Lo and behold, the son faked his disappearance and death going under a new family name.
"I'm not going to ask what happened between you and your family, but where do you plan of taking me then? As you now know that I'm not even a noble of this kingdom."
Akashi looked at his miso for a moment and looked at her with a glare
"You're not a noble here, but you sure are a noble somewhere else right? I took a look at that bracelet of yours and inspected it. Although it seemed like a genuine seal to the family, it was indeed a fake. Then I found another family crest, a legitimate one, one that I recognized straight away."
He paused for a moment and continued
"As to where I'm taking you, I'm taking you back home... the Elfheim kingdom."