They provided accommodation to the students near the academy as many had come from far-away places. They needed them to be checked twenty-four hours a day.
Alan lied on his padded bed in his small room and got lost in some thoughts. He thought about the weird questions the headmaster asked. He speculated he must have gotten instructions from the emperor.
While he was thinking, he heard some noises near the window. He was on the second floor, so someone being there was difficult to imagine.
"Must be a cat," He muttered and closed his eyes.
A man covered in dark clothing from head to toe entered the room from the window with a dagger in his hand. He slowly approached Alan with silent steps without making a noise.
Alan was lying on the bed with his eyes closed. The masked man pulled his hand up in the air and tried to stab him, but…
While his hand was still in the air, Alan opened his eyes and kicked on his chest.
"You still can't hide your presence properly," Alan mentioned, standing up from the bed. The masked man got pushed back from the kick. He tucked the dagger into his waistband and spoke.
"Not only me, no one can hide their presence from you, your majesty."
"What have you brought?" Alan asked, holding his hands behind his back.
"Your majesty, I have seen the headmaster's attendant going somewhere with a scroll. I followed him and saw that he took the headmaster's personal carriage and went towards the seventh province," The masked man answered.
"How long would it take him to reach there?"
"A few days, your majesty."
Alan went into thoughts after hearing it. "He must have taken the scroll to the emperor. We need to know about the contents of the scroll," He said with a quizzical expression.
"As you order, your majesty," The masked man said, bowed his head, and jumped out of the window.
***
Alan arrived in the academy the next day and everyone speculated Marya must have done something to him when they looked at the bandages on his hand.
"Hey, what happened to your hand?" Gunther asked when Alan was about to enter the academy's gate.
"Nothing, I was training and hurt myself," He answered but Gunther looked doubtful.
"Are you sure?" Gunther countered.
"Yes, why?"
"Nothing," Gunther shrugged before they heard an annoying voice again.
"Hey, mix breed and his idiot friend!" It was fatso again. He arrived with his goons and stood in their way.
"What happened to your hand, idiot friend? Did someone hurt you?" The fatso mentioned in a teasing voice. "This is what you get when you mess with Marya."
"Eat less or you will burst open one day," Alan mentioned while he looked at the fatso with a side glance. "What was your name?" He added while holding his chin. "Oh, yes, it is Kowig Sencer Nigros. I hope you won't become Ko'pig' Sencer Nigros."
The fatso clearly didn't like it, and it was visible from his face. Alan didn't want to remark on someone's body but he needed it to silence him.
Kowig's own goons were holding their laughter after hearing it and he knew it. He gritted his teeth and uttered with a frown, "How dare you?"
"Didn't you just call Gunther 'mixed breed' and me 'idiot'? Why do you feel so insulted when I called you a pig?" Alan was having a smirk as he knew that this kid won't have an answer.
"I will get back to you, don't think you would get away from me," Kowig mentioned before going away.
When Alan and Gunther were about to walk away, they saw Marya coming towards them with the typical bitter expression.
"Hey, why is she coming here?" Gunther whispered into Alan's ears. "She is glaring at us. What did you do?"
"She is not glaring at us. She is glaring at me," Alan replied with a smile.
"What?" Gunther got confused. Marya stopped in front of them and looked at Alan's hand that was covered in bandages.
"How is your hand?" She asked with a straight face.
Kowig and his goons saw her talking to Alan and Gunther from a distance.
"I am amazed that you asked about my hand by yourself. I feel special," Alan mentioned in a teasing tone. Gunther had a bad gut feeling as he could see a frown on Marya's face.
"Hey, what are you doing?" He stepped back as he knew something was about to happen.
"My hand is better now. I should not have tried that idiotic move," Alan said while he rubbed the back of his head.
"Have you seen her talk to someone by herself?" One goon asked Kowig. "I haven't."
Kowig had something for Marya just like many others had, but he did not have the guts to approach her. They all feared her and her father. Kowig's tails had found a perfect chance to provoke Kowig against Alan.
"Boss, I fear he would befriend her while you…" When another one goon was speaking, Kowig stopped him.
"Shut up. I will show him what I am made of. This fresh blood will taste his own blood." He glared at Alan.
"You better remember about my challenge once you get healed," Marya said and walked away. Gunther could not understand.
"Hey, what challenge is she talking about?" He asked.
"Nothing much. She just wants another sparring match," Alan answered casually while he walked towards the classroom.
The headmaster observed him from the first floor of the academy building. He turned and walked to his chamber after caressing his beard.
"A sparring match?" Gunther could not comprehend what was happening anymore. "Didn't she win earlier? Why does she want another sparring match?"
"Who knows? Maybe she is still upset about the punch she received."
"You better be careful, Alan. She won't stop until she damages one of your body parts," Gunther mentioned.
"I am looking forward to it," Alan said with a smile and entered the class. It still confused Gunther as he didn't know that the guy beside him was actually brave or an idiot.