"What if he tries to discomfort me when you are gone?" Gunther asked when he and Alan walked under the sun in the academy premises.
Alan smiled and answered, "Can't you handle them yourselves? I just acted on my behalf." He looked at Gunther. "He called me an idiot."
When they were walking, they heard the bell that showed the commencement of classes. Gunther said when they both stopped, "We should go. The lectures are about to begin." Alan nodded, and they walked ahead in the direction they had come from.
When Alan was about to enter the classroom, he noticed a faint aura of anxiousness, fear, and worry. He noticed rapid movements of a few unknown armed men in the academy premises.
"Come on, hurry. Take your positions. It might appear anytime and from anywhere," A man in a soldier uniform with a sword hanging to his waist said. Three soldiers in similar uniforms ran out of the academy gate after hearing it.
Alan found it strange but ignored it and walked into the classroom.
Meanwhile, the headmaster scribbled on a scroll while talking to the masked man in black clothes who sat parallel to him.
"Why aren't you evacuating the children?" The masked man asked.
"We consider this academy the most prestigious academy of this empire, and they are the students of this academy. I want them to take part in the battle and tame the creature." The headmaster's eyes didn't flinch from the scroll while he spoke.
"What if someone gets injured or dies?"
"Then," He stopped scribbling and looked at the masked man before he said, "They deserved to die."
The masked man had no answer, but he wanted to put a valid argument. He stared at the surface of the table and said, "As you order, master. You are second in command after the governor in the fifth province. Your wish is my order."
The emperor gave the headmaster the authority second to the governor in the fifth province because of his contribution to the empire. He was a war hero who killed countless Alabusians in the great war between two nations. He was once one of the most feared Nigrosian warriors in Alabusia. He had fought both Argus and his father in his lifetime. No one knew the results except the three.
"I won't intervene in the battle unless Governor Leonard or Emperor Victor orders me," The headmaster mentioned and continued to scribble on the scroll. "Where is Master Leonard?"
"He is busy doing his job," The masked man replied.
"He is one ignorant and arrogant b*stard. He would never join the battle himself, nor would care about the soldiers' lives. Maybe…" He kept the scroll and the paintbrush on the table. "I would have to join them in the end."
Governor Leonard was a mysterious personality whom only a few fortunate people had seen, including the emperor and the headmaster.
The headmaster asked after a few moments of silence, "I had sent Tartar to the seventh province. I have got no words from him and he has gone missing along with my chariot and the charioteer. I want you to start a search operation. I feel something is off."
"As you order, master," The masked said and bowed his before leaving through the door. The headmaster picked up the paintbrush again and glared ahead over his eyebrows into nothingness.
Master Wrath lectured again in the class, and Alan paid expert attention as it was his last day. The master taught about the mastery of Nigrosian arts.
"Practice makes a man perfect," Master Wrath said. "The more you sweat in the training, the less you bleed in the battle. As the greatest warriors in history had a rigorous training schedule. They hurt themselves, again and again, to get stronger each day. Remember, you little mischiefs, if you want to beat the stronger demons called the higher-ranked Alabusians, you must train."
Ryan stood up and asked, "Where are those higher-ranked demons, master? I heard they retreated into the woods and the mountains."
"You are right. They were so frightened of our might that they escaped into the woods and mountains. But eventually, we will have to find them and battle against them."
The students murmured among themselves after hearing it. "Whoa, I wonder if I would get the chance to fight them."
"It will be exceptional if I kill one of them and receive the praises of the emperor."
Alan asked Gunther while the students still murmured, "Do you want to kill them too?"
"I don't know. I think it would not be wrong if they are a potential threat to our empire. Nobody knows when they might gather enough forces and attack us," Gunther answered.
The clarity of thoughts Gunther possessed had amazed Alan. It was rare to see it in the children of his age.
About what Gunther said, Alan knew he was thinking in the right direction but he also knew that it was difficult for Nigriosia to annihilate the warriors who escaped twelve years ago.
Gunther noticed Alan got lost in thoughts and asked, "What happened? What are you thinking?"
Alan snapped out of his reverie after hearing it. "Nothing."
"So," Master Wrath continued, "If you want to get your names into the history books, you must train hard and become so strong that you could stand up to those demons. You can avenge our brave warriors who lost their lives fighting them."
"He can spout nonsense for the entire day," Alan thought and stared out of the window at his left while supporting his chin from one of his arms.
Suddenly, the caretaker of the academy entered the classroom and whispered something into the master's ears. Alan found it strange when Master Wrath left the classroom with the caretaker.
"Where are they going? Did something happen?" He thought. The students began chatting among themselves as the master had left the classroom, but they all got silent when they heard a deafening cry.
"What the hell was that?" Gunther reacted.
"What is happening?" Alan thought and remembered about the soldiers he saw outside when he was entering the classroom. He stood up and ran out of the classroom in a hurry.
"Hey, wait," Gunther called and followed Alan when he didn't listen.