Making an exchange.
[Ace POV],
Honestly, these two were not among the people I expected to encounter by chance.
Yes, two.
"What are you doing here, Ace?" Eleanor inquired and was going to continue when she was interrupted by the person next to her.
"Ace, are you all right? You're a complete mess "Elsie said.
Listening to the words uttered by the two while ignoring the latter who asked the last question, I looked at the two familiar faces in front of me and asked a question of my own.
"Why are you guys here, and why are you alone?" I inquired as I considered their identity.
We lived in a world where countries are no longer recognized as it was in the past, and the word Empires resurfaced in the present era.
And, of course, kingdoms will exist within an empire.
But, unlike in the Medieval Era, there was no such thing as an earl, viscount, baron, or anything else in modern times.
We do, however, have a Grand Duke and other titles such as Prince and Princess.
And one of the things that is still to date, or was, is ministers.
We still have ministers.
Ministers such as the Foreign Affairs Minister, the Minister Of education, and so on.
Even though there were no terms like the medieval grades, we have nobility.
And these nobles are the two in front of me.
Technically, they are princesses because they are members of the royal family.
The kingdom royal family, not the empire royal family.
Eleanor Claymoore and Elsie Hanover.
Both are the second princesses of their respective kingdoms.
Eleanor is from the kingdom of Vunad, and Elsie is from Bihan.
The Dawn empire governs both of the kingdoms.
It is said that some of the people who rose against the government and founded the empires loved some aspects of the medieval periods, so they picked the bits they liked and could use and incorporated them into their various empires.
However, not all Empires follow this trend.
In fact, some Empires use the term country rather than kingdom, but they are in the minority.
I asked why these two were alone because they usually had bodyguards accompanying them.
I knew this because these two were my classmates at Dawn college.
The royal academy.
You do not have to be a member of the royal family to attend.
Anna is an example of this.
The bodyguards mentioned here were trained and raised since childhood to serve the royal family, orphans according to rumors I heard.
Thus it was unusual not to see them since I have no doubt that even after the world they knew had ended, they would change.
It's safe to state that training dies hard in this case.
Elsie was about to respond to my query when Eleanor interrupted her.
"Why don't we go somewhere quiet and talk?" she said, motioning to a man beside her to take over what she was doing, and was about to lead us out of the garage with Elsie when I stopped them and said;
"I don't mind, but let's talk about why I came here first," I added, to which both of them tilted their heads, clearly confused.
I pointed to the middle-aged team leader who had led us here and asked him to explain briefly why I had come here.
I could have explained why I came here, but it was tedious.
After the middle-aged man gave them a quick summary of all that had happened, the two asked for his name and told him to wait for their response, to which the man happily nodded.
I could tell Eleanor and Elsie had influence in this camp based on the behavior of the middle-aged team leader and those nearby.
But how high this influence is, I don't know.
It's not that it matters; I came here to make a trade and to check out the camp in the first place.
It was a coincidence that I saw Eleanor and Elsie, but that doesn't change the purpose of why I came here.
We left the garage after Eleanor and Elsie handled the matters they were in charge of before I arrived to other individuals.
Elsie was going to say something when she noticed Anna, Chris, and Mia among us.
I spoke up first, before she could speak, saying;
"They're with me," I said.
She was going to say something else when she was interrupted, thankfully.
"You said you had a lot of supplies and wanted to exchange them, correct?" Eleanor stated and asked to confirm.
When I heard this, I shifted my attention to her since she had done something I appreciated.
Eleanor, unlike Elsie, was more aware.
"Yes, I do," I responded in response.
When she heard this, she asked another question.
"So, what do you want to exchange?" she asked.
Instead of asking how many supplies I had on hand, she asked what I wanted to exchange for.
Hearing her query, I knew exactly where she was heading with this, and I had no choice but to follow.
I was ready to respond when Eleanor spoke up and added, with a smile,
"With that pause, you're not up for this, are you?" she inquired.
Hearing this, I replied without hesitation, saying;
"Perhaps if every second and minute that passes is not when you're moving and you're fighting a monster, then I'll be ready," I replied, to which I received no response.
Because of the Royal Academy's environment and resources, a lot of things happen in Dawn's college that doesn't happen in regular colleges."
For example, the subjects.
Subjects such as etiquette, management, and trades such as foreign trades, among many others.
And in Class A, the class I was in, which included children of high-ranking executives, well-known figures, and wealthy children, some of these subjects were general, regardless of the department or background of the students.
Class B students study these subjects as well, but Class C, which Anna is in, and the classes below Class C do not.
The reason is straightforward.
Whether you are a prince, a noble, a wealthy individual, a celebrity, or an ordinary man, hierarchy will always exist.
And then there's the fact that people in Classes C and below are unlikely to have works linked to kingdoms and empires.
Instead, they will most likely work in large corporations or industries, or even start their own.
Even if they do not study these subjects, the environment and resources provided by the Royal Academy are significantly superior to those offered by regular colleges.
In actuality, a student's placement in classes oftentimes depends more on their grades than on their status.
It was not uncommon to see princes and princesses of kingdoms in Class B and below at Dawn college.
But that isn't the point; the point is that Eleanor in front of me is one of the top students in trade class.
So when I heard her question, I knew exactly where she was headed.
Fortunately, she appears to have decided to keep things simple.
It didn't take long for us to arrive at the location Eleanor and Elsie had directed me and my team to.
It was the most extensive building on the estate.
It was more appropriate to refer to it as a mansion.
I was observing the building when I heard Elsie call out to me and my team.
"What are you doing standing there? Let's go in and discuss ", she said as she and Eleanor led us inside.
The first thing I heard when I entered the building was Exclaim sounds.
""Eh""
Confused, I looked at what made the sound just to let out a low exclaim myself.
Around me were familiar faces of Classmates.
......
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