In front of them, the empress is seated.
"I see that the three of you came together to have a seat."
"""Yes, your majesty."""
"How are you these days, Kiara?"
"I'm doing great. Thanks to his highness, I can finally become a knight."
"I'm surprised as well that these have been circulating in the market these past few years. Although we got some, it is being controlled by the council."
"So the reason you called me here is because of the council mother?"
"You didn't use your ability again, did you?"
"No, but those guys are pressuring me to get a monopoly on that potion, so it's easy to guess."
"Haaa, you're right. Even though we are already holding a great advantage on the front lines against those invaders. Not everyone wants to eradicate them completely from our shores."
"And now they want to kidnap someone and force the person to be their slave."
"Fina!"
A person then rebuked Seraphina when she said those words, and that person was Lady Leticia.
"Mom?"
"You're here, Leticia."
"Yes." She responded to the empress, then looked at her daughter and said.
"But Fina who taught you to talk like that to your elders. Your grandpa is also one of those council members."
"But it's true. I kept saying that it was bad to kidnap people, but they kept saying it was for the good of the country. What about those without power? Are we just going to stand there and watch them be taken advantage of by other people with powers too?"
Serafina explained her reason and when they heard her words they all went silent.
"Big sis, it's okay, I'm here, plus big brother Dustin will definitely support you too."
"Thanks Dylan."
When they saw this, they stopped themselves and changed the topic.
"I'm sorry, Fina; I didn't call you here for that." Said the empress as she looked at Seraphina.
"I called you here because there have been sightings of dangerous activities on one of Duke Sallion's estates."
"Uncle's estate?"
"Yes, and we noticed he bought many monster body parts. We don't know what he is doing, but one of our men was not able to return, when he ventured into the said estate."
"Okay, I'll try."
As she closed her eyes, mana gathered around her, slowly the mana build-up and it collapsed.
"Why?"
"Eh?"
"What happened, Fina?"
"I can't see."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Someone is interfering with my abilities; I can't see the fate of that place or anything related to it."
"Oh no."
"What should we do?"
They were puzzled and confused. This was the first time this had ever happened and possibly not the last.
And with this, they will not be able to lay a hand on Duke Sallion and know what his next move will be.
~~~~~~~~
BAM
A door was forcefully opened, and Duke Sallion roared as he entered.
"Why had the production been stopped?!"
"Sorry, your excellency, but someone was snooping around us just now, and I thought we should continue after taking care of it."
"You are already behind schedule, and now you are demanding this of me? You've got some nerve!"
"Your excellency, sir, do you want this plan to fail or succeed."
"Kuh. tch fine, but mark my words: if you don't deliver your promise, you will regret ever having lived."
"Of course, I wouldn't dare break our promise."
As he said those words, he turned and left, and then the butler that was with him talked to the man.
"Was it the child?"
"Yes, the oracle and the people behind her have started to have their eyes on us. "
"From the looks of it, you already have a countermeasure?"
"Of course, thanks to my ability, they will not be able to interfere with or know our plans."
"I see, but this means that we have to make haste now, don't we?"
"Yes, by the way, have my students entered that place?"
"The results are not out yet, but thanks to you, they will never know how they got there. Plus, putting some of the underworld people in there was a bonus for our funds."
"Well, the results are not that important since I know they can all pass."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because no one will fail to enter this year."
~~~~~~~~
At a bar in the Labyrinth City, two men meet after having some free time for themselves.
"You are finally here. Lone wolf"
"....."
"I mean Willheim."
One of the men is named Willheim, who was the proctor for Dustin's group.
"Hah, So you're done escorting the principal's daughter, Milton?"
And the person that was with the woman who tried to analyze Dustin's armor was named Milton.
"Yeah, she is quite a handful, that girl."
"I see."
"So how long is your injury going to heal?"
"They said the shortest would be 1 year and the longest, 5."
"Wow, your students did a number on you."
"Former students, I don't want to be associated with those traitors."
"But you gotta admit they were able to do that much injury to you. A bona fide rank 7 is just insane."
"Yeah, they put their lives on the line for these injuries."
He said as he showed his chest, which looked like veins that are about to pop out and are still pulsating.
"Did you try to take that famous potion?"
"No, they advise against it. After all, this is caused by the disarray of my roots and paths, and they believe it will harm me more than heal me."
"Bummer."
"Well, it's not like I can get that if I want to."
"Yeah true."
"So do you know how those corpses vanished? "
"Still no clue. My friends and students inside the government are not able to find a lead."
"That's dangerous."
"Do you think it is connected to that village?"
"….I don't know, but the connection is definitely uncanny. But it's more than thirty years ago already."
"Right."
Their discussion continued as the night went on.
~~~~~~~
Three days have passed since the entrance exam, and now the announcement is posted at the front gate of the academy's gate.
When I arrived, I was surprised by the number of people going in.
The guards divided themselves into four lines so that we could enter much faster.
"Hey, did you notice that not one of them was rejected?"
"Is it?"
"I don't know."
"He's right."
"Really? No one has been rejected."
"I've been here since the start of the announcement."
"That mean we can get a chance to enter the academy?"
"We're so lucky."
"Lucky, but what about those fellow brothers and sisters who lost their badges?"
"Oh, those guys; let's pray for them."
"Hey, they're not dead."
A few groups had already formed among the examiness as they lined up and here i am listining to their conversation.
The line continued to shorten, and it was finally my turn.
"Stamp please."
I showed them my stamp, and they checked it.
"Clear, go in."
"Thank you. I gave my thanks and got into the academy."
~~~~~~~~
"When did the sage academy became so generous mister principal?"
"Oh I never thought you'd be here Captain."
"Well, I'm just here because of an investigation, that's all. So why the sudden surge of applicants?"
"Well, that's just how it is."
"Is that so? Anyhow, we would like to ask you a few questions."
"Is it regarding the vanished corpses?"
"Yes, we would like you to help us find out how this came to be."
"I see you guys bumped into a wall."
"Well, we can't do anything about that; I suggested heading here directly, but they were too stubborn. Only now did I get permission."
"I see. Let's talk this out over a cup of tea."
"Don't mind if I do."
The two then talked about the procedures they were about to take with the investigation.
As they were discussing, the examinees were so excited since they had been accepted. and it was later known that not one had failed their admission.
The new students of the Sage Academy are in a festive mood as they heard that they passed the entrance exam and got into the school.
And because of this, a lot of discussion is made saying that the school might have just been in need of more students.
But this was later debunked since there was this "hunter" program that failed most of these applicants.
~~~~~~~~
A few days had passed since I was accepted. It is now a week after the entrance exam.
Now I am leaving the inn, to enter the school dormitory.
Hopefully, I will be able to fit in. I mean, I'm going to face kids; it seems like repeating a school year.
After finishing packing up, I headed down, leaving the room where I had been for a month.
"Oh, are you going to leave today?"
"Yeah, the entrance ceremony will be tomorrow, so I need to go there today."
"Oh, I see. I guess we will have fewer tenants then, good luck kid."
Yeah, thanks. I said that as I left the place.