After the students were attacked, Zero informed the director and also the dean of the third-year division, dean Alfos. As for the families of the students or even the victims of the attack, none had been informed. The academy had intended to keep a clamp down on any possible source of the news and prevent it from leaking to the outside till they had a plan and an explanation ready. However, they failed to react timely.
When the students arrived back at the academy, they immediately sent messages to their families. This wasn't difficult as some of the students belonged to families with 'outposts' in the capital while a majority were given messenger birds and the like to aid with communication. Those from the duke and marquis families who were seen as treasured successors had special methods of communication which could even bypass the academy's watch like sending a message through a staff of the academy. For some, their relatives happened to be personnel working under the academy. This wasn't from the ability of the students but the influence of the families backing them.
By using all the various methods and more, some of the students managed to get the news outside to their respective families. Once any family heard the news, they would want to confirm it, after all, none of their descendants were pranksters or children who would try such a trick like this. As long as these families begin their own investigation and raise the question in their society, those who had been informed would find each other and take it more seriously. As for those who had not been notified, the question of why would raise in their heads. Together with the notified group of families, it would be inevitable that both parties would try to reach the academy, and more importantly, their descendants, to find out what's going on.
And so, over the space of three days, the academy had been receiving queries from these families. Although Roland wanted to reassure them, he couldn't lie as that would make the situation worse if the truth came to light. Hence, he could only be vague at the start. But after the pressure from the noble families increased, Roland broke and finally made an official announcement on the third day.
"During a practical test for the third years, held outside the city about eight days ago, the students were attacked by a mysterious force with a lot of lives lost; both students and protector mages."
The news came as a shock to everyone and soon, everyone in the capital knew about it but it was still spreading.
One take from Roland's speech was the inability of the academy to ensure the protection of the students. This led to some losing a bit of faith in the academy's management and Roland's position as the director looked to be at stake.
The second take from the speech was the question of the identity of the attackers.
The academy was seen as a special existence since it was the combined efforts of the royal family and the Purple Sun sacred land. For this reason, one would have to think five times before offending the academy as this meant offending both parties who were pretty much behemoths of power in this region.
For someone to have attacked both the students and the protector mages meant that they were either crazy or powerful enough just not to care. The question of which it was, became a great source of discussion for the populace in the capital.
However, families from nobilities thought differently from the commoners. They began investigating deeper into the target of the mysterious attackers and once they realized it was Asher, their mind went towards the enemies of the Arnhaunt family, including the royal family, the Castellans. Nonetheless, they doubted the latter to be guilty as no matter how proud or arrogant the royals were, they wouldn't pull off an operation like this that would lead to the children of other noble families becoming casualties; the consequences were too severe and would lead to a civil war.
Since it wasn't the royals, there was no need to consider other enemies of the Arnhaunts who were below the Castellans. The reason simply being that if the Castellans feared putting other noble families at risk because of their grudge against the Arnhaunts, the other weaker families would do the same, albeit for a different reason. While the Castellans feared a civil war and a coup, these families feared annihilation.
After all the possible suspects in the Great Dawn kingdom were removed, there was only one obvious answer left; the enemy wasn't from the Great Dawn kingdom. When all the noble families thought in this direction, their gazes inadvertently moved toward the west, where the Great Dawn kingdom shared a border with their fiercest enemy ever; the Kingdom of Terra.
Thinking in this fashion, they believed to have discovered the 'truth' which was that the Kingdom of Terra tried to sow discord between the nobilities and the royal family, with the Arnhaunt-Castellan feud in mind. Even if this didn't start a civil war right away, it would destabilize the kingdom and leave behind adverse effects that would make the Great Dawn kingdom considerably weaker. At the same time, they could eliminate the future pillars of the Great Dawn kingdom, getting two birds with one stone.
There was another option though, and this was that the past events were the handwork of a third party that hoped to bring about intense turmoil in the region and reap the rewards.
However, no matter which way one saw it, the Kingdom of Terra looked to be the most guilty figure.
Nonetheless, actions could only be taken after a consensus so in the meantime, these families focused on keeping their descendants safe. For this reason, the academy announced a one-month break for third-year students. This would enable them to return to the safety of their families and soothe the aggravated families.
As for those families whose children were victims of the attacks, nothing could be done about them from the academy's perspective apart from offering compensation. As a result, they cursed at the academy and filed reports to the royal family.
"Young lord, shall we?" Chen bowed.
"Thank you, uncle." [1] Asher smiled.
After having experienced quite a bit together, Asher began trusting the old carriage driver and requested his uncle, Ol' Fang, to designate Chen as his personal driver. Since the Arnhaunt family had characters who easily surpassed the 1st stage Chen, it wasn't a difficult request to fulfil.
Asher got into the carriage where he was greeted by the fresh scent of spring blossom. Asher glanced in front of him and noticed that there was a young girl with delicate features smiling at him.
Although she was still in her growth stage, the young girl's body was already showing hints of maturity and her height had already surpassed the average for girls her age. Furthermore, the glow in her eyes would make one feel as if they weren't facing a child but an adult.
"It's been a while, young master." Isabella smiled charmingly, brightening up the atmosphere in the carriage in a figurative manner.
"Indeed." Asher nodded nostalgically.
Right before his second year began, Asher had made applications for Raven to study at the Second Dawn Academy. Considering the background and power of the Arnhaunt family, it wasn't difficult to pull on his father's connections and make such happen. This was the reason why Raven wasn't present today.
As for Isabella, Asher had trained her during his break periods from the academy and educated her on a lot of things, including her cultivation. He would even periodically leave the academy to check up on her and guide her. When Asher got into the third-year session of his stay in the academy, he stopped visiting Isabella and had her take over his plans temporarily while he focused on increasing his strength.
It has been six months since then so Asher felt a bit nostalgic about it.
"Let's go home."