Recovery didn't take long and I was already in the class sitting next to Cecilia as usual but I decided to keep some details hidden from her. She was just a classmate who would talk to me here and there but I didn't consider her a friend.
"H-Hey? I heard you fell unconscious." Elena approached me. She was definitely trying to act tough but it was obvious she had changed her opinion of me. Maybe something happened because I doubt my words were enough for her.
"Yeah, nothing serious though. There was just some sudden influx of magic into my body and my body rejected it all. It exhausted all the energy and I woke up in cathedral." There were no hospitals yet. Cathedrals took care of sick people on the side by using healing magic but it was expensive and not as efficient.
"How did that happen?" She asked.
"A chaos...? That's what Amelia told me. It is when the planet releases magical energy randomly and I just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time." Such thing does exist in this world so it was a nice excuse. I still haven't told Amelia about the apparitions and their 'prophecy' or whatever.
I considered her the epitome of the academy and somehow she was above even a duke's daughter in hierarchy.
After the class, I left quickly but for whatever reason Elena decided to follow me.
"Hm?" I glanced in her direction.
"You are bad at lying. Even Cecilia probably knew you were lying. So tell me the truth."
"I don't think it's easy to tell when I'm lying and when I'm not." I have a pretty neutral face... or at least I think I do.
"Nope. It's incredibly easy to tell when you're confused or lying. Like it's ridiculous."
"I guess..." I entered the office with Elena following right after me.
"Oh? Is it time already? And she... Have something to discuss?" She asked.
"She is a duke's daughter so I think it's okay for her to be here but whatever we are discussing stays in this room." My warning made Amelia quickly cast a magic spell of some kind. I looked at the magic circle and seems like it intersects with amplitude and lowers to frequency of air. No noise will leave or enter this room now.
Elena and I took our seats.
"I saw two apparitions again and this time, I wasn't asleep. They spoke of some kind of war and reward is doorway to divinity. I have a hunch that the grand order are going to go to war for just one sole ruler of the world... or something. They also stated that I in particular wouldn't win. Which... yea... I'm not exactly strong."
"Seeing same two apparitions twice and both times they tried to tell you something. What if it was their attempt to give you magical abilities but they failed." Amelia was taking me serious which was definitely a new for me. I sighed looking down thinking about past but none of that matters now.
"Apparitions? War? What are you talking about?" Elena asked and we briefed her on everything.
"So, it could be that monster taking over Scofinia is also part of the war?" Elena suggested and the two of us found her suggestion plausible.
"From what I know, the five have never fought even once. Even during the great war, only Lobh and Moh ever interacted with each other." Amelia said.
"Oh? I have a question. If the grand order rules over their five dominions then what are kings and kingdoms?" I asked.
"Kings still rules over their land but even they are answerable to the grand order. A grand order's dominion includes multiple kingdoms. Scofinia and Deem is under the grand order Moh. Of course there are more kingdoms" Elena's demeaner changed entirely after finding out about potential war. She acted a lot more respectable and educated. I wonder why she acted that way earlier.
"Do they directly rule or just randomly show up for inspection?" I asked.
"Depends. Kam and Lobh rules directly, Moh only shows themselves when calamity strikes." Amelia said.
"I have a hunch that the two apparitions are souls or something of the king and the goddess. I also heard the words 'save me' when I was sleep and then you told me about the current Ahankar."
"She is in a sanctuary taken care of by the best caregivers of the dominion." Elena said but something made me uncomfortable. Maybe there is something wrong.
"Even if we were to launch an investigation, we would need permission from four of the five grand orders. That is impossible. You have to set up appointments and they can just refuse to talk too. Lord Moh on the other hand can't be found altogether."
"Oh? I can't be found?" We all heard a voice and looked in the general direction of where the noise came from and a blind white light flashed our eyes before revealing a man with his jade eyes made him look humble and welcoming combined with his soft smile and lean body. His black hair with blue roots and ends were tied in a pony tail reaching his shoulder. He softly landed onto the floor and looked at us as if we were not exactly above or below him.
"Can't be found? Are you a grand order?" I asked. I knew he was a big deal but I wasn't seeing a respectable man. He was just... human? I guess I had high expectations for the grand order.
"Moh." He answered. "My name is Kuaishwa." He sighed.
Elena and Amelia quickly grabbed my respective arms and stood up and bowed to him forcing my to bow too.
"Um? No need to bow." He said awkwardly smiling.
"But you're the grand order nonetheless." Amelia said.
"You should be more respectable." I said.
"Haha... Respectable? I have a different idea of what a grand order is. We all have different ideas and philosophy, so, we don't see an eye to an eye and rarely interact." He spoke. "To me, a grand order protects their subjects with no questions asked. While Lobh wants to be more involved with his people."
"I see. Fair enough- wait- don't you only show up during calamity? And how are you conveniently here?" I asked.
"The two apparitions you saw were reeking of divine magic. I couldn't help but notice it. You see, anyone who is not divine can't see or feel their existence except when they willingly show themselves."
"And?"
"War is a calamity if you ask me. Especially when the grand order is being targeted." He answered.
"Aren't you god like beings? Can't you just... win?" I asked prompting him to laugh.
"We are humans in the end. We simply have divine energy but a few arrows through my body is enough to kill me. None of the current grand order are immortal. We can be really fragile at times."
"So... why are you here specifically?"
"To give you permission to investigate the dominion of Ahankar." He responded. "I was going to go there by myself but ... something didn't feel right. She is still a child so she can't take care of herself. Even if something sinister is going on, we can't do much. A war when monsters are invading kingdoms is just not a good idea."
"Other kingdoms are attacked too?" I asked not knowing the condition of this world.
"Give or take, 7% of all the dominions are under monsters' exclusive control. This became a bigger issue quite recently. I would say you coming to this world could connected to all this. But! Do not participate in the fighting. Let others deal with it. When we finalize everything, I want you to take care of the current Ahankar." He said. "There are couple reasons for that. All five of us have some abilities we can teach you and of course, we can also transfer magic into your body and make you just like everyone else but goddess of the forests and king of the sun tried and failed. Your body rejected an input from us. As a god, I will make it clear, you can never use magic. Hence, do not participate in war and take care of Ahankar."
"Damn it... Fine. It's an important role after all." A child, huh? For some reason, I don't feel opposed to this. More like I'm willing to take this duty on.
"Here." He handed over some sort of sigil to Amelia. "You can find Lobh at the peak of mountain Badhsara. Send some people over and he will be willing to give the sigil. Mind you, send only the most articulate people and look for a swan. He is easy to irritate. He is an old man so cut him some slack. I have many other things to do now that I'm awake." With this, he disappeared as he had appeared.
SMACK
"What?" I looked back at shock. "Why would you hit me?"
"Acting so casual with the grand order this dominion is audacious!" Elena scowled.
"You should hold back on your straight-forwardness." Amelia said calmly as she put the sigil in a safe place. "At least we got to see Lord Moh. This is an honor unheard of. His last time was a couple hundred years ago."
"I'll send a letter to my dad and we can set up a team for mountain Badhsara. It's quite far away so... we would be waiting for a month." Elena said.
"I too will send letter to the queen and see how things play out. We are not of much use as academy students, so, lets leave it all to higher ups and adults." Amelia finished putting the box away.
"I guess. Can you guys teach me how to ride a horse?"
"Why?" The two asked in unison.
"So, in case something bad happens, I can run away."