He has been in the academy for two weeks. Rezal has been with him all the time. Nothing interesting or shocking happened in his days here. His classmates were nice people, fortunately.
However, he was still thinking that studying was a hassle.
'When will Sora tell him what he actually needs to do here?'
"Shuu!"
He stumbled after the sudden push. He was bewildered and looked at the boy who pushed him.
"What? Why?"
"What are you daydreaming about? I called for you many times already."
"No, nothing at all. Why?"
He should not lose himself in thought too much when surrounded by people. This habit of his was hard to shrug off.
"All have already left the class for lunch. Is something wrong with you?"
He gazed everywhere in the classroom. Oh, no one except them was here. That is why he couldn't hear their chatter anymore.
"Nothing, just thinking about something. Did you eat lunch? I thought you didn't."
Rezal grinned.
"Because I don't. Want to do something else now?"
He blinked; that smile was not a good one.
"What is it? Don't try to include me if you want to cause trouble."
"Of course not. It wasn't trouble if we didn't disturb anyone. Let's go."
Rezal grabbed his arm.
"Sneaking out is not part of trouble if we never get caught."
"Wait—"
It was too late for him to prevent Rezal's action. His vision was blinded by a sudden light. In Rezal's hand, he had already crushed the teleportation stone into pieces, sending them to the coordinates that were engraved on the stone with magic. The next thing he saw was that his surroundings had changed into a bustling city.
'Since when he have the teleportation stone? I thought this magic item wouldn't work inside the academy.'
"You are kidding."
"I'm not laughing."
×××××
He rested his cheek on his palm while glaring at his blue, transparent screen.
"Do you think I let you send me messages because I am not mad anymore?"
_ S O R R Y _
"You can't buy me with your sorry, system. Who knows when you will hijack my body again to do your bidding?"
_ S O R R Y _
Sora clicked his tongue. He was bored with the same statement. The system knew what he wanted but would not comply and just sent this apologetic message, which he did not see as apologetic at all.
"System, just tell me one truth, and I won't question you anymore regarding your secret plan."
The system has been loading for a while.
_ A S K _
"Why did you send him to me?"
The system is loading again.
_ P R O T A G O N I S T _
The one word managed to send him into turmoil.
'Protagonist? Really? Me or he? In this world? That makes much more sense.'
Thinking back to when he met Michael, he knew the boy was not ordinary. Sora assumed the protagonist was Michael; he was sent here to solve whatever problem there was in this world. Thus, why send Michael to him? What is his role in this world?
"Mentor."
One thing that came to mind was that word. The system has been telling him to save Michael, train Michael, and send that boy to attend the special exam. One thing he urged that boy to do was let Michael go to the academy by disguising himself, which was against the system's will.
The system did not tell him about Michael's identity in this world, but he suspected that if Michael was seen by the high authority in the academy, he would be known by just his face.
He is sure the system wants Michael to be known by the authority, or, he could say, the people in Dradgim. He has made his investigation, and he has his hypothesis.
'I just need to interrogate Leviathan when he comes here.'
He would force out an answer in an instant from that vampire.
In a roundabout way, he was sent here earlier than Michael to gain knowledge about this world so that he would be a suitable mentor for Michael later on.
"I've done everything you told me to."
He has done exactly what the system wants him to do, with a slight change. When he deems it necessary and a great time to reveal Michael's identity, he will let the boy do it on his own.
The thing is, sending Michael to the academy and revealing his identity was the initial step. It would be a waste of time to let the boy take the special exam just to reveal his identity. There is more to it.
So, revealing Michael's identity was not the major aim.
"What do I need to do next?"
< QUEST 1200 LOADING >
< FIND THE CULPRIT OF AURA OUTBURST IN THE CAPITAL >
< DURATION: NONE >
"Culprit? You don't mean they are in the academy."
He got no response, which already answered his suspicion. That is why Michael is needed in the academy right now.
However, he didn't think that was the only case.
"The culprit was in the academy."
Sora thought about the possibility. If the aura outburst was someone's doing and has occurred too much since he arrived in the Dradgim capital, there will be more in the future. It has occurred five times.
If the culprit is in the academy...
"Aura outbursts will occur among students or worse."
The professors.
He shouldn't make an assumption too quickly, but it was likely to occur. The culprit could be more than one, so he should investigate outside the academy while Michael handles it inside the academy.
"There will be a mastermind behind this."
All the incidents occurred just recently. The system stated that he should catch the culprit. The culprit might be the subordinates of the mastermind; someone is pulling the strings behind all of this.
'This might be a bigger problem than I thought.'
Michael would need to endure all of these as the protagonist. It sucks to be him. Oh well, but the boy was lucky to have him by his side.
But wait, was he really sent here just to assist Michael? There is something strange about his own theory. The system did not specify who the protagonist was.
However, according to his memory, when he was still on Earth with so many fantasy-related stories that people his age liked, the one who was supposed to be the protagonist was...
"Oh wait, no way."
Sora sweatdropped. He didn't want to believe his own thoughts.
Tok. Tok.
Sora shook his head, avoiding his mind from wandering more into this matter, which might complicate it and send him into a state of scatterbrainedness.
He stood up to open the door to be viewed by a blond woman in a robe. He saw an emblem on the robe.
"Mr. Sora Orion?"
'That name is funny.'
He is the one who chose this name, though.
"Yes, anything?"
The woman smiled before she put her hand across her chest.
"Greetings, Sora Orion. You have been summoned to the palace by His Majesty the Emperor."
He was in a state of shock. The woman stepped aside, and lo and behold, there were three knights standing beside his door with the imperial emblem on their armour, which he could see even when they wore robes. It would be that they intentionally showed him the emblem.
They are not wearing too much fancy armour to represent the imperial knights. It could be a reason not to draw too much attention in this early afternoon.
"We shall escort you to the palace discreetly. Please accept this invitation, Mr. Orion. We wouldn't want to force you if possible."
He eyed the azure eyes of the woman before he let out an internal sigh after he recognized her.
< MISSION 1201 LOADING >
< GO TO THE PALACE AND MEET THE EMPEROR >
< DURATION: 60 SECONDS >
He let out an internal sigh again.
"Of course. Please show the way, Your Highness."
The smile on Helenis' face widened a bit before she made way for Sora to get whatever he needed and escorted him to the palace.
"We would be using a teleportation stone. Please do say if you have any complications after we use the stone."
"It's fine, Your Highness. I'm used to it."
"That's a relief. We shall go now."
After they went into a place where there were not many people, Helenis used the teleportation stone. In a split second, he saw a glimpse of someone he knew.
'Michael? What the hell is he doing here instead of in the academy?'
He did not have time to ponder more before his view shifted to the elegant setting of an office. A man with long white hair and blue eyes authoritatively stood before them. The man exuded the aura of a ruler.
He knew at a glance who this man was.
'The emperor.'
Next to him stood a man with glasses, holding a file in his hand.
"We are back, Your Majesty."
Helenis bowed towards Asteric before she stepped aside for her father to get a better look at their guest.
"Sora Orion?"
The voice that could send a chill down anyone's spine under his wrath. Sora kept his smile from turning into a smirk before he bowed down and showed courtesy towards the emperor.
"This lowly citizen greets Your Majesty the Emperor. The sun of the Dradgim Empire."
'I know his identity now. Your secrets are no more, Leviathan.'
"You may rise."
He raised his body, standing straight with manners.
'Who knows that guy is from the imperial family?'
Revealing Michael's identity would cause an uproar, considering he knew that the crown prince of Dradgim had been declared dead four years ago. He should investigate the imperial family more after this.
The dead crown prince was alive.
People would fall on their knees if they heard this news.
The crown prince's enemy would also be enraged and would not stay still.
'You are a diamond who is loved by God, Michael.'