The school was called Summer Peak Academy. It was mostly white in color and looked extremely extravagant and nice except for the fact that it was only one story tall, which made it stand out among all the houses in the town. There was a big open area in the middle of the school, where he presumed the students spent their time on breaks. At the moment, however, nobody was outside since the classes were still in session.
After finding the principal's office, they both knocked at the already opened door to get the attention of the principal. She looked like a nice grandma who would cook you meals until you couldn't eat anymore. Her face was adorned with wrinkles, her hair was almost all white, and she was neatly tied in a bun.
"Come in." She invited, her eyes still at the paper in front. She was doing some paperwork as she looked up and said, "Please sit down."
"You must be David Fill, right?" She inquired, looking at the tall, lanky, professional-looking, light-colored man beside Orin.
"Yes." David replied.
"And this must be your illegitimate child, Darion." She added.
Orin appeared well cared for; his new clothes were fresh, and his recent haircut gave him a smart and charming look. His complexion was clear and fair, radiating a polite charisma despite his simple attire. He didn't have a single blemish throughout his whole body.
"Phil had informed me of your arrival," she remarked. She liked Phil; he was once a good student of hers who later became a successful person with a business of his own. He donated quite a few sums to the school, so his relationship with the school and its staff was pretty good.
Since she already knew about them through Phil, they did not have to do much talking. So, she immediately started doing the paperwork for the admission and told them to pay 100 gold coins upfront for a uniform, a security deposit, and 1 year of study at the academy. It was a very expensive fee, which only a few could afford. With a hundred gold coins, a family of four can live extremely well for 2-3 years smoothly without having to worry about anything.
After the payment and paperwork were finished, David was guided out of the school, and Orin followed the school principal to his class. "You are a friend of Hannah, correct?" She asked, to which Orin nodded in agreement. "I'm going to assign you to her class so that you can have a friend."
They soon entered the class. There were about 10 students in the class and a teacher. As soon as they stepped inside, the whole class went silent. "Greetings, Miss Duskveil, what brings you to my class?" The teacher inquired.
"This is fourth grade, right?" she confirmed as the teacher nodded. She then pushed Orin a bit and said, "This boy will be studying in this class from today onwards. Give him an introduction to our school and the rules and regulations after you are done with your class. For now, let him sit in your classroom."
She then left Orin and headed to her office, while Orin was guided to his seat. An eye followed Orin like a hawk; she didn't expect him to be here at all. Hannah had seen Orin a few times in her house, and every time she asked why he was here, he would answer that he had work to do with her father. She couldn't understand what work meant, but she was just happy that she could see Orin. She got very curious and even asked her father, but her father replied with the same thing as Orin, so she let the matter go.
Even though she was really excited and wanted to call Orin to sit next to her, she knew better than to open her mouth and disrupt Mr. William's classes. He was a very strict teacher and wouldn't hesitate to punish his students if they disobeyed or misbehaved in his class. Although Hannah had always been quiet and respectful in class, she had witnessed friends receiving harsh punishments for minor infractions. Some of her friends had been slapped so hard they couldn't come back to school the next day.
After Orin sat in his seat—guided by the teacher—he asked Orin to stand up and asked him a few questions. "Stand up and introduce yourself to the class."
"Hi everyone, my name is Darion Fills; I hope we all can become good friends." Orin replied coolly. William nodded approvingly and sat him down and introduced himself and let everyone inside the class introduce themselves again to make Orin familiar with his new classmates. As this was going on, Hannah looked over Orin, very confused as to what was happening. 'How did Orin become Darion Fills? What is going on?' she thought.
After the introduction part concluded, they continued the class. Orin listened attentively, trying to garner as much knowledge as possible and learn something new. Looking at Orin listening very attentively, Williams asked him questions that he had taught just now, and hearing him answer all of them perfectly, he was very happy. He very much liked diligent and focused students like these.
Soon after the class ended, Hannah immediately went over to Orin, which garnered the attention of his new classmates. The usually quiet Hannah going over to approach the new student baffled them.
"Maybe she knows him," one remarked.
Hannah arrived at his seat and whispered to him, "What are you doing here?" Orin looked at her in confusion and replied, "To study, of course." Hannah looked at Orin speechless. "Why? I can't study here," he asked.
"NOOO!" She exclaimed, causing a few heads to turn again. "Of course you can!" She replied, her face flushing with embarrassment. "I just never expected you to come to school since you are always busy with your work," she added shyly. Orin chuckled and said, "This is also a part of my work."
Hannah didn't really grasp what Orin meant by that, but she chose not to dwell on it and started asking him about his new name and what was happening. He gave a half-assed, vague explanation that satisfied her curiosity because, ultimately, she didn't care much about the details. She was just happy that he was here.