CHAPTER 41: BACK TO ACADEMY

Because of this incident, the field training for first-years was immediately halted. The next day, Ard and the others were instructed to return to the academy. The students who perished at the Geoffrey camp, and the others, were brought back to the academy to be buried in their respective hometowns.

In the afternoon, after returning to the academy, Ard and Eva immediately met with Galdorf in his office, as requested by the academy to report as eyewitnesses and involved parties. They recounted what had happened at the camp the previous night to Galdorf, who took their account seriously.

"Hmm... so Prince Julius was able to mobilize demon forces to attack the camp, even if he was only using the attack as a diversion," Galdorf muttered.

"That is correct, sir," Eva replied.

"Very well, we will handle this matter. You are dismissed," Galdorf said.

Ard and Eva stood up, bid farewell to Galdorf, and walked out of his office. Ard remained quiet even as he walked down the corridor with Eva; he was remembering Abel’s words from last night.

***

Back to the previous night, after the atmosphere had calmed down, Abel had taken Ard further into the forest to talk privately, just the two of them. Once he was sure no one was following them besides the Raven Corps men:

"Ard, listen to me. From now on, you must be more cautious of the Student Council," Abel warned.

"Yes, I know. I also wanted to ask you, how did you happen to arrive with Mirea and Nikolai?" Ard asked.

"We met in the middle of the forest. I got a report from the Raven Corps that your camp was under attack. It looks like they went to the camp next to yours first, then came here, and I ran into them on the way," Abel answered.

"I see. Are you suspicious of Nikolai?" Ard asked.

"Not just Nikolai, but Mirea as well. I will investigate them, and I will look into Mirea’s background. As for Nikolai, we both know he is the Crown Prince of the Durnhill Kingdom," Abel answered.

Hearing Abel’s words, which he clearly trusted since he had known Abel, his older brother, since childhood, Ard began to think. He was actually a little suspicious about why Abel had shown up with Mirea and Nikolai, who seemed to know what was going on, even though, as members of the Student Council, they should have been keeping an eye on the senior groups.

He also remembered Eva’s words, who had said that the Mirea in his seventh life might not be the same as the Mirea in the current life.

"One more thing, Ard. Besides your classmates and Princess Eva, don’t trust anyone, including the Academy Head, the instructors, and me," Abel said, holding both of Ard’s shoulders.

"Huh... what do you mean I shouldn’t trust you?" Ard asked.

"The Julius we know is not the Julius we saw earlier. We both know that Julius is sometimes arrogant and annoying, but he’s a coward. Do you really think a cowardly and incompetent guy like him could mobilize demon forces?" Abel asked.

"Hmm... you’re right," Ard replied, thinking.

"It’s clear he was possessed by something that changed his personality and gave him the power to summon demon forces. I’m keeping a close eye on him. A few days before this field training started, Julius was acting strangely. Edmund was, too. And why I told you not to trust me is because I still don’t know what is influencing them, and if they can be influenced, so can I, because my duty requires me to be right in the middle of them. Do you understand?" Abel asked.

"But I know you won’t be influenced," Ard answered.

"Yeah, I’ll try not to be influenced by whatever it is, but we don’t know what the future holds," Abel replied.

Ard was silent for a moment. He just looked into the serious face of his older brother, Abel.

"Alright, I understand," Ard replied.

"Good. Now I can relax. Have you written that letter to Dad yet?" Abel asked.

"Nope, didn’t even cross my mind to write a letter, haha," Ard replied.

"Haaah... you’re impossible. Well, never mind. Brother Alexis already knows you’re here too," Abel replied.

"Huh... Brother Alexis knows I’m at the academy? How? Who told him?" Ard asked, shocked.

"Who else but me? Don’t worry, he won’t tell Dad you’re here; he doesn’t want to worry Dad, who’s finally settled down again. But he did send a message: if, after leaving the academy, you don’t come home to the palace, he’ll come out himself to look for you and drag you home," Abel answered.

"Oh... hahaha... that’s how it is," Ard muttered.

"The main thing is, you have to keep yourself and Princess Eva safe, understand?" Abel asked seriously.

"Yes, I understand, big brother," Ard replied, nodding.

"Alright, let’s head back to the camp," Abel suggested, walking and putting his arm around Ard, who walked beside him.

***

Back to the present, "Ard... hey, Ard." Eva, walking next to Ard, called him because Ard was walking along spaced out, like he was deep in thought. Eva put a hand on Ard’s shoulder, making him flinched.

"Oh... what is it, Eva?" Ard asked, turning to look at Eva.

"Nothing, but why were you zoning out? What were you thinking about?" Eva asked.

"Nothing important. Are you heading back to the dorms?" Ard asked.

"No, did you forget? The others wanted us to meet up in the classroom," Eva replied.

"Oh, right. Sorry, I completely forgot," Ard replied.

Suddenly, Eva turned back and stopped, her hands pinching both of Ard’s cheeks, forcing Ard to stop and turn to face her. Then Eva examined Ard’s pinched face.

"What are you actually thinking about? Tell me," Eva asked.

"It’s not the time yet, but... it looks like I should start being open with you... and with our classmates," Ard replied.

"Huh... what do you mean?" Eva asked, confused.

"I’ll talk about it later in the classroom, with everyone," Ard replied, removing Eva’s hands from his cheeks.

"In that case, fine. Let’s go to the class to meet them," Eva replied, turning back and walking on.

Ard walked beside Eva, continuing their journey to their classroom. Ard glanced at Eva next to him, then he started thinking again.

"No one to trust except Eva and my classmates, huh? Maybe Brother Abel is right. It’s too much of a coincidence that Mirea and Nikolai, who weren’t supposed to be at the field training, showed up at my camp yesterday. But we don’t know yet. For some reason, I still feel like I can trust both of them and Claudia. I hope I’m not wrong," Ard muttered to himself.

***

Meanwhile, at the same time, in the Student Council room, Mirea, Nikolai, and Claudia were sitting at their desks, silent and not speaking. Claudia stood up, locked the door, and closed the curtains halfway, then returned to her seat.

"I think I know who played a big part in this whole mess and the academy attack yesterday," Nikolai muttered.

"Yeah, I already have a pretty good guess who it is, and if our assumption is correct, they are indeed in the Student Council," Mirea added.

"Who?" Claudia asked.

"You’ll find out yourself soon enough. It looks like they’ll be unmasking themselves shortly, since one of their main cards was captured yesterday," Mirea replied, glancing at Nikolai with a suspicious look.

"Yes, I know my little brother is foolish and acts like he owns the place, but mobilizing demon forces? That’s completely impossible unless someone gave him the power and clearly knows him," Nikolai replied, looking at Mirea with a suspicious look.

Seeing Mirea and Nikolai glaring at each other with sharp looks, Claudia felt uneasy and asked,

"Wait... are you two suspicious of each other?" Claudia asked.

Mirea and Nikolai immediately flinched. They both immediately turned to look at Claudia.

"Of course not," they both said in unison.

"Oh... okay," replied Claudia, who was clearly not convinced by their answer.