9.1

The doors to John’s private bathroom swung open, and out came a blast of steam along with a freshly showered John. His skin was still damp with tiny water droplets trickling from them even after a thorough use of the thick towel in the attempt to dry himself.

“Phew…”

He made his way to his large bed and sat on it and started to dry himself with a second towel that he had prepared earlier.

“It’s been a long day,” he muttered to himself as he used the towel on his black hair, while he was doing so, his thoughts wondered to Evie, expecting to hear from her anytime soon. “I wonder what should we talk about later…” Once he was done drying himself, he retrieved the riddle that he copied word for word on his notepad.

The darkest of nights, a place where dead souls part not from this world, amidst the slumber of the three pillars, a frontier of perseverance is but a necessity.

Under such circumstances, passage of time is a falsetto of hope.

Relics of old, hidden and buried from all prying eyes, will once again be in the right hands of the empire. Uncover their secrets, and one will be granted safety in exchange.

“Darkest of nights…” he muttered as he circled the word. “Why night time specifically? Or is it just a dark place?” he made a few taps with the tip of his pen as he pondered.

Three Pillars, is there a place where there are three important monuments? Or is it just a metaphor for what we are going to do?

The first two lines of the riddle troubled him more than the final one. He had no problem understanding that the coming school activity required him to search for relics and information. He was having trouble figuring out where will the activity be held.

It was unlikely that the riddle referred to Moxnet academy, ‘dark’ and ‘dead souls’ were the furthest thing that the academy could be. So it was a simple guess that everyone would have to travel somewhere and complete their relic seeking task.

“Is there even a place like that for school activities?” John wondered, he might not be knowledgeable when it came to the outside world, but if a place where many relics were to be found by mere students exists, it sounded suspicious, dangerous even…

“Ah-ha! That’s it!” his eyes lit up the moment he made the connection between the first line and the last line of the riddle. He quickly underlined the word ‘safety’ and drew a line, connecting it to ‘place’.

“So the place is not safe, that’s why we need relics? Or to find them before something happens? The problem still lies with where will this take place in. The three pillars line still doesn’t make sense.”

John tapped his chin with the pen he had, then it dawned on him.

“That’s right! I can ask Evie! She would know what the three pillars mean.”

She did say she would answer anything I asked. And…

It would be more fun if they figured out the riddle together, that was what his boyish heart told him.

“She should be back anytime now…” John looked out to the sky that was on the verge of entering darkness as he fantasized a silvery white dragon flying towards where he was.

Knock, knock, knock.

As if it were on cue, the door to his room resounded clearly.

She’s back!?

John jolted from his bed, all prepared to open the door. But when a chilly breeze passed through his groin, he only realized he had not put on any clothes.

“Oh right, I haven’t changed.”

Knock, knock, knock.

The door sounded again, this time with a hint of impatience behind the knocking rhythm. It looked like Evie did not want to wait any longer.

“Give me a moment! I’ll be right there!”

John quickly put on his casual attire before he rushed to the door and invited her in.

“Sorry to keep you waiting…hah…hah…. I wasn’t dressed,” he panted as he gave a smile.

“Uhh… I can come back again if you are doing…your thing, no worries.”

Instead of seeing Evie’s husky expression, it was Randolph who had a strained look that was by his door, unsure to what to make of John’s comments.

“R-randolph?” John’s smile weakened when he realized that it wasn’t the dragon girl who he had been expecting the whole day.

He was glad to see his friend back from the capital after the hero party had went to Registoria to follow up on the incident at Kershen Village, but he can’t help but feel dejected when it wasn’t Evie.

“So… You free to join us for a meal? Or you want to go back doing you…ahem…thing,” Randolph forced out a choke and looked away. “I won’t tell anyone. I understand, I feel lonely at times too, but going to a brothel just doesn’t feel right you know? Going to places like that and doing it with someone you don’t love—”

“Wait!”

Before Randolph could go any further, John held a hand out and stopped him.

“That’s not what I was doing. I just got out of the shower that’s all. Yes I’ll have a meal with you guys.” John explained with a red face.

“O-oh… Guess I said a little too much…” Randolph’s voice became small.

The two of them fell into an awkward silence, not knowing what to do with what was said.

After enough time had passed, Randolph took initiative and broke the silence, “Hey, John, about what I said about going to brothels and all that...could you?”

“Yeah. I know. Not a word.” The two of them had a silent agreement, threw all of that out of their minds, and went to have their nightly meal with the other four that were waiting for them by the pub.

“Ahahaha, so what actually happened in Registoria earlier when you left for a break and never came back?” Gobbert’s laugh echoed throughout the East Wing’s pub the moment Randolph and John took their seats. “Come on, now that you brought John here, there is no way you can weasel your way out of this.”

“I-I’m not telling!” Randolph said defiantly. “You said you wouldn’t laugh if I told you what happened that caused me to visit my parents. And now, at the mere mention of Suzie—t-that woman’s name, you start laughing!”

Scywell gave a sly grin as he whirled the fine wine glass that he was sipping from. “Do me a favor Randy, tell us what happened. Everyone here is interested what happened after your mother caught you while you went for a short break.”

“Fine… Only because you asked Scy.” Randolph stopped resisting and confessed. “So I was on my way back to headquarters, then all of a sudden, this beauty with the most bombastic body I’ve ever seen appeared.” Randolph’s face immdediately became energized at the mere description of said beauty, “She was exactly my type, a little coy, but energetic, and all around soft spoken, so of course I ended up talking to her, asking how her day was, and if she needed help with the bags of groceries that she was carrying around her.”

John made a funny face and stoke his non-existent while he nod along to Randolph’s story, “Hmmmm, so that’s why you were assuming those things earlier. I see…”

“That’s— John, you promised!” Randolph snapped.

“Oh? What’s this? You have something juicy on this pervert Randolph?” Angeline threw a glance at John, doing her best to get him talking.

John stuck his tongue out cheekily and raised his two hands in the air, “My lips are sealed on that. It’s a sacred promise between guys,” John then proceeded to give a wink at Randolph.

“A-anyway, just when I was thinking why would a magnificent beauty like her to be so interested in me, out of nowhere I heard my mother’s voice calling for me. I tried make a run for it, but her hands found my shoulders before I could even move.”

“Why’d want to run Randolph?” Helen asked. “She’s family isn’t she?”

“You don’t get it Helen, she will talk my ear off if she ever saw me talking to random girls aside from the Suzie—t-the woman that she and dad have arranged for me. One of the reasons that I wanted to follow Scy was to avoid their silly arranged marriage thing.”

“Thats…” Helen seemed to have thoughts of her own but she decided to keep it to herself and let Randolph continue.

“When mom caught me, the bombastic beauty was gone, I tried to talk my way out but she told me if I had the time to talking to random girls on the road, I would have the time to visit her and dad. Of course I rejected her head on, but when she started to make a scene and went on about how I have left behind my folks and never visited them…”

The two girls by the table nodded to themselves understandingly. It was though they could see how easily Randolph gave up the moment his mother cried crocodile tears.

“I had no choice but to go home for a cup of tea, given that how far from the capital my parents lived, I quickly asked a nearby soldier and asked him to pass my message to you guys before going back.”

Randolph shook his head and continued, “When we were going back, mom was surprisingly happy for some reason. She hadn’t nag once at me for leaving Suzie when we travelled back home. I thought she was happy with the pictures from the Ball of Paragons that I sent, so I didn’t think of anything back then. But I was so wrong…”

“Oh, ho, ho, I think I know where this is going,” Gobbert started to rub his hands together like a third rate villain who prepared a nasty prank for anyone who was dumb enough to defy him.

“Here’s where it gets weird.” Randolph said in a serious tone, his face had the sharp look when he was back in Kershent Village. He took a deep breath, calmed himself then continued, “So we entered the house, dad was already talking to a guest, being the gentleman that I was, I went and greet him and his guest, only to find that he was talking to that beauty earlier.”

“Pfft!” everyone of his friends who were listening so intently until now started to choke on their breaths, doing their best to not laugh at Randolph’s story.

“And when that beauty saw me, she jumped to hug me with her gigantic… I mean, with her disgusting body like I was some long lost lover of hers, calling my name over and over again like I was some goddamn saint.”

“Gahhahahahahaha, I can’t take it anymore. Hahahahaha!” Gobbert burst into a maniacal laughter.

Randolph ignored Gobbert and continued on like a soldier, “So I asked her ‘How’d you know where I live?’ I only told her my name, so it was weird to see her in my house. And guess what she replied?”

“That’s Suzie. Pfft!” John had a hand covering his mouth.

“Exactly! Do you know how scary that was? Little Suzie that never looked anything feminine has now become the very thing that I am weak to. Ahhhhh!” Randolph proceeded to pull his hair in frustration. “How am I supposed to feel about it! The girl that I always made fun of has now become a weakness of mineeee!!! How, is, it, possible!? How!?”

“R-randy, t-that’s great for you— Pfft. Haven’t you always wanted a girl that only has her eyes on you? I-It sure beats those guys who are i-interested in you…” Scywell who had an amused face spoke to the best of his ability without letting his pending laughter get the best of him.

John leaned towards Angeline and whispered, something along the lines of “Match made in heaven” and “I wish I were that lucky.”

“Ahahahhahha!!! Stop, stop it! Ah noooo!!! Please John, I can’t take it anymore!!! Ahahaha!” Angeline let out a laugh as she hit John for further making fun of Randolph’s situation.

“You’re all terrible.”

Helen who found the situation less hilarious over the others—or so she appeared to be—gave Randolph a sympathetic look and nudged him to continue as though she was Randolph’s elder sister. “So… What did you do afterwards?”

Randolph shook his head weakly, then he lowered his gaze, “Something stupid…”

“As in?”

“I ran to my room and locked myself inside until Suzie left…”

The three who were laughing at Randolph immediately stopped when they heard Randolph.

“Wait, you didn’t get engaged!?” Gobbert blurted out in surprise. “I thought you would ask for her hand in marriage then!”

“What do you take me for!!!?” Randolph retaliated with a slam of his hand on the table.

“A muscle-brained pevert,” Angeline commented.

“Someone who wouldn’t let an opportunity like this go to waste?” Gobbert wondered. “Seriously, Randolph, aren’t you always wanting cute girl and all that? But this is the first time I’ve ever seen you so…”

“…Frustrated.” John completed Gobbert’s sentence for him.

“John!” Randolph protested with his reddened face.

John raised his to hands in the air again, implying that he held no hostility towards Randolph, “I mean, if you seriously think about it. Isn’t this…pfft… Meant to be? A girl who your parents have long set their eyes on, someone who had liked you, it sure beats going to the—”

“I’ll have you stop there, please. You know too much.” Randolph raised a hand a John, silencing him before he found a way to bring the conversation back to the topic of visiting brothels.

“Just saying…” John shrugged with a cheeky grin on him.

Randolph sighed, he collapsed back onto his seat and gulped down a large mug of juice. “What about you Scy? You think that was cowardly too right?”

“Me? I know you’ll do the right thing in the end, I am not too worried about how you’ve…reacted to it. But Suzie on the other hand, I would be worried if she would think that you hate her given your reaction when you learned who she was.”

“I-I…” Randolph choked on his words. “I don’t particularly care! She can hate me however she want, that will show my parents to stop forcing me.”

“Are you positive about that?”

“W-what do you mean?” Randolph stuttered when Scywell threw a questioning glance at him.

“It is my belief that if two parties have a strong romantic interest in the other, it is better to be united as soon as possible with the other. Time is fleeting, and so are people… It is not every day you come across people who are devoted, I personally can attest to that,” Scywell had a bittersweet smile on his face when he was done.

“I don’t understand what you are trying to say…”

Helen placed a hand on confused Randolph’s shoulders, “He means, go for it if you like her. Before Suzie stops waiting for you, you can’t expect her to wait until the both of you are one foot in the grave.”

“But it’s been so long since I talked to her… Not to mention I have not seen her since I last joined you guys. She’s changed so much that I think I’ve lost my childhood friend.”

“So you think making her wait for another three years for you is the better alternative?” Angeline asked. “Look at you, one glimpse at how the girl you ran away from grown to be, and you still think about running away. Some reasoning you have there, it’s exactly the same when you first joined us.”

“Then what do you think I should do!?”

“Just tell her what you want from her, idiot. You’ve been thinking about her all this time, haven’t you?” Angeline shook her head at Randolph who had his eyes popped from their sockets.

“Y-you knew?”

“I knew? Everyone here knows. Maybe not John, given that he is not officially in our party…” Angeline stole a glance at him and started to whisper nervously to herself, hoping that John wouldn’t think too much of the advice she gave to Randolph.

And what was Randolph’s reaction to his friends’ helpful advice?

“Waiter! Beer!” his arms shot up in the air, in no time the table became filled with mugs of alcohol and a Randolph who was furiously downing one tankard after the other. After the tenth tankard parted Randolph’s lips, Randolph’s face became pale and started turning purple, John and Gobbert immediately grabbed their friend and brought him to the bathroom before Randolph started to vomit.

Angeline gripped her hand into a fist as she watched Randolph got carried away from their table. “This idiot, I hope he learns someday.”

“Worry not, Angeline. He is,” Scywell said as he took a bite of the bun he had on his hand. “This was the first time he finally spoke to us openly about his supposed ‘arranged marriage.’”

“Supposed ‘arranged marriage?’”

“Indeed, I’ve written letters to his parents in the past, updating them on how Randy fared after he joined us. The arranged marriage was in fact not their doing, it was in fact Randolph who was the one proposed to Suzie when they were children. It seems that he remembered it differently.”

Angeline covered her mouth trying her best to not laugh, “Randolph!? He proposed!?”

“It seems outlandish, but I assure you, it is a fact. And it is also the reason why Suzie holds such strong affections towards him. If you need further proof, Helen also informs of Suzie about Randolph’s travels from time to time, she can give you—”

“There’s no need for that. I’ll just take your word for it.” Angeline then looked towards the table where Randolph had moved to, and watched the comedic scene of John and Gobbert trying to stop him from ordering more alcohol. “I had my suspicions about Randolph but I didn’t think it was that excessive…”

Helen placed a hand on her cheek and looked at Angeline, “What about you Angie? When are you going to take your own advice and tell John what you want from him?”

“Whadda… W-what are you talking about, Helen!?” Angeline exclaimed in a whisper, her head kept shifting towards John’s direction in fear that he would overhear the conversation at hand.

“You did tell him that you like him didn’t you?” Helen raised a brow at her friend.

“O-of course. I told him that whatever girl he has on his mind now, I wouldn’t lose to her without a fight.”

“And what if your competition it wasn’t just one…?” Scywell made a comment before he continued to sip his drink.

“I-I… He isn’t that kind of guy!” Angeline protested a little too loudly, almost garnered unwanted attention from other people in the pub.

Scywell shrugged, “He may not have the standard look of what people of the empire considers handsome. Even so, the refined way that he carries himself had attracted more looks from people than I’ve seen of the average looker in Dezarith, of course, that is what I noticed myself.”

“His dark eyes must be the reason for that attention, we don’t have many people whose bloodline comes from the eastern continent. Scywell, that’s because he looks foreign you might be overestimating…”

Scywell had a hand up and Helen paused, “That’s what I thought initially. I also thought he was garnering attention because he was with me, but those gazes that were directed at him in particular how’d you put it… They would look at him out of curiosity for a brief moment.”

Scywell looked into the direction that John, Gobbert and Randolph had disappeared, then continued, “But after a turning away in disinterest for a while, those people can’t help but to turn their heads and observe him once more. Perhaps they are weary that he might be an enemy to the empire and—” Scywell stopped himself and shook his head. “That last part was rude of me. After all, we did a thorough investigation and found nothing suspicious about him. Back on topic, the reason John is in Moxnet is because he received a personal recommendation from the vice-president, he also helped us during Kershent Village. His good looks aside, I am confident he has much more of a personality than most.”

“Ahh, Scywell you aren’t making little Angie here feel any better with that. If anything, she is now more worried that John will be snatched by some other girl…or multiple of them.”

Helen’s comment made Angeline to perk her body upright. It was though a button of Angeline’s was successfully pushed. Her face became bright red and steam was emanating from her head.

“If…if it’s more than one…I-I’ll… It doesn’t matter as long he t-treats me r-right…”

“You silly girl.” Helen poked her finger at Angeline’s forehead. “I don’t know what those artifact glasses showed you about him, but don’t think of love as something like those experiments and tests you conduct in the Inventor’s Department.”

Scywell nodded after Helen, “It hasn’t been long since the two of you met. Those feelings will prove themselves to be genuine with the passage time.”

Angeline lowered her head like a child who had no clue what she was supposed to do. Moments ago, she was berating the drunk-on-love-Randolph, and here she now was getting words of advice on romance from Scywell and Helen who had an inseparable bond.

To say that Helen and Scywell had a romantic relationship is not wrong in of itself, but it wouldn’t be an accurate description of the full of extent of it. They were each other’s family from long before Angeline had matured from being a little girl, with Scywell and Helen being almost a decade older than she was, their words carried certain weight.

Perhaps it was a coincidence that the two of them met when they lost everything they had and relied on each other ever since but when someone as methodical as Angeline saw how deep their bonds were, the word ‘fate’ can’t help but to repeat in her very mind.

“Since you know more about relationships than me… Maybe you should tell me what I am doing wrong.”

“That’s not what I was implying, you need to learn matters of the heart on your own…” Helen became oddly quiet and a smile sprawled across her face. “You should talk to him about this on your own, that’s how Scywell and I came to our revelation.”

“What should I even speak about? Tell John that I—”

“Tell me what?”

John had returned to his seat after he calmed the drunken Randolph behind him was Gobbert carrying an unconscious Randolph on back, on his way to deliver Randolph back to where his dorm was..

“Eep!”

Angeline made a sound when John’s curious face turned towards her and awaited for her answer, it certainly did not help when his head was within arms-reach of her. “N-nohing! Why d-didn’t you make a sound before you suddenly appeared beside me!?”

“I did, didn’t I? What’s gotten you so worked up, Angeline?”

“I-I am not. I-I just had a few drinks, all that alcohol mkaes you weird, you know?”

“Alcohol in orange juice? You are a strange one,” John raised a brow as he stared at the glass of juice that was in front of Angeline.

“Ah-ha-ha-ha…” Angeline laughed nervously as she tried to look away, embarrassed that she was not drunk at the slightest, but was shy because John was paying her his full attention.

“Are you fine? Because if not, I can use my magic on you,” John inched his hand towards Angeline’s forehead and cast [Heal]. Once he was done he retracted his hand and let out satisfied smile, “There, you should be fine now. Try drinking more water if you still feel drunk.”

A soft “T-thank you,” was all Angeline could mutter with her lowered head. She no longer had the courage to look at John in the eye with what he did for her, even if she did, she knew Helen would be giving her a smug look for being so bashful around John.

“So…” John leaned back to the chair and spoke. “Have you guys seen the billboard? The event about that’s about to happen the moment we return from our one-week break?”

“Activity that happens when classes officially take place?” Scywell placed a hand under his chin, looked upwards in thought for a moment. “I was informed that something similar would take place soon.”

“I don’t think I know about it. What about you, Angie?”

“Could it be that?” Angeline, who made a prompt recovery from her extreme bashfulness answered. “You know, an exam where the academy teleports all students somewhere dangerous and give them particular tasks or they won’t pass.”

“Exam?” Helen cocked her head while Scywell looked disinterested.

“Dangerous… On our first days of schooling?” John squinted his eyes into slits.

John’s seriousness in his comment brought everyone who heard him looked in his way with a funny look.

“Why are you worried?” Helen asked.

“Because it is dangerous?”

Scywell placed his cup on the table and explained to John in a soft voice, like a kind elder brother correcting his sibling who over complicates things.

“Perhaps that would be fitting if you were incompetent. But for someone who was so brave to face a bloodthirsty shapeshifter, even if you lost your [Heal] spell, I doubt it would be difficult for you to make the situation to your advantage.”

“I didn’t mean if it will be dangerous for me in particular. I was wondering about everyone else, you know, what about the other students, what will happen if they fail to complete their tasks. Since this is an exam and all that…”

“The e-exam thing is just a speculation. I am sure the academy will have proper measures if anyone failed. For all we know, this is just a light demonstration to prepare what is to come.” Angeline corrected herself.

“So it’s some form of long distance teleportation huh? I wonder how they do that, especially its done on a massive scale.” John said to himself and gulped down the unfinished pint of apple cider that he ordered earlier.

The last time John used a long teleportation device turned his life upside down, if the hero’s party assured him that there was nothing to be afraid of, he could trust their words.

However, the notion of being teleported to somewhere far disturbed him. His gut can’t help but churn at the thought of his banishment from A’vetheas, that if something bad might happen to people he cared about, or that if a betrayal was on the horizon, or if he would be consumed by such powers…

“John?” Angeline’s voice called out to him bringing back John to reality from his dark thoughts.

Seeing Angeline, Scywell, and Helen’s heads turned towards him in concern, John eased himself and gave an awkward smile.

“Ah, I am just feeling a little sleepy,” John quickly replied to Angeline, took comfort in the company of friends he made in Moxnet academy.

That’s right, it won’t happen like when I was with Raina. As long I keep myself in check and do things in order, I should be fine.

John dissed the negative thought and continued on joking with his friends.