Pier continued to walk on the brick path towards the Western Area and the closer he got, the louder he could hear the various explosions happening inside the large ground for battles.

When he reached the entrance to the Western Area, the guard stationed at the entry point whistled for him to stop.

"Who goes there?" The guard asked. Pier clicked his tongue in annoyance and just stood there with his arms crossed and his eyebrows furrowed. He wanted to act like the usual Pier would but considering the original Pier did not show any interest in magic before, he understood that the guard never knew him in the first place.

He grabbed the pin that was on his chest. The silver pin which contained their family symbol shone brightly under the sunlight.

When the guard saw the pin, his eyes widened when he realized who the person he just stopped was. He immediately grabbed an umbrella and ran straightforwardly without stopping.

"Y-Young Master Pier! It's my first time seeing you come here! Forgive me for not knowing immediately!" The guard said and he looked like he was about to cry. The news of Pier firing all of the previous maids and butlers and how their sins were spread across the whole territory of the Belmiunde's made everyone afraid of the rumored young master and the person guarding the entrance to the Western Area was not an exception.

Pier smiled at the extremely nervous guard and patted his shoulder as he was about to kneel and beg for forgiveness.

"It's fine. I understand and it was my fault since I acted on impulse and came here without prior notice. Forgive me," he said as he took the umbrella and opened it. The shade cooling him off a little bit.

The guard looked up at Pier and smiled widely. He looked like he was about to cry with how tears seemingly brimmed his eyes yet the young master decided not to make any comments about it.

"T-thank you, young master! I knew you were different from the rumors! Did you know I def-" the young guard started blabbering when he came to a stop midway.

"Rumors? There were rumors about me?" Pier asked him and the guard paled once more. It was as if he told the mafia something he never should've and now they're coming for his life.

"A-Ah... W-well you see, young master... Uhm... Rumors are g-going around about how y-you fired all the servants in the main household and b-banned their families from working with other families..." The guard said while scratching the back of his neck. It was as if he was embarrassed to say such a rumor directly in his master's face. His stuttering did not help either seeing that Pier's eyebrows became more furrowed.

"Hmmm..." Pier thought about it and the rumors were indeed a little bit exaggerated. He did fire all those workers not just because they were lazing around but because of what they did to the previous Pier. Pier had to constantly suffer and do things all on his own because no one wanted to help the pitiful young master of the Belmiunde Family. However, he did not mention anything about their family not being able to work for other families though.

'I guess I need to check about these rumors later,' he thought as he looked at the guard once more. The young man flinched under his master's gaze and he started sweating bullets.

"It's fine, you don't need to be so nervous around me or you'll make mistakes when you're not supposed to because you could not focus," he reprimanded the young guard as he started walking towards the entrance, leaving the young man gaping at his seemingly angelic young master.

Pier entered the gate and immediately the guard assisted him as they started wandering around the place.

"Young master, this area right here is the resting area for the scholars," the guard said as he pointed at a large villa-like building on the east side of the Western Area. Pier casually walked towards the resting area. In the modern world, as Eliam, the resting area was like a vacation house for a rich family on a beach.

The people resting or doing some mild work in the resting area started whispering to themselves when they saw him walking but Pier did not bear any intention to converse with them. He was simply trying to see the resting area up close. He also sensed that he was not welcome with the people in the Western Area.

Pier then proceeded to go to the area where the explosions were happening.

"This right here is the Arena, young master. This is where the scholars fight and duel against each other to test their strength." The young guard said respectfully. Pier gazed towards the Arena, it was as big as a colosseum in the modern world and it was made of finely stacked pieces of stone. He can also feel faint energy coming from the rocks themselves.

"May I ask what's with the rocks?" He asked the guard who flinched at the sudden question.

"A-Ah, the rocks... Uhm. The rocks, young master are strengthened with reinforcement magic to prevent them from being destroyed or blown up during intense battles." Pier chuckled at the nervous young guard. They seem to be the same age.

"I see. Can I watch them train?" Pier was curious about the explosions and so he wanted to come inside the arena and watch these infamous scholars battle against each other.

"Ah, f-forgive me, young master, but the headmaster has instructed everyone yesterday to not let anyone enter the arena for now except the scholars. They will be undergoing intensive training for they will be deployed as the mages of the kingdom soon." Pier was disappointed at the news but decided to not push it further anyway. He nodded at the guard and started to walk back into the entrance he came from when he caught sight of a greenhouse in the distance.

"How about that? Can I visit that place?" He asked the guard. The guard squinted his eyes in the direction Pier was pointing.

"Forgive me, young master Pier but I cannot see what you're pointing at." the guard even had both of his hands covering on top of his eyes to prevent the now extremely bright sun from blinding his vision. Pier raised his eyebrows at the young guard because he was pointing at the greenhouse up ahead of them.

"I'm talking about the greenhouse," he said and the guard seemed shocked at what his young master said.

"A-Ah, the greenhouse? Yes, young master, you can visit the greenhouse," the guard said while looking bewildered.

"What's wrong?" Pier asked the guard who keeps on stealing glances at him. He was starting to walk towards the greenhouse and the young guard kept on looking at him.

"Oh... Uhm, I was just wondering, young master, how you can see the greenhouse? It's around too far away from here..." Pier's eyes widened at the young guard and looked back at the greenhouse. Surely the guard was bluffing, right? He can see the greenhouse from up here and even the plants that are inside it.

"Maybe you just have bad eyesight." Pier chuckled at the young guard and started walking again. Meanwhile, the young guard was questioning his eyesight.