Deep within the forest  the same forest  where a tribe of people  was massacred, currently within that forest  there was a dark miasma like mist that  covered the entire forest  however within the same mist one could see various  people  wearing  mage clothing  standing around in a circle. 

A magic circle glowed indicating a spell was being  cast and the mages were continuously reciting a chant. Within this circle of mages was the magic circle at the center  of it was an artifact that resembled  a tea  kettle. The spell they were casting  caused the miasma to swirl around  and slowly  get sucked into the  kettle like artifact.

Meanwhile somewhere Slightly far away but still within the same forest, atop a tall tree two mages stood there eyes Focused on the scene of the mages perform the spell of draining the miasma from the forest.

“I must say The Duke out did himself, I didn’t  think there’d be this much miasma to be collected”

One of the mages spoke, a man with pitch black eyes, his mages hat was the same color, the man beside him had a purple  hat.

“Mhm”

The purple hat simply hummed rather  than speak or rather he felt there was no need for him to speak, of course the hum caused the black hat to frown, the man next to him was quite unfriendly.

“you know it would benefit you to speak” 

“Mhm”

Another hum, causing black hat to frown  deeper, he decided to not say anything further if the man beside him  didn’t want to speak  so be it, unfortunately  black hat  felt uncomfortable  with the silence so he spoke once more.

“Why did you think the Duke killed only the women ?”

This time he asked a question rather than just talking  and hoping for  a response and the purple hat indeed responded.

“The Ogelmen woman posses greater strength than the men so he probably thought they’d be troublesome so it was better to kill them”

The purple hat gave an explanation, it wasn’t an accurate answer but rather more of something he thought had happened after all they simply ordered the massacre to happen but did not give specific directions on who or what to kill.

“That seems sensible but why the children?”

“That I cannot explain so I don’t know perhaps the book is messing with his head”

“do you think it would have been better not to give it to him, plus if it’s as you say he might be difficult to control as time moves on so isn’t it better to get rid of him”

“That maybe true but he also diverts attention away from us as a tool so for now we let it slide and get rid of him when the time comes”

This time it was the Black hat the hummed and  remained silent, choosing to end the  conversation and  focus back on the task they were here for which was watching and observing the collection of the miasma. 

When an area where a person or a group of people were killed and then were left there, the place will eventually accumulate  miasma which could cause vengeful spirits to appear or in some cases create undead. 

“By the looks of things it seems our plan will go without a problem, there has been no problems so far  and  now we’re almost done, hopefully our accomplishment will be recognized”

“hm”

An eye roll came from the black hat as he heard his partner’s response.   Everything has been proceeding rather smoothly  everyone has been doing their part and there has been no rebellious elements nor any unnecessary investigations from the king, everything was going all according to plan.

…………….

“All right that is all, you are free to explore the grounds or go home as class for first years will begin tomorrow”

The headmaster closed and stepped off the podium leaving the students to their devices. The students then began to scatter  some going outside to get a feel of the grounds and facilities while a few decided to go home, Elia was among those who wished to go home but she felt it important to get a lay of the land.

Standing up from her seat with a yawn  she looked towards doors to her right which led further in the academy However before she could step forward and begin to move her hand was immediately grasped by another hand which was quite rough and she was pulled towards the door.

“Quickly we need to get this over with” 

It was Charlie who had grabbed her and  he seemed rather impatient However Elia wasn’t going to be dragged anywhere by no one. She stood and pulled Her  hand out of his grasp causing the  boy to jerk back slightly 

“First of all don’t grab my hand like that”

Being seen holding hands with someone can be cause of misunderstandings and Elia did not want any of those to happen, her relationship with each boy she’s friends with will be a clear friendship with Nothing more.

“and secondly just because I promised a match doesn’t  mean we’re doing it on your terms and just for that you have to wait a little, Mary How do you feel about exploring the school?”

“Oh that’s great then we can have a spar after yeah?”

The girl replied with great enthusiasm, while she had a desire to spar with Elia she also wanted to be friends with her as such this works out great. Elia was rather quite curious as to where this rude behavior from Charlie came from, he seemed to be polite yesterday 

“yeah, we’ll meet back here in a few hours”

Then the two girls began to walk away from Charlie who had a frown on his face, he didn’t quite appreciate Elia’s way of speaking and most of all he didn’t like how easily she seemed to get her hand out of his grip  he was quite confident in his strength and that no girl could be able to Overpower him, Elia was definitely on his radar now he had to have a match with her he won’t feel good without knowing how strong he is compared to her. To put in a much more simpler way, Charlie didn’t like the idea that someone close to his age could be stronger than him especially not a dainty looking girl.

…….

Ophelia smiled brightly  as she hummed a tune to herself while her eyes wee closed, she was feeling quite happy today and closure of her eyes was an indication of her basking in that happiness. To any onlookers it might seem odd that she had her eyes closed while the  prince, her Fiancé was sitting across from her sipping tea.

Prince Alphonse and  Ophelia were currently having tea together, various snacks and cakes were placed on the table between them and by the looks of things both had eaten quite a lot. The prince silently sipped from his tea  as he let his Fiancé enjoy herself not wanting to ruin the moment by talking, he also quite enjoyed the silence, it was the comfortable type of silence one you had with people you’ve known for  a long time.

Alphonse has spent the entire day of yesterday with Ophelia and he quite enjoyed it, He has known her for quite some time and has no doubt about his feelings for the girl However he couldn’t help but think about a recent friend he made earlier this week. The girl was certainly unique and certainly beautiful much more than his current fiancée, her long and lustrous hair that flowed down her back like a calm waterfall, the hair pure white like freshly fallen snow, she looked deathly pale but that didn’t diminish her beauty, the girl had a perfectly sculpted face with delicate features.

As  he  thought about Elia, Alphonse couldn’t help but be drawn to her and thus found himself running his tongue across his bottom lip, the act was instinctual  one he did without much thought.

“Are the pastries to your liking? They’re quite delicious aren’t they”

Taking the action of Alphonse licking his lips  as indication of him enjoying the food Ophelia  broke the silence and spoke bringing Alphonse back from his thoughts and forcing his attention back on her.

“oh yes quite, Mr. Shian did an excellent job” 

He responded with his eyes fixed on her face  causing the girl to avert her eyes, bashful at such a gaze. Alphonse  could not help but compare the two and certainly  Elia was much more beautiful but Ophelia was definitely a close second. As a young lad at the early stages of his development Alphonse had only just begun to truly think about such things.

“Aren’t you glad I stayed overnight because if I had  left yesterday you wouldn’t be eating such things”

“of course I’m always glad to receive a visit from my Fiancé” 

Alphonse  responded with a smile of course he wished she had notified him, it was a hassle trying to hide the painting in his room when he was notified of her arrival, his brother got quite the laugh out of his panicked expression.

“though I wish we could have went to academy as it’s the first day of the year, well on paper at least” 

He comments  with a  little sigh, though it’s  true that the academy classes don’t begin today most first years  probably didn’t read the guide book and  went to the academy even though classes don’t begin till tomorrow,  Alphonse also wanted to familiarize himself  with the facilities as he is a first year as well but there’s a map on the guide book  so it should be fine plus he is quite sure that his father has already sent someone that’ll be his guide.

“Which is why we’re here today specifically because we don’t  need to go to the academy unless you don’t want spend time with me?”

Ophelia was definitely suspicious of  him or at the very least she was feeling paranoid that Alphonse might want to see that daughter of a Baron plus  the way he was excited when he was with her not to mention he was actively searching for her during the testing. She definitely needed have that girl know her place and have her stay away from Alphonse.

……….

“And then and then I stuck the pointy stick I found on the ground on its mouth and….”

Elia  listened to Mary as she enthusiastically told a story of how she encountered  a carne-deer on one of her quests, apparently the girl was an D-rank adventurer in the local guild and has participated in quests before, she also happens to be an adventurer along side her parents. This got Elia interested since she has yet to directly talk to an adventurer and her own request to become an adventurer was denied by her parents so she was quite impressed by Mary.

A carne-deer is as the name suggests  a deer that is carnivorous, the monster is an D-rank and is the reason  Mary is a D-rank adventurer because she managed to kill it  by shoving a stick up its mouth and using  a knife to Stab its neck. It was an interesting story that Elia paid attention to  as they both made their way back to the hall to commence with the sparring.

“and that’s how I earned my D-rank certification”

Mary proudly stated as she placed a hand on her developing chest feeling a sense of satisfaction at such an accomplishment, Elia followed up by giving a few claps to the girl as congratulations though to her that was hardly impressive but it’s never good to belittle a person’s accomplishment.

The two of the entered into the hall and found Charlie  waiting there was also a crowd waiting there with him.

“Took you long enough I’ve been waiting for 2 hours”

The boy spoke in a displeased tone earning a few nods from the crowds who by the looks of it a few must have over heard their earlier conversations and wanted to see how true the rumors were about Elia.

“Yeah well that’s what you get for being rude”

It was Mary who responded, her earlier  smile was now a frown she didn’t like how rude this guy was, she has  met few nobles but most were polite and even if they were rude they did it subtly.

“I wasn’t addressing you but the person next to you”

“Let’s get this over with and be done with it, I have things to do”

Elia curtly responded, befriending Charlie was being reconsidered the boy seemed unpleasant to be around plus she already established contact with Morris from Morris it will be Marquis Porthouse and have Marquis Porthouse meet her dad, once her dad has the backing of a Marquis other nobles will pay attention to him and eventually the road to being a Marquis should be fairly easy.

“Hmph very well”

....

Charlie Porthouse the sole heir of house Porthouse  was a well known trouble maker around the capital, his lack of concern for noble etiquette has even caused him to be excluded from tea parties or rather he would be invited but everyone hoped he didn’t show up as he would cause trouble  however despite that  he is still the son of a Marquis so his peers gave him the respect he deserves.

It was probably because of his peers not rebuking his behavior that led him to continue to be think he was above them, or it was perhaps it was because of his strength that made him believe he was exempted from the norm. being born with superior strength than the average person does make a person feel a bit superior than others, maybe without Morris Charlie would have been much worse than he is.

It was Charlie’s belief that to an extent he had superior strength and could best the entirety  of all the first years and perhaps half the second years and maybe one or two third years, his father invested greatly in having him trained to become a warrior and Charlie has bested a few adults in combat before as such the shock on his face was quite palpable to him even more so was the fact that his nose was bleeding  which wasn’t a first  he has bled before but not after one punch from a girl.