Chapter 13: Year 5 Begins, P4

~13.4~

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“Very well.” Kye had just finished discussing with Allison the classes they set her to teach. “I approve. I would also request that you take up an instructor position in the Royal University as well, if you are not disinclined to instructing instructors.”

“You want me to spread my experience to the veteran instructors so that they have more to rely on than the documents I’ve written up? Though I did run a seminar to catch them up, I agree it would be a good idea to teach them long-term to ensure both they and the students get optimal results.”

“I’m glad you’re on board.” Allison smiled upon hearing Kye’s acceptance. “I shall discuss this with the dean and will get back to you. I assume you have no issue with it being a night course?”

Outside the door, one Elliot Greyson was frozen in place while listening to the conversation with his hand ready to knock on the door. Layla and James rounded the corner and noticed Elliot standing there. From their perspective, he was about to knock, so it didn’t seem like a suspicious scene.

“Instructor Elliot!” James hollered as they approached. Elliot quickly snapped out of it and turned to his colleagues. “Are you waiting to meet with Allison?”

“I am, yes, but it is not urgent. If you need to visit her, I don’t mind waiting.”

“It’s fine, we can wait our turn.” Layla gave him a fake smile.

Kye overheard them speaking outside and opened the door. “Sorry, for the wait! We’ve finished up.”

“Ah, Miss... Instructor Kye. My apologies, I did not mean to interrupt your meeting.” For a split second, Kye noticed the anger on his face. “I do not mind waiting my turn.”

“Are you feeling okay, Instructor Elliot?” Now’s as good a time as any to do this. “You seem flustered.”

Layla approached. “Actually, now that she’s mentioned it, you do look as though something’s bothering you. If it’s okay, we don’t mind listening.”

“I...”

“Please speak your mind, Instructor Elliot,” Kye said. “We’ll do our best to assist!”

Elliot sighed and just said it. “I find it unacceptable that a student is serving as an instructor.”

“Oh... I see...” Kye faked a half-sad, half-worried expression.

“I understand your concern, Instructor Elliot,” James said, taking the lead. Having a student serve as an instructor was unheard of. “It is quite unusual and not an exception made lightly. She has considerable expertise that the royal council has deemed an invaluable asset. She is quite the prodigy. Her wives, too. They’re teaching starting next year.”

Layla, James, and Allison knew very well of Kye’s abilities, but Elliot had limited information. He could only go by what was in the official reports. “It’s... it would have done no harm to wait a few short years for her to graduate and receive proper training in the University. She does not have the training to properly instruct students!”

“That is a valid point, but we-”

“While she has undergone some private training, you are correct,” Layla said. “She has not received formal training to be an instructor, but we have confirmed that it is unnecessary to-”

“That’s bullshit! She’s just a twenty-one-year-old child! She’s teaching students older than herself!”

“But you know that’s not true. Surely he’s told you about me,” Kye said. Elliot froze, not knowing how to respond. He knew what she meant.

“He who?” James asked.

“Shiro Shikigami, of course.” Kye stared into Elliot’s eyes. “Or as Elliot here would know him... Lord Phantom.”

“Ah, so we’re doing this now...” Allison said as she approached from behind Kye. “Elliot, what is your response? Where do your loyalties lie?”

“What are you talking about? Who is this-”

“Surely you don’t expect to lie your way out of this,” Kye said, her glare unfaltering. “We know of your association with Shiro Shikigami. Unlike most people, I can sense and distinguish the mana and aether of individuals. I can practically smell that man’s mana on you. You’ve been in close proximity with him enough that you are stained with his mana. Now what will it be? Are you loyal to the Atlantis Empire or Lord Phantom?”

“You overconfident child!” Elliot formed his weapon from his mana bracelet, but was far too slow to make use of it. Kye hit him with an aether infused palm strike and launched him through a portal that James quickly created. He landed in a rocky wasteland in the Far Lands, a familiar location for Kye and her three guardians.

After following him through the portal, Kye glanced off to the side and smiled briefly before giving Elliot her full attention. “You ought to take a moment to weigh your choices,” Kye said as Elliot struggled to his feet. She flared her aether at full power as she stared him down. “In case he neglected to speak of his past, the one you know as Lord Phantom was once the Emperor of Yamato in another world long ago. His name was Shiro Shikigami. He was a tyrant. Many died under his rule for simply wanting for proper living. People who had nothing wanted for the bare necessities of life. They wished for nothing more than to have enough food, water, and shelter to survive! His rule was unacceptable, and a resistance formed led by one of Shiro Shikigami’s retainers... one named Shiori Sakaguchi... but you would know her as Kye Akari. As Shiori, I led the world against the mad tyrant. Want to know how it turned out?”

“Cease these lies!”

“I killed him. Your precious Lord Phantom died at my hands in that life, grasping at his false belief that he was a just ruler until his last breath. I have met with that man in this life. He has not changed. He has, on at least three occasions, unleashed monsters upon the world. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg, compared to what he has done to the demon people he has warped into said monsters.”

“What?”

“Didn’t know that, did you? Yes. These ‘demon beasts’ you’ll find on Daemonheim are citizens warped into a monstrous existence. Can you still serve him?”

“The demon beasts are... people?”

“Yes. What he has done to them is unacceptable, and he knows what will come. His mistake? Not killing me when I was still weak enough for him to take me down.” Kye leaned in and almost whispered into Elliot’s ear. “Now? If he doesn’t get his act together, I’ll come for him and I’ll kill him again.”

“Where do your loyalties lie, Elliot?” Allison repeated.

Kye leaned away and asked, “Do you know my real name, Elliot? Do you know what I am? Has he told you?”

“...yes.”

“Say it.”

Elliot hesitated. Kye’s presence had become overwhelming. The raw power she was exhibiting was unreal enough, but then she activated Aether Drive and shifted from using light aether to white aether. There were silver streaks of light emanating from her intense aura of white aether.

“Say it!”

“Elysia.”

“Do you believe I am lying?”

“Assume I’m willing to accept what you say is the truth... how do I know you speak the truth in the first place?”

Kye smiled and held her hand out, her aether dispersed. “Let us return to Allison’s office. I will explain in detail.”

As James began to create a portal back to the academy, a certain pink-haired student landed nearby. “Heyooo!”

“Ohai!” With a bright smile, Kye jumped into Alethea’s arms. “You doing some training out here, love?”

“You bet!”

A white-haired girl and a black-haired girl landed behind Alethea and immediately curtsied to Kye. ““Hello, Princess.””

“Lily! Ally!”

“We were just wrapping up. Since you guys are heading back, we’ll hitch a... portal!” Alethea smiled, Kye giggled, and everyone stepped through the portal.

Back in the Allison’s office, Kye and Alethea explained everything to Elliot. He already knew their soul names, but he did not know the extent of their experience... the virtually countless number of lives they had lived. Elliot wanted more information about the lives they lived as Shiori and Sayaka, so they showed him some of their memories.

*****

Revision: 2024-4-25