9.3

Click clack.

Distinctive marching sounds from a pair of boots echoed in the dark hallways of mansion, each step the man took exuded his strong confidence, his rhythmic march was all that one needed to know who he was. The man wore a white buttoned shirt underneath a black cape, his face had a pale complexion to it but it was not because he was sickly, rather, it was because of his nature.

Not a single murmur could be heard as the man marched moved inside grandiose abode, it was exactly as he had preferred it to be, for this place to remain silent and free from the chatters of idyllic conversations that dulled the mind.

A cruel smile sprawled across his sharp face, revealing a pair of fangs that had taken the lives of many, for today was a special day, a day where his journey to become the strongest member among the six royal families begins.

Click clack.

The sounds of his refined footsteps continued for a period of time until he arrived at the main hall where three men who looked no younger than him knelt and awaited for his presence, these three men were his acolytes that served him and only him, for he had his very own blood running in their very bodies.

“My lord!” with one knee on the slate tile ground, the three acolytes called to him with the upmost respect, their eyes planted firmly onto the ground, not daring to look at him without permission in this sacred place of their master.

The man raised a slender finger of his to his chin and spoke with upmost cruelty.

“My children, the time to harvest what we’ve sowed draws near, your faith in His Everglory will be tested. Very soon, the reaping for His return shall begin, be proud that you three will become the spark that brings forth the dawn of a new age.”

“…”

“…”

“…”

The three figures made no sound as the man continued to paced himself in front of them, the glint from his shiny black shoes sparkled as he asserted them with his sharp, cruel eyes.

“And… Whichever one of you have the most faith in His Everglory’s return shall be leading this operation, once the reaping operation is successful, he would be granted three vials of my blood. Whatever you do with it is none of my concern, but you three understand what this means, yes?”

The man’s statement caused his three acolytes to involuntarily react, their body twitched, breath deepened.

Gulp…

To the three acolytes, receiving a vial of blood from someone as powerful as their master meant that they would be part of the six royal families in the Sovereign. Obtaining even a single vial of blood from one of the royal families was akin to an official recognition of their status as a part of the royal families of the Sovereign.

But it was not just that, should they drink a single vial of their master’s blood, it meant that they would obtain a small fraction of their master’s power making it as their own, to kin like them who bore no status in the Soverign aside from being related to their respected master, this was a lifetime’s opportunity.

With just enough amounts of the master’s blood ingested, they could be recognized as full fledged nobility in the Sovereign

“Interested, are we? Then…”

The moment those words left their master’s lips, the man raised his hand and clenched his tightly.

The three acolytes prepared themselves, their bodies tightened, a second passed… two… then three…

Thuuuuddd!!!

From above them, an indomitable pressure came crashing down on the three acolytes, squashing their flesh and bone, the pressure was so strong that even their undead immortal bodies were not enough to guarantee their survival. Unable to withstand the sudden pressure, the three acolytes coughed out blood and fell to their arms just to prevent themselves succumbing to the monstrous weight against their bodies.

“Kugh…!”

“Argk!!!”

“….”

A force that made carrying the five elephants during their acolyte initiation seemed like a child’s play, it threatened the three of them to use their magic to keep their bodies from falling, but even that was still insufficient for them to face their master’s ever increasing pressure on their bodies. The veins on their bodies popped, sweat trickled down their foreheads as the three acolytes struggled to keep their strength.

The acolyte on the left was the first to give in to the man’s power and collapsed with a spurt of blood on the ground. The one on the right had a much stronger build than the other remaining acolyte, he had fingers dug firmly into the gray floor doing his best to keep his waning consciousness, but alas not even his strong physique was able to prevent him from dropping to the ground like a dead fish following his fellow acolyte.

Thud.

All that was left was the acolyte in the middle, his face had turned purple from the growing pressure, but he stayed still, keeping his wits to himself and endured it all.

“Kukuku….” the man let out an ominous chuckle before snapping his fingers and lifted the magic on his three acolytes, removing the heavy pressure that assaulted the three acolytes.

Gasp!

The two who collapsed made screeching sounds as they caught their breath the moment their master removed the pressure on them.

The man moved towards the acolyte who endured his test, “Impressive, my child. Your faith towards His Grace will not go unrewarded.”

“…”

An amused smile crawled the man’s face as the acolyte remained quiet, even after what he put the acolytes through, this acolyte was still fully aware of his place own place before the man.

“You are permitted to speak. Arise.”

“Thank you, my lord, I am grateful for your fair judgment,” the acolyte answered in a stern voice as he got to his feet.

Satisfied with the acolyte’s response, the man moved to a large painting that portrayed a group of the most important people in this sovereign that they lived in, like him, the very people in the painting bore two sharp long frags from their mouths. The man then traced his fingers along the necks of the people in the painting, satisfied with his little display of intent towards the very people in the painting, his cruel smile returned to him.

“A hundred and six. That was the amount of Seeds of Blood we’ve planted, a hundred to awaken His Evergrace, and another six for each head of the royal families, including myself.”

“…”

“Should the situation requires it to be, you are given permission to sacrifice those two in order to retrieve all hundred and six of our glorious essence. I leave this matter into your hands, young Palter.”

The figure in the middle gave a firm nod.

“What you do with my three vials blood after this matter is closed is none of my concern. You could give it to those two for all I care. But under no circumstances…” the man disappeared from where he stood and appeared right before the acolyte named Palter with an extended fingernail that was akin to a sharp blade, it tip touching at Palter’s throat.

“…”

Seeing that Palter’s unchanging expression despite his actions, the man withdrew his nail and retracted his nail, returning it to its usual size. The cruel expression from his sharp eyes disappeared, his stern attitude replaced with a one that was filled with expectations.

“…That anyone else in the Soverign is allowed to know of your operations. You are to bring me the essence the moment you collect it. Is that understood, my child?”

“Yes, my lord.”

The man moved his hands to adjust his acolytes’ disheveled clothes, taking his time to brush of the dirt that was on this acolyte of his, treating Palter like how a father would to his child.

“With the Seeds of Blood’s matters settled in your hands, I suppose it is time for your long-awaited blood fast, the final ritual that would finally liberate you from your human past. Are you prepared for the final stage of your trial, Palter?”

“My only wish is to serve by your side, Lord Termezt. There is no greater desire than that.”

The man nodded, “Then, as the head of Termezt family, I hereby announce the commencement of Palter Termzet’s vampiric trial. May you find solace in your past and purpose in the future to come.”

Woosh!

The loud flapping noise of a blanket resounded clearly from John’s room. Following that were the sounds of banging and knocking as he bent over backwards searching each nook and cranny of his room for signs that Evie came to visit last night.

“Nothing…” he muttered as he squatted down and looked in between the seams of his wardrobe, a place most unlikely for what we was searching for.

“This…seems off.”

He had checked each part of his bed, the reading table, bathroom, the floor, and each possible drawer, John could not find a single note that Evie might have had left for him while he was asleep.

“…”

His heart had been thumping with uncertainty the moment he woke up from that dream about his past, about his life before A’vetheas, about the maid who bore the name of Kahnira.

And now, he was about to go into a panic over Evie who was supposed to be back in Moxnet Academy.

John can’t help but feel like something was amiss.

Evie did not leave a note for him, even though he purposefully left the doors to his balcony open for her allowing her to leave a message for him when she came back last night.

Perhaps she was too shy to wake me up and returned to her room. Yeah, that seems like her.

Thinking that to himself, he changed into clean clothes, exited his room, went straight down to the first floor of east wing, took a left turn by the stairs and kept on walking until he arrived the last room by the corridor, the room where Evie’s living quarters in the academy was at.

I’ll just check in with her

This was where she nursed him from his black out last time, he never came to visit her himself—due to how proactive she was in finding the time to meet him in his room, John barely has the chance to come here.

However, this place where the dragon girl once lived, now had a foreign sensation to it, even the smell and atmosphere surrounding the door to her room felt completely different when he remembered. It was akin that all traces of Ephinelyth had vanished overnight.

Did she come back at all? John wondered to himself. I haven’t seen her, nor did she left any message for me. It is so unlike her.

He may have gotten to know her for just a short amount of time, Evie did not strike him as someone who would make light of promises or relationship bonds. She had yet to display any red flags nor inconsistency in her behavior, if anything, the dragon girl was someone who took herself seriously and expected the people she interacts with to do the same in return.

His feelings for her was genuine, pure even. As someone who deeply enjoyed their shared moments together, he wanted to learn more from her, he wanted to learn more about her, he wanted to share his thoughts with her, thrills would go down his spine whenever she became in sync with his train of thoughts.

But John Sarvod was no fool either. During the dance he shared with Evie, he caught an unpleasant expression on her face when they were interrupted by a [Message] that brought her crucial news.

I wonder if that level hostility was directed at me… Maybe she was just pretending to like me?

John shook his head fervently, there was no reason for him to just space off in broad daylight. The distance between them was now just a door, there was no reason to come up with unfounded hypothesis about why she had not contacted him the first thing she came back.

I’ll just make her tell me everything back then, she did promise me.

John raised a knuckle to the door, flicked his wrist and knocked on it a few times.

“H-hello? It’s John,” he announced.

The person in the room quickly responded to his knocking, hustled footsteps, followed by the sounds of the knobs turning.

Clack.

A girl with red hair and tanned skin answered the door with a smile, her eyes were the colors of gold, she had an athletic build to her physique and her height was at least two heads above John’s.

“Heya! How can I help you?”

John took an involuntary step backwards upon seeing the girl.

“Umm, can I ask, is this your room? Because I am pretty sure—”

“Sure it is. Do you need anything from me?”

John scrunched his brows in doubt.

“But… I haven’t seen your face in East Wing for the last two weeks?”

“Oh you mean that! Ahahaha! I forgot!” the girl scratched her head while she let out an awkward smile. “I am a newly enrolled student, call me Sheila.”

John’s face hardened, his jaw clenched.

New student? That’s where Evie lives in!

“What about the previous owner of this room? Would you perhaps know anything about that?”

Sheila tilted her head and made a complexed expression. “I don’t know what you are talking about but you can come inside and have a look for yourself,” she stepped aside and made way for John to enter.

“Alright.”

Accepting Sheila’s invite, John moved into the room, his eyes darted every edge and corner of the place, the paint on the walls, the structure, and the furniture, all of it were exactly as he remembered. Without a doubt, this was Evie’s room.

However…

The various books and writing materials that Evie had lying around were gone. Her cream silk bedsheets were gone, even the rustic chair that she had by the bed was gone. The place looked as though it had undergone an eviction with all of its decorations and posessions from the dragon girl herself, stripped and disintegrated. All that was left in the room now were various boxes with the name ‘Sheila’ written on them.

“E-everything l-looks so clean…” he muttered in horror.

One of his hands curled into a fist, thoughts of Evie’s whereabouts raced in his mind, his blood was boiled for not being able to understand what was going on this moment.

Did the academy learned about her Elder Dragon nature? Did she leave because she was found out? I-I… Why didn’t she say anything to me, how is this happening? Evie, you said you’d come back yesterday, you even gave me a kiss…

Unaware of John’s stirring emotions, Sheila scratched her head and laughed, “Ahahaha, as you can see, I just arrived yesterday, I haven’t got the time to unpack, and since I don’t know anyone in the academy yet, would you mind helping me upack?” she pressed her two hands firmly together and gave a sincere bow in her tightly fitted tank top.

“Ah, you see…” John was about to decline Sheila to cool off on his own and figure out what has happened to Evie, but a stroke of genius came him while his emotions boiled in him.

If I stay and help, maybe I will learn what happened.

“Please, I will make your time worthwhile,” Sheila who was still in her low bow, insisted, she has yet to raise her body.

John’s face softened just a soft bit, he understood how uncomfortable it must be to be alone in a foreign place. He had nothing better to do anyways, the time he would be spending at this moment was supposed to be spent with the dragon girl. He might as well use it to help a person in need out, there was no harm in making a new friend.

“Sigh, fine. I’ll help out just a bit.”

An hour passed, John and Sheila had finally unpacked most of the boxes and arranged the items to where they are supposed to be.

He was fine lending a hand Sheila without asking for anything in return, but whenever he started to wonder about what happened to the room and the dragon girl who previously there, he would be interrupted by an energetic call from Sheila asking for him to lend her a hand in what she was doing. As a result of that, he still can’t make out the reason for Evie’s sudden disappearance.

Evie was not in the academy, nor she had returned to the academy, that much was a fact with Sheila’s appearance, but John can’t anything beyond that, the scope of what might have happened to Evie was simply too large that someone like him could not figure out in just a day.

“John, you need to come here, I don’t know what to do!” Sheila’s voice called to him from the kitchen.

He sighed and placed the box of shoes that he was supposed help arrange and went to her.

Again? This person has the attention span of a fly.

“What is it? I was still doing the shoes—” he lost his voice when the clear view of Sheila’s plump buttocks dangled before him as she busied herself with one of the boxes. Under some circumstances, he might have appreciated the sight of a shapely posterior before him—strong emphasis on might—but the fact that it came from someone who he barely knew nor had an attraction to, his gut can’t help but recoil at Sheila’s actions, whether they are intentional or not.

He pursed his lips and waited for her response instead.

“I don’t know where I should all these cooking utensils should go, I’ve never cooked!” Sheila stood up and her hands were full of shiny spatula, turner, whisk, grater and so much more stuff that John had never seen despite knowing his way around the kitchen.

“Never cooked…” John paused before he started to criticize her for buying more than necessary. He took a deep breath then continued, “You put them in the drawers where you would most likely to grab them from. Separate cookware from knives, that way you won’t accidentally cut yourself.”

“Woahhhh, you seem like you know everything in the kitchen.”

“What do you mean, isn’t every kitchen—”

“I’ll leave the arrangement here up to you here, master chef!” Sheila said before she placed everything she had on her hands and bolted to the unopened boxes that were still by her bed.

This is getting annoying…

John shook his head dejectedly and started to arrange the various cooking utensils as he stared at the forest beyond the window, he can’t help but be reminded of Evie the longer her whereabouts are unknown.

“I am not her slave… I should leave soon,” he muttered to himself as his hands moved mechanically and placed each of the kitchen utensils according to the drawers. “Ughhh, I miss the Harvests’ home. At least everything is simpler there, I wonder what little Meli is doing now, she’s supposed to have grown taller…”

Then, his eyes caught onto something on the spotless floor, where the edge of a piece of paper showed itself.

“It can’t be,” his eyes squinted, dropping everything that he was doing and lowered his body into a squat. His hands stretched and nipped at the paper, pulling it out from between the seams of the cabinet and the floor.

The paper revealed a list of ingredients that was with Evie’s writing:

Ingredients for Stew

• Meat

• Milk

• Cheese

• Parsley

• Mushroom

….

The list of ingredients went on.

It’s the exact stew Evie made for me that day…

Though he was no master chef, John had a fair share of knowledge in the culinary arts—due to how often he had hunger pangs back in A’vetheas—but these were the very ingredients the felt in his mouth the day Evie served him her cooking.

Before he could finish reading everything, Sheila called to him once more, John had no choice but to quickly fold the piece of paper and tucked it in his pockets.

“Yes, what is it?” he answered in a flat voice as he exited the kitchen.

“I. Am. Done!” Sheila announced with her hands on her hips, chest protruding with great pride.

“Are you sure…” his eyes were just about to squint in doubt, but they stopped when he discovered that Sheila’s room was sparkling clean, everything in her box was now placed in where they should belong, in just a few short minutes, the placed had transformed into a room that looked like someone who had been living here since registration day.

Admittedly, even for John who kept himself organized at most times, Sheila’s efficiency made John nod approvingly, “Huh, I suppose you have, call me impressed. You know, you might not need my help at all, since you’ve managed to do everything in a short while…”

That’s not right.

John stopped when he was reminded of Evie, this was her room, this place was where she was supposed to return to, this was Ephinelyth rightful place in Moxnet Academy. How could someone as new as Sheila, made it seemed like she had been living here for the longest time?

Not to mention for someone who does not have any acquaintances, nor knowledge about the academy, Sheila had not asked him a single question regarding Moxnet academy, about how the classes are, what did she miss while she was yet to be enrolled, how the students here are like, things that someone new would ask.

Who— Why is she here now?

Enrollment to the academy was limited to an certain amount of students, whether they wished to partake in the orientation month was up to each individual, but individual dorms were allocated to each existing student within Moxnet Academy’s database regardless of their decision after the orientation month.

Hence, it made no sense that, for someone such as Sheila, who had presumably gotten in—assuming that there was still spaces for her to get in—just recently to be in Evie’s living quarters. Especially when there were so much unused space within the academy.

John had a bad hunch of what was going on.

“Say, Sheila. How did you enter Moxnet academy again?”

“Hmm? I came in just like any student, I was scouted, then offered a place by one of the academy’s important figures. I can’t really remember his name, but it was the vice-president or something…” the tan skinned girl lifted a finger to her chin.

“Could it be a man named Kaldor who brought you here?”

“Ah! That’s the name! I keep forgetting that little guy’s name. Did he scout you out too!?”

John nod his head.

“Yay! Guess that makes us peas in a pod!” Sheila then jabbed lightly at John with her elbow. “I will be counting on you, John.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, when did you get enrolled?”

“They contacted me yesterday, saying that there was a miscalculation of empty spots in the academy and that I made it after being on the reserve list, I travelled overnight just to get here as soon as I can. Phew, I am glad whoever dropped themselves from the academy did it.”

“…I see.”

“John, since you were a big help, let’s go have something to eat, just you and I, all that moving must have been—”

He immediately raised a finer stopping Sheila before she could finish her sentence. “Actually, I forgot I have a very important meeting with my friend, Randolph. I am sorry but this is a really important promise with him, Maybe next time.”

No longer wanting to waste his time with Sheila any longer, John dashed out and rushed to where Randolph’s dormitory was and knocked on the door loudly.

“Randolph, Randolph! Are you awake yet!”

Thud!

The sound of a person hitting a table in shock resounded on the opposite end of the door in response.

“J-John?! W-what are you doing so e-early in the morning!” Randolph answered in a shaky voice.

“I wanted to ask you something important.”

“Urghh…” Randolph moaned, but he finally opened the door, revealing himself in his pajamas and disheveled hair. “Yawn… I-if it is something important, can’t you ask Angeline instead?”

“Since you went to bed early yesterday, I figured you might be awake now. Besides, I thought you should know about the new girl, to get your mind off Suzie.”

“N-new girl!?” the pitch to Randolph’s voice became high, his dead eyes became energized instantly. “Man, you just know the things to say to get my mind of that beautiful—ugly Suzie. So, what’s her name?”

Got him.

“You have to answer me a few things first.”

Eager to learn about the new girl from John, Randolph nodded, “Alright. Shoot me your questions.”

“Correct me if I am wrong. In Moxnet Academy, despite dismissal or withdrawals of existing students of each intake, it is impossible for a student to enroll once all the limited amount of enrollment spaces are filled, yes?”

“That goes without saying, the academy doesn’t just accept you because you wanted to enter. The fact that it has rules that a limited amount of people can only enroll to it per teaching batch is what truly makes it special. That way, Moxnet can keep track of how many students still remain in the school once graduation comes, since the rate of people leaving Moxnet is not a small number.

“So that makes, transfer students, noble’s children, hell even if you are Scy himself, you can’t enter just because the emperor said so. These are the unshakable rules that the academy had in place since its establishment.”

John’s face became dark, “Does that means that when those rules for newer students to be enrolled into the academy are broken, there is something serious behind the scenes?”

Something like bringing in someone to replace Evie within a moment’s notice…

“W-what are you talking about, John? There is no way the academy would do something like that. So, who is this new girl you are talking about?”

“Sheila, the girl who lives on the very end on the first floor to the right of the teleporter. Has caramel skin, red hair, gold eyes, yeah, that’s the one.”

Randolph’s brows lowered themselves, rose quickly before he gave a hearty laugh.

“Ahahahaha, I thought you were being serious about the academy’s rules being broken earlier. Turns out it is just that girl who was interested in you since Professor Peter’s first class.” Randolph placed a fist at the front of his heart and gave a heartfelt nod, “That is some great way to cheer me up from thinking about Suzie, thanks man. Though, I don’t think I need to know where she lives to know she exists.”

“Wait, that’s not what I was trying to say.”

“Don’t worry dude, I got your message, ‘stay away from there’ right? No worries, I won’t mess with your woman. I am not interested in someone like her, not really my type. If you don’t mind, I shall now go do my business guilt free, the angels know how much I have to get her out of my head—”

Just as Randolph was making haste to shut the door, John pushed his body and stopped it from closing, “Stop! There is one more thing I need to ask you.”

“Hmm? What is it then?”

“Are you sure the girl who was seeing me was not a silver haired girl and instead a tall redhead who has caramelized skin?”

“Hey John, I know I was drinking a lot yesterday, but I don’t think you should be drinking like me, especially its this early in the morning. You are still pretty young compared to us you know? Well, maybe not so much when compared to Angeline but Scy, Helen, Gob and me are around five years older than you and have seen more crap out there. Take it easy, alright?”

John became a lost for words. What Randolph said was so bizarre that he could not believe his ears when he heard it.

He thinks Sheila is Evie?! Did everyone not know about Evie’s looks? Or am I the only one who know her?

Ephinelyth’s presence in Moxnet academy was almost wiped clean, sure she never showed herself to the hero’s party, but all of them knew that John had been frequently talking to a silver haired maiden.

Despite earning her way through the brutal tournament—brutal in regards to anyone who was her opponent—it seems that her presence was erased, and perhaps, replaced by Sheila.

A weak, “Okay, thanks,” was all John could manage before Randolph bid him goodbye.

John trotted aimlessly after his exchange with Randolph, he wanted to return to his room and sleep away his troubles, but not doing a anything when the dragon girl who he had come to like had her presence erased and replaced was enough to make him go mad.

Did they find out that Evie was a dragon? What did she do after the ball? If she was in trouble, why didn’t she tell me? I thought she was going to tell me everything…

His doubts increased the longer time passed.

Please be alright, Ephinelyth.