Chapter 404: Gathering Info
One of the doors was open, while the other remained closed. That gate, when locked, had an engraving in the wood, which was now cut in half. However, it was possible to see four stars around a sword.
Luke immediately noticed how Adrian's heartbeat had accelerated, the boy was much more nervous than before. With each step the blond boy took, his heart beat five times, his breathing was heavy, but the young man tried to keep up with his gentle smile.
Until both students hear shouting, it was an argument.
"You know! I don't want any wimps in the main event! We need to make a stricter entry process!" A male voice said.
"That's why the event will have a qualifying round its airhead! Is it really so absurd to leave qualifying battles before the main event?" A woman shouted
As soon as Luke and Adrian approached the door, it was possible to see the full view of the room. Sitting in an armchair in front of the main window that illuminated that room was a beautiful dark blue haired elf with a serious look and a completely neutral face. In front of her was a desk.
The elf was watching an argument in front of her, a small girl with short green hair arguing with a tall muscular boy with red hair. Both were dressed in academy uniforms, but only the elf had a gold pendant on her uniform.
"Silence," said the elf.
The moment those simple words were spoken, the two stopped talking at the same instant. They turned to the head of the committee and behaved like two soldiers responding to a general. The atmosphere in that place changed in seconds.
Inside that room, there were still other committee members, most of whom were girls. All the other members were focused on their respective tasks, each of them reading, some reviewing long piles of sheets and others writing on equally staggering amounts of paper.
"You know this project has already been approved Hawk" The elf said, looking into the eyes of that muscular young man, the man's face showed a fright at the same instant. Feeling threatened by that elegant and cold posture.
"The battles will take place in two phases, we have already decided that. And Kaori, I don't want any arguments in this group, if you two keep fighting..." The elf then placed both hands on the table, giving them both a frosty look before continuing with her sentence. "I will remove both of you, and make sure to notify you of this unbecoming behavior" the two students were in a cold sweat.
"Now, what do you two need?" The elf said, as she turned her face to Adrian and Luke, who were waiting at the door.
[I wonder if this was the person who was scaring Adrian].
'I imagine not, Adrian is not that bothered by Megan, even if she has that same kind of attitude'
As soon as the Elf turned to the two students in the doorway, Hawk frowned and snorted. His gaze was fixed on the half-wolf, analyzing Luke from head to toe. That look gave Luke the answer on the spot, it was evident how that red-haired boy was just another person with a prejudice against half-beasts.
Luke was already used to that disgusted expression, clenched eyes, a upturned nose. It was a ridiculous face that several times the half-wolf had already received.
"No matter what they want, that institution has really decayed..." Hawk said in a low voice, yet Luke's ears picked up the information.
[Get a grip Luke]
'Don't worry, I'll be quiet'
"Good morning Miss Aoi, everything okay?" Adrian said, trying to keep with his animated posture normally. Although it was noticeable how that boy's voice was a little shaky, showing how he was evidently annoyed.
"It is a pleasure to see you again Adrian Hortfield, but be to the point, what brings you the visitor?" The head of the executive committee replied, as cold as her attitude was, she did not show a grudge or anger against Luke. Just an icy posture.
"That's Luke! He is a new student, Zhanid recruited him not long ago. He's going to sign up for the dueling event" Adrian said.
"Good luck in the challenge Luke. Kaori, get the registration papers" As soon as Aoi said this, the green haired girl turned and went to a list of papers, selecting four papers. When she returned, Aoi placed the papers beside her desk, and called Luke to sign them.
When Luke approached, he received an interesting surprise. It was a quiet voice, so low that no one in that room could hear.
"Don't worry about Hawk Vermillion. He will participate in the duel, if you can beat him, you will have my support in the academy."
That voice was undoubtedly Aoi's, the blue-haired elf who was sitting in front of everyone. However, she had spoken so softly that no one in that room had heard. All the others did not react and did not even seem to notice her speech; in the end, there were no other elves or half-beasts in that office.
Elves also have amazing hearing, so it was not impossible for an elf to speak at such a low volume that it was imperceptible to human sound. But this was strange behavior for the head of the events committee, after all, asking Luke to purposely defeat one of his teammates was an odd thing to do.
In Aoi's mind, all the pieces of that board were already falling into place.
'I heard about the demonstrations of strength from a half-beast student of Zhanid. He was spotted flying without a piece of support equipment, so his mana reserve must be interesting. According to the third oracle, a half-wolf had created an explosion on the eastern beach of the archipelago, with an energy level of intensity five.
I checked the entry history on the island and there is no other half-wolf that has entered the archipelago in the last 12 months, and the half-fox that arrived along with Zhanid has not shown comparative efficiency in combat magic classes. Luke Lange could be a very useful pawn'
Aoi Wintergift was an astute woman, besides being the head of the events committee, in a few weeks she was going to take over the post of student council president. As the only member of the old team to be nominated for the position, she was the first student to have an outright victory in the elections for council president.
All this made that elf the most influential student in the academy, a status that exactly represented her elegant and determined attitude.
[This girl... she reminds me]
'Ayumi'
Aoi's noble attitude was somewhat similar to Ayumi's, and this similarity made Luke more interested in discovering Aoi's plans.
The half-wolf and the elf then exchanged glances, and within seconds they both understood the deal. Luke nodded, while the elf just closed her eyes in response, also bowing slightly. With that, Luke's goal now was also to defeat Hawk Vermillion, a mage he did not yet know the skills of.
Luke took the paper given to him by Aoi and signed it. It was a four-page document with the regulations of the battle, the only action prevented was the death of the opponent. However, serious injuries were limited in the early stages of the event, the ranking phase before the larger performances.
Once the document had been signed, Adrian and Luke left the room. In the pocket of the half-wolf's uniform was a note that Aoi had placed next to the documents he had signed, there the information about the mission was described in detail.
As soon as Luke and Adrian reached the third floor of the building, walking down that first flight of stairs, the blond-haired boy collapsed.
"Luke that was so stressful, I thought I was going to die" Adrian said, breaking into tears.
"What made you so nervous?" Luke questioned.
"Aoi's presence is overwhelming on its own, but there is going to be a committee meeting today. So I was sure the bastard Hawk would be there" Adrian explained, "Hawk Vermillion is one of the most prominent fire mages in the academy, but not only is he extremely prejudiced against half-beasts but he has ties to Melki's empire.
I heard that he has been licking Miss Aoi's boots for a few months now, trying to gain an influential position in the student council.
Everything had now fallen into place in Luke's head, if Hawk was connected with the empire, maybe he was helping Max, that alone was a reason to be eliminated. But surely Aoi doesn't want a political connection between Melki's academy and Melki's empire, which no doubt explains the need to remove Hawk from the committee team.
'So she wants me to leave him unable to work on the student council. I see...'
[What are you going to do?]
'I imagine he can't write papers if he loses one of his hands.'
[Luke.]
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