"Well, well, well…what a coincidence." Yvan was the first to speak.
Despite the sarcasm in his voice, it had a soft or noble edge to it.
Everything about this guy spoke 'elegant' and 'noble'.
Azariah's eyes moved to Alyssa, who remained silent despite his attempts to strike a conversation.
She just stared at him with her monotonous eyes.
After a second of silence, Yvan just shrugged.
"Well, I guess someone's not in a mood to talk."
Moving aside, he tried to move forward.
"That's fine, I guess I'll just go through then."
Azariah resisted from twitching his mouth.
'This guy…'
He was trying to provoke a reaction out of Alyssa by breaking through the line.
Unfortunately, he knew she was not going to say anything. It was not her job.
Rather, it fell to him, as her bodyguard to stand up in these things.
'What a hassle.'
As Yvan tried to push past them, he was suddenly stopped by an arm in front of him.
As his purple eyes moved to the side, he and Azariah finally made eye contact.
"WIth all due respect Sir Yvan, we were standing here first. If you could just wait for your turn."
Azariah, with all his will, tried to stop himself from biting his tongue.
This guy, in front of him, was younger than him and technically his step-brother.
Expecting a sarcastic or trashy reply back to him, Azariah was actually taken by surprise when Yvan stepped back.
Not only him, but even his butler was surprised.
It was worse when Azariah saw the recognition in Yvan's eyes, and also a bit of hesitation.
"…"
Yvan silently stepped back, maintaining a calm face under everyone's surprise.
This was unusual for someone like him, but his butlers did not intervene when he himself didn't say anything.
Azariah saw that he was still staring at him blankly, so he tried to break the awkwardness and part ways.
"Thank you for your consideration, Sir Yvan."
Looking back, Azariah turned to the guard.
He wanted to get done with this quickly and just escape this scenario.
"Here are our documents and identification cards,"
"Oh yes!" The guard was brought back to his attention.
Once they were done with everything, Azariah turned back to Alyssa as the guard opened the gate for them.
"We can proceed now."
Alyssa just gave him a nod and moved forward. But for a moment, he could've sworn he saw her look at him.
'As if this couldn't get any worse…'
It seemed to be that even she was interested in why Yvan hadn't said anything back to him.
As they entered, Azariah momentarily looked back where the black-haired man was now calmly showing his documents.
He just knew that the students at the gate were going to create a gossip out of it.
Sigh.
Azariah dropped the luggage at the gate where they informed him that it would be delivered to their dorms.
After that, they were finally free to take a sight of the academy.
The first thought that came to Azariah's mind was that it was HUGE.
As someone who had seen the Earth's biggest places and buildings, this was much bigger than any of them.
Even though it could be argued that this was just a replica of his Earth, it wasn't.
When developing the game, Yuito had made sure to make the game's Earth multiple times larger than theirs.
As a futuristic Earth, it was necessary and there was a logical reason for its expansion as well.
But Azariah preffered to leave that for later.
The point was that as far as ten eyes could see, all Azariah was land of the academy.
And to think that this was just one of the eight academies in Nippon.
He saw heaps of students roaming around with their friends or by themselves in front of him.
As much as he wanted to explore the academy he himself had imagined, Azariah and Alyssa still weren't free.
As the orientation ceremony in the auditorium was about to start soon, they had to report there.
Additionally, Alyssa was the first ranked student of the academy, so it was required for her to deliver a speech for the freshies.
It was because of this that they needed to be their early.
"We should move to the orientation hall, now."
From behind, Azariah saw Alyssa's head nod in affirmation.
But he was surprised when she spoke too.
"I'm aware of that."
'Damn, she can talk. Almost thought she was a mute.'
One of the funny things about his game was that despite being such a strong villainess and the first ranked student in their year, Alyssa barely got any game time.
Maybe it was because she had barely anything to do with Yvan's life or quests.
Even though their houses were always at each other's necks.
In fact, in the game, Yvan wasn't supposed to meet Alyssa at the gate as well.
Was it because of him that it had happened?
They had gotten late because of him so it was possible.
As the duo walked through the entrance grounds to the auditorium, Azariah saw a hefty amount of stares on them.
Yes, not just Alyssa but him too.
And he was aware why as well.
Asides from their curiosity to see Alyssa's bodyguard and the discard of Percivals, it was also because of the uniform he was wearing.
Yes, the overcoat that he was wearing had white stripes at its edges unlike the gold ones on Alyssa's.
Or even Yvan's.
It was because he was a Division 2 student. A division that was made by the academy for the weaker students.
They were all caught by surprise as why would they place a Division 2 student to guard a Division 1 student?
Especially the heir of Indraths and the first ranked student.
It didn't make any sense. And neither did it to Azariah himself as well.
This was a mystery from the game that had never been revealed. Partly, because Azariah just silently disappeared.
But now that he was here, he was curious.
The Indraths weren't stupid enough to place a Division 2 student as the bodyguard of their heir.
Even if they had gotten the permission from the government to allow Azariah to be a part of Alyssa's class as a Div 2.
The only way he could get an answer to his question was through his Terminal, which would reveal all his powers.
Unfortunately, he couldn't get any moment to open his device.
'Hurry up with this orientation already.'
Finally, they reached the auditorium's entrance.
Before they could enter, a voice called them out from behind.
"Princess Alyssa?"
Azariah resisted massaging his temples for the umpteenth time that day.
'Of course, they'd be making their way here too.'
As the two turned back, they saw a group of three watching them.
They weren't any randoms. Alyssa and Azariah knew them well.
The heirs of Nautari, Vanirius and Solisius. Three other clans from the total six of the council.
Excluding Alyssa and Yvan, the only one that they hadn't encountered was Ignisius now.
Unlike their meeting with Yvan, this one was much different.
Azariah saw Alyssa get much more comfortable and even a slight smile appear on her face.
"It's a pleasure to see you after this long, Princess Rosalia and Princess Anastasia," she spoke, her voice softer.
As if he was present in the game, Azariah could see himself remembering all the information about them.
The one in the middle, Princess Rosalia Nautari, was the princess of the Nautari Clan. A clan known for its talent in Hydrokinesis.
She had short black hair that fell to her shoulders and pearly blue eyes that almost seemed to reflect an ocean.
It was said that the shade of blue in Nautari's eyes reflected their talent and strength. The deeper, the stronger.
Then next to her, was Princess Anastasia Vanirius, the heiress of the Vanirius Clan. A clan known for its strength in Aerokinesis.
Her amethyst eyes seemed to glow in the the sunlight along with the tiny flowers she had in her medium-length hair.
As he stood behind Alyssa, he saw her having a pleasant conversation with the other two heiresses.
It wasn't surprising to him. The two heiresses were friends with Alyssa since childhood because of their parents.
'Hm?'
As if feeling a stare on him, Azariah's head turned slightly to the side where he saw two brown eyes staring right at him.
'Ah right, I almost forgot about him.'
It wasn't his fault that the guy was so quiet.
Standing at a tall height of 6'4, Prince Igor Solisius was the third of their group.
The younger prince of the Solisius Clan, a clan known for its specialization in Terrakinesis and physical training.
And their reputation was proven rightfully so with the tall and muscular body of Igor.
Azariah knew that if they were to fight right here, he'd get outclassed by him physically in 2 seconds.
The Solisius' were famous for sending their kin to the military for rigorous training at a young age.
It showed in Igor's attitude too as he just stood aside quietly, observing everyone after greeting Alyssa.
Not really the talkative guy of the main cast, if Azariah remembered correctly.
He was probably trying to assess Azariah's strength when staring at him.
Someone who was a bodyguard of the heiress of the strongest clan in Nippon definitely had to be strong as hell.
But Azariah could see the visible surprise and disappointment in not only his eyes, but the whole group when they saw his uniform coat.
And it didn't take them long to recognize him as well, as if their clans didn't already inform them about him earlier.
Fortunately, they didn't try to acknowledge his presence in front of Alyssa. It saved him a headache too.
As the group conversed, he saw other students arriving at the place as well. Simultaenously, the humungous door behind them opened wide.
It was time for the orientation.
_______