Chapter 10 - Preparations

"Ah…good thing I had my spacial pouch." There were just so many things I had bought, and bringing them back to the Royal Academy would have been hell. At least, with that pouch I had little to no problems. It had taken Albert some time to find all the items, and now that I was going back, the sun had started to rise, meaning that I wouldn't be getting any sleep today. 

I landed right in front of the entrance and walked in like nothing happened last night. I wanted to check up on Darla before meeting any of the other professors. She had told me she had been sleeping outside near the pantry, so that's where I headed. The sun was rising, casting a golden glow on the garden.

A few minutes later, I arrived and found her sleeping peacefully under the shade of a large tree. Her hair was splayed out around her, and she looked serene. It truly seemed like the perfect spot for a vampire to sleep.

I gently flicked her forehead.

"Ugh." She barely opened her eyes. "Who? Ah, it's you. Why are you here this early?"

"I wanted to talk to you before the rest of the professors arrived."

The reason I wanted to talk to her right away was because I knew I wouldn't have the same amount of time in the following days since I would actually have to prepare for the courses I would be giving.

"What do you want to talk about?" She frowned. I never came to see her like that in the past, always letting her speak her mind. So, she must be thinking that whatever I was about to say was extremely important, which it was. For the second time since I had met her, I put on a serious look on my face.

"I want to help you. Tell me what you need."

"I told you. It's fine, I don't need your help."

I shook my head. That answer wouldn't work today. "No, I want to know what you need."

She looked perplexed. "What do you mean by what I need?"

"Classes are starting in two weeks, and I want to know what you want to learn." I knew her life had been rough, so I was practically sure that she wanted to learn how to defend herself as best as possible, which is what I had been vaguely guiding her towards.

"That's why you came to wake me up? God. You're such an idiot. Why didn't you ask me later?"

I scratched the back of my neck. "I don't want rumors going around that I'm favoring you." I held back my giggle as I looked at the serious look on her face.

"Then, I want to know more about you. You never told me about how you gained your powers. Hell, you can fly! Only the strongest people in the world can do that."

"About that…uh," I was hesitating on whether removing those memories from her mind as it would make my life a lot simpler. But I decided against it, I didn't know why, but I felt like I could trust her. "Can you not talk about those things to the rest of the students? I don't want them to think I'm the best teacher in the world."

I frowned. To be honest, I wasn't too keen on talking about my abilities, especially since I was supposed to be undercover. If everyone learned about my powers, then it would be a lot harder to go unnoticed.

Still, it was an annoying request. If she had told me she wanted to learn how to kill a dragon or get revenge on her family, I wouldn't have even hesitated because I know how to do those things. But talking about my personal life isn't my favorite thing to do. It might not look like it, but I don't like talking about myself.

She looked at me annoyed, a bit like the commander did in the past. It was pretty funny that they were starting to resemble one another in their mannerisms.

"Why are you always joking?" She shook her head. "Ah, whatever. If you don't want to, you don't have to."

"No, no, no, it's fine. Since you asked, I'll do it. However, you will need to keep those stories to yourself, and if I learn that you have been spreading them around."

I released 25% of my mana and instantly the look on her face changed.

"I-I know, don't worry, I won't tell anyone. Still, I wonder what your stories will look like. I can already tell that it's going to be something crazy like killing a dragon with your bare hands, or even better, killing the Demon King with your eyes closed."

"How'd you know about the first one? Did I tell you about that one?"

She just sighed. "Honestly, I don't know how you got this powerful, and I don't know why you're trying to hide it. But, I hope you'll tell me one day."

I just smiled as she closed her eyes again. Sleep was the next thing on her agenda. Though, before I left, I just wanted to make sure of one thing.

"You don't want to learn anything else in particular?"

Her eyes were still shut, and I thought she had already fallen asleep. However, right as I was about to leave, her lips moved.

"Flying."

I just smiled at her, and left for my office. I needed to get into better clothes to make a good impression. I looked through my small suitcase and remembered bringing just one tuxedo to make myself presentable for the first day of class. But, I decided to put it on today too. It was a good occasion after all.

It was actually really nice. It was black and blue velvet. It fit me like a glove, showing some of my muscles through the tight shirt I was wearing. I had bought it for the military ceremony where I received some honorary medals. Either way, after making myself dapper, I headed for the entrance of the Royal Academy. Alexandra had told me yesterday morning that the first teacher would be arriving around 8 AM, so there were only fifteen minutes before the first professor arrived.

'Let's do this.'

I don't know why, but I was extremely nervous. Even more nervous than when I killed a dragon with my bare hands. After all, making a good first impression is crucial.