2 Tossed into Cold Water

Yet another incomprehensible curse could be heard coming from the coachman that had been tasked with bringing us to Eight God's Academy. He had his fair share of trouble with the horses today, thanks to hundreds of strangers surrounding the carriage to all of its sides.

As if these men and women weren't enough, there were dozens of merchants trying to sell their merchandise to both sides of the road. Each of them used loud shouts to lure in the potential buyers passing by their stalls and fake compliments once they were stopping to look at the goods displayed.

The few spots that weren't large enough for merchants to fit in had been taken by groups of musicians instead, who used flutes, drums and various other instruments in their attempt to lure a few coins out of the bystanders' pockets.

All of them, merchants, musicians and passerby, looked as if they were celebrating this day as if it was the king's birthday. The women wore colorful dresses embroidered with crests, animals or vines and fabrics too colorful and unique for them to form a pair with anything surrounding them.

Seeing all of these people trying to grasp each other's attention, I couldn't help but sigh. "So noisy ..."

I had never liked masses of people and even avoided going on the market whenever there was a festival held in the city, but I obviously wasn't left much of a choice today.

This whole turmoil was dedicated to me, or rather to all of the young men and women that would enroll in the Academy today. If I was to just ignore it and pretend we had never received the letter, there would without a question officials popping up in front of our door sooner or later.

By accepting the invitation and showing up on time, we could at least choose the school I would attend to, which was too precious of a gift to let it slip by.

Korinth had three schools dedicated to training those with potential into knights and magicians, but that didn't mean all of them would teach them the same knowledge and set of skills.

The oldest of them all, Adel's School of Magic, had been founded hundreds of years ago in times of peace and harmony. It allowed everyone to receive free tuition regardless of who and what their fathers and mothers may be. Obviously, noblemen avoided enrolling their heirs in a school which would teach them together with the lowest of the low.

The Royal Academy of Knighthood and Chivalry didn't teach magic at all but solely focused on martial arts instead. It was the birth-place of all that were aspiring to become commanders of the army, as their students were taught advanced tactics and leadership skills together with the basics of warfare.

For the sons and daughters of well-off families, there was little choice but to enroll to the Eight God's Academy instead, as it not only taught magical warfare and martial arts to them, but administration skills, politics and a large variety of knowledge they would likely rely on for the rest of their life.

It was only students of this academy that had a real chance of reaching the higher echelons of power and influence and be save from conscription into the army for the latter half of their training.

For my mother, it wasn't the aspect of me possibly ending up fighting on a battlefield far from home that made her pay the far too expensive tuition fee, but the favorable lodging situation instead.

Contrary to the other schools, the Eight God's Academy allowed their students to continue living a rather luxurious life with a reasonably sized room for each of them. They would live alone and nobody aside their personal servants would ever break their private sphere.

Naturally, this couldn't be compared to living in a room like the ones the two free schools offered with up to six strangers sleeping next to each other. There was no way for me to hide my everything from them, maybe for days, but certainly not until my graduation. We could only swallow the bitter pill of paying the monthly fee.

For the better or the worse, I didn't have any servant to attend to my daily needs, or at least I wouldn't have one starting from now on. Though my mother wasn't poor, she couldn't afford to pay more than three servants to keep the house clean, the food warm and the flowers in the garden healthy. The tuition fee didn't exactly help the case either.

Only one of the three, Prim, had accompanied me here. She had already been around when I took my first steps and though she could be rather meddlesome sometimes I couldn't hate her as she gave off a warm motherly aura by just being around.

Prim would only stay until she had helped me unload the baggage and prepare the room, but I was sure I would be able to handle it somehow even without her being around. I long since knew how to do laundry and meals were provided by the canteen without the need to pay an additional fee.

There was nothing to be worried about, at least that was what I was trying to make myself believe in ever since that cursed letter had arrived weeks ago.

If things came to the worst I could still give my laundry to one of the shops nearby the academy, but I was afraid there might be anything on my clothes that could end up giving me away. It could be my smell, the cut of the shirt, anything.

No, washing it myself was a must and sleeping alone even more so as I would certainly be questioned should they find out about me being a girl rather than Sera, the son and heir of Mira Baringdale they had sent their invitation to.

At best, they would kick me out and demand us to send the 'real' Sera, but it likely that they would examine me a little further. There was nothing but grim endings awaiting me should that ever happen.

Under the white shirt and the pale green vest I was wearing right now there was more to be hidden than just naked skin. Not only was I wearing bandages to flatten my chest but I also wore a runed amulet that sealed away any hint of my demon aura that might otherwise leak from my body. Just pulling it off for mere minutes would end up giving me away for sure, especially if there was a magician around.

Living in the Eight God's Academy certainly was a large risk, but it wasn't one I could avoid no matter how hard I tried thanks to King Hensin and his stupid law. But I already had a plan, a loophole that would get me out of here within hours or days at most!

 

"I will show them!"

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