Come with me

After another week passed, the time for graduation was getting closer.

Everyone that had gone through the summoning ceremony was now being offered positions in large guilds or they were being recruited to higher institutions of learning.

Those higher institutions of learning were run by the government and one would be guaranteed a good job once they graduated from those higher institutions.

It was just that this didn't have anything to do with me.

The only offers that I got were from the lower ranked guilds, but the reason for that was that they wanted to recruit me as cheap labour. They just wanted someone to help them run errands or in a worst case scenario, be a human shield for them.

I was well aware of this since I had seen the cases on the news and had heard about this from my parents through their workplaces, so I naturally knew that these offers couldn't be trusted.

It was just that without these offers, there wasn't a real future for me.

Or at least that was what one would think.

I had already figured out my next move, I was just waiting to graduate to take that final step.

But before that happened…

"Can I talk to you alone?" Long Tang Tang suddenly came over to my desk and asked me this.

I was surprised to hear her inviting me to talk alone like this.

In fact, it had been a while since I had even seen her.

She had just shown up all of a sudden this morning and called me out to talk.

I knew that she was busy with all the recruiting people that had wanted to talk to her.

She was someone who had summoned a 1st Class Top Grade Familiar, she was someone that everyone wanted to recruit. So it was no wonder that she was so busy with all those recruiting people.

They would all give her the best conditions that would bring her out of her current situation.

But I still followed her since I wanted to know what Long Tang Tang wanted to talk about.

The look on her face made it seem that she had something serious to talk about.

She brought me to the back of the school and when we were alone, she suddenly turned around to say, "I've accepted an invitation to the Sacred Academy."

I was surprised to hear her say this, but I wasn't surprised that she chose that place in the end.

The Sacred Academy was the best place for development.

It was the place where our country focused all of its resources to develop those that would defend our country in the future. So it was the place that had the best resources, resources that even the top guilds wouldn't be able to match.

It took me a moment to come back to my senses, but then I gave a nod to show that I understood and said, "It is the best place for you. I hope that you'll remember me in the future."

There was a trace of bitterness that appeared in my smile as I said this.

After all, it was impossible for me to follow her.

Long Tang Tang seemed like she wasn't happy with this response as she bit her lip and looked right at me. It was almost as if she was asking if there was anything else that I wanted to say with the way that she looked at me.

I was a bit confused why she would do this, but there was also a part of me that knew.

Only, I couldn't bring her down.

Seeing that I wasn't going to say anything, Long Tang Tang finally couldn't take it anymore and said, "I've talked to them about you."

"What?" I was completely caught off guard by this.

What would there be for her to talk about with them regarding me?

Long Tang Tang didn't respond right away as she just looked at me with this strange look.

Then after a moment of silence, she said, "I told them that if they want to accept me, they have to prepare a spot for you as well. It took a while, but they finally agreed to let you in as an exception."

"What?!" I said in a completely shocked voice.

Long Tang Tang slowly nodded as if she was confirming this, but the way that she looked at me was as if she was waiting for my response.

I didn't say anything as I knitted my brows and I looked at Long Tang Tang.

She also didn't say anything as she looked right back into my eyes and waited.

I didn't know what to say to this…

Then as if she could see the change in my eyes, Long Tang Tang suddenly said, "This is a big chance for you. If you go to the Sacred Academy, I'm sure that you'll be able to find a way to rise up. You're a smart and strong person, I know you'll be able to find a way."

The way that she said this was almost as if she was trying her best to persuade me, but it just didn't work at all for me.

If I really didn't have anything, then I might have been persuaded by this.

But I had something that I could rely on to rise up on my own, so I didn't want to ride her coattails.

The main thing was that I didn't want to drag Long Tang Tang down.

If I were to actually accept this and go with her, there was no doubt that she and I would both receive a lot of backlash and suppression because of it. It was fine if I suffered alone, but if it made her suffer too…

I couldn't do that to her.

"Please, come with me."

In the end, it was as if she gave up trying to be logical and directly appealed to my emotions.

But…

"I can't." I said with a shake of my head.