Chapter 75 New president [ 2 ]

—Gloriana Mengral's point of view.

"Haa..."

Gloriana spent a few minutes walking all over the place, trying to find Asher.

"Where is he?"

She kept going like that until she finally came to a hallway where there was a different door at the end. Slowly she started to approach it, and that's when the door opened.

"Asher... I was looking for you."

Asher looked at Gloriana, who was tired from walking around for a while, wandering all over the place. At that, Asher spoke.

"You've already found me, so what?"

"I'd like to be the vice president."

At that moment, Asher's eyes changed, and then he moved closer to Gloriana.

"That's just what I was about to do."

Gloriana's heart began to pound harder as Asher came within inches of her. The two were almost identical in height, but Asher was a few inches taller than Gloriana.

Seeing that Gloriana did not speak, Asher spoke.

"Follow me." At that, Asher turned and headed for the door behind him.

At that moment, Gloriana nervously for some reason felt her heart pounding and felt her face heat up. She was sweating a little as she looked at Asher's back, and she thought:

"Silly."

So Gloriana walked and followed Asher.

Finally, she walked into the living room and looked at the furniture in the place, all with great space. Of course, she knew what this place was, but she quickly noticed how uncomfortable and dirty the place was.

"We should tidy this place up," she suggested, and then Asher turned to look at her.

"I was going to do it when there were more members, but since you're here, you can help me."

Gloriana's eyes widened and sparkled, and then she quickly nodded.

"Of course, after all I will be the vice president, won't I?"

She smiled as she looked at Asher.

"That's right." It was then that it became official: Gloriana was now part of the disciplinary committee, and with a rather high position.

"Then let's start moving the furniture and then we'll clean up."

"Sure."

***

—Scene change.

A few minutes had passed, and the room was halfway clean. The part where the sofa and shelves were missing; the part where the table and desk were were already clean and in a much more comfortable order.

Seeing this, Gloriana spoke up.

"We only took this, but it changed quite a bit."

"..."

"It's still not enough."

"..."

She looked at Asher, puzzled. In fact, the place itself was quite modern and had very fancy furniture. Things were in perfect condition; almost everything was ready and most of the furniture was arranged much better than before.

Then, Gloriana looked at Asher strangely. Was he one of those who couldn't stand clutter and also not to see a single speck of dirt?

"Hehe," it was then that she laughed quietly.

It was funny just thinking about it; after all, she was discovering new things that Asher does, and that was something Gloriana was liking the most: knowing more things about her friends.

"Come to think of it... we're both alone."

Her heart beat faster. It felt strange, but it was something that strangely happened to her often, but only when she was around Asher.

"So that means I..." It was a quick thought but it was interrupted.

"Looks like it's almost time to head back to the living room."

It was then that Asher's voice reached Gloriana's ears. It was loud enough to snap her out of her thoughts, and then she reacted.

"Uh... Ah yes, you're right..."

The situation became uncomfortable for her.

But still, that thought didn't dismiss it easily.

"No... I still can't come up with that idea," she cleared her head. She still wasn't sure if that thought is real or not.

"Haa..." Sighing, she looked at Asher again.

"Hey..." He stopped there.

"Mmm."

"Who will you choose as your secretary?"

"Uh, well, I had Luna and Emilia in mind, but Emilia is the one who wants that role, so I think I'll give it to her."

In fact, Gloriana knew that Luna wanted that position. After all, she was more familiar with that kind of thing and, of course, it would fit her better. But also her friend Emilia wanted it, and the president of the disciplinary committee himself is the one who chooses its members.

Therefore, Gloriana kept quiet and did not mention to Asher that Luna wanted the secretary position.

"Mmm, that's not your proof, I can see it." Seeing a white paper on Asher's desk, Gloriana was curious to read it.

"Of course."

So Gloriana walked over, picked up the paper and began to read it until her eyes widened.

"So it's true that he got the hundred points, I thought the professor was lying," Gloriana thought as she finished reading all the information.

Seeing that Gloriana was surprised, Asher walked over and spoke so close to her ear.

"It's really extraordinary to answer those three questions."

It was then that Gloriana looked up and her heart pounded harder again. Even the sounds of her heart pounding could be heard, and then she slowly turned her gaze to her side. Asher's face was as close as about ten inches away, his gaze was fixed on the paper Gloriana held.

His voice again reached Gloriana's right ear.

"How much did you get?"

His breath reached her ear, sending a tingle through her body.

"W-well... I got 85... p-points," she could barely articulate a few words when she saw that Asher was so close.

"I see... Well then it's time for us to go, class is about to start."

"Y-Yes..."

As Asher walked away, Gloriana let out a long sigh.

"Haa..." And her breath hitched.

It was such an awkward moment for her that she couldn't control herself. She was so close... he was so close to her.

"You..." she murmured as she saw Asher's back.

"You fool..." She bit her lip and a few tears spilled from her eyes.

Her face was red as a tomato. She was so nervous; in fact, she felt great embarrassment at seeing Asher too close to her.

Why did she have to look for him in the first place? If she hadn't, she wouldn't be like this, but of course she sought him out for something else and ended up feeling embarrassed for herself.

"Asher..." she spoke to him.

"Mmm," at that moment Asher turned to look at Gloriana, who had her eyes closed.

"No... it's nothing," then Asher turned again and started walking.

Seeing this, Gloriana could only say one word.

"You fool..."

***

—Scene change.

—Asher Frostblade's point of view.

Finally the countless hours were over. Each subject taught new things; some demonstrated how mana could take form, while others were more than just demonstrations.

The day was long, but of course, after a month things would be different and it wouldn't just be about demonstrations, theories and that sort of thing that right now the academy teachers were teaching.

In fact, it was night, and of course, Asher proposed a position to his friends, and it was surprising that they accepted.

As they entered, Grey, Freddy, Julian, Emilia and Luna looked all around them. Half of the place was very neat and clean; it looked very elegant. But when they saw the other half, Luna frowned, and so did the others.

"You were fixing, weren't you?" Freddy asked. Then Asher looked at him.

"Yeah, when I came in it was even worse. Whoever was the previous president was very messy."

"I'm of the same opinion."

"Yeah, me too, I can't imagine what it was like before."

The reaction of the others was very obvious; of that, Asher was sure. And of course, if it weren't for Gloriana's help, they would have only upgraded half the place. It would all look very ugly and dirty, with misplaced and uncomfortable furniture.

"We should start cleaning and finish everything."

At that point, everyone nodded and then an hour passed.

Finally, the whole group rested on the large "L" shaped couch and sat down. Strangely, all seven of them managed to settle in, and the couch was full, with no room for one more person. It looked as if it was made specifically for seven people, and it was a coincidence that it was exactly seven.

"By the way, why didn't they move the shelf?"

"..."

"..."

"..."

No one answered, but it was Emilia who spoke.

"Well, I didn't move it because I couldn't, it seems to be stuck to the wall."

"..."

At that, Asher paid more attention. In fact, something seemed odd to him, as if something didn't fit on that shelf, especially since who the hell would leave a shelf so close to the entrance, making access awkward?

So, at first, Asher thought that those who used this room before were simply idiots, but now something was starting to make sense.

Rising from the couch, Asher walked over to the bookshelf and looked at it carefully, remembering something rather cliché in mystery movies. Maybe what he was thinking could be real.

"What are you looking for?" Grey approached him and asked as he saw that Asher was looking for something among the books on the shelf.

No, in fact, it was a particular book he was looking for, because if what he was thinking was possible, then he might discover something really interesting.

"It's a different book, one that doesn't match the others or is out of the ordinary among the other books."

Then Grey immediately understood what Asher was referring to.

"Do you think there's a passageway behind the bookshelf?"

"It looks pretty obvious that it is," Asher answered him.

Or rather, he might even be right.

Then Grey joined in and started looking for a different book that didn't have something similar to the others, while the others just looked at Asher and Grey as if those two were weird.

"What are they doing?" Freddy asked.

"I guess we'll have two weirdos from now on," were Luna's words as she saw how strange Asher and Grey were acting.

"I'll go check it out," Julian said, getting up and heading over to where Asher and Grey were.

Joining them, although Julian had no idea what those two were doing, he decided to help and simply did the same as Asher and Grey.

"..."

"..."

It was then that Asher and Grey looked at him like he was an idiot.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"It's nothing, we just saw something strange."

Asher and Grey stopped looking at Julian and went on about their business. Of course, Julian looked at them and thought:

"You two are supposed to be the weird ones here, so why were you looking at me like that?"

Actually, it was kind of weird for everyone.

"Asher, I think I found it."

Asher quickly glanced at Grey when he spoke to him, and then they both noticed a book that was upside down. Although it was the same color and related to the other books, the only difference was that its orientation was wrong.

Grey, wasting no time, started to move the book, and then....

"Clak!"

A mechanical sound echoed from behind the shelf, and the three immediately backed away. The others, seeing this, became alarmed and turned their attention to the shelf, which was now emitting strange sounds, as if nuts were turning and performing some sort of mechanism.

"What the hell is going on?" exclaimed Freddy, alarmed.

"Asher and I think it's a secret passageway," Grey replied, trying to remain calm.

"..."

"..."

Although the idea of a secret passageway seemed ridiculous, what was happening in front of their eyes was undeniable, and so they began to believe it. They waited a few more seconds until the shelf slid to the right, revealing a hidden entrance leading to stairs descending downward.

"It really is a secret passageway," Julian muttered, his voice full of wonder as he looked at the dark entrance.

"So, shall we go inside? If it's inside the academy, there shouldn't be anything dangerous, right?" suggested Emilia as she looked at the entrance with some curiosity.

The group shared the same thoughts as Emilia; if this passageway was inside the academy, there would probably be nothing dangerous there. However, the darkness that enveloped the descent made them question what might be at the bottom of those stairs.

"Drip" "Drip" "Drip" "Drip."

The sound of drops falling to the floor came from deep in the passageway. With guard up, the group slowly approached the entrance. Seeing the complete darkness stretching out in front of them, they decided to descend with caution.

"First of all, who can create a fireball?" asked Asher, looking at his companions.

"I have the fire affinity," replied Emilia.

"Then walk ahead," Julian said in a mocking tone.

"You idiot..." muttered Emilia, annoyed, but knowing it was the only option to light the way, she accepted the task. Although Asher could also create a fireball, his was dark and emitted no light, making it useless in that situation.

The warm light from Emilia's fire allowed the stairs to be seen more clearly, and the group began to descend slowly, with everyone on alert in case something unexpected happened. As they reached the bottom of the stairs, their eyes widened in amazement at what unfolded in front of them....