Chapter 2

'It looks like we were closer than I expected.' Dion noted to himself, his azure eyes tracing over the girl in front of him. She looked even younger than him but if the lore he had read about was to be trusted she was almost seventy years old.

"I feel like you just thought something rude about me." She declared, an amused and playful yet dangerous smirk on her face. Shaking his head calmly in denial he continued to examine her figure.

She looked young, just over fifteen or sixteen, and had the youthful charm that came with it. Her short golden blond hair was short with two long strands that reached down past her shoulders on the front.

She was an attractive and powerful woman however her sense of fashion was slightly more casual than one would expect of somebody as famed as she was. She wore a loose grey sweatshirt and wore tight jean shorts.

"What's gotten into you? Are you feeling sick?" She asked him, suddenly by his side with her hand on his forehead, her amber eyes filled with a strange degree of concern. She was either an extremely compassionate person or her relationship with Dion ran deeper than he thought.

"I'm perfectly fine." He replied calmly, deliberately choosing to use somewhat formal language to check her response. In the game, Dion Aster had been a very well spoken and quiet individual that didn't give any hints about his heritage away.

Depending on her reaction he could tell if she was content with this manner of speaking, if she had merely accepted it, or if she would attempt to force him to change it. Regardless of her answer, he could infer something from her response.

"That's good then. But what did I say about talking like that? I have enough people talking stiffly like that around me already!" She complained, a frown on her face resembling an irritated older sister.

"It's how I talk." He replied calmly, uncaring about her demands. Just by her actions for the past thirty seconds or so, he could tell that she was a lax person who didn't care for things such as social status and formal language that tends to beat around the bush more than necessary.

"Well, it was worth a try." She said with a disappointed sigh, backing away from him and taking a seat on a nearby couch, lazily reclining into it like a tired old man. If she had a beer in hand it would fit the image even more.

"So why are you here?" He asked her while taking a seat across from her, completely ignoring her gesture to sit beside her. He could tell she was an energetic person that doesn't care much for boundaries, something he very much cared for, and that most likely included physical ones.

"Did you forget? I told you I'd talk to you before you go to class didn't I?" She asked lightly, her hand on her chin like she was in deep thought. However that only lasted for a second before she dropped it, at least on the surface.

She was a leader of an important group, if he was acting strange it would be impossible for her to keep it in the back of her mind. She may trust him quite a bit from what he's seen but that doesn't mean she doesn't keep his oddities in mind.

He wasn't her only responsibility, the entire school was. While he might be somebody she cared for she ultimately had the responsibility to watch over all of the students. If he was acting odd and somehow became a threat, she would have to deal with him. Of course, it wasn't to that degree.

"I did. There is a lot on my mind recently." He responded calmly. It was true that there were many things on his mind recently though many of them weren't exactly worries regarding this world.

"Well, everyone makes mistakes so I'll graciously forgive you." She replied casually, a teasing grin on her face. Clearly, she didn't take offense to his actions. To be fair to him, his life was changing extremely quickly.

He was a commoner, an orphan at that, he had nothing going for him in the past but now he was suddenly thrust into the world of nobility headfirst. It was only natural for him to be distracted and stressed.

"Well, let's get serious for a second." She said seriously, quickly fixing her posture. It was such a tiny change but changed her presence immensely. If he was sitting in front of a childhood friend before he was now sitting in front of a war hero who had seen enough to last a lifetime.

He nodded seriously, unperturbed by her sudden change. Nobody can lead a group as large as the Lux Academy if they were as kind as she was. At times, cruelty and violence were necessary.

That doesn't mean her initial appearance was a lie, however. It merely meant she knew when to act kindly and when to take a situation seriously. It was an admirable trait in a leader and one that can only be gained from years of experience.

"You might have expected this, but you're basically on your own here. I can help you out every now and then but if I overdo it the board of directors will suspect me of favoritism." Lucille spoke solemnly, a sigh of irritation escaping her lips.

The board of directors were all good people at first but as time went on and people retired or passed away some degree of corruption had seeped in. She had dealt with most of it but there were still some that clearly pushed against her on almost all matters.

It was difficult to remove corruption completely since most of them weren't exactly bad people or teachers. In fact, they were pretty damn good at their jobs. The issue was that they were nobles and therefore liked to push their weight around when it wasn't required.

"What is your limit?" Dion replied calmly. He expected it to be completely honest. It wasn't even surprising. When there were people in power involved, they didn't like people below them gaining the spotlight.

In the game, there were over 6,947 different paths that led to a member of the board of directors killing him in some way. Most of the group was completely fine but there was one member in particular that held radical views on commoners.

"Don't start underestimating me. I'm still the principal. I can do whatever I want, the only issue would be the kickback. A lot of the group are nobles that pay a lot in donations to keep me from kicking them out." She explained in annoyance.

The issue wasn't that she couldn't help him, it would be the reaction of the staff. If she really wanted to she could make him a teacher right now but the current teachers would throw a tantrum. That wasn't a bad thing in and of itself, she could take care of that.

The issue was the staff using their donations as shields. It was a foolish notion since she had plenty of money herself but if they were to pull out their donations some facilities that were supported by the material donations would be temporarily closed.

The main issue would be the magic item department which relied heavily on the magic stones brought in from a wide variety of sources. She could sustain it for a while but if she wanted the real pure stuff it wouldn't exactly last long.

Unless she found a way to have a steady supply of magic stones without the noble's help or interference she couldn't take any drastic actions for the time being. She would do it if she really had to but it would be best if she just left it up to Dion.

"I see." He replied calmly, his mind running through various options. He understood through various in game interactions and lore information that Lux was monetarily stable but replied on the nobles for certain things such as alchemy ingredients of magic stone mines.

Ultimately, there was no reason for him to worry about it. He didn't need her help with many things and the things he could use her help with weren't within school boundaries so it didn't affect the board of directors.

However, he was an overthinker. In this world, anything could lead to his death and so he had to watch out for each and everything since his life quite literally depended on it. If there was an issue that impacted his safety, he would solve it.

Luckily, it wasn't a difficult issue to solve.