Chapter 19: Rumors. (2)

Cleo gasped as she covered her mouth with both hands, but Alseace knew she was faking it. She then started to chuckle and continued eating her fries in her wet uniform and wet hair. She was done eating her fries and immediately stood up to look at the mess.

"I have to go now and clean myself. It's nice to meet you, Alseace," Cleo said with a smile, and then left before Alseace could say anything to her.

Alseace kept eating his food, but then he could hear footsteps coming toward him from behind. He didn't know who they were, but the moment he looked at the blonde hair and the bright blue eyes, he knew that it was Edgar.

"I see that you were talking with Cleo, a transferred student," Edgar said as he was about to sit down, but realized the bench was wet and decided to keep standing.

Alseace looked at Edgar and realized all his wounds had completely healed even though he was covered in wounds from the fight with Luke earlier. Since he couldn't overhear Luke and Edgar's conversation because of Cleo, he couldn't tell what kind of a person Edgar was.

"Yes, we were watching you fight with that red hair guy earlier from the breezeway," Alseace answered. "You're quite amazing to be able to withstand fire magic like that," Alseace pointed out.

Edgar was caught off guard and didn't expect a compliment. He was grinning from ear to ear as he looked at Alseace with his arms crossed proudly. "Of course! Don't you know who I am? I'm the strongest Candidate of the fifth year in Pave Academy!" Edgar said with confidence as he sat on top of the table next to Alseace. "By the way, why are you talking to her? Don't you know that she's a dangerous person?" Edgar asked, and his face and tone went serious in an instant.

"Dangerous?" Alseace asked quietly as he leaned his body back to look at Edgar's face.

Edgar sat next to Alseace and leaned his head toward him and whispered, "I don't know who she is, but all the information that I have about her is that she got adopted into a powerful family. She knows every information about everyone in this academy, and I bet she already told you about me, isn't that right?" "I heard her family sell information to everyone for a fitting price. So, I suggest you not mess around with her," Edgar continued as he slowly leaned his head back.

Alseace was curious about there being so many rumors going on around Cleo. He wondered how many rumors he could gather if he asked other people. He then left after he finished his lunch and thanked Edgar for the information and the warning. Edgar wasn't finished talking to him, but since he had already left, there was nothing he could do. He was starving and preferred to eat than waste his lunch break time.

On his way back to his dorm, he bumped into someone again when he took the corner, and to his surprise, it was the same person, Luke. I wonder if it was just a coincidence or not because it happened two times in a single day.

"Are you alright?" Alseace asked as he offered his hand to Luke.

Luke groaned as he held his head because he felt the same steel wall that he bumped from earlier. He looked up and was surprised to see Alseace again, but this time he accepted the offer.

"I'm sorry... and yes, I'm fine," Luke answered, but he was wondering how a person would have a sturdy and tough body like that. He wondered if underneath that coat and shirt that Alseace wore had steel plates inside. "I think it would be rude to not introduce myself after bumping into you twice. My name is-"

"I know who you are. You're Luke Madris," Alseace interrupted before Luke could introduce himself. "Cleo told me about you," Alseace lied without hesitation, and he wanted to know if Luke knew anything about Cleo.

"Cleo did? I never thought she would have a new friend," Luke looked troubled as he rubbed his chin.

"Do you know her?" Alseace asked with his eyebrows raised.

"Yes, we have been friends ever since we enrolled in the academy. As far as I know, the only friends she has is me and that girl..." Luke answered, and paused at the end.

"I heard rumors about Cleo that she's a slut and comes from a powerful family," Alseace said and told Luke what happened earlier in the cafeteria. "Oh, I almost forgot. My name is Alseace LaRoze, and I'm a new student here," Alseace offered a handshake to Luke.

Luke ignored Alseace's introduction and was furious when he heard that someone had called Cleo a slut. He didn't realize that he coated his body with flames again, and this time was a lot fiercer which was enough to crack the wall next to him. Alseace just realized that Luke didn't take the fight seriously with Edgar. If he used that flame back, then, Edgar's hand would melt before he knew it.

"You're going to break the wall if you keep doing that," Alseace said.

Luke came back to his sense and dissipated the flames on his body as he apologized. But he noticed that although Alseace was so close to him, he wasn't affected by the flames at all. He didn't know that Alseace coated his body with Aura and protected himself from the flames.

"(Thankfully I have Aura, if not, my coat would catch on fire and my skin would burn)" Alseace said as he looked at his unscathed body.

"Your name is Alseace LaRoze, was it?" Luke asked, and he was curious how Alseace was unscathed by his flames. "Since you're curious about Cleo, I guess I can tell you what I know about her. So please, follow me," Luke said as he pointed at the hall to the dormitory.

Alseace listened to Luke's story about Cleo, and what he knew was that Cleo didn't sleep with those men that she met. She told Luke that she was scouting for potential Candidates that entered the Pave Academy. The reason why she did such a thing was unknown because she didn't tell Luke about the details.

Alseace didn't tell Luke about what he knew about Cleo, but he was wondering why she needed to scout Candidate if she was planning on joining the Emissary. In the first place, only people who had a high sense of justice and responsibility for people with little income would join the Emissary. In the first place, the Emissary wasn't that in need of manpower; so he was curious why she did that.

"I heard she found an interesting guy, and he's from the seventh-year student. She said that he would be an amazing Candidate and she would do anything to get him on her side," Luke said with a worried expression and restless manner. "But, even so..." Luke bit his lips, and he looked anxious.

"You're scared that the rumor about her being a slut is true?" Alseace asked as he glanced at Luke.

Luke clenched his fists as he slowly nodded his head.

"That's none of your business if she does it on her own accord. Don't try to butt in in someone else's business. I remembered that you almost blew Edgar's head up when he was butting in your business, right? So you shouldn't be the person you hate the most," Alseace said as he slowly walked faster than Luke. "Anyway, it's nice seeing you, and thank you for the information," Alseace continued and then left for his own room.

Alseace went back to his room and took a relaxing bath. He was reading the book that Katya gave him and didn't realize the sun was setting. Julius came and knocked on Alseace's door; they both then went to a private class to start the study.

"Morality?" Alseace asked as he looked at the book that was given to him by Julius.

"Yes. The most important point of becoming an Agent is to have high morality. We're not like those Candidates out there who get stronger to become wealthy and become a man of power. We get stronger so we can protect the people and we don't wish for something in return," Julius answered as he sat on top of the table. "I heard from Gratya herself that you amazingly have low morality..." Julius crossed his legs and stared right into Alseace's eye.

"I was trained to survive, not to be a hero," Alseace answered as he read the book.

"Once you become an Agent, you have to sacrifice yourself for the greater good if needed. Do you think you can do it?" Julius asked.

"Sure, but I'll still survive even if I was told to jump down into a tiger's den for the team. In the first place, I was told to not rely on anyone else but myself, so I never have any expectation from others even if they're good or bad," Alseace answered without hesitation and already got immersed in the content of the book.

Julius smirked as he looked at Alseace and thought, "(I have never heard anyone from the Emissary who thinks that way like him. Perhaps he can turn the tide over with him on our side)". "(We need an untamed beast that we can use against those cheeky bastards)" Julius smiled as he kept staring at Alseace.

"Alright, before we start our lesson, I have a test for you. It's a morality test, and I wonder the score you'll get with these questions," Julius said as he put a piece of paper on Alseace's table. "You have 30 minutes to answer all the questions starting... now," Julius started the timer on his watch.