Chapter 9 - Partners

I decided to stay outside, while Faye discussed with her grandfather and Chris. Only after some time, Faye's satisfied expression peeped out from behind the door.

<<Come on inside, we are waiting for you. I've solved pretty much everything, you just have to smile and nod>> she spoke cheerfully.

Waiting for me inside there were Chris and the elderly man, the former welcoming me with a big smile and the latter with a grimace. Something was not quite right. When I finally sat down, Faye took the place next to me and rested one hand upon mine. A mischievous smile was plastered on her face.

<<Congratulations! Faye told us the great news! But you two are still a little bit too young, so it would be better to still wait a little bit before taking such a big step! Ah, Mr Deveraux, isn't youth lovely?>>

Chris' excited voice had risen by at least an octave. I was incredibly confused, but still followed the directions I had received and smiled and nodded. I felt and probably looked weird, but Chris didn't seem to care.

Faye's grandfather was still glaring at me.

<<Are you for real Faye? This one? He seems a little stupid, doesn't he?>> he spoke scornfully.

My right eye twitched a little bit. This old man was certainly trying to get on my nerves, but I strived to keep my composure.

<<Pop! Don't talk like that! He may not be the most brilliant one out there, but he has such a big heart!>> reproached Faye, while laying her head on my shoulder.

I knew for certain she had spoken words full of dishonesty, but the other two seemed to fall for her acting. I turned towards her, just in time to capture with my eyes her passing mocking expression. She was taking her revenge for how I had treated her previously. Strangely, I was more amused than mad. While pretending to be angry, I sent her a questioning look, hoping she would clarify the situation.

She seemed to notice, because for a moment her expression stiffened a little, before relaxing again. She had recognized my bluff.

Chris was the one to break the awkward silence.

<<Come on sir, don't be so hard on your future grandson-in-law. Give him a possibility!>>

At these words, I couldn't hold back and burst out laughing. She had gotten me good. Seemed like my companion was more mischievous than I thought. She knew I wanted to take advantage of her potential, so she had decided to fully exploit me.

Chris looked at me with a confused expression.

<<Is something wrong?>>

<<Oh no, absolutely not! I simply thought of something funny!>>

I continued to chuckle for a while. Clearly, Faye had presented herself as my fiancé. This was an incredibly shrewd move on her part. Normally, two youths in love would not bring about such a reaction from anyone, certainly not from a civil servant like Chris, but it would be different if one of the parties involved was an archuman.

Archumans could have regular humans as parents, but in practice such an occurrence was quite rare and the child tended to be quite weak anyway. Conversely, even if only one of the parents happened to be an arch, the descendant would certainly be an arch themselves and would inherit a good portion of the parent might. Nevertheless, the reduced fertility of archumans and their incredibly low libido presented an almost insurmountable obstacle. Not many archumans took part in reproduction, and most often than not it was only because they forced themselves to.

Due to all these, it was easy to understand why Chris was this excited: a newborn arch, who had proved to possess a good amount of strength since transition, already had a partner. This was great news to share with his superiors. While before the local authorities might have been reticent in investing resources in me, now they would surely spare no expenses for us as a couple.

Chris started talking again, distracting me from my thoughts.

<<Good, good. Anyway, I've already registered you as a resident and, because you two are still so young, I've taken the liberty to enrol you two sweethearts in school. After all, everyone needs an education. Have fun! Someone will come to pick you up shortly to bring you to your new residence!>>

At this point, I was basically expelled outside of the little guard station. Chris' last words had left me speechless. I had been enrolled in school. "Not again" was the only thing that surfaced in my mind, for some reason. I was sure I had already faced this obstacle in my past life, but couldn't remember the details. The only crystal clear thing to me was that I wasn't really fond of the idea of studying.

Shortly afterwords, Faye reached me. A grin was plastered on her face.

<<What do you think? Didn't I do a great work?>>

<<Care to explain?>> I asked with a monotone voice.

Faye rapidly recounted what she had told the two adults.

<<We met for the first time months ago when Pop and I came to the inner city to exchange our products. We immediately developed feelings but could rarely see each other. One day, we lost contact, but today I received a message talking about my mother. You were the only one I had talked to about her. When I found you, you hadn't any memory about the time we spent together, but still remembered what you felt. For this reason, we decided to stay together from now on and never separate again. The end>>

I was once again left speechless.

<<... That's so f*****g cringe. Did they really believe something like that?>> I asked incredulously.

<<Pop is still highly suspicious of this whole ordeal, while the Mr didn't really seem to care that much. He seemed quite interested in you anyway. I think he sees all this just as a good excuse to forcefully register you as a resident and keep you in the Perimeter>>

They seemed quite desperate in trying to take hold of me.

<<Anyway, I did a good job, didn't I?>> Faye insisted.

<<Yeah, good job>> I yielded.

She answered with a smile, content of a work well done. Her fabrications had paved the way for our success. Now, we just needed to play our respective parts.

After less than an hour, a car reached our position. A woman donning a colourful floral dress and a pair of dark sunglasses showed herself.

<<Hello guys~. I'm Marnie and I'll be your legal guardian. I'll be in your care~>>