Chapter 14 : Choice

The old lady they met was the current headmaster of the Honden, Grimhild Saxidottir. She has been the headmaster here for a few centuries. She was one of the high elves of the Elven society. Due to her pursuit of wisdom she willingly left her noble title, changed her name to that of a commoner, and roamed around the world. Fate brought her here to be the headmaster of this academy. She with his own hands has created many geniuses over the years despite being discriminated against for being an elf.

The three of them sat on the couch as Ethan explained to Grimhild everything.

"So now you need to find these so-called apostles until you find a way to the Goddess's realm? I am not someone who believes in religion but… How come your mother was one of the demonic clans?"

The Stormblade family was one of the loyal family to the path of light. It was normal for Grimhild to wonder why a child of the Stormblade had demonic powers.

Grimhild continued, "Well whatever, I don't care anymore. So what are your plans now?"

"I need to raise my status with a new identity so that I can get enough information."

"Then I can offer you two suggestions, first one is you enroll into the army your brother is making. That is the fastest way you can get help."

Seraphina sitting beside Ethan shivered up at Grimhilds's words.

"That surely is a good option but what's the second one?"

"Become a professor here. While enrolling in the army would be advantageous, it would be risky. Also your brother is from the church. I am not making any assumptions but… Anyways just become a professor, it's a lot less risky and you can lay low while gathering information at the same time."

"Okay but… Aren't you abusing authority here? A certain someone gave me a lot of pain blabbering nonsense about discipline"

"Oh for your information, I can do whatever I want, my school my rules"

"That sounds so wrong…"

"By the way, who is this young lady beside you? She feels familiar for some reason"

Seraphina then undid the disguise magic cast by the ring.

"So you are also alive. Sigh! You are just like your mother"

"You knew my mother" Seraphina asked in shock

"She was a friend"Grimhild looked like she didn't want to say anything more. "Anyways, Magnus, what is your decision?"

"I need to think about it."

"Think about it all you want. There is an inn called 'Cat's tail' at the edge of the city at Phantom Street. Go rest up there. Meet me tomorrow. It's gonna be night soon. Though I would prefer drinking now, let's not do that today."

"Then see you tomorrow, old hag~"

"You should've just died you annoying brat"

After they went into the inn, Ethan went to the front counter to book the rooms.

"2 rooms for 1 Radiant and 4 Lumins, one night." The cashier told Ethan the prices

"I thought 5 Lumins for each room"

"Sir since many people stay in this city naturally the prices would increase."

With a sigh just as he was about to pay the money Seraphina grabbed his hands.

"..." Seraphina whispered something into Ethan's ear

"What?"

"I said one room is enough you idiot"

Ethan stopped his movements as he heard what Seraphina said. Then without hesitation he turned to the cashier.

"We will take one room please."

"That will be 7 Lumins please"

After Ethan paid upfront, they took the keys and went to their rooms. The rooms were on a totally different scale than the ones in Reinhafr. It was so huge that it could be comparable to a double room. After they got freshed they sat on the table at the room and finished their dinners that were delivered. The moment was silent. No one initiated any conversations.

With each bite, flavors danced upon their palates, and the symphony of tastes unfolded. The clinking of cutlery punctuated the silence, as they savored each morsel, immersing themselves in the culinary delight.

As they were at the end of their dinner Seraphina spoke up. "I have to tell you something… It is about your brother."

Ethan stopped his hand as he was about to put the spoon in his mouth.

"Your brother is actually one of the apostles" Seraphina said it with her head down. "I am sorry, I couldn't bring myself to tell you about it."

Ethan spoke up in response, "It was him that fought you at the ruins in the forest wasn't he?"

Seraphina looked at Ethan with shocked eyes, "You knew?"

"Not exactly" Ethan stood up taking the wine glass in his hands and went towards the window. "My brother is one of the church. After our mother died our relation started to rip apart bit by bit. Come to think of it, he hated mother for a long time before her death. But I know if well, at least I used to. The ruin's walls had sword marks on them that resembled that of my brother's"

Seraphina then again started to apologize, "I am sorry Magnus, I just couldn't bring myself to tell you that. He is after all your brother."

Ethan then hugged Seraphina from behind. Her hair smelled like a bouquet of freshly bloomed roses. Ethan then picked her up from behind and put her into the bed. As their lips came closer they met in a passionate kiss, their hearts racing with desire. The world around them faded away as their souls intertwined, lost in a moment of pure bliss. Just like that they spent the night with a symphony of passion, as their bodies danced under the moonlight.

The next morning they went back to the professor's room.

"Have you decided, Magnus?"

"No matter how much I think about this, this is clearly an abuse of authority. Also call me Ethan, that's what I go by now"

"Ahem! That is for me to worry about. Anyways, since you are quite proficient in swords, why don't you be a battle arts instructor? And how about being an alchemy professor for Seraphina. And since Magnus now goes by Ethan, you also need to change your name, Seraphina. How about going with Rose for now?"

Seraphina glanced at Ethan who was sitting close to him. "Very well, so when do we start?"

Grimhild put down the cup of tea she was having and stood up. She went to a shelf to pick up some files. She gave one to Ethan and one to Seraphina.

"You may not know it yet but there have been some gruesome battles between the demons and humans after you left. No one knows where these demons came from, but they inflicted massive damage. The empire you knew has changed. Many of our professors are nobles and they were forced to fight in these battles."

"... And they died" Ethan spoke up with a lowered tone

"Didn't the Empire have strict restrictions about not forcing anyone in the military?" Seraphina asked with a curious tone

"They used to, that is before the Emperor died"

"WHAT?" Ethan raised his voice in surprise

"I thought you knew? The Emperor died suddenly a few months after you people disappeared. The fifth prince then rose to the throne killing all his relatives earning him the nickname 'Bloody Emperor'"

There was a silence in the room for a few moments before Ethan spoke up again. "So this is my class? Don't you think other professors might protest that you are giving two new professors the role of teacher for these classes?"

"What about these classes?" Seraphina, who was curious, asked Ethan.

Grimhild opened her mouth instead, "I will explain, the classes of every batch are divided according to talents. A for most talented, B for those lesser and C for those who barely made it to this Academy. The classes you will be handling are A-1 and A-5 with you being with the latter one. There are a total of 10 classes for each division. You two will be handling the most senior and elite class of this Academy."

Grimhild continued, "Since you came here after a long time why don't you both roam around the city a bit. You can start your classes tomorrow. Also there's a dorm for male and female teachers. You can take your keys from the dorm keeper later, I will tell them about it."

As they bid their farewell Ethan and Seraphina went towards the market. The first place they went to was a bank.

[ To think I would actually use it one day. ]

Ethan saved up a lot of money when he was a knight. He always kept a certain amount of money in an account under a fake name just in case. Today was the day he was going to use it.

"Please wait a minute, I will get the manager."

When Ethan gave the cashier his account information, the cashier was startled and quickly ran towards the manager's room. The manager, a fat, bald, round short guy with a suit and hand rushed out of his room and gave a deep bow to Ethan. "Forgive me I didn't recognize you sooner, please follow me"

The manager took Ethan and Seraphina to his room and served them tea. "How may I be of service, sir?"

Ethan with a humble tone replied, "I wish to withdraw some money from my account."

"Could Sir provide me with an exact figure?"

"It has been a long time since I used this bank, I forgot my balance. Would you kindly check it?"

"Of course sir, your balance is currently 100 starcrests"

Seraphina who was sipping on her tea suddenly put the cup down from her mouth and looked at Ethan, Ethan was also shocked by that amount. 100 starcrests could easily rival that of a count's household's entire finance.

"50 starcrests should be enough for now. Try to give smaller currencies as much as possible."

"Of course sir but it would take some time since the amount is quite huge, please understand. I will personally oversee this matter, please rest here. Call me if you need anything."

The manager again gave a deep bow and left the room. After a while he came back and took them to another room. This room had two chest filled with money. "Sir, we tried to provide as much smaller currencies as possible."

Ethan opened each of them and checked their contents. He then took some of them into a pouch and turned to Seraphina. "If you would please…"

Seraphina with a gesture of her hand opened up a crack in the space that sucked in those chests. The manager was shocked by that but decided to keep his poker face, maintaining his professionalism. After they got the money they come out of the bank.

It was nearly noon so they decided to have their lunch. Ethan took Seraphina to a place he knew before.

"Surprised to see it still stands"

It was a broken down inn from outside. Its banner said 'White Crane Inn'.

It was on an alley people barely came to. The road was broken from here and there. As they stepped on the stairs it made a creeping noise. Ethan knocked on the door. After sometime a young girl opened the door and shouted in an annoyed voice. "We told you to give us some time. We can't get that much of money in that short amount of time"

"You are misunderstanding, we are customers. I heard from a friend that this place sells delicious noodles."

"Cus- Customer? Oh come in" The young girl then slid open the door completely making a screeching noise. "Sorry about that, this place is very old. Please sit down, what would you like to eat?"

Ethan looked at Seraphina for her answer.

Seraphina asked the young lady, "Anything's fine if it's sweet and refreshing"

"What about you sir?" The young lady turned towards Ethan.

"How about a steaming bowl of spicy noodles, topped with tender slices of beef, fresh green onions, and a sprinkle of sesame seeds?"

The young lady was surprised by Ethan's order. She stood there silently for a while. After a few seconds reality struck her and bowed to them before going to the kitchen.

Seraphina, who was sitting across Ethan was curious as to why they came to this broken down inn leaving all other places.

Before Seraphina asked that Ethan spoke about it, "This place holds many memories for me. I would often sneak out of the Academy to come here."

As Ethan and Seraphina chatted, after half an hour, the young lady brought their food. Beside the young lady, there was an old lady that came with her. After the young lady put the food down the old woman greeted them with a cheery smile.

"It is very unusual to see customers here. Are you young people lost?"

"No granny, we just came to this city and one of my friends recommended this place."

"Did he also recommend the food you ordered?"

Bang!

The door was suddenly broken with a loud noise. "Oi old hag! Your time is up!"

Some bandit looking people came through the door. A skinny guy with a coat on top with exposed chest, accompanied by two big muscular guys made their way in.

The young lady who was serving Ethan and Seraphina food came in front of the old woman to cover her. "We told you to come back later. Why don't you people understand? There's customer here so go away now."

The skinny man who seemed to be leading them grabbed the lady's hand and pulled her. "If you can't pay back the money you owe don't you think you should take responsi-?"

"???" Suddenly the skinny man was smashed into the floor. He couldn't realize what had happened.

"Get the hell out of this place" It was Ethan standing on the side.