Chapter 105:

"Hello?", Ace asked, curious as to who the unknown number that had called him was.

"Ace, sorry, this is a new number.", Samantha's voice rung out.

"Ah OK, what is it that you want?", Ace asked, wandering if anything was needed or if something had happened.

"No, everything is fine, I just wanted to call you so that we could arrange a meeting. I would like to speak to you about your future trip, and what measures will be taken in place to assure your safety.", she said, her tone was not one of request, but a commanding voice, so Ace assumed it would be important.

"Of vourse, whenever you have some time we can meet, I would also like to speak to you about a few things…" Ace said, and after some more small talk, he hung up the phone.

Today was supposedly a careers day, where professionals would cone and give talks about their different careers, professions and just experiences as a whole.

Ace was genuingly looking forward to this. He obviously knew that like most of his classmates, he would end up handling the family business. However, it was true that until then, there would be a while  and almost all of them would have the chance to study a career of their choice.

It was mostly done to allow the younger generation to have a variety of experiences a variety you could only get in a college or university campus. Ace would have slightly harder, considering that there was no second generation to handle the business, since his parents were dead. If something happened to his grandmother, it would mean that he would have to focus fully on the business. 

***

When he came to school, as expected, not a word was said about Rache. People had found out what they could about the topic, and apart from some newfound respect for Ace, nothing was mentioned, it was as If he never existed.

He saw both Sophie and Amy when he came into his homeroom, and made his way towards them.

"What is it you are most looking forward to?", Sophie asked.

Amy thought for a second and said: "I want to do marketing and PR, my parents are also all in favour, which makes it easier for me, you guys?"

Sophie frowned and said: "I would like to do Sports Science and Physical Therapy, but you know how it is, Medicine or nothing."

They nodded, whilst they would ussually be able to study a career, it was not a free choice. It would issuance be something considered useful or prestigious. That meant that some were out of the picture, especially for some of the harsher families.

They looked at Ace and he just shrugged, "I don't know yet, I want to do something interesting and fun, but I am unsure. Although I guess that's what this is for." And that was the truth, honestly, he had no idea of what he wanted to study. However, he hoped that he would have a clearer picture by the end of the day.

They looked up at the arrival of their homeroom teacher. She smiled at them and said, "Good morning, I hope you are all doing well. As you all know, professionals have made us a service by coming here today to talk about their various careers. As you are the top achievers, you will have first pick. The board behind me will show you the list of carrers available, and where each room will be located. Once you have chosen, input the code into your Noxia which will reserve your spot. That is all, I hope you have a productive day", she then say down, and began to correct some tests.

The screen lit up with a list of subjects, instantly, people went to look for their chosen subject, and walked out of the room.

Ace took a good look, sure he would be welcome in any subject, but most seemed boring to jim, and he wnated to at least learn about something that could rouse his curiosity.

After a good look, he foudn a few that seemed interesting, with their codes next to them:

Studies of War - #G381

Criminology & Criminal Psychology - #C420

Both of those seemed interesting enough, and ehile there were a few esoteric ones, such as Study of the Occult. However, if preferable, he would like it to add value to his life, even if Tarot reading seemed a fun passtime.

He signed up for the Criminal Psychology Class, after he decided that the Professor would most likely be a more interesting subject.

***

Ace went into the room, only to find that there was no one there. That was expected, sibce for starters, most would jot chose this, as it would offer less value to a business than Psychology would.

Furthermore, for the future Detectives, there was an only Cdiminology course, that would allow them to finish earlier.

Regardless, he still expected a few people yo show up. A few minutes later, a boy carrying a notepad and a girl with a pink bag came in, followed by another two boys, and finally, another girl.

Ace knew each of their names, and they were all from midway on the table except for the last girl that had come in, that was in a few rank 2 classes.

They all seemed surprised to see him here, and he just smiled at them, before taking out a thin tablet, it was sleek ad black, and the other electronic that was allowed on sampus. It was school-supplied, and had no external connection, It could only connect to the school WiFi, and most sites were blocked.

In the message that had popped up wben he had inputted the code, it had told him to bring something to write and draw on.

Therefore, he had gotten the tablet and the stylus that came with it.

He was sat down, sketching things on his tablet, when the teacher came in.

He was an older man, with graying hair, taller than average  and still looked to be fit. However, he had a look in his brown eyes, that told you that despite his age, no one should mess with him.

He looked at each of their students right in the eyes, then, he turned around, and wrote something on the board: Zeke Roth.

He then put down the stylus, and sat down on the leather chair that was behind his desk.

"What can you tell me from the writing on the board?", he had a course voice, and yet, he spoke in such a way that made it sound almost delicate. It was a cruel trick of intonation, and Ace was more than a bit surprised. 

'This guy is playing us.', Ace thought, 'He clearly wants us to think outside the box, but checking the name on Google like he's doing won't give you much. It is easier to not focus on the writing, but the person that wrote it, or in this case: him.'

The main objective of this was most likely to teach them to think outside of what they were told. Ace kept his eyes on the man, while he thought over the image of him writing the name on the board, like a TV in his head.

He notice the slight shaking, the ring that was now hidden beneath his crossed hands. The light whiteness at the sleeve, that told him he had worn a watch, but had stopped some time ago. All these little things he caught and analysed, much like Alfred did but at a reduced scale.

He also looked at the posture and so on.

"Once you have something, write it somewhere and send it or keep it. The private folder should now be available to you."

'Oooh, that's a good one, he kept it mysterious, and we will not be able to compare notes and so on, which I am sure some were banking on doing.' , Ace thought, 'I did good in choosing this class, this will be interesting.'