“Zachariel, see you in class tomorrow!” Luiz waved goodbye and went together with Luka and Teddy.
“Okay, see you.” Zachariel waved back at them but it looked stiff and awkward when the others saw it.
Luiz and the other two held the awkwardness inside.
The rest also bade goodbye to him.
“Zachariel, I’ll be going with Iria today. Goodbye! Have a good day!” She waved her hands to him and clung to Iria.
She giggled all the way.
`What was that for?` Zachariel pondered about her sudden change of behavior but he remembered that he was supposed to go to the library.
He went to a magic screen and looked at the map to search for a grook gathering point nearby.
`I wonder if senior Cody and the rest are here today.`
He kept in mind the location of the nearest gathering point and went to where it was located.
`There are fewer people here today. I wonder why?`
The public training area looked deserted.
Zachariel only saw Imperium guards, students, and a few fighters around.
He looked at the magic screens on the sides.
`The matches from yesterday are being replayed, but I can’t find mine. Probably because our match wasn’t as good as the others?`
He shook his head and shifted his thoughts.
`Ah, forget it. Let’s just go to the library.`
While he was walking towards one of the grook gathering points, Lia and Iria bumped into Amelia and Sabrina who were waiting for the two of them on the other side.
“Amelia, don’t!” Sabrina tried to drag her out but Amelia resisted and angrily approached Lia and Iria.
“Hey, you!” Amelia shouted at her.
The commotion drew the attention of a few onlookers nearby. Even the staff behind the counters looked over as well.
“What’s going on there?” A female staff was working on the counter when she heard Amelia shout.
“Sounds like a fight between girlfriends or something.”
The male customer on the other side of the counter replied.
“Why do you have to make it sound like a love triangle of sorts?”
His male acquaintance asked.
“Shut up, you two. Let’s just watch the show.”
Another acquaintance of theirs was rather interested in how this scene would work out.
…
“Uh, are you calling out to me?” Lia looked at Amelia and pointed to herself.
“Yes, you! You’re the only b*tch around here!” Amelia approached Lia in a manner as if Lia had done an unforgiving act against her.
“Amelia!” Sabrina tried to calm down Amelia.
She touched her shoulder but it was swatted away by Amelia.
“Don’t touch me!”
Amelia approached Lia and grabbed her by the neck.
“Hey, little b*tch. Stay away from Zachariel, won’t you? A disgusting creature like you is sticking around someone like him! You’re not worthy of him! I am!”
Lia was shocked by the sudden aggression of Amelia.
“You, stop strangling me!”
Lia tried to fight back.
Iria did not like what she saw and took out her polearm and pointed it at Amelia’s arms.
“Let go of her or I’ll chop them into two!” Iria threatened Amelia.
“Huh? A lowlife like you orders someone like me?” Amelia mockingly stared back at Iria.
“I said stop it!” Sabrina couldn’t take it anymore and blasted the two parties away from each other using her water mana essence.
Amelia flew back near Sabrina, landing on the ground with her butt. “Damn it!”
“Sabrina, you’re favoring them over me?” Amelia narrowed her eyes as she looked at Sabrina.
Sabrina’s silent reply angered Amelia.
“Ha! I knew it! After all, the three of you are classmates, right?”
Amelia stood up and turned her back away from the three girls.
“Tsk, so the saying birds of a feather flock together is true all this time. Hmph!”
She mocked them before leaving the area.
The onlookers sighed with relief when the situation de-escalated and Amelia walked away. They soon returned to their own personal businesses.
“I’m sorry, Lia, Iria.” Sabrina apologetically bowed at them because of what had happened earlier.
“It’s okay, Sabrina. It’s your friend who’s at fault.” Iria supported Lia.
Lia was having a hard time breathing because Amelia strangled her.
Sabrina approached Lia and checked her out.
“Lia, are you okay? I’m really sorry, I shouldn’t have invited Amelia to see Zachariel this morning. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be in this situation right now.”
Sabrina explained herself.
Lia was scared. She felt like she would have died there if Sabrina didn’t blast them both with her water mana essence.
She could still feel the rage in Amelia’s eyes.
“Uh… yes.”
She stuttered while replying to Sabrina.
The two girls waited for her to recover. A minute later, Lia stood back up.
“Are you really okay now?” Sabrina inquired.
“Yes, thank you for saving me, Sabrina.” Lia was grateful to her.
“You shouldn’t be thanking me. Instead, I should be apologizing to you.” Sabrina didn’t feel good when Lia thanked her.
“No, it’s really okay, Sabrina.” Lia did not harbor a grudge against her. Lia thought that Sabrina only wanted to help Amelia, but things didn’t go the way Sabrina expected.
“Who was that girl, anyway?”
Lia wanted to know why that girl was obsessed with Zachariel.
She knew that she didn’t do anything wrong because she was only accompanying Zachariel since he lost his memories.
“She’s Amelia. She’s a Prospect candidate like me and Zachariel.” Sabrina told them.
“A Prospect candidate? But that shouldn’t be the reason why she would confront Lia, right?” Iria felt that it was too shallow of a reason for Amelia to confront Lia like that.
“Amelia and Zachariel are childhood friends. His family adopted her and her twin brother, Hal, when their parents died. Hal and Amelia are extremely dependent on Zachariel because of the things he had done to them.”
Sabrina narrated the history between the two parties.
“Hal and Amelia were prone to bullying, and Zachariel was the one who would always rescue them and beat those who were bullying the two. Because of Zachariel’s protective behavior, she became obsessed with Zachariel always protecting her all the time, leading to this situation right now.”
Sabrina finished her explanation and sighed.
Iria finally understood it now.
“I see. Thank you for explaining it to us, Sabrina.”
Sabrina nodded back at her.
“I will be going now. I’ll talk Amelia out of this. Thank you also for understanding and I’m sorry once again.” Sabrina bade farewell to them and chased Amelia.
“Lia, do you still want to go to the commercial area this afternoon?” Iria was worried.
What if they saw Amelia again?
“Yes!” Lia remained excited even though she almost lost her life earlier.
She wanted to repay Zachariel by buying a weapon for him.
`He lost his weapon because of me. I don’t want to be an ungrateful person to him.`
Lia asked Iria earlier in the training to go with her to the commercial area because she wanted to purchase a weapon.
Lia hid the fact that the matter of purchasing a weapon was for Zachariel.
Fortunately, Iria accepted her invitation. Iria said that she knows somebody who might be able to craft a weapon for her.
“Okay then. Let’s be careful on the way.” Iria put her guard up.
If Amelia would strangle Lia again, she will definitely cut Amelia’s arms into two. She wouldn’t care if Zachariel would blame her for it.
`I don’t want any of my friends or classmates to be hurt anymore. I’ll kill anyone who will hurt them.`
Iria swore in her mind.
The two walked to a nearby grook gathering point and went to the northern entrance of the public training area.
Lia had a determined look in her eyes.
`Zachariel, don’t worry. I’ll repay you sooner or later.`
…
“Achoo!”
Zachariel sneezed.
`Must be an allergy.`
He continued walking towards the southeastern entrance of the public training area.
“Oh, big brother Zachariel!” A cute childish voice called out to him.
Zachariel looked over to the source of the voice.
`A small girl with a drilled cyan hair. Who was she again? It was Diega, right?`
“Di-Diega.” Zachariel stuttered, afraid that he might have said the wrong name.
“Oh, big brother Zachariel remembered me!” Diega looked happy and skipped over to where Zachariel was.
“Why are you here, big brother Zachariel? Did you train with others on the second floor today?” Diega inquired.
“Yeah. What about you Diega? What are you doing here?” Zachariel asked.
“I was looking for you, big brother Zachariel!”
Diega clung to him and rubbed her face using his arms.
`What the hell? Won’t I be jailed for this if the Imperium guards misunderstand this scenario?` Zachariel surveyed his surroundings.
`Okay, there are no people around here. Better push her away while no one is watching.`
“Diega, my arms are still sore from the training. I would like it if you could leave my arms alone for a while.” Zachariel made an excuse.
“Ah, I’m sorry, big brother Zachariel! Little Diega won’t do it again without asking big brother!” She cutely bowed to him.
“It’s okay. Just be careful next time. Anyway, I’m going to the public library. Do you want to go with me there?” He invited her out.
Diega nodded.
Zachariel exited the public training area and called for a carriage.
“Where to go, young man?” The driver asked him.
“To the Public Library, please,” Zachariel replied.
The driver nodded and signaled for him to get in. Meanwhile, a white-bluish light glowed on the top-front of the carriage.
It was an indication that the carriage was carrying a passenger on board.
Zachariel was amazed when he saw the demon beast carrying the carriage.
The demon beast was a horse that had a black muscular body. Its eyes and hooves that glowed in red appeared cool and demonic.
If some common folk spotted it at night, they might be scared to death because of its aura and features.
`I wonder what kind of demon beast is that.`
Zachariel entered the carriage along with Diega. He picked her up and let her inside first, then he followed.
“Ha!”
The driver signaled the groundbreaker horses to start galloping.
They neighed and stomped hard on the ground, making it tremble.
`Woah, what a strong horse!` Zachariel felt the quake inside.
Fortunately, he and Diega already sat on the comfy sofa. Otherwise, they would’ve tumbled in a mess.
The inside was big, with an area of at least 4 square meters.
He looked at the window and saw the big Imperium Palace in the eastern part of the Imperium Capital City.
Even the trees and buildings were not enough to hide the majestic structure that displayed the symbol of pride and glory of the Great Human Imperium.
After a while, the objects outside started to blur in his eyes.
`This kind of horse is pretty fast even when carrying a carriage.`
Zachariel was really interested in the name of the demon beast.
Diega, on the other hand, fell on his lap and slept comfortably.
`This little girl…` Zachariel was confused about what to do with her and her behavior.
They had now arrived on the central part of the Imperium Capital City.
`This is where the school selection event happened a month ago.`
The central square was left with only the Imperium guards that were patrolling in the area.
The carriage turned left after passing by the central square.
He saw another row of huge buildings outside.
A huge building with a dome-shaped roof stood out. It was elevated, and one would need to climb up the high staircase before reaching the building entrance.
There were huge words inscribed on the center of the building that read ‘Imperium Court’.
Golden armored guards patrolled the area, and a few people walked up and down the stairs. They wore white and black-outlined robes and a scholar hat.
The carriage stopped after a while.
“Young lad, we’ve arrived.” The driver called out to him from the outside.
“Diega, time to wake up. We’re here.” Zachariel nudged her.
Diega slowly opened her eyes and wondered what had happened. She was happily dreaming about having a family with Prince Kane.
`Zachariel, you bastard!` She cursed Zachariel on her head.
However, she kept her cool outside and tried to act amiably to him.
“Big brother Zachariel, did we reach the Public Library already?” She looked at him with a friendly smile on her face.
“Yes, Diega. Let’s go out now.” Zachariel nodded back at her.
“Okay.” Diega jumped off the sofa and the carriage.
“How much is it, sir?” Zachariel asked the driver.
“Just 4 silver coins, lad.” The driver lent out his palm.
Zachariel took 4 silver coins from his pocket and gave them to the driver.
The latter received it and drove off.
Zachariel looked at the huge building in front of him. It was 50-60 meters wide, and 10-12 meters high.
One could see the huge ‘Public Library’ that was put at the top-center of the building.
Some people went in and out of the building.
A pair of guards guarded the front door, while the others patrolled around.
Zachariel walked to the staircase and approached the front door.
One of the guards looked at the newcomers and saw Diega clinging at Zachariel.
“Halt! No visitors are allowed during this time of the day!”
The guard raised his arm and stopped Zachariel from taking one more step closer to the door.
“What’s the meaning of this?” Zachariel coldly looked at the guard who stopped him.
“Are you defying an Imperium guard, little brat? I said that no one is allowed to visit this place during this time of the day! Now, get lost!” The guard drew his sword.
The other guards nearby also followed suit.
`That Prince Kane. He must’ve done this.` Zachariel carefully analyzed the situation.
He snorted and looked at Diega. He wanted to leave the place immediately with her.
However, he saw a different expression on Diega’s face.
