Chapter 16 - 17 : Unexpected Encounter (2/2)

”How about you take that hood off so I can have a good look at your face.”

To be honest, Arthur didn't hide his appearance for special reasons, he was just used to hiding it because when he was in Zodiak's body he didn't want to show his creepy appearance. However, now that he had a body for himself he didn't mind showing his face, but he found it unnecessary so he just covered his face the same way he did when he was in his previous 'body'.

When he heard the principal he wasn't surprised, for he knew she would ask him that since anyone would be curious as to who he was after what he did. It would be the second time he showed his face to someone, the first time it was Lucy, Hell she even saw when his face was being created.

He soon pulled down his hood and his appearance was finally revealed. His face was stern with cold blood red eyes, there was the same long-boned face, tapered to a pointed chin; nonetheless, he looked quite charming and pleasing to the eye.

The principal was stunned when she saw his face, the steady but slightly cold gaze of his made her dazed for a second but what astonished her most was his red eyes.

You must know that even though there were different races in this world, none of them had red eyes, only beasts could have them and even for beasts, it was quite rare to find one with that eye color. She soon snapped out of it and stabilized herself ”I don't recognize you, you are neither royalty nor a noble, speak honestly, why did you come here?” her voice this time contained a threat and the air around the room seemed to turn cold.

While keeping a poker face Arthur replied with calm voice

”I already told you, I'm not going to repeat myself, as for what happened earlier I will not apologize doing something right.” He then proceeded to ignore her, not paying any heed to her flushed face, which turned red from anger.

”Y-you!!!..”

the principal stood up while slapping her hands on the table with anger, she thought Arthur was mocking her and just playing around while not telling the truth.

After staring at him for some time she sighed and sat back down, truthfully she was in a dilemma, either to send him off and lose such precious fighting figure or take him under her care and gain a powerful figure in this academy, but she knew that Mary would be against it, since she seemed to be very angry and would hold a grudge toward this man.

Minutes passed and finally, after some pondering, she crossed her hands and was about to say something when Zephir barged into the room and seemed in a bit of a rush. He came near her and whispered something in her ear.

Arthur saw Zephir coming in and his whispering next to the principal's ears but he paid it no heed as he was not interested. Once Zephir finished whispering, he stood behind the principal while waiting for her to say something, which she finally did

”You two, go sit there and wait for me to finish speaking with our guests then I'll see what I'll do with you.”

while speaking she pointed at a corner of the room where there were a comfortable sofa and a small table. Arthur didn't say anything, he just held Lucy's hand and sat on the sofa with her.

Not even 5 minutes passed when 2 figures entered the room, it was 2 old men, one had a long white bear and deep blue eyes while the other one was an old man with a missing hand. Arthur immediately recognized one of them, since it was Theodor from the holy church, but he didn't know the other so he immediately appraised him

Erik Vilsmore (human) : LVL118

It was the same person who spoke with Theodor through the crystal. When Erik heard from Theodor that Rein died fighting a mage, he was honestly surprised and even though he said he wouldn't search for the girl anymore he still had to, after all, it was a direct order from the pope. He was curious as to why the pope was so interested in this lady, but he didn't dare ask him, for the pope was considered a god-like figure in the holy church and all his orders must be obeyed without question or doubt.

He didn't want to lose more men to the black-robed man, but since the girl was with him, he had to send men to monitor the black-robed mage's location and soon his spies told him that this 'man' was last seen using the teleportation array leading to the academy, so he suspected that this man was one of the members of the council, but he soon gave up on that idea as the man was supposedly using a strange kind of magic that none of the people in this academy had.

Nonetheless, he used a teleportation array which teleported him directly from the holy church headquarters to the Nemia academy and he took Theodor with him because Theodor knew the appearance of the black-robed mage, so if they encountered him on the academy grounds he should be cautious.

Erik didn't go to the academy to look for the black-robed mage but was ordered directly by the Pope to head to the academy and retrieve the girl at any cost, he was even permitted to use force but he must first consult the principal and ask her if he could take away the girl without resorting to force.

That was why the first thing he did was coming to the principal's office, he was going to ask her if she saw any silver-haired demon in the entrance exam and if she did, he would ask for her permission to take the girl for she was a fugitive from the Holy church and also is someone evil whomust be taken away. But never in his wildest dreams would he think to bump into her when he just got here.

When he entered the room he first saw Zephir and the principal and in the corner he saw a black-robed man and a silver-haired girl who wore a green dress, she truly was pretty and Erik immediately recognized her, after all, every single person in the holy church was instructed to try to capture the girl when they saw her.

Erik didn't do anything suspicious and just gazed at her for a second before continuing to walk towards the principal, whereas Theodor stood there stiff, you can see fear in his eyes when he looked at Arthur, but he soon regained his senses and followed Erik; nonetheless, his behavior didn't pass unnoticed by the principal who had keen eyes.

She saw Theodor look at Arthur and then freeze up with fear and she was astonished since she didn't actually think the holy church would have relations with this unusual individual; nonetheless, she didn't say anything and simply smiled toward the guests while speaking

”Hello lord Erik, what brings you to my academy? The continents meeting is not until a year from now, so what does the holy church want from me?”

Even though she was smiling her tone was domineering, she didn't like the fact that the holy church would come and not only that, but the pope didn't even come personally, as if she wasn't worth the time so her pent-up anger from earlier was released on these guests.

”Ohoh, Ms. Sonia, please excuse us for coming uninvited, but we are merely seeking someone who came to your academy and if you permit it, we would like to them away with us”

The principal frowned to the old man's request, to think the holy church would have the gutts to come here and demand to take someone away, they seemed to forget that the Nemia academy had a power equal to them and only sent a little representative like this old man to make such a shameless request 'they really are thick-skinned!” even though she was angered by what he said she still remained calm and replied:

”Ohhh? And who might that person be? To make the holy church personally came, it must be a very important person.”

her voice contained some sarcasm as if she was interested in who this person was and was going to hand this person to them.

”Ohohoho, Ms. Sonia, luck is on our side as it seems, the person we are looking for is that girl over there with the green dress, she really caused us big trouble, if you would permit us to take her away” when saying that he pointed with his hand at Lucy who was also gazing at him with cold and piercing eyes.

Arthur was slightly surprised when he saw Erik lvl but he wasn't the least worried for he knew he could handle him with ease. He just laid on the sofa with Lucy while looking with interest as to why these people from the holy church came here, but he already had a guess and when he heard Erik say he came searching for a person his guess turned to be true as Erik pointed his finger toward Lucy. Arthur seemed calm, but he was ready to fight at any moment if he heard the principal accept the old man's demand he would immediately bombard them with ancient fire and all kinds of attacks then try his best to get out of here with Lucy.

Sonia was quite surprised when she saw where the old man was pointing, for the holy church to go to such means to capture a girl, she must really be important to them, or else they wouldn't dare come like this and be this shameless; nonetheless, she wasn't going to accept their stupid demand in the first place, she was merely surprised to see they were looking for the demon girl.

”I don't think that's possible Mr. Erik, this girl was just accepted as a student in this academy and every student here is protected by us, moreover she is Zephir's personal student so you taking her is out of the question.”

She smiled smugly at Erik observing his reaction, and indeed it was priceless, his face was red and he looked angry, for he didn't expect the principal to refuse his demand. After all, he came here representing the pope, so refusing him is like refusing the pope and he didn't think she would dare to reject his demand so openly and without hesitation, he gritted his teeth and tried to keep a smile on his face but it only made him look uglier.

”You see Ms.Sonia, The pope personally ordered me to bring her back, since she's really dangerous. Even to you and your academy, so it would be wise to let go of her”

Even though he was plainly rejected, he still persisted and tried again, but he was suddenly caught by an immense pressure and he heard the principal snort while gazing at him coldly so he no longer talked. He just bowed and left the room with Theodor but before he left he stared daggers at Lucy 'little pest, don't you think you got away just because you are here, don't forget we have means to capture you even if you escaped to the end of the world!'.

When the 2 old men left, the room regained its silence and the atmosphere became kind of awkward, Sonia glanced at Arthur who was laying on the sofa relaxingly while Lucy was leaning on his shoulder and seemed lost in thought

'Now it's time to think of what I should do about them'