CHAPTER 4

Issei was lying down on the bed while staring at the empty ceiling with a thoughtful expression on his face.

Ddraig's words has left a big impression over him, since then he had been ruminating over the fact if he should leave or not.

To be honest, Ddraig's words made much sense to him, being the red dragon emperor and the successor of Lucifer, it was impossible for him to be on the sidelines and avoid trouble. If he doesn't leave the comfort zone and leave, then it will be truly idiotic. He didn't knew about his survival but he knew that he will be considered weak by others.

After considering for a few minutes, he came to a decision of leaving the home as per Ddraig's advice.

It is because the pros outnumbered the cons. The only disadvantages he could think of were that he will have to pillage for his own food and shelter. While the advantages were numerous, he will be able to save his time he usually wasted in classes studying the topics he already knew from Liam's memories. Plus he will gain survival skills and combat skills.

Nodding his head, he firmed his resolve once again while thinking of a way to inform his parents of his departure.

It will look extremely strange for a twelve year old like him to travel alone, not to mention, he knew that they won't take him seriously.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Ddraig, I decided to follow your advice and leave… but I have no idea how to tell this to my parents."

"Hmm, I will advice you to not reveal the existence of supernatural to your parents."

"Why is that?" Issei asked with a puzzled expression. His plan was to reveal everything to his parents and then inform them that he has to leave rather than making it more complicated but Ddraig's next statement was a bucket of cold water on his plan…

"There is a reason that no human knows anything about supernatural. The gods of all the pantheons and the leaders of all alliances made a rule against it, any human found with knowledge regarding supernatural would be executed without hesitation. The only exception are the humans who have some supernatural ability."

Issei was stunned by this piece of information, he never thought that there was some rule of that sort in place. It was just too absurd. But the real question was… why implement this type of rule? Can't they just erase the memory of the humans?

"It is because of-"

"I believe that this isn't the time yet to reveal that piece of information to him, red lizard." Just as Ddraig was about to reveal something, the voice of Malphas interjected in between.

"Why? And more importantly, How dare you address me such as that, you lowly minion of Lucifer." Ddraig roared back at Malphas.

Malphas seemed to have just ignored the comment of Ddraig as he continued: "He isn't yet powerful enough, and moreover I don't think that that information will be useful to him, it's better that only a few people know about that."

This statement made Issei more curious about what they were talking about? From what he could discern from their words was that the information they were talking about was very important and only a few people know about it.

"Fine. Now back to the topic, now you know that you can't reveal anything to your body's parents, just think of something else." Ddraig commented at last since he knew that arguing with Malphas was pointless.

Issei nodded his head as he said: "True, we can't risk with their lives, it's better to keep it a secret."

His statement earned agreement from his two companions.

Now making up his mind, he sat up from his bed and passed the threshold to the stairs. He heard his parents voice from the living room.

After going over his plan in his head again for the umpteenth time, he entered the living room and greeted 'his' parents.

"Hey dad, mom. How was your day?"

"oh! Ise. We were just talking about you, how about your day?"

"It was… ok, nothing out of the ordinary." Issei replied while walking to the empty couch.

His parents were sitting together on the sofa while the couch he was sitting on faced the sofa making him face his parents.

"I got a call from your teacher, she was all praises. I am so proud of you." Miki Hyoudou commented with a pleased expression.

"Really? That's very good indeed." Gorou supported his wife looking impressed.

"Eh.. about that… I wanted to talk to both of you." Issei said with a serious expression.

Watching his expression and the tone, his parents knew that it was something important, so they lend their ears to him.

"What is it about, dear." Miki asked with a gentle motherly tone.

Issei took a breath and stated: "Like you had already heard from my teacher today, I am doing very well in my studies."

"Which is quite a good thing." Gorou commented.

"Yeah, but I just feel that… it is just too easy."

"What do you mean?" Miki asked with curiosity seeping from her tone.

"It's like… it's like everything is just too easy for me, I feel like I can do much more. Much better than this." Issei said while not looking at his parents eyes.

"What are you talking about, honey?" Miki asked with a worried voice.

"Everything I study in school, every subject. I asked my classmates but it's not the same case with them." Issei said with an expression as if he was embarrassed.

His parents listened to him silently, Issei sneaked a glance at them and continued: "I want to know more, study more."

His parents looked at each other for a second, while Miki was the first one to speak up: "So Ise, what do you want to do?"

"I want to take the admission test for a better school, I heard from the internet that that school was appropriate for students who are better than others in studying." Issei replied with a confident voice.

"You know Ise, that it is kind of hard to believe all this, right?"

"Yeah, your grades had only started improving since last two years, before that your grades were just... Average."

Hearing his parents question, Issei smiled a bit to himself, he had already prepared for these type of basic questions.

"I know that it is hard to believe, and my grades were average because I wasn't really interested in studying at that time, but now that I have understood the importance of studying, I am doing my best for a better future..."

".… I won't tell you to believe me, but I can prove what I am saying if I clear the admission exam for that school, right? Since it is said that it is extremely hard to pass." Issei presented his offer with a bright smile on his face. He knew that there wasn't any visible flaw in his work and his parents will most likely have no choice but to agree.

Miki and Gorou looked at each other and seemed to be talking with eyes, after a few minutes Gorou nodded his head and coughed to gain his attention.

"Ise, It is remarkable that you have such thoughts about your own future. But... I am afraid that we won't be able to send you to study in whatever school you were taking about."

Issei's eyes widened a little but returned to normal instantly. He really didn't expected such a answer.

Why? Where did it go wrong?

He raced his mind while thinking of possible scenarios and reasons for his parents deniel.

"As you know, our financial condition isn't that good to support you with going to that school. I don't know which school you are talking about, but I can tell just from the description that the tution will be high."

Issei heaved a sigh of relief when he registered his father's reasoning, a smile appeared on his face as he replied…

"I have already thought about that. I will only attend that school if I get a academic scholarship, that will solve the problem with money."

A slight frown appeared on Gorou's face which didn't went unnoticed by Issei. Issei apologized in his mind.

'Sorry dad, but it is for the greater good.'

"You are just twelve years old, Ise. I don't think you will be able to take care of yourself alone." Miki voiced out her complaint.

"It is a boarding school, I will be living in the dorm, moreover I am confident that I will be able to manage myself pretty well."

"What is the name of this school and where it is?" This was the most important question, Issei took a breath and prepared himself for any kind of reply…

"It is called Camridge International school and it is in UK, England."

Issei saw his parents jaws literally drop on the floor with their eyes widened like saucers, which caused him to sigh tiredly in his mind.

'This conversation is definitely going to drag…..'

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Issei grunted a bit while finally lying down on his bed, stretching his body, he heard a satisfying bone popping.

He had been rooted on the same chair for few hours while convincing his parents, and man was that hard.

It is easier to convince a rock than them…

The only solace was that he was able to finally make his parents agree to him. He could see from their faces that they didn't wanted himself to go.

Now lying on his bed, the only thing he wanted to do was to wrap the blanket around himself and go to a comfortable sleep.

But... Things don't always go as you plan…

"Why are you sleeping? Get up, this is your time for training."

"please let me sleep, Ddraig. I can't move a muscle, I'm drained. I will do it tomorrow." He mumbled with a pleading voice.

"Tired huh? Will you give the same excuse to your enemies? To the white one?" Ddraig's loud voice reverberated in his ears making him frown in annoyance.

Using every bit of hidden resolve, he removed the blanket from himself and stood up. One could tell that he was tired just by his expression, droopy eyes and slumped shoulders.

He reluctantly stumbled to the window and sighed "Did I sign up for this?"

Not getting an answer from anyone, he just opened the window and jumped outside without hesitation.

Well, this wasn't the first time he did so, but this still seemed a little weird.

Landing at the backyard, he stepped away from his house towards the forest area with nimble steps.

There was a moderate forest area around a Km away from his house, the run to there was his usual warm-up.

It was night time, so there were not many people on the streets but he still looked out for any security cameras in his away.

It took him around 10 minutes to reach the familar forest, he followed the signs he left for himself.

A huge Boulder, a tree with dried stem, he continued walking and arrived at a small clearing which was middle of nowhere.

Without hesitation, he stepped into the clearing and looked around…

A small smirk appeared on his face

"Lets just get this over with."