Chapter 37: When Ignorance Becomes A curse

"Piss off, piggy." A few words were enough to make the fat boy tremble and almost piss himself. Ray's eyes were staring daggers into the boy's eyes. Those pitch-black holes that looked like they could suck you into them never to get out made the young man back off subconsciously.

"W-Who are you?! D-D-Don't think you will get unscathed out of this!" He was barely able to spit these few sentences before running away like a rabbit. Even though he was fat, his speed couldn't be scoffed at. How ironic!

Ray and Flora watched him disappear like a coward and sighed inwardly. Ray then turned around and started walking, not minding the commotion that happened because of him and the gazes that followed his passing silhouette.

He also didn't feel the gaze of his lover following him too. Even though Flora could've dealt with the fatty boy quite quickly but the way Ray protected her and shooed him away made her feel all fuzzy inside, and happiness bubbled in her heart. Call it being childish or spoiled, but the way Ray showed that she was his and his only was something she liked alot. Her thoughts made her grin with a small blush.

But even that expression was nothing but a passing change in her feelings; because the next second, she returned to her calm face again.

They both continued talking, and eventually, they reached the gates. The long line of students made them wait a considerable amount of time. While waiting, Ray took a look at the far front of the line. There were two heavily armoured guards holding long spears and a third one standing in between them. He was receiving some type of letter from some of the students before giving them an object that Ray couldn't define from this far distance. The line proceeded with the same thing getting repeated again and again. Each student took a few minutes to pass but there was also those who walked to the left with a sad face.

"Do you have the acceptance letters, Flora?" Asked Ray while looking around. The letters the guard was receiving were acceptance letters that permitted the owner to enter the Academy.

Flora smiled and snapped her fingers. Two pieces of paper neatly packed in two letters with a red seal in the middle made of wax appeared on the palm of her hand. She used the spell 'Storage'. This spell was handy as it allowed them to journey basically without lifting any heavy objects with them or waste effort packing things up wherever they went. All they needed it to do was throw everything in the magical storage and pull it whenever they needed to.

"Good." Ray nodded and seemed to fall in deep thought. He had a habit of holding his chin whenever he was thinking deeply. It was a gesture that Flora grew accustomed to and made her understand her lover even more.

She then whispered so only Ray could hear her, "What are you thinking about?". Her melodic voice shook him from his state and made him look at her with a small loving smile.

"No, it's nothing big, really; I just thought... We finally reached our destination, and we are closer to our goal. Yet, somehow I don't feel happy or, to be more precise, I feel like something terrible will happen. Maybe it's just my imagination." He conveyed his thoughts without hesitation.

Before, Ray would've just said that he wasn't particularly thinking about anything and ended it there. But now, he would say anything troubling his mind to Flora so she could always help him if he needed it. He was slowly changing his behaviour and actions.

"Hmm...You're really such a worrywart. It's going to be fine. But even if we face a problem, we will solve it...together." She took his hand and held it tightly and looked him deeply in the eyes. Her confident tone and smile made him shake his head before also smiling at her. She was always able to relieve his worries with just a few words and this made him calm down easily most of the time.

"Yeah. You're right." He also tightened his hand grip, showing her that he was okay now.

"Next person, please advance so we can continue the procedures." The guard who was dealing with students talked respectfully and with a flat tone. This showed that even guards had to follow the rule aforementioned.

Flora and Ray looked at the guard and found out that they were the following people in line, so they separated their hands reluctantly and walked to the guard.

"Please, show your acceptance letters. If you don't have them, please move from the line to the other gate in the southern part of the wall. There you will find a guard to deal with the problem." His almost robotic voice echoed in the area, probably because he repeated this phrase thousands of times, becoming a habit to him.

Flora pulled the two letters and gave them to the guard. Taking the two pieces of paper, the guard skillfully opened them quickly and read the content.

While waiting for him, Ray examined the auras of the three guards, and without surprise, they were strong...really strong. The auras exuding from their bodies were strong and oppressive, even with them holding it from getting out. Especially the two guards behind, Ray could still beat them quite easily, but that was only when he used blood manipulation.

'As expected from SGMA', He thought with a stoic face that hid his emotions. Shifting his eyes to glance at the guard who was reading the letters, he found that his expression changed quite drastically. The guard became pale, and beads of sweat started accumulating on his forehead with every passing second. His eyes shifted between the letters and the silhouettes of the couple.

It was apparent that something was wrong. Before Ray could speak to ask him, the guard gave them the letters back and said, "The check is over. You may pass. Good luck." His voice lacked its monotony and was more or less agitated.

Ray and Flora didn't know how to react, so they just shrugged their shoulders and passed the guard. When Ray passed beside and gave him a brief look, he found the guard pointing out to one of the guards, who nodded slightly and then walked away to some unknown place.

'What is going on? Is something wrong with the letters?' Ray wondered with a complicated look.

Ray and Flora didn't open the letters to check the content since Galdof prohibited them from doing so for some unknown reason. And even if they wanted to open it, this would ruin the seal on the cover and could render the letters useless.

Ray didn't bother with it anymore and just walked away, following Flora inside the city.