Into The School Of Sicarius!

It had been just three days since they had arrived in Discite City. After giving Lori a fond farewell with a letter to be delivered to Amon, they had sent her with a traveling merchant back to Initium. This allowed Avic, Custos, and Eliisabet to focus on what was ahead.

Eliisabet and Custos stood at the door of their rented apartment. Eliisabet was dressed in a black jacket with a white undershirt. She also had a neat red tie tucked underneath her neck, a black high-knee skirt, long black stockings, and gorgeous black shoes. Custos was also dressed in a similar attire but he wore long black pants instead.

"Ugh... Where's Avic? He's going to make us late!" Complained Eliisabet.

"Sigh... I'm more concerned about my pocket right now. Renting an apartment for the three of us and paying the entrance fee for the School Of Sicarius added up to around 70,000 Pecunia. Not to mention that I had to buy our uniforms and pay that merchant to take Lori back to Initium. We haven't even bought enough food to keep us going for the week. Man, now that I think about it, the apartment's rent is weekly—"

"Custos! Okay, I get it... You almost sound like a single mom complaining about expenses..."

The front door to the apartment then opened up as Avic stepped out. He too was dressed in his uniform, ready to go.

"Avic! Can you not be late for once?!" Scolded Eliisabet.

"*Yawn* Late? What do you mean? I'm pretty early by my standards..."

"...That's not something to be proud of Avic..."

"I'm sleepy... What do you expect?"

"How are you sleepy?! You slept for the entire day, yesterday!"

"It's not good to dwell on the past, Eliisabet. We should get going if you don't want to be late."

"Ugh! Custos, say something to him, would you!"

Custos glanced up with his wallet in his hand.

"Oh, Pecunia— I mean, Avic, you're here... We should get going then..."

With a bothered sigh, Eliisabet quickly followed them. A few minutes later, they arrived at the gate of Regnum's School Of Sicarius. This was when they were stopped by a guard in full iron armor.

"Halt! You must provide your School ID before you can enter the premises!" Demanded the guard.

"We're new here. Today's our first day so we don't have our IDs as yet," answered Custos.

The guard then paused as he took a good look at them.

"I see. What faction are you supposed to be attending?"

"Faction? What do you mean by that? Isn't this a school for Sicarius?" Asked Eliisabet.

"Yes, but we also have another faction that joins us yearly. Despite the school's name being Regnum's School Of Sicarius, we also accept one other faction called the Knights Faction."

"Oh, that's new to us. Well, in any case, we're from the Sicarius Faction."

"The Sicarius Faction, you say? Well, you may proceed for now but you're an hour and ten minutes late."

Eliisabet and Custos jumped in shock. They couldn't believe their ears.

"What?! That's insane! We were told that classes didn't start until 9 am!" Argued Custos.

"That's true but the entrance ceremony began at 8 am."

"Are you serious?! We need to hurry then!"

"Eh? What's the big deal..? I know we're late and all but don't you think you're overreacting a little?" Muttered Avic lazily.

"It might not seem like a big deal to you but being late on the first day is never a good impression! Especially at a school like this! Anyway, where's the entrance ceremony being held?"

"It's being held in the auditorium," answered the guard.

Custos then quickly grabbed a small map of the school premises he had received with their acceptance letter from his bag. His eyes moved across the map until he found the auditorium.

"Found it! Follow me!"

In the blink of an eye, Custos and Eliisabet dashed past the guard. Avic gave a bothered sigh before quickly following them.

A few seconds later, they pushed through a pair of doors, flinging them wide open. They had finally arrived at the auditorium. However, as expected, the ceremony was already over. The only ones left inside were a few janitors who were cleaning up.

"Damn it! We're too late!" Cursed Custos.

"Sigh... What are we going to do then? It's like just having Avic with us is bound to always make us late..." Muttered Eliisabet.

"Well, classes should have started by now. We should probably ask around to find out where we need to go."

Just then, a rich-looking man with smoky-grey hair and deep-sea-blue eyes covered by a pair of glasses approached them. He looked around his early sixties with a surprisingly healthy-looking figure. He wore a grey tuxedo, and grey pants and gave off a delightful smell.

"Are you three supposed to be students here?" He asked.

"Yes, we're from the Sicarius Faction but due to a few setbacks, we arrived here late," apologized Custos.

"I see. Well, no matter the reason, a Sicarius should always be on time. Being late could cost you the lives of many innocents. That's unacceptable by the Kingdom Of Regnum's standards."

"Who's this old guy anyway? And why does he have to lecture us about being on time?" Asked Avic nonchalantly.

"Avic! Be more respectful! You shouldn't be so rude to someone you just met!" Scolded Eliisabet.

"Hmm? Old guy? I know I am old but that's the first time anyone has ever called me that. Well, if you must know, my name's Rhode Palem. I am the principal of Regnum's School Of Sicarius."

A chill immediately ran through Eliisabet and Custos' spines.

"Huh? Why does the principal have to be some old dude? I expected it to be some super hot lady... That's kind of a letdown..."

"Avic! Just shut up for once in your life!" Reprimanded Custos. "Please excuse this idiot's behavior, Principal Palem! He suffers from social anxiety and says the weirdest things when interacting with others! It's not his fault!"

"What? I don't suffer from social—"

"Shut up, Avic, or I'll castrate you..!" Quickly whispered Eliisabet into his ear.

Avic didn't say another word.

"Social anxiety? Well, that seems like a serious issue that needs to be resolved. I wish you all the best in taking care of that. However, for now, you should be heading to the outer courtyard. You'll be tested there to see what skill level you're at. Your results will also determine the class that you'll be placed in for the next month of your stay here."

Custos quickly nodded respectfully.

"Thank you for that information, Principal Palem! We'll make sure we get there on time! Please excuse us!"

Eliisabet and Custos then grabbed Avic and ran off toward the courtyard.