Chapter CXLVI - A Game of Chess (part 1)

After the incident, the academy's name became even more renowned.

Many talks go around how just two students from the academy managed to stop a frontal invasion on the entire kingdom in the evening. Most of the talks are about the yellow flash Arfius that runs around saving people, but there are also talks about the unknown student that slain all the monsters.

Even though the kingdom has announced that Arfius was the one who managed to do everything all by himself, the citizens know very well that there is a second student that slain all the monsters while Arfius went around and saved people.

But since it was unclear who the second student was, the citizens of Xyphon can only thank him/her from the bottom of their hearts without even saying it aloud.

Arfius got invited to the castle on top of the floating island by the king and queen of Xyphon. The king and queen wanted to thank Arfius for saving the citizens of the kingdom by saving them and killing the monsters.

Arfius, still feeling bewildered by the fact that all credits were thrown to him, came half heartedly to the middle castle, where the king and queen lives and received a medal of honour from the king himself.

Though the front door collapsed, the castle isn't, hence the king and queen can still live there. Activities in the middle castle also continue, only that they don't have a front door now.

The kingdom continued their activities normally, only now there are construction sites everywhere to fix up the destroyed buildings and roads. The people are living happily and normally, knowing that they are protected by young guardian angels.

The perpetrator didn't end up getting captured, but the magicians of Xyphon were able to track down their headquarters on the northern mountains. By the time they found it, the members had already left, along with their evidence and belongings.

The arch-mage cursed at this fact, but there is nothing much he could have done. After all, he couldn't even kill the mutant dragon that came and attacked the floating island.

The academy is also fixing their buildings, only at a much faster rate than the kingdom. The holes and craters on the ground and building walls were fixed within a day, and the classes began normally afterwards.

Six whole weeks have passed since the incident, and there is less than a month away from the mid-semester exams.

Every student is studying hard, especially the lower classes, since they are planning to try and go up the classes. The top class students are also studying to keep their position.

While everyone is studying, I am too busy playing board games.

"Checkmate!"

"Gaahh!! How the hell did you even managed to get that guy there!?"

I screamed at the fact that I lost for the fiftieth times against the headmaster at this stupid board game. The rules are far harder than chess, but that is why it is more fun to play.

The headmaster brought the board game during my time at the infirmary. He thought I would be bored just from reading books from the bed, so he taught me how to play it, and six weeks later, I have lost fifty games.

 Actually, fifty one…

"Your plan was good, but it was too predictable. At least for me."

 "Damn it... I thought that was a really well thought out move."

 "Those really are well thought out, but that is exactly why they are guessable. I am just always ten steps ahead of you!"

"Stop it. Let's play one more."

"Actually, I have something to attend to today. Plus, you've been skipping too many classes, as the headmaster I should have kicked you out of the academy."

"Why should I go to a class that I am already a master of? Besides, I learn more by playing this."

"Hahah. Whether that's true or not, I can't change your mind, can I?"

The headmaster picked up the game pieces and closed the board, then he placed it inside his space ring. He stood up and prepared his stuff on his desk, while I stood up preparing to leave.

"Ah, right. I almost forgot. Have you heard the news about Mazino?"

"Hmm? What's going on there?"

"Based on the news I heard, recently there have been too many sightings of dragons around the kingdom's territory."

"W-What?? What about the adventurers?"

"The adventurers were the first to know, thankfully. If it was a random village in the middle of nowhere that knows about it, by the time help comes, the village would have turned into a sea of flames."

"R-Right... No I mean, are there any... casualties or something?"

"Rize, there are always casualties with dragons."

For god's sake...

Can this world just be peaceful for one damn second?

If only I was there, I could have killed those dragons easily, now that I am this powerful. I pretty much killed those mutant dragons easily too, so killing a dragon shouldn't be that hard.

"All right, I'm done playing. What about you? Are you going to attend class or are you going to do something else?"

He asked as I walked to the door with my back facing him.

"Well, I don't think I should be answering that to the headmaster."

"Hahah... Wise choice."

I placed my hand on the door knob and left him in his own room. From outside the room, I can hear a loud wind sound coming from the inside. He must have flown out the window or something, because I couldn't feel his presence anymore.

I left the middle building while pondering over what I should do.