The stormy clouds of Astreal let down an outpour of rain.
It pitter patted against the concrete ground, creating a natural symphony that soothed the mind of those throughout the academy.
Boom!
The sound of thunder resounded in Ace's ears, moments after the flash of lightning.
'Why did he call me here,'Ace wondered
'what could be his motive?'
'Could it be because of Emilia, if I knew she was that troublesome I wouldn't have entangled with her.'
Ace looked at him, sitting at the other side of the table.
'But then again, he doesn't seem like the type of guy to do that.
Ace stared into his dull grey eyes, he didn't see a hint of hatred, envy, or any emotions for that matter.
'No, he does have emotions, they're just so faint and unnoticeable—much the same like a flickering candle light; easily snuffed by a stray gust of wind.'
'Well there's no need to keep trying to guess, I'll just ask him.' Ace gave up trying to guess.
"Why did you call me here?" Ace asked him.
"You have probably guessed it already, It's because of Emilia Tyche." He answered while taking his dishes from the robot waiter.
"You don't seem like someone who lusts after beauty."
Ace took his juice box from his waiter while he was talking.
"Do you think this all this about beauty?" He raised an eyebrow and chuckled lightly.
"Of course it's not."
Ace raised an eyebrow, prompting him to continue talking, but he wrapped up in the dishes he was eating to notice it. So Ace had to ask him
"What else could be the reason? you were the one that said this is about Emilia."Ace asked.
"Well it is, just not the way you're thinking about it."
He stopped talking to stir his coffee properly, took a sip out of it then continued talking.
"Did you know Emilia Tyche is a holy maiden, from the holy order."
"Whats's a holy maiden?!" Ace interrupted him in the middle of his speech.
He replied without hurry.
"Once every two centuries, the Holy Order picks thirty young females as holy maidens, these maidens are placed in different places all over the continent, and after fifty years whichever one of them is the strongest is elected as the next holy saintess."
"Holy saintess, as in leader of the holy order?" Ace said in astonishment.
'What the heck!'
Ace was stunned, The last place he wanted to get close to was the holy order; he had heard stories about what they did to people who had were born with memories of their past life. They labelled them called them scum of the underworld, followers of the devil, And when they caught one of these so called 'followers of the devil', they put their souls in a perpetually burning god–fire.
But somehow he had gotten himself involved with one of most important people in the holy order.
'Now I regret ever talking to her.'
"Yes, it's that holy saintess, the leader of the holy order." The ginger–haired student replied, snapping Ace out of his musings.
He paused for a while, then continued talking.
"And also, just because she's a holy maidens doesn't mean she'll be the holy saintess, for sure."
Ace tried to hide his uneasiness towards the holy order and continue the conversation as naturally as possible.
"So what does the machinations of the holy order have to do with why you called me here."
"The younger generation of most noble families were advised before we came to the academy, to try and befriend or support one of the holy maidens in their academy, so if by some stroke of luck the holy maiden they supported became the holy saintess, their noble family would gain the support of the Holy–order."
"Oh! I get it, you want me to stay far away from Emilia because I'm disrupting your plot to get closer to Emilia , don't worry the hint is taken, from tomorrow you'll never see me near Emilia."
Ace was more than happy to stay far away from Emilia, After all, out of all the people in the academy the holy order was the most likely to find out that he was a transmigrator.
"Oh! no no no, that's not what I meant at all, you can keep being with Emilia, infact I support it!
I am much to busy focusing on myself to try and gain the elusive favour of the holy maiden, but family orders are family orders, so I have to put some form of effort in."
"So what do you want from me?" Ace asked with a hint of annoyance creeping into his tone.
This guy had just kept talking and talking without telling him what he actually wanted from him. The only reason he was still here with him and not at his apartment was because of his soul injury.
"I just want you to get me in the same team as the holy maiden, in the year end academy exams."
"What for?"
"Stop asking questions!"
"All you need to do is to get me into the same team as the holy maiden, it's as simple as that." He said with a stern look in his eyes.
"And why should I do that?" Ace said unfazed by his serious look.
Ace was not in a suitable state for any conflict right now, and even if he was he wasn't sure he would win in a battle against him—after all he was born in a noble family, he was probably training to become a bestowed by the age Ace had started walking—But even though Ace was by all terms the weaker party, he refused to compromise to his conditions without benefits, especially since it involved him interacting with someone from the holy order.
A bout of murderous intent rose from the ginger haired student.
"You know I could just kill you right now, even if it results in me getting expelled, I'll still live but you would die."
Ace stared at him unfazed by his threat.
"But out of the kindness in my heart, I won't." he said faking an amiable smile on his face
Ace stared at him with a dubious look.
"So state your wishes." he said ignoring the look Ace was giving him.
'Crafty bas*t*rd.' Ace complimented him within his mind.
'He's taking my advantage of my lack of knowledge.'
He had just stepped into the world of the bestowed, so giving him an offer like that didn't make sense—By making Ace choose what he wanted, the scope of things he could ask for was limited to what he knew, reducing the value of the stuff he had to give up—But then again that was a given, since this was just a vague verbal contract, he was the one in the loss, If Ace refused to honour this agreement in the future.
'So what should I ask him for?' Ace pondered.