17 Academy.

"Aah, you can get out!".

With the matter of her mistake earlier and another sneer from her subordinate, it dropped her mood below minus, turning the atmosphere into absolute zero. The man who put the paper and card on the desk trembles.

Meanwhile, Cain ignored the two adults, took out the documents and card, then checked its content without asking for permission. His behavior must be considered a violation, but apparently, Selena gave him an exception with this one.

"Kid you?!".

"It's okay, everything is already over after all".

After he meticulously confirmed everything was alright, Cain sighed, lifted his gaze, and spoke.

"What should I do, from here on?".

Selena's body tensed upon hearing Cain's cold and indifferent tone. Her face grimaced, weighed down by guilt. She sharply urged her subordinates to leave the place with a sharp gaze. 'Leave this place at once!'.

"...Understood, I will take my leave, good luck, kid!".

Cain nodded his head, but his gaze didn't reach the man at all. The man, feeling hateful, but then starts to leave the place.

With a click and the door closed, Selena glanced at the figure of the boy before him, who watched her closely, waiting for the answer he wanted. Once the man left, her gaze swayed. The earlier guilt began to haunt her once more, locking her mouth to speak.

"Um, Excuse me, Mrs?. Cain leaned with a rough tone.

"Ah, yeah, right? Kuhum…". Selena faked a cough, trying to be as composed as she could.

"What should I do from now on?"

"I am sorry for my lack of response. But, according to our regulation, a Resonator would be sent to the Military Academy, which currently receives another batch of Resonators like you from another place."

'This is it!'. Under the gaze of Selena below the desk, Cain's fists clenched tight, a sense of frustration and rage boiling inside him, fueling his desire to move forward following his desire.

Selena, who happened to see the burning desire within the boy's gaze, clenched her teeth, a heavy feeling still lingering on her chest. She decides to open her mouth to apologize, but there is a knock on the door, alerting the two inside.

"Excuse me, Head Selena?".

Simultaneously, as the door opened, a bulky man wearing a military uniform entered the place; his gaze swept across the place and found Selena and Cain, who sat accompanied by Noir. For a brief moment, his gaze sharpened, but eventually, he began to glance at Selena and opened his mouth.

"Instructor Henry, what brought you here to this place?".

The bulky man, Henry, unknowingly tilted his head to the side after hearing Selena ask a weird question.

"...Um, it is to escort the new resonator to our Academy of course. The manager had told me that another new recruiter was coming in".

"Right? You are right about that, sorry about my weird question, Instructor".

"No, no problem!".

Selena looked down and pinched her nose bridge to calm her mind. This was the first time she had felt shaken so much by the mistake she made toward a young boy who had a big dream, and yet she crushed it by pitying him.

"Noir, return for now!".

*Woof!

Cain, who didn't want the trouble to escalate further and wanted to get out of the stifling place, stood up and opened his mouth while looking at Instructor Henry.

"Take me to the Academy!".

The man in front of him was about two meters tall. His muscles were thick and bulky. He was wearing a Blue uniform, and six stars hovered on his chiseled chest, proving his achievement and rank as a Resonator.

His demeanor changed when he looked at Cain, who was apparently glaring at the man. Henry wasn't insulted; rather, he was curious about why the boy was so hostile toward a man he had first met.

However, Henry came here to issue the order he got, so he put aside his curiosity and spoke to Cain.

"Follow me, kid! Head Selena we will be leaving!".

Cain crumpled the paper in his hand and turned toward Selena to give his last bow. Even though he was insulted and hurt, mannerisms still came first.

"Thank you, Mrs!".

"Um, Yes, work hard there".

Without replying to her, Cain exited the place, following Henry's steps, creating a heavy, redeeming silence that suffocated her.

Selena sighed; her face seemed to age faster than it was supposed to. Still tied by guilt, her eyes suddenly turned blurry, and with a quick gesture, she wiped them out using her fingers.

"I am sorry, Cain boy. At least let me repay you with something I could do…".

She took out her phone and started to dial someone. She placed the phone near her ears, hearing the beeping sounds that echoed within her brain. Then, after a few seconds, the call was connected.

"Hello, can you help me with something…".

*****

Cain and Henry sit side by side in a humvee, bringing them toward the Academy. There is no conversation between them, only silence that hangs, turning the mood awkward the longer it prolongs.

The humvee drove silently, passing a blurred scenery that captivated Cain, for looking at the spectacular building that was lining up and the density of the crowds that seemed not showing off dwindling even after the sun had shone brightly on top of them.

'This place is truly different'. Some places caught Cain's attention, where it was portraying a figure of a standing doll like a human wearing multiple dresses with eye-catching colors and luxurious decoration.

There is also a glamorous place shielded by transparent glass, filled with a calming ambiance and laughter from the group of people enjoying their food and playing with their phones.

'So this was life beyond that wall, huh'. It is hard to believe that within the wall he always saw every day, there was a place like Eden, away from the misery of struggling and danger, and everyone could laugh and enjoy their lives to the fullest.

"Tsk!".

Unconsciously, Cain clicked his tongue, which Henry could hear beside.

"Are you wondering why the difference was so big?".

For the first time. Henry opened the conversation, which brought Cain's attention to the place. Cain stopped gazing outside and let his gaze straight toward the road.

"Yeah, …I was wondering. If the central city was this big and could contain this many people. Why would they ostracize the people outside in the outskirts? From what I see, this place provides much better living conditions than there. …I'm just asking…".

"Haha, you are right about that".

Hearing Henry laugh out loud, Cain's brows furrowed, and he clenched his fists tight, holding on to punch the smirk from the man's face. Realizing that Henry would open his mouth, Cain shook his head.

"Twenty five, and two hundred, do you know what that is, kid?".

"...!?". Cain remained silent while internally, his irritation was shot through to the roof, hearing the man's joke.

"...Within this year, there are twenty five cases of a Flying type of Void Creature attacking this place, and two hundred more people, from young, teen, adult, and elder many of them have lost their lives within that accident".

Cain's body flinches, his irritation gone, replaced by a terrifying feeling of dread. He never heard any of that. It was true that information was scarce within the outskirts, but to think there are many accidents happening within this place.

"You from the outskirts probably never heard of this because the upper-ups succeed in maintaining the information leaked toward your place so as not to create another mass panic."

"...".

"Living on the outskirts was harsh, I know that, but living here who have this much population and eye-catching color relatively compared to the bleak outskirts. The void creatures tend to attack this place and ignore the outskirts".

"...".

"What I am about to say is, life is not about black and white, then also not all of them is sweet and bitter, in the end you must seek in the middle in between those two… and if possible think through and find it out yourself. Don't just judge something based on your eyes, use all your sense!".

"Use all of my sense?…".

"That's right!".

"I see".

After hearing the man's story, Cain fell into deep thought. True to the man's claim, he never saw the outskirts occupied by Void creatures. Even when he heard a loud alarm ringing across the outskirts, once he and everyone else entered their respective houses and waited for it to be over, everything was back to normal.

On the other hand, the current place he envied and grew irritated with for the people who could spend their days leisurely in luxury and laughter must face the brunt, fighting the Void Creatures that seek resources and food, threatening their lives.

Cain's fist clenched, and he felt ashamed of himself for thinking that way: 'I must reflect on it!' Cain thought to himself.

"I am sorry for my rude tantrums. I hope you can forgive it".

"Ahaha, don't worry, kid. I am the same as you, because I also came from the outskirts".

"Is that so?".

"Yeah, …".

The two of them began to open up to each other, casually talking, sharing stories, and exchanging some small information regarding the surrounding area and about the Academy. The place where Cain would learn and train to become a proper Resonator.

Half an hour passed, and the humvee started to slow down. Cain opened his eyes wide, seeing a colossal building standing in front of him.

"Woah, is that?".

"Welcome to the Academy, kid!".