Back on Antilia Island…
Byron stood at the center of the nursery area where the Requiem Antz Queen used to lay her eggs. He had decided to get into the bottom of things, and use his powers to unearth what had truly happened a few hours before the Requiem Antz disappeared from the island.
The Headmaster of the academy chanted a litany of words as the staff in his hands glowed with power. The air fluctuated as runic words embedded themselves at the walls of the cavern.
After finishing his incantation, he tapped the ground with his staff and several images appeared around him.
He used Time Magic and recreated the scenes that had transpired inside the nest several hours ago.
"I knew it." Byron snorted when he saw the Half-Elf and his companions talking to the Queen of the Colony.
He watched the scene as they unfolded, and although the recreated scenes couldn't produce any sounds, he was still able to read the Half-Elf's lips and get a gist of what was happening.
A frown appeared on Byron's face when he realized that the Queen, and the other Antz were deathly afraid of the Beast that was nestled in William's arms.
"A Pangolin?" Byron muttered as he observed the creature up close. He had seen several of these Scaly Anteaters, but he had never seen one with scales that had the colors of the rainbow.
Byron's frown deepened when he saw William open a portal and ordered the Queen to send her subordinates inside it.
The Headmaster of the Academy watched for a little while longer, before he waved his hand to dispel the power of the spell.
"I knew it," Byron shook his head helplessly. "He's just like his grandfather. Both of them are bandits pretending to be saints."
Byron closed his eyes and pondered. He was thinking of a way to resolve this issue as peacefully as possible.
"Jophiel shouldn't have brought him to the island." Byron sighed. "I was also stupid for agreeing to his decision. We invited a fox inside our chicken coop."
The lighting on the cave disappeared, and Byron was engulfed in darkness. He decided to return to the academy, and discuss the matters with his Patron. Perhaps, the Goddess of the World would give him some advice on how to deal with the presumptuous Half-Elf, who was giving him a bad headache.
—–
"So, this is Hestia Academy," William eyed the gigantic castle in the distance.
William had seen many amazing things in the world, just like the Fortress of Avalon, but Hestia Academy even trumped the last bastion of humanity.
Built on top of a floating island, it was a floating fortress that was several miles long. Perhaps, the most imposing landmark of the castle was the Giant Sword that was embedded at its center. Even from afar, one could see its mighty visage.
From afar, the sword looked like it was made of white marble. However, after asking Celeste about it, the beautiful Elf only smiled and said that even she, who had been in the academy for many years, didn't know what kind of material was used to build the sword.
The only thing she knew was that, before the academy was even built, the giant sword had always been there, standing tall and proud for hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of years.
"Isn't it beautiful!" Chloee floated in front of William and puffed her chest proudly. She was acting like she was the one that made the sword, which made William shake his head helplessly.
Celeste made a gesture for everyone to follow behind her.
They had just arrived at the capital city of Orion, and it would still take half an hour to arrive at the academy gates using a special flying ship that was exclusively used by the professors and students of the academy.
"Professor Celeste, welcome back to the academy," a pretty lady wearing light-armor greeted Celeste with a smile. "Are these the lucky ones who passed the Entrance Exams that were held a few days ago?"
Celeste nodded her head and smiled. "Please, send us all to the academy."
"Understood." the pretty lady saluted and activated the crystal on her hand.
Immediately, a silver ship materialized out of thin air. It reminded William of those viking ships that he had seen in documentaries back on Earth.
"All aboard," Celeste ordered as she took the lead and boarded the ship that was floating a meter above the ground.
All the examinees followed behind Celeste with their eyes filled with excitement. The deck of the flying ship was quite spacious, and it could easily accommodate over a hundred people.
After everyone had boarded safely, Celeste waved her hand and the ship rose in the air. It flew straight towards the academy, and William felt a bit regretful that he didn't have a camera to take a commemorative photo of this magnificent view.
Several minutes later, the ship landed near the gate of the academy. Several students were looking at the ship with eager faces. However, after William took a good look at them, the students weren't looking at the academy's newest students, but at the beautiful Elf, who had a resigned expression on her face.
"Welcome back, Professor Celeste," a dashing young man shouted.
It was the spark that made the rest of the students cheer and call out to Celeste. Clearly, she was quite popular in the academy and her fans were not limited to boys. Even girls were looking at her with infatuated gazes.
Princess Sidonie smiled and stepped forward. She was feeling very competitive with Celeste because their Divinities were the complete opposite of each other. She wanted to show the beautiful Elf that she could easily turn her admirers into "her" admirers in the span of heartbeat.
However, before she could even enact her plan, she felt two strong arms wrap around her waist and hold her in place.
"Darling, what's wrong?" Princess Sidonie asked.
"I should be the one asking you that question, Morgana," William replied as he pulled the seductive girl to his chest. "What are you planning to do?"
"Just going to say hi to the students?"
"Uh-huh. Then why are you brimming with fighting spirit?"
Morgana smiled as she leaned her body on William's chest. "Why not? You already know that first impressions last. Don't tell me you are feeling jealous?"
"Yes, I am feeling jealous, so behave yourself. The only one that needs to look at you is me."
"… Fine."
Morgana could feel her heart melting because William had whispered these loving words in her ear. She had completely forgotten her plan to compete with Celeste for the affection of the students in the academy.
The seductress even felt ashamed of her pettiness. She was already married to William, so there was no need to compete with anyone. After thinking things through, Morgana decided to no longer antagonize Celeste.
After all, the beautiful Elf was destined to be forever alone because of her Divinity!
"Alright, show's over, now scram!" Chloee flew towards the students and raised her fist. "Anyone who is still here when I count to ten will receive a spanking. One… two… three."
The students scattered and ran away like wild ducks that had heard gunfire. All of them admired Celeste, so they were also very familiar with Chloee.
Aside from being called the Juggernaut, the students also called her the all-brawn-and-no-brains fairy. None wanted to be on the receiving end of her slaps, spanks, and punches.
The little familiar crossed her arms over her chest and snorted. Several students were infatuated with Celeste, and her role was to be the bodyguard that scared them away. Claire also stepped into this role when Chloee was doing expedition missions for the academy, but Claire wasn't as intimidating as her twin, so most of the students ignored her presence.
Just as William entered the academy gates, he heard a ringing sound in his ears. It was not a notification from the System, but the sound of a hand-held bell that seemed to be ringing right next to him.
William looked around, and even asked Optimus if it could hear the sound of bells ringing. But, the System said that it couldn't detect any sound that matches William's description.
The Half-Elf also asked his lovers, but all of them said that they were not hearing the sound of ringing bells.
Half a minute later, the ringing sound ended and everything returned back to normal.
William thought that he was just tired, and started to hear things, so he decided to put the weird incident at the back of his mind. He just followed behind Celeste towards the main hall where all of them would be briefed about the rules of the academy.
—–
On top of the hilt of the sword that was embedded at the center of the academy, a lady with otherworldly beauty stood. She was wearing white celestial clothes that fluttered in the breeze, and a handbell could be seen in her right hand.
She gazed at William with a calm expression on her face for two-full minutes before vanishing into particles of light.
—-
Located to the East, at the farthest corner of the academy, stood a shrine. No students were allowed to enter, and even the professors, with the exception of Celeste, and two others, were banned from entering its premises.
A sigh filled with helplessness echoed from the depths of the shrine.
It carried a sadness that would make anyone who heard it feel as if their hearts were about to break.
——
