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Chapter 65: The Danger Lurking

"Hello everyone, I hope you've been well during these past months, for those who got chosen as knights of course. For the others like me, it has been a wonderful 2 months, going to studies learning new things, with the same people, having to see the empty seats of our classmates who got chosen... Even some E-rank have beautiful noble ladies... There were boys but maybe there are ulterior motives...""HM-HM!!!" Thomas coughed.

"Oh, yeah, let's get back to today's topic. I am Maxim, but for the ladies, Max, or Sir Max, or Sir M... Sounds like maso... And today we are reunited for the 3rd meeting of the student council, after the break. Allow me to introduce you to some special guests."

Maxim took a few steps stopped in front of Iris's table and curtsied.

"From the very first time, this year, we have the blessing of enthroning our wonderful princesses, the Queen in our heart, the symbol of grace and beauty, Lady Freya... and Cid, the unworthy."

Cid groaned in his seat while Freya ignored Maxim, just reading a book.

Maxim then turned towards Hope and Mercy's table and made another curtsy,

"Here, the space girl, strong and beautiful, don't be fooled by her cuteness, she can step on any of you... hehe... wouldn't mind... Lady Mercy... and Balder."

Mercy felt a shiver run down her spine and looked away, Hope sighed and checked the papers before him.

Maxim finally turned towards Iris and Thomas' table.

"And finally, the main event, best for last, ladies and gentlemen, the one considered by many to be the most beautiful girl in the kingdom, shining like the sun in the sky, our majesty, our future ruler, Princess Solaria!"

Next to Iris, a beautiful girl with bright yellow hair tied in a ponytail and fierce red eyes rearranged her hair, looking a little angry.

"Iris, when I said I expected to be treated differently, I didn't mean to feel worse."

"Hey, I'm here too!" Moonra added.

Iris laughed lightly and did her best to appease them. All this audience was gathered in the same room, a few weeks after their return to the academy.

As planned, each noble and their corresponding knight attempted their courses based on valor. The nobles were then also enrolled in the royal academy.

Maxim was holding the meeting and walked to a large blackboard on which several documents were pasted.

"Very well, dear people, as you all know, this meeting will not be related to the upcoming selection for the Holy Knights Tournament, but to a serious matter that has troubled the council for far too long: the case of E-Rank, Anesidora, or as I called it, E or C?"

A loud sigh escaped, and in the meantime, Dora and Zuri headed to the academy library. Zuri examined a vial filled with a disgusting translucent substance while Dora calmly surveyed their surroundings.

"Look, the witch and her toad are back."

Some students in the corner were laughing at them. Zuri ignored them, more interested in the contents of her vial, but without her noticing, Dora stopped his walk.

An insect shouldn't disrespect our belongings.

Back in the council room, Maxim took a long ruler and pointed it at a picture of Dora.

"Welcome to E or C, we are going to discuss this strange man who is a real enigma to the council. So for those who don't know, subject Anesidora is an E-rank emissary who had the worst result in the entry test, but later devastated so many people that we had to do an investigation to evaluate his real level.

Most of the council members watched intently, some took notes, while others, mostly from Lisa's group, read or counted their fingers.

Moonra looked at Dora's photo and frowned.

"Why does she look familiar?"

This startled Hope who jumped out of his seat.

"He! My prince, she's a he! Please don't make this mistake in front of him!"

He found himself being looked upon like a clown. Moonra seemed especially taken aback by Dora's gender, but Thomas quickly refocused his junior.

"Don't talk to the prince like that! Please forgive him, my prince, this one is a bit emotional."

"I know, I've met him before... Oh yeah, this was there that I'd seen this Dora... This bastard... he disrespected Freya."

Thomas and Maxim jumped, and a few voices rose behind them.

Freya looked up and Mercy nodded slightly.

"Okay then? You said it would be an important meeting, what's so special about him?" Solaria tapped her fingers on her table.

"Speaking of him, why isn't he on the council? I thought you recruited only strong people, Iris."

Freya looked indifferently at Iris who was smiling with excitement.

"I'm working on it, Lady Freya, please Maxim, continue."

Maxim spread his legs slightly to look more impressive and hit the board with his ruler.

"Very well, my Lady, as we said, subject Dora has accomplished a number of acts that lead us to do a study on him, and these acts revolve around beating the honor out of people. So we made a list of all these people and without further ado, victim number 1: Walter and his gang."

He tapped a picture of Walter on the board with his ruler.

"So this guy here is the biggest victim of all. For those who don't know, he applied to join the council several times, claiming to be a great noble, but we are only elite here, hehe, so we always rejected his offer. He is in the weakest class among the E-rank classes, but he was the very first to commit the taboo of challenging subject Anesidora."

At the same time, on Dora's side, a problematic event occurred.

Several angry students confronted him, the face of the student who mocked him and Zuri under his foot. The girl herself watched from a distance with smugness.

"You... How dare you... Who do you think you are?!"

Dora, looking a little confused, raised her head.

"You won't remember my name after I finish with you."

The next minute, several screams arose in the courtyard. Back in the council room, the annoyed faces had been replaced by intrigued faces, Maxim continued his speech by noting Dora's actions against several students of the academy, with his own vocabulary.

"But before talking about how this guy ended a whole career, I need to talk about how he defeated Hope, Yeah the Hope Balder."

Hope stood up, looking annoyed.

"Oi, don't bring me into this, I haven't fought him... after the entrance."

"Yes, you didn't, because this is exactly how he defeated you!"

"What?"

Maxim turned toward Moonra.

"I take you as a testimony, this Anesi dude walked toward Hope who challenged him, and his pure aura, his only presence was enough to convince Hope, the Balder boy, the brother of My glorious Lady Elizabeth, this guy who always seeks for battle, to forfeit! In front of Lady Freya!!!"

This time, some gazes turned towards Hope. He trembled slightly and took a glance at Mercy. When he saw her indifferent gaze, which meant that she wasn't even surprised, he walked towards Maxim.

"What's your problem, man? Do you need all these insinuating to explain your stupid thing? I know you have a problem with me!"

"No, I'm not interested in boys.... for my research! It's nothing personal, I hadn't even spoken about the D-rank hero who got humiliated so badly that he quit being an emissary."

"What?!" Lisa, until then silent, stood up.

Realizing her overreaction, she sat back down, coughing, but someone else stood up.

"What do you mean quit? What is this story?"

"It's in Balder's report, Prince, a D-rank hero, the strongest class, challenged subject Anesidora and was humiliated, I think Lady Mercy can take me on that."

Mercy looked disgusted by his choice of words, but when she saw Moonra's anxious look, she did her best to hide it.

"Well, like he said, t'was fight to determine the fate of a party, so Dora won and the other one quit, but he was the one who asked."

"Not only did he lose, but he was lucky to escape with only a broken spirit, his goon lost a few fingers." Freya added with a smile.

Hope became annoyed by the sudden hype from the ladies but then noticed the expressions on Moonra and Solaria's faces.

"How can he quit? Moth... The kingdom has asked all the emissaries to go on adventures, everyone! Is he crazy?!"

"Well, the report said he was acting a bit crazy, my princess Solaria."

"... Okay, does anyone else outside of the council know?"

Solaria turned to Freya and Mercy, who noticed her sudden change in attitude. Before they could mention Shining Sword, Lisa unknowingly spared them the trouble.

"Won't that Anesi guy talk about that? From what I understand, I can see the kind of guy he is, he'll definitely want to hurt that hero's ego."

Moonra stood up abruptly, sweating profusely.

"Thomas, take me to this guy quickly!"

"P-Prince?"

"Do as he says! We don't have time!" Solaria ran towards the door, surprising the council. She stopped and turned towards them.

"If word gets out that a healthy hero has decided to stop fighting... He will-"

"My God, your tongue is too wagging, princess."

The princess and her brother were startled as the door slowly opened. A figure appeared, unfamiliar to many but a haunting reminder for Hope, Mercy, and Freya of the day everything changed.

"My apologies for interrupting your meeting, but allow me to introduce myself. I am a maid serving the two heirs of the kingdom, Eryl, pleased to meet you."

She opened her eyes, glowing orange.

"But today, I will be my second affiliation, a messenger of gluttony."