《Skeptic Loyalties》 Prolouge It''s my girlfriend''s birthday today and our friends and I decided to throw a surprise party for her. We''ve be been planning this for a month now and frankly I''m jittery just thinking about it. ¡°Alright things are almost set up you better get going and bring her here. ¡± ¡°Gotcha¡± All this excitement in me makes me jog out the door eager to surprise her. I jump into the car and start driving towards our apartment. Little does everyone else know this party for her is really just a front, a distraction from the main event. I''m planning on proposing to her when she closes her eyes to make her wish. I''m going to turn the chair around and kneel. I still remember when we met at the self defense center we were both sixteen at the time. I had went there to learn martial arts because my little brother at the time had just started Tae kwon do. I didn''t want my little brother to be stronger than me. I''m glad I join even though my first impression wasn''t so great. Collapsing only 30 minutes into the lesson looked really bad in front of her. To make it worse not even 5 minutes after I fainted. I was so weak back then. When I came to I was leaned against the wall and beside me there she was. Back then if anyone else would mock me for fainting but nobody else was there it was almost closing time and she fell asleep beside me and honestly I think that''s when fell for her. After we had started to get to know each other and found out that we had a lot in common. Soon enough we started to date now its been 7 years. Going to that center had to be the best decision i have ever made in my life. Everyone there help me get through life as if they were my own family. I pull up to the apartment and prepare the blindfold. I opened the door and I hear a dish break in the kitchen. I walk over to check how the dish broke. I see Joanne standing there in her bath robe with the broken dish in front of her. ¡°Are you alright?!¡± Being the overprotective boyfriend I rush over to her. ¡°I''m fine. What are you doing home so early hon?¡±Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. As I''m about to answer her i remember that everyone is waiting at the party. ¡°I took the day off. More importantly come on get dressed we''re going somewhere.¡± ¡°Wait!¡± I run into the bedroom to get the ring hidden in my sock drawers. I find a man half naked trying to hide in my closet. ¡°Joanne what is this¡­...?¡± ¡°I can explain!!¡± ¡°Then go ahead¡­. Explain. ¡± She opens her mouth to say something but then shuts it slowly realizing that she can''t explain. I looked towards the closet. ¡°Get out.¡± Slowly this skinny guy steps out similar to my old body type. I guess Joanne¡¯s type hasn''t changed at all. He starts running and i waited until he was out of the house to start talking. The silence was deafening. ¡°So you still like skinny guys huh.¡± She stood there silent as ever i could tell she was trying to muster up some form speech as she open to say something and close it. ¡°There is a party at the center everyone is waiting. We¡¯ll talk about this later.¡± She give a small nod and starts getting dressed to go. I drive her there and drop her off. She turns to me after taking a step. ¡°I''m sorry¡± Slowly she walks away towards the center. Now what to do taking all those different martial arts has taught me to control my rage but that is not enough today. I drive to the park and walk to the benches to sit down. What happened was it something that I did that cause that or her. I''ve been loyal haven''t I. Just thinking about just makes me remember that guy. I hit myself in the leg just to stay calm. A couple hours passes and my phone starts to ring. I wonder who''s calling. Oh it''s my brother it''s probably about the party. ¡°Hello.¡± ¡°Hello Evan, we surprised Joanne and boy was she surprised. By the way where are you the party has already started without you.¡° ¡°Yeah i''m just in traffic after i went to pick something up.¡± ¡°Alright then, get here soon before we start drinking all the tequila.¡± The call cut out and i lean my head back to look at the sky. I been here so long it has gotten dark. I chuckled to myself and put in my best happy face. Walking over to car I wonder if I should act like normal. I turn my radio up and start to back out suddenly police siren sounds begin getting louder thanks to me blasting the radio i didn''t hear it till the last moment and a truck at 80 km/h crashes into me. The black. Nothing¡­.. I guess there is no such thing as heaven. I wish I hadn''t wasted so much of life. I wish i could learn more from all the senseis at the center. I wish people could be more loyal. Your wish is granted. Young wise soul. A bright shines and I feel myself floating towards it as I lose conscious. 1.Before and after ~Lafel mansion~ ~Artorius~ Throughout the mansion people were yelling running around like chickens without heads. ¡°Hurry get the hot water to the mistress''s room right away!¡± ¡°Here are the towels you asked for.¡± ¡°You''re too slow!¡± Charles is really fired up and it''s not even his wife giving birth. Loud screams and grunts are echoing down the hallway. The intervals are getting shorter. It''s coming soon the babyis coming. Suddenly someone grabs my hand and out of reflex I flick it away. ¡°What are you doing master you should be in the room with your with wife?!¡± Without being given time to respond I''m being pulled down the hall. I''m so nervous¡­ wait nervous. No that''s not what I''m feeling right now. Excited. Ahhhghhhaa! I don''t know what i''m feeling! " Dear, please come here." My wife gestures for me to come to her. ¡°Give me your hand.¡± Hesitantly I stick out my hand for my wife to grab. I would find out later that unimaginable pain would so follow. Now for the next 3 hours there were two people screaming. . . . . . . . . . It was a long 3 hours. Everyone in this room was panting trying to grasp for air. Though in the centre of it all was a black haired baby boy being cradled by her mother with the same colour hair. I would find this sight beautiful enough to bring a tear to my eye but right now I was crying for a different reason. Why did I give her my hand she is strong enough when she is calm. Her strength just then was straight up brutish.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. ¡°What should we name him Alphons?.¡± ¡°Well I want to name hi------¡± ¡°Where is my is my grandson!¡± ~In a different dimension~ A few hour earlier* ~Me~ A strange feeling washed over me. It was warm and cold at the same. Im sitting alone in a white room. Notice that even though i''m sitting i can''t see the ground. Cautiously putting my hand on the ground to prop myself up due to the lack of floor something In the distance catches my eye. Is that a door? Slowly descending it landed right in front of me. Not having much choice in the matter I open the door revealing a room similar to those of the ancient version of an assembly hall for politicians filled with strange individuals. If I had to point out it those who stood out it be the three at the front of everyone. ¡°Alright now servicing soul #35689754.¡± Suddenly I''m stammering forwards losing my balance when I feel something push from behind. Turning around to see what cause the spontaneous shove only to find that nothing was there. The shoving continues till I am in front of the the individuals that I noticed before. ¡°Soul #35689754 you wanted people to be loyal to you right?¡± Not knowing how to respond to the long bearded man and I answer the question. ¡°Yes but wha--¡± ¡°Does that you want the ability to force people to swear loyalty to you?¡± ¡°No! Can you wai--¡± This conversation is moving too fast I don''t think this can even qualify as a conversation. ¡°So that wish is cancelled. Next you wished you hadn¡¯t wasted so much of your previous life. I will just give you faster learning capabilities.¡± Oh I give up clearly they won''t bother to listen to me. ¡°Last one huh normally humans have more regrets. Wanted to learn more from your teachers?¡± ¡°pssst!¡± A lady dressed like a secretary taps her wrist impatiently with a angry look on her face. ¡°Okay I''ll do this erase all your memories leaving only your skills and add those that you would have learned in the future. NEXT!¡± Before I could rebut. Another bright light shines in my eyes. ~Lafel mansion~ ~Artorius~ Grandfather just burst through the door in such a grandiose manner that he almost gets the tired maids to react. I sigh remembering all my past encounters with him. ¡°Father why are you here? Aren''t you suppose to be at a meeting with the emperor!¡± Garrett is my father in law and one of the three advisors to the emperor. Every emperor grows up with their advisors to insure that there is absolute trust among the leaders of the empire. ¡°I know that the emperor trust you, but you''re in charge of his guards for today''s international summit with all the territories.¡± ¡°Ahh pish posh unlike you I am capable. Besides it isn''t everyday that you become a granddaddy.¡± I don''t quite agree with his thinking but he is quite stubborn so it is useless to try to change his mind. ¡°Well we are in the middle of naming this child, father do you have a name?¡± He crosses his arms, closes up his eyes, tilts his head and begins to think of names. ¡°hmmmmmmm¡­¡­.¡± . . . . . . . . . . The room turns silent again. I guess I''ll toss names out to see how my wife Vanessa likes any of them. ¡°How about Vale?¡± ¡°¡±No¡±¡± They both of them simultaneously reject my idea. She really is his daughter strong and stubborn. Finally finished with his unnecessarily long ponder session Garrett smack fist into hand and opens his eyes. ¡°I got the perfect name, Luno.¡± I have to agree that isn''t as bad as thought it would be. Not like arguing with him would any good with him. ¡° I like it. Hello there Luno.¡± My wife seemed to agree with him. She plays with Luno¡¯s his nose and he respond with little cry. Looking at Vanessa and Luno I''m filled with happiness. I look to Vanessa. ¡°I love you.¡± She turns her head to me. ¡°I love you too.¡± 2. Five Years ¡°The three advisor to the emperor each handle different responsibilities and hold different titles. The advisor that handles the tactics of battle and defence of the kingdom is known commonly as the militaris, The advisor that handles the relations with other kingdom and furthermore nationwide economy holds the title of the affinitas. The last advisor is the right-hand man to the Emperor and is equal in power. The advisor and Emperor must both agree together in order to make any major decisions.¡± - Genum Verum The 31st Emperor of Verum ~Lafel mansion~ ~Artorius~ It has been one year since Luno was born, though unlike children his age he and he is already speaking. Vanessa and I were surprised when our 5-month-old said mum but nobody teaches you to be a parent so we thought of this as normal and he is able to hold a proper conversation with most adults. Right now I''m working in the office organizing our merchant¡¯s trade routes through the Guild. Looking over to Luno who is reading a book in the corner, I thought my child would be more attached to me ¡°*sigh*¡±. . . . Wait Is he reading!? I look back and he is staring at the book with extreme concentration. Is that normal? I''m curious is he actually reading? Slowly creeping on Luno trying not to break his concentration, I try to adjust my head to see what he is reading. Now I''m standing above him he still hasn¡¯t noticed me. ¡°Luno what are you doing?¡± Luno jumps a little surprised at my question, I guess he was really concentrating or really was daydreaming. ¡°What is it, dad? I''m reading.¡± ¡°Who taught you to read?¡± ¡°Did you forget dad you and mom taught me.¡± Luno gives me a confused look as if I asked him a simple question that I should know the answer to. Vanessa and I haven¡¯t taught Luno how to read yet, the only thing close to reading we did with him is read him stories to go to bed. ¡°Luno did you perhaps, learn to read the stories we read to you?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± He tilts his head and continuing to give me a confused look. ¡°Okay then continue, I''m going back to work now.¡± ~Lafel mansion~ ~Luno~ Looking back to my book I try to process what just happened. I don¡¯t really understand. Am I different from other kids? Well, I can¡¯t really compare since I haven¡¯t met any other kids. Judging from my dad¡¯s reactions from when I first spoke and now, I''m guessing that I''m not normal. Well, I can¡¯t really help it, I just understand things really quick. Now concentrating back on my book I continue where I left off.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. The empire of Verum was founded by Ludicium Verum the first emperor. The Empire started out as a fair sized kingdom, controlling the northern half of the central continent. While the kingdom to the south, Ryukoku controlled the other half of the central continent. During this time both kingdoms had conflicting ideologies causing tension between the two kingdoms. The constant tension eventually erupted into a war that lasted 200 years during that time technologies were lost and rediscovered. Nearing the end of the war the Kingdom of Ryukoku capital had been annexed forcing them to surrender. Now the citizens of the former kingdom.are treated as second class. ¡°Master it''s time for dinner.¡± ¡°Thank you Emi, tell my wife I will be right there?¡± ¡°Yes, Master.¡± Emi our maid gives a small bow and leaves the room. ¡°Come on Luno it¡¯s time to eat.¡± I closed my book and my dad and I walk towards the dining room. ~Lafel mansion~ ~Artorius~ ¡°Happy birthday Luno!¡± We had jumped out from behind the dining room table and surprised Luno. Which was not easy, unlike other kids he basically had no flaws besides from his aura of superiority that he gave off. Every single person in the mansion had to carefully get everything ready for the surprise party. At one point Luno had thought that there were thieves sneaking into the house and booby trapped his whole room. ¡°Oh, so that''s why!¡± Soon a big smile appears on his face. I can¡¯t believe it''s been five years, I still remember the day he was born it feels like it was yesterday. Is this what feeling old feels like? I watch as Luno talks to his grandfather Garrett and starts laughing at his grandfather¡¯s crazy behaviours. I feel a big smile form on my face. ~Lafel mansion~ ~Garrett~ Oh, how the young have grown. I feel proud to be his grandfather, Though even I didn¡¯t expect him to be a genius. I am confident in my family lineage but who knew that someone like this would be born into our family. I tell Luno a joke from school days and he laughs hysterically. ¡°And and just as he steps back, he steps onto a sheet of ice slipping. He grabs onto his crush¡¯s pants and pulls it down. ¡± After he finishes laughing he wipes a tear from his face with the biggest smile on the face. ¡°Hey, Grandpa what happened after?¡± ¡°Well, of course, his crush and her friends had knocked the living daylights out of him, but you know they are married now.¡± ¡°Who is this guy I have to know?¡± I look around to make sure nobody else is listening. I put my finger to lip. ¡°You can¡¯t tell anyone, promise?¡± ¡°I won¡¯t, just tell me already!¡± ¡°He is actually one three advisors to the emperor, Axel.¡± ¡°No way!?¡± ¡°He would kill me if he knew I told you.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry I won¡¯t tell anyone. Grandpa, you sure have crazy school stories. ¡± ¡°Speaking of school, I haven¡¯t given you your present yet, have I?¡± I pull out a letter from my breast pocket. I have to thank Genum again for this. Placing the letter in his hands. ¡°What is this grandpa?¡± ¡°Just open it and read.¡± He gestures a servant to come over, and ask them to get him a letter opener. When they return he immediately opens the letter and begins to read. ~Lafel mansion~ ~Luno~ Dear, Luno Lafel I cordially invite you to join us next month at the Royal Academy. I have heard many great things from your grandfather, from you excellent intellect, to your etiquette that rivals most nobles of our empire. It is an honour to have such an intelligent and bright student among the campus. If you wish to join us then please send a letter of acceptance to the admissions board. You must send a letter and have it arrive a month before the start of the school year. Sincerely, Havel Shield 3. (Un)Lucky ¡°After the fall of the Ryukoku Kingdom, their citizens were heavily discriminated. Though since hundreds of years have passed people have mostly moved past their differences. However, there are still many nobles who refuse to give up old prejudices and their status as the second class hasn¡¯t really improved much. ¡± -Random Citizen ~Lafel mansion~ ~Luno~ I really don¡¯t see the need to go to school. I guess it is better for me to interact with kids my age. I got to thank grandpa first. ¡°Thank you, grandpa!¡± ¡°You''re welcome Luno. Remember to send the letter or better yet write one tonight and when I leave tomorrow I¡¯ll bring it myself.¡± Isn¡¯t this a decision that I should make with my parents? ¡°I¡¯ll write it after the party. It seems like a big decision considering that I don¡¯t really need school.¡± ¡°I guess you¡¯re right Luno. Let''s just enjoy the party.¡± Then for the rest of the night, I enjoyed the party, though halfway through it, my dad and some other merchants got drunk, and my mom had to drag him to bed. Towards the end of the party, I decided to go to bed. The morning after the mess that the everyone made at the party was nowhere to be seen. I guess the maids and butlers took care of it. Still yawning I made my way to the kitchen to ask one of the staff to make some breakfast. When I enter the kitchen, I see Emi talking with the cook Simon. ¡°*Yawn*, Good morning Emi, Simon. ¡± ¡°¡±Good morning young master.¡±¡± ¡°Can you make some breakfast please?¡± ¡°Coming right up, young master. Please go wait in the dining room.¡± ¡°Alright. *Yawn*¡± Even after all these years something about being called young Master still doesn''t sit well with me. Waiting for Emi to bring my food, I shut my eyes and plant my face onto the table. Ten minutes later I hear the door open l check to see if its Emi with my food but instead It¡¯s my dad alongside with my grandpa, and mother. ¡°Good morning grandpa, father, mother. Are you here for breakfast?¡± ¡°Well that is part of the reason.¡± my dad¡¯s face is more of serious mood rather than his usual playful face They take a seat next to me ~Royal Academy~ ~Luno~ From what I gathered from my grandpa¡¯s stories from his school days. The school is full of funny moments and where you meet your future partner in life. Well, it''s the exact opposite of that I didn¡¯t know kids would be like this. Kids are screaming and running about left and right. How barbaric. Looking around I count the number of students in the room. 14 boys and 7 girls. In the room, there are long tables that extend to the walls with the ranks of tables for the students a little elevated facing a giant chalkboard. Calmly I walk over to a seat right near the back centre nearest to the split in the middle. Across from the split, I see a black haired boy. He has a skinny build and his eyes are a deep black with a dark and brooding aura. The complete opposite to my blond hair and grey eyes and superior aura. My eyes wander away to the entrance of the classroom and I spot a man in his late forties enter the room. He walks over to the podium at the front and slams a ruler down and shocks almost everyone in the class, the class becomes silent as a result of this.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°If this was any other school I would not have cared, but this is the Royal Academy the most prestigious school in all of the Empire. Hurry up and take you seats!.¡± Kids that were still running around were panicked and scrambled to find seats that were close to their friends. ¡°My name is Derek Fae. You may call me Mr Fae Now you guys will spend a whole year together before you are separated by academic ability. Everyone introduce yourselves. ¡± At this point, I blank out till the end of the introductions. ¡°Greetings everyone. I''m the crown prince of the empire Silas Verum. I hope to get along with everyone.¡± Everyone starts whispering. ¡°A prince, so cool.¡± ¡°Better get close to him.¡± ¡°Gotta be friends with!¡± I guess if you go to school meant for the elite then you obviously get kids with similar goals in mind. The next person up is the black hair boy next to me. ¡°My name is Shinzo Ryo, the first name is Ryo and family name is Shinzo. I hope we get along.¡± ¡°Eew a Ryuu.¡± ¡°Gotta stay away from him.¡± Slanders and insults were all I heard from the rest of the students. ¡°Now last one at the back.¡± I guess he means me. Like dad said, normal. ¡°Hello, my name is Luno Lafel. I hope to get along with everyone.¡± Good nice and normal. ¡°Alright now that everyone has introduced themselves. Let¡¯s two students to appoint as classroom reps.¡± ¡°If it¡¯s alright with you Mr.Fae. can I nominate two people?¡± ¡°Sure why not. Who do you suggest?¡± ¡°I¡¯d like to nominate Luno and Ryo.¡± People started to whisper again. These people really like to talk quietly. ¡°If nobody else has any suggestion. I guess you two will have to do. Let¡¯s start class.¡± What about my opinion? This situation seems strangely familiar. *After Class Whats with these lessons, they¡¯re so freaking easy. I almost fell asleep after finishing the assignment in 8 minutes. So I just sat there until the whole class was done. Some of them were really struggling, especially Ryo. He kept scratching head and sighing. The bell tower rang signalling the end of class. ¡°Alright recess, everyone.¡± As soon as Mr Fae says that almost all the students flock towards the prince. What a bunch of suck ups. Wait¡­ I''m supposed to do that too. Getting up from my seat I started to walk into the sea of people. ¡°Ah, right you two.¡± he points to me and Ryo. ¡°I need you two to help me prepare for the next lesson. Down the hall is the library, go get math textbooks¡± ¡°Alright.¡± ¡°......¡± It seems like Ryo is the silent type. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± He trailed slowly behind me, a good distance away. ¡°What are you a stalker, hurry up.¡± His pace quickens, shortly catching up to me. Now at the library, we ask where the math textbooks are and find them fairly quickly. ¡°I¡¯ll carry them back.¡± Finally, he speaks. ¡°There are too many for you I¡¯ll carry half.¡± I try to take a stack away from him, but he jerks it away from my hands. ¡°Look you seem like a nice guy, but you probably don¡¯t want to get involved with me. The only reason I''m here is that I''m a bastard child so I don¡¯t have any connections to offer if you befriend me.¡± ¡°That came out of nowhere.¡± ¡°It¡¯s better that way. Treat me like shit it¡¯s how everyone else will.¡± ¡°Shut up, and give me the textbooks. I¡¯ll do what I want and nobody else will tell me no.¡± I see the faintest hint of a smile on his face. We walk out of the library and towards the classroom. Before we open the door we hear our names in coming from the classroom. ¡°By the way why did you nominate Luno and the Ryu kid, Silas¡± ¡°Why? Well because they are complete opposites. I thought it would be interesting. Don¡¯t you agree with me, everyone?¡± ¡°Yeah, that would be interesting.¡± ¡°It probably is funny as hell.¡± Laughter fills the room. ¡°What a dick.¡± ¡°What a dick.¡± We simultaneously say that under our breaths. A small chuckle between us follows. Maybe this will be interesting. 4. Incident and Fight ¡°People of this world are born with a mystical energy in their body called aura. There are three different ways to utilize this energy. Aura can increase your strength, speed and defence. However, this does not mean everyone can use aura equally. Some people are born with certain deposition towards certain attributes of aura. Some can increase their strength further, some run faster and some can become as hard as iron.¡± -Soldier of the Royal army ~Royal Academy~ ~Luno~ Once the laughing in the classroom was finished, Ryo and I walked in. Returning to our seats I waited until the bell rings signalling the start of class. Not much happened during this class, again the assignments were too easy. At this point in order not to stand out, I think I¡¯ll lower my mark. Like last time Ryo had a difficult time with the assignment. Then the bell rang. ¡°Alright, everyone is dismissed.¡± Everyone follows the prince out the classroom towards the cafeteria, laughing on the way. The only people left in the classroom are Ryo and me. ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to the cafeteria?¡± ¡°What about you?¡± ¡°I have my own lunch.¡± Ryo then pulls out a small box with a homemade lunch inside. ¡°That doesn¡¯t look like enough.¡± ¡°Shut up, it''s what I have.¡± I don¡¯t know why but I sat there for a couple of minutes watching him eat. ¡°Hold on I be right back.¡± He doesn¡¯t say or even look at me when I leave the room walking towards the cafeteria. I order a salad and a steak set from the lady making the food.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡°Wow, you must be a big eater to order two sets.¡± ¡°I guess you could say that.¡± Carrying the trays back in a butler like fashion. I return to the classroom and place the steak tray in front of him and sit in my own seat. ¡°What is this?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a steak.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Just think of it as a favour.¡± We don¡¯t say anything for the rest of the meal. He wolfs down the meal in the half the time I finish mine. I see a small smile appear for a split second out of the corner of my eye as he finishes the steak. ¡°Oh, this is where you were you bastard.¡± Suddenly a group of blond hair kids walk into the class. The kids look only couple of years older than me, maybe 7 years old. Immediately Ryo head looks towards the ground and doesn''t come back up. The kids surround him then started poking at him and pushing him. ¡°See I told you he can¡¯t do anything.¡± They continue to harass him and slowly escalates to punches. The guy who looks like the leader pulls his arm back preparing to punch. ¡°That''s enough. ¡° I grab his arm and pull it away before he could. ¡°What are you doing? Are you defending him?¡± ¡°No I just really like you, and I want to hold your hand.¡± ¡°Let go! do you know who I am? I am William Sterling. Who are you to stop me?¡± ¡°I¡¯m just a son of a merchant. Like I said I just want to hold your hand. Maybe we could go out.¡± I take his hand forcing him to stroke my cheek. ¡°You impudent little brat!¡± He swings his free hand back towards me and instinctively I duck under and twisting my body with my punch hits just below his right side of his ribcage. After receiving my punch, he hunches over holding himself. He tries to say something, but can¡¯t. ¡°You¡¯ll pay for this. Get him!¡± All the rest of the kids start to swing at me. My body started to move on its own. Ducking under wide swings and slipping past straight punches, then delivering quick punches to vital body parts. All of them are now hunched over. ¡°What did you do!?¡± ¡°I hit them.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t understand, my mom and I will be thrown out onto the street, they will hunt my family down to the world¡¯s end.¡± ¡°You fools.¡± That William guy had seemed to recover. ¡°Do you not know who my father is?¡± ¡°No idea.¡± Shit is he from a super powerful family. ¡°My father is a direct subordinate to the Lafel merchant company. If I ask my dad then you won¡¯t be able to do any business anymore¡± The room goes silent for a moment. Till I start to laugh hysterically. ¡°Oh, this is really just too much.¡± ¡°What are you laughing about?¡± ¡°Oh if you knew. By the way, I never did introduce myself. My name is Luno Lafel, son of Artorias Lafel current head of the Lafel merchant company.¡± I do a little bow as etiquette dictates. ¡°.....WHATTTTT!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry I won¡¯t do anything¡­. Yet.¡± ¡°I''m sorry please forgive me! I¡¯ll do anything¡± He is surprisingly obedient now. I have an interesting toy now. ¡°For now just leave and never speak a word to anyone.¡± ¡°Okay, we¡¯ll leave. Come, one everyone.¡± Will and his hoodlums left classroom quietly. 5. Different, and Proving Oneself ¡°In the past, there was discord between the Ryuu and the people of Verum, the cause of some of the conflicts can be attributed to the difference in culture, where the Ryuus were prideful and stubborn in nature. However as prideful as they were, they balanced it out with their absolute loyalty to anyone they determined worthy of their respect.¡± -Historian as Royal Academy ~Royal Academy~ ~Luno~ It¡¯s has been a couple days since the incident at lunch. I took the opportunity to place myself beside Ryo shielding him from any further harassment. Despite helping him he has yet to talk after the incident. I guess he¡¯ll talk when he is ready. Whispers and rumours started to float around, of course, I didn¡¯t listen to any of them. However, Ryo was clearly getting irritated the longer it went on. The peak of that irritation happened at lunch where we were in the classroom still. With the usual expensive lunches from the Cafeteria. ¡°Why are you doing this?¡± He quietly whispered under his breath ¡°Hmmm? What you say?¡± ¡°Why are you helping me? You should have reasons, right? Oh, I get it you just want to use me like all the other nobles. Well, I got another thing coming to you bud I ain¡¯t going to be your servant!¡± ¡°.....¡± ¡°Well!¡± ¡°I did say that you owe me a favour, but I never said that I wanted a servant.¡± ¡°I know you nobles, you think that you own the whole world till you meet someone with a higher status you bow head like dogs. I fucking hate those kinds of people! You probably aren¡¯t better.¡± ¡°.... I won¡¯t say that I understand you.¡± ¡°Then stay away from me.¡± ¡°But I can say that I understand why you think like this because I think the same way.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°The world is filled with those kinds of people. I have had more exposure to those kinds of people than you did so I know what kind of people you are talking about, and I want you to know that I am different.¡± ¡°Why should I believe you?¡± Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Judging by your response you won¡¯t believe me even if I kept saying it. Fine, we should have Physical education next. I will show you why you should believe me.¡± ~Royal Academy~ ~Ryo~ What can he do? I thought he was different from the others. When he stood up for me I was happy, but I realized that like all the other nobles I met, he used his family¡¯s power to control those with a lower position than him. Who¡¯s to say that he won¡¯t use that power to threaten me to comply with his whims. Though when we became class representative, a part of me doesn¡¯t think that he would do that though. Let''s just wait and see. ~Royal Academy~ ~Luno~ ¡°Alright guys let¡¯s get started, everyone today''s is the preliminary physical exam. Where the school determines where everyone fitness is at and how to proceed with each class. We start with¡­.¡± Zoning out of what the teacher was saying, I began thinking about how to prove myself to Ryo. Though it¡¯s kind of hard when the person in question shooting lasers into the back of, just focus. All the nobles he has met have been the rare kind that you don¡¯t see every day. I just need to prove that I don¡¯t care about who has more power than who. By showing that I''m superior to all the other kids regardless of status. Ryo is far more interesting than the other kids and I rather not be on the bad side of the person who I¡¯m going to be seeing a lot more of. ¡°... and we will finish off with a 1 km run.¡± That¡¯s how I will do it. -------------------------- ¡°Now that everyone is rested and ready to go. We start with the first lineup with Silas, Ryo, Lucas, and Luno.¡± This is perfect who better to show up than the future emperor himself. How am I going to approach this? Beating him should be the main goal, and if that isn¡¯t enough to convince him next is shit talking, and if that isn¡¯t enough, taunting is another way. I Ready up at the starting line give a brief glance at Ryo, and he still staring at me. Damn dude at least be subtle about it. I''m pretty sure the whole class has noticed you staring at me. ¡°Ready.¡± Should I just trip him, no that would be a dick move. ¡°Set¡± Sticking with plan A would be best. ¡°Go!¡± Off we go. I know I said that I would beat him, but¡­ The prince is fast as fuck. He is already 10 meters in front of me. Holy shit Ryo is right behind him¡­. And his still looking at me. Dude turn around. There goes my pacing. Well, my only choice is now sprinting to keep up. Now Plan B shit talking. ¡°Well, how''s a going there?*huff* Your majesty.¡± I do the best courteous bow I could do while running. It probably looked like it nothing like I imagined. ¡°Know your place! Get away from Lord Silas!¡± What¡¯s his name.. Ah Lucas came running from behind me.¡±You lowly merchant. Your nothing but a pebble beneath the great Silas feet!¡± Wait I''m getting shit talked to. No its supposed to be the other way around. ¡°Well if it isn¡¯t dickless follower number one. What brings you here.¡± ¡°How vulgar. Is that how you speak in the presence of royalty.¡± ¡°No this is how I talk to everyone, but if his majesty is looking for a special type of speech. I''d be honoured to do so.¡± I clear my throat for effect. ¡°Would you excuse me for my fucking language. This cunt for a face so rudely interrupted my greeting and I became slightly irritated.¡± ¡°You Cretin, you will pay for rude behaviour.¡± We exchanged insults back and forth almost to the end of the run, till we were both barely breathing. During this entire exchange, Silas and Ryo were trying their best not to burst out laughing. Only 200 meters left. Thanks to dick I¡¯m out of breath, well it¡¯s partly my fault for provoking him, but to be fair those were aimed at the prince. ~Royal Academy~ ~Ryo~ Is he an idiot? What is he thinking? While at the same time, Luno¡¯s comebacks are brilliant as hell. I can see that the prince is trying to keep himself from laughing as well. I can see now that he isn¡¯t the same as all the other nobles and sure isn¡¯t better though. He proved his point, I better apologized to him after this. ~Royal Academy~ ~Third Person~ As all the four them ran to the end of the 1 km. Luno still trying to prove the Ryo that he was different was far behind Ryo and Silas just 100 meters from the finish line. Lucas who was exhausted was still berating Luno for his behaviour. Luno looked like he was about to collapse, struggling to run with each step being heavier than the last. When suddenly a faint glow could be seen covering the entirety of his body. Lucas who was right beside exclaimed.¡±What?¡± Nobody saw what happened next all that everyone saw was a flash and Luno was a the finish line.