Such words made many who heard them choke on whatever they had in their mouths; several coughing sounds were heard after this.


    ''Sophia Murphy invited him to the Graduation Ceremony! This guy has a really good status; otherwise, he wouldn''t be able to befriend such a big woman!'' Everyone was in shock, but among those, one of the registrars frowned and suddenly stood up.


    "Ohh, so you''re Mr. Matthew! Miss Sophia thinks very highly of you; she had even asked me for information before!" He spoke. He was a normal-looking man who appeared to be in histe 60''s; he looked somewhat kind.


    His husky voice made many turn around, including Matt and I.


    "Old Rox?" I asked suddenly, recognizing him.


    He looked at I for a moment, and his eyes sparkled. "I see! That''s why I thought the name was familiar to me, Miss I. You seem to be doing well," he said, approaching them both.


    "You are?" Matt asked.


    I answered, "Matt, he''s one of the Murphy Family servants; we all call him Old Rox."


    Matt nodded. "I see; nice to meet you, Mr. Rox." Matt replied, and Rox smiled sheepishly.


    "That''s okay, Mr. Matthew. Nice to meet you, although I had seen you in Miss Sophia''s yard before. Are youing for the registration? If you like, I can make it quicker. It usually takes a while to register, but since it''s you, you can go ahead and leave the papers with me.


    I will look for youter and grant you everything you need. Just take these tokens with you." He said and granted them high-level student tokens.


    Matt passed along what he needed as well.


    "Mr. Matthew, Miss I, congrattions on how far you havee. I hope you understand when my Miss acts arrogant, the reality is she''s a good girl." He said with a kind smile.


    This person''s kindness and good manners made it clear that he cared about Sophia and respected Matt and I. The first impression was quite good, so Matt had to give him several points for it, even though they had just started talking.


    But after that, the three of them walked to another ce to talk, leaving the ce in a deep silence, which was broken when Rox and Matt walked out of sight of both of them.


    Suddenly, everyone was talking about Sophia''s possible rtionship with this guy, although they were sure there would be no fuss, as Rox mentioned that she wanted Matt to be investigated. That meant they didn''t know each other.


    But, the thing is, rumors when they spread, end up twisting things. So, soon, a strange rumor would be circting the streets, and it would epass the two sensations of the moment - Matthew Dietrich, arguably the top student at the current Academy after Sophia Murphy''s departure. And thetter, who is expected to have a huge increase in power when she graduates.


    .


    Still, these were rumors Matt wouldn''t mind.


    After talking with Mr. Rox for a while, Matt and I finally entered the Academy. They were led by a teacher on duty.


    The professor showed them where they would be sleeping in the meantime and then gave them an introduction to the Academy.


    It must be said that Matt did not really know the Academy. The difference between what he had seen and what it really looked like was quiterge.


    Perhaps the architecture was already familiar to him, but at that time, he hadn''t seen the appeal of this academy town.


    Besides beingrge, it had beautiful buildings everywhere. But it looked deste.


    ''I guess all the students are getting ready for tomorrow.'' Matt thought, and after walking for a while, the professor who was guiding them had to turn back.


    So Matt and I stayed here, looking around.


    As they walked they found a square, which had a few students scattered around.


    When Matt arrived there, he saw a familiar face, so he approached.


    He was a man and didn''t look very old, although he was obviously older than Matt.


    He was sitting on one of the benches in the square, eating a loaf of stale bread. He looked a little haggard, but he wasn''t a very familiar face or someone easy to recognize.


    If Matt hadn''t fought with him in the past, he''d think he was just some random person.


    But when he walked up to him and saw him like this, he wondered, what the hell must have happened to this arrogant kid?


    "Eliot Roberts. You seem to have changed a lot sincest time." Matt said, ring at him.


    He was that young man he faced in the finals of the School Tournament he participated in when he had barely enrolled in the Academy.


    Eliot looked up in annoyance at hearing such a rxed and indifferent tone of voice. "What''s the matter? You''re not happy with everything you''ve done; you want to take the piece of dry bread from me, too?" He asked, with clear annoyance.


    But when he saw whose face was speaking to him, he was stunned and stood up abruptly.


    "Matthew Dietrich!" he said, in shock. He even took a few steps back but tripped over the seat and fell over it sitting up.


    Still, he never took his eyes off Matt.


    How could he not remember him? This was the guy who had beaten him in the finals despite having less power than him!


    A person who had left a deep impression on him and whom, once upon a time, he longed to take revenge for that embarrassment he had put him through.


    But right now, there didn''t seem to be any of that left on his face. He didn''t even look arrogant.


    Rather, he looked disconste.


    Matt smiled, "You still seem to remember me. I can tell you''ve changed, though. What the hell are you doing eating such stale bread? I can see it''s in bad shape already," Matt said.


    Eliot took this as a taunt, so he let out a snort with his mouth and looked away after taking a bite of the piece of bread. "Hmph, what do you care? I''ll eat what I want to eat. Anyway, the food here is absurdly expensive for me." He replied. His annoyed tone of voice interested Matt.


    He stepped forward and sat to the side, pulling I to sit next to him.


    "I can see you''ve been through some hardships. And I know why you went through them; I always knew your end might be this. But I am curious about one thing. At that time, Harry Brown belonged to a traitorous organization, and you were mixed up with him. I''m even almost sure you were part of it, because I could feel a strange aura about you, which Iter realized was the aura of that little dagger.


    But now I don''t feel that dagger in you anymore; what''s going on?" Matt asked curiously.


    His words made Eliot Roberts shiver with fear. All the hairs on his body suddenly stood up, and his heart began to beat vehemently.