Chapter 56: Time For The Truth


    ude and Hugh passed through the Academy grounds, walking over a hundred steps beyond the faculty building and arrived at their destination, which was the Second Elder''s residence.


    Senior Beldon was standing in front of the door and saw ude arriving and nodded his head with a smile, "Took a while didn''t you, junior brother ude?"


    ude lightly returned the greeting before taking a deep breath and looking around as he strode over to his Senior''s side. He could see that the rest of the disciples of the Flying Sword Faction had already arrived.


    "What is taking master so long? I can''t handle this! I need answers!" Ashley Winters, who was standing next to Esmond, cried out in frustration.


    "You have been standing here for literally five minutes. Can''t you be a little more patient?" Senior Beldon replied with an annoying look on his face.


    Ashley turned her head towards Senior Beldon and snapped in an angry tone, "Can you just stop acting like the ''nice guy'' for once? It''s making me sick! Or is it too hard for you to stop licking people''s boots?"


    "And you wonder why you don''t get a boyfriend.."


    "The hell did you say?" In the end, vulgar curses began to emerge from the youngdy''s mouth.


    The bickering would''ve continued, however..


    "Silence!"


    As soon as the voice of the Second Elder was heard, silence filled the space.


    "I cannot believe this. I ask you to arrive in front of my residence to brief you on an important topic concerning the future of the academy and the first thing I see is you two fighting like children! Shameful!" The Second Elder disyed a scornful expression at their silence before opening his mouth to speak again. "I expected more from the two of you."


    Ashley spoke with a difficult expression,"Forgive me, master. But Wilfred over here was trying to get under my skin with his snide remarks and I-"


    "I do not wish to hear your excuses!" Ashley shut her mouth hurriedly when she was interrupted by the Second Elder and bowed her head. "I apologize, master! I made a mistake!"


    Peng!


    At the same time, Senior Beldon kneeled on one leg and bowed his head, "I apologize for my actions, master. I assure you, it will not happen again!"


    "I''m honestly a bit disappointed in both of you..." The Second Elder sighed and shook his head a few times before continuing. "But I''ll forgive you for now. We have much more important matters to discuss, and it involves everyone''s safety and future."


    Kukukung


    With that, the Second Elder opened the doors to his residence, gesturing to his disciples to follow him.


    They all looked at each other for a brief second, before following the Second Elder into his home.


    Like thest time, they were led into a magnificent hall decoratedvishly with gold and jade. However, the difference from that time was the Second Elder''s attitude. Thest time the Flying Sword Faction had a meeting, the Second Elder was calm and quiet, releasing an aura of gentle friendliness. That aura of friendliness had now been reced by tension and anxiousness.


    The Second Elder headed to the chair in the center. He sat down in the chair that waspletely covered in leather and opened his mouth to speak, "As I''m sure most of you already know, the Royal Family has released important information that involves the future of the country of Argria and it''s citizens."


    The atmosphere in the room remained tense. Nobody dared to interrupt the Second Elder.


    With the attention of his disciples focused on him, the Second Elder spoke with a cold expression, "One day ago, the Royal Council deemed the King and the Queen unfit to be in a position of power, due to their failing health, and the position of King is to be passed on to Prince ke Bancroft, the only heir to the throne, who was raised in the city of Josenheim in secret."


    He focused on the group once again and continued, "The Royal Family revealed this information just mere days after the Prodigy Summit suicide bombing, and the academy has reason to believe that the timing of this reveal is more than a coincidence."


    "As you all already know, the academies and the Monarchy are not exactly on friendly terms. And throughout the years, the Monarchy has been desperately trying to gain control over the academies, but never seeded in doing so."


    The Second Elder tightly gripped the wooden arm of his chair, and the disciples could hear it slowly breaking. "However, for whatever reason, we feel that this time, it''s different. We fear that the Royal Family may be nning to end the conflict once and for all this time. Which is why I want you all to be vignt in theing days, for we expect an attack on the academy; perhaps even from the inside. I want you all to be safe, so keep an eye on your fellow members."


    As soon as the Second Elder finished speaking, the silence that was present in the room was immediately reced by the loud voices of the students, as if a storm exploded in the meeting room.


    "A-an attack?"


    "Do we seriously have to fight the Royal Family? I don''t know if I''m ready for that!"


    "I don''t know what to think...!"


    Everyone was shocked. They already knew that the academy and the Monarchy were enemies, but they surely weren''t expecting the two superpowers to fight directly as it''d only result in destruction. But to think they''ll have to take on the Royal Family


    The Second Elder studied the expressions of his disciples, as he thought about the Royal Family, and what they might''ve been nning by revealing the information about the secret heir.


    Most of the students in the academies didn''t have a good impression of the Royal Family. In fact, the majority of the poption weren''t fond of the Monarchy at all, especially King Hannibal and Queen Isabe, who were infamous among themoners. So much so that in the eyes of themoners, the Monarchy was, in fact, just the King and Queen.


    Compare that to the academies, which were beloved by almost everyone, and had an almost spotless reputation among the public. And not to mention the amount of cultivators they produce every year. In terms of power, they were clearly a threat to the Monarchy.


    The Royal Family were in desperate need of a change in reputation, while tainting the reputation of the academies in the process, which was exactly what the Prodigy Summit incident brought about. With the reveal of the secret heir and the dying King and Queen who intend to pass on their throne to their secret child, it would undoubtedly bring about a sense of relief and joy in the minds of themoners, who had been closely associating the bad reputation of the Monarchy with the infamous King and Queen.


    ''The End of the King and Queen means the end of tyranny. Except it''s not. But people will believe. Or at least, they''ll start to believe. After all, it brings hope. And hope is a dangerous thing.'' After thinking about it for a while, the way the Second Elder felt could be summarized with those words.


    But is that all?


    "Stop," All of a sudden, the Second Elder spoke and the atmosphere in the hall calmed down at once.


    "I hope that you all take my words seriously. Regardless of what you may feel about the Royal Family, you are now a student of the Golden Avarice Academy. And that means that you and the academy are bound together by fate. I hope you''ll understand your responsibility, and protect the academy in whatever way you can." The students nodded their heads at the Second Elder''s words.


    "Of course, this doesn''t mean that you''re all on your own. You will have the Elders and the Headmaster who''ll support you as well. But even though the Elder''s are extremely strong, we aren''t confident enough to protect each and every one of you," the Second Elder''s stiff face loosened a bit as he spoke. "As much as I would like to proim to everyone to blindly trust the Elders to protect the students, I''m afraid we aren''t capable of promising that. But I can promise you that I''ll fight for each and every one of you, even if that puts me in a disadvantageous position."


    As he finished his words, the Second Elder scanned the faces of his disciples and realized that they were all looking at him with respect in their eyes, and he smiled. With his words, the cold atmosphere of the room became a little warmer.


    "Master, I have a question!" A loud voice was heard, and the Second Elder turned his gaze in the direction the voice came from.


    The person who spoke was Esmond.


    "You can speak, Esmond."


    The Second Elder made a gesture to allow the message, and Esmond nodded his head.


    "You said that we have to be careful of the Royal Family, but not everyone in the academy has an enmity with them. Does this mean that if an attack does happen, we have to be careful of the students and the faculty as well?"