Mila's eyes widened at Alexei's words. She opened her mouth, ready to voice her thoughts, but at the last moment stopped. Her attention shifted to where Sasha was now looking. A corner of her mouth twitched into a sneer. "I guess we were overreacting. The person walking towards us is just a group of humans. One is just a woman with white or silvery hair. Though, I'm impressed with her height for a human." Her words paused before continuing, "But for some reason, the Lady Knight is with this group."
Alexei's ears flickered at learning about the presence of the Lady Knight.
Slowly getting up, Alexei didn't enjoy the idea that the Student Council was somehow involved. While none of the members had acted with hostility towards beast people, a few didn't bother to hide their thoughts about how they viewed human and nonhuman relations and merely tolerated the presence for their own selfish interests.
It was easy to spot the Lady Knight due to how she was always clad in armor. She exuded the aura of someone familiar with the darker side of societal relationships. Despite being human, how she would carry herself garnered great respect amongst the beast people living inside the Academic City. The Lady Knight also treated beast people with respect, allowing them to practice activities connected to their societal culture -- different from not just humans but the other nonhumans. This was why Alexei was confused by seeing the Lady Knight not only walking alongside the instigator but not seeming to do anything to stop the clash from occurring.
Using Mila's description, Alexei's eyes searched for the one who had instigated Sasha. But as his eyes landed on the woman who couldn't even be described as a fighter, all the fur on his body stood on end. A chill slowly seeped into his body as his instincts took over. He immediately recognized who she was, remembering the group walking up the stairs while being escorted by the Lady Knight.
The encounter was one that had left a strong impression on him.
"Sasha," Alexei growled.
Hearing the urgency, Sasha tore her attention from the woman as she turned to look at Alexei. An eyebrow raised, not understanding why Alexei had called out to her.
Alexei understood why Sasha would be confused, considering how they would respond to someone's antagonism. Still, this time, he looked Sasha directly in the eye before slightly shaking his head.
Sasha's eyes widened before narrowing, and her ears flattened.
"Sasha," Alexei repeated but in a calmer voice before shaking his head again.
Sensing something was wrong, Sasha's ears drooped, and her body relaxed.
The rest of the group watched the exchange between Sasha and Alexei. Even the siblings, who had finished their match. The difference was that they were entirely lost by what was happening but understood something significant had happened.
Alexei now switched to the woman a few feet from their group. Sniffing the air, he couldn't help but feel relieved to no longer smell death permeating through the air. He had made the connection, and the smell was somehow connected to the woman.
Nodding approvingly, the woman's gaze first studied Sasha's far more submissive demeanor compared to her earlier self after Alexei chastised her. Her eyes slowly moved so that she now watched Alexei.
"Queen."
Alexei looked to the source of the voice and saw a man of similar height as himself, the same one he had encountered on the stairs earlier. The man's presence was barely noticeable compared to the white-haired woman, as though he blended in with the background. But there was strength in how he called out to the woman, as though he had no doubt she would listen to his command.
Just as when he had first seen the man, Alexei couldn't help but feel a wrongness. While he didn't understand why his instincts directed him to have such a feeling, it was never wise for him to ignore his gut feeling, which was rarely wrong and had saved him from numerous dicey situations.
Not even bothering to explain herself, the woman merely bowed her head slightly to the group before walking back to where the man stood.
"What was that about?" Mila narrowed her eyes, her ears slightly flattening as her tail was still.
"Don't," Alexei cautioned her.
He didn't stop observing the group walking toward the administrative counters, where students were lined up, waiting to submit their assignments or paperwork that needed to be regularly provided to the school. Seeing that there wouldn't be any kind of confrontation, Alexei couldn't help but feel they had somehow dodged a storm they weren't ready to handle.
Alexei sighed deeply, not realizing he had been holding his breath.
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"My Lady, thank you. While I have no doubt that such individuals would not be a challenge for you, a confrontation between you and other students would have been an incident that would put me in an uncomfortable position." Valessandria bowed her head.
A slight smile formed on Queen's lips. "I had no intention of doing anything to them. I was merely curious about how they would react since I sensed their group was formidable compared to the other students I have seen on this tour."
Valessandria nodded as she glanced back at the group that they had long passed on their way to the administrative tables. "I can confirm that most beast people in this Academy are quite experienced in combat due to the environment many of them were raised in."
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Han casually listened, slightly interested in learning more about the world he'd be living in for quite some time. The benefit of entering the Academy was interacting with others from various backgrounds, forming casual friendships and bonds as he played the role of a student. He couldn't help but think of what life would be like inside a place that appeared similar to historical private schools that had long faded away when he was on Earth. Many of such historical, educational institutions were shadows of their former selves as the world modernized and became smaller. While many of the changes were necessary in order to survive in an environment that wasn't friendly to those who failed to adapt to changing economic forces, seeing such environments in movies and television shows often made him curious about what life was like.
The largest differences between the Academy on Eletran and a private school on Earth were the people's ability to use magic and the various races that lived with one another. Though it was unusual to have so many individuals from noble families in one location, the concept of nobility wasn't foreign. However, it was far rarer than in the past.
Han couldn't help but observe beast people going about their day, and the elves who continued to have an air of indifference hover over them. He also saw other races but was unfamiliar with who they were. A few were small in height, which made him wonder if they were dwarves. But it was always possible that they were of a different race.
"Master?" Brittany tilted her head to the side.
He shook his head, "I was just thinking of how much fun I was going to have with all of you while we attend this place."
Helania walked near him, though she gave him space. The corner of her mouth rose as she listened to her Master's words.
The number of students around them grew as they approached the outer area of the Tower, near the entrance they entered. While a few of the students glanced at Han and his servants, for the most part, people concentrated on going about their day, whether it was to get in line at one of the many desks that faced the outer area of the Tower or to catch up with friends after a long day of classes. There was the typical joyous environment that always existed at a school, especially during the periods between classes.
"As you can see, students will often come to the Tower to catch up with friends and take a break before they either move to the next class, organize a study session at one of the many nearby libraries, or meet with teammates to accept a mission from the Adventurer's Guild." Valessandria raised her voice as she addressed the group.
The sound of her voice was slightly drowned out by the loud voices of the students around them.
Their pace slowed slightly as the density of the crowd of students continued to increase. While many of the students noticed the Lady Knight and Han's companions and attempted to casually scurry out of their way, the problem was that there wasn't much room for even students who had a little sweat begun to form from being so close to them against their own desire. A few students would even look around them, their eyes wide and attempting to locate any crack that would allow them to flee like a mouse smelling the scent of a predator.
"I can relate to their emotions," Han watched how a few of the socially anxious individuals behaved. "Even I had to adapt to being around people who made decisions and preferring if I were to never be within earshot of them. Even being on the same floor would cause me a slight bit of trepidation."
Han thought of all the times he would have to participate in meetings throughout his career, from being a lowly student to someone of some worth at his current job.
"At least people told me I needed to value myself more than I actually did." Han couldn't help but chuckle and wonder what they would think of him in his current role.
As he was lost in thought while mildly listening to what Valessandria explained slightly ahead of them, his eyes continued to roam and appreciate the architecture of the Tower. He wondered what people who designed a place were like and how much time they had spent designing a structure such as the one he was currently walking through. While he never learned architecture, Han admitted that he enjoyed observing buildings and casually reading articles discussing why certain styles would become popular. This was why he appreciated the journey through Illumin on their way to the Academy, appreciating the beauty of the world he would reside in for a time.
"Maybe I should explore the rest of this world," Han thought to himself, tucking the thought away to be referenced later.
Approaching the counter he had seen the first time they had entered, Han turned to see a line of people waiting to approach the next available employee. His eyes grazed over each of the students who attempted to not be as obvious about their interest in the people who had cut to the front of the line and were being escorted by a member of the Student Council. A few students were significantly taller, especially those of the beast people who came in various shapes and sizes. Just seeing them was still something that intrigued Han, who was interested in how not all of them were completely animal in appearance. While there were individuals who appeared to be animals and only had humanoid body shapes, some either had the lower half completely animal in form or their entire bodies were human in appearance, with only mild signs that revealed their lineage.
"I guess I wasn't unusual for how I created my own servants that would be considered beast people," Han marveled and couldn't help but think about how artists would sometimes arrive at the same outcome without having met one another and living entirely separate parts of the world.
Han couldn't help but reminisce about his undergraduate school days. He had formed a close friendship with a classmate, and they studied together throughout the semester. In addition to their studying, Han enjoyed hanging out with his classmates outside of class. Due to how often they talked with one another and shared ideas over the subject matter they were learning in the class, at one point while taking an exam, Han and the classmate had ended up giving out identical answers for the multiple choice and nearly the same answers on the written portion as well.
He couldn't help but smile when he remembered the professor, how he approached the table they'd always sit at, and how he asked to see the two of them after class. When the class ended, the professor had a stern but slightly bewildered expression as he explained what had occurred.
"The two of you have answers that are nearly so identical that if it wasn't for the fact that on the day of the test, I had assigned random seats, the two of you wouldn't be talking with me but instead with the department head and possibly being in front of a review board for cheating on a test." His eyes drilled into each of our own, ensuring that we'd understood how serious of a matter it was and that only luck was the reason for nothing being escalated and doubts of cheating being removed.
"My Lord."
Han turned to focus on the voice, realizing that it was Valessandria, who had an awkward smile on her face. Even the uniformed bird beast person didn't know what to do as they slightly cocked their head to the side.
"My apologies, My Lord." Valessandria slightly bowed her head. "I merely wanted to explain that we would begin the process of going through and inputting your information through the system. We will also create your student identification card, which will be invaluable at the Academy and used not just for identifying you but also for various services and benefits provided for being a student."
The beast person glanced at Valessandria before bowing, "That is correct, M-my Lord." The words stumbling at the end. "I will be asking a few questions as I input the information into our system so that your card will be connected to you and provide you with everything we have to offer."