When Reivan finished the mini-celebration in his head — which only lasted for a few seconds in real time — he turned around and examined the door to his room and its surroundings.
He was preoccupied earlier, but after looking around, Reivan realized that he was teleported to a hallway. In front of him was a door made of some dark brown wood that had an iron plaque with "099" engraved on it. A few steps to its left was Room #098 while Room #100 was to its right.
Framing the door was a floor of white marble and a dark purple wall that seemed to curve inwards, hinting that the space still adhered to the Spirit Tower's cylindrical shape.
The vicinity lacked decoration save for a helpful sign that pointed to where the Mess Hall was, but Reivan didn’t think that it looked mundane. In a strange way, the simplicity and barebones nature of the surroundings actually had a refined elegance to it.
'Better check the inside...'
He reached for the doorknob when suddenly, there was a flash of light in front of Room #100.
"Wow. So that's how teleportation works..." Maya murmured to herself, amazed at her newest experience. A moment later though, her face twisted into a grimace as her posture grew unsteady. "Ugh… I feel sick."
Reivan smirked as he watched her squirm, remembering how it was for him when he first experienced teleportation. Then his eyes widened in shock when he remembered that since he was supposed to be "Clover Salwyn", he should have a reaction similar to Maya.
'Ah, wait. I think I'm in the clear... I did pause for a few seconds earlier...'
He didn't know if he had looked nauseous enough, but if some mysterious observer pointed it out, Reivan would just talk his way out of it by insisting that he didn't feel anything. Being particularly resistant to the jetlag-like feeling caused by teleportation wasn't too farfetched after all.
“Oh. Clover...?” Maya finally noticed him after wrestling with her light-headedness. “Did you wait for me so we could bunk together?”
“Like hell I did.” Reivan snorted, turning away from her. He mused back to their room numbers and confirmed something. “The room assignments don’t seem to take any sort of ranking into account. It all depends on arrival time, so obviously we’d be right next to each other. Unless of course we’re ranked right next to each other in terms of skill — a fact I highly doubt given your past performance.”
“...Did you just diss me? You did, didn’t you!?”
“I did. I’m not wrong though, no?”
“You’re not wrong, but you’re also an ass for saying it. And anyway, how’d you know that we’re roomed based on our…” Maya raised a brow and then noticed the number engraved on Reivan’s door plate. Then she looked to her own. “Oh. Now I get it.”
Reivan sneered before grabbing the doorknob and turning it, frowning when it wouldn’t budge. He scanned the door with his eyes in case there was some other mechanism to open it, but came up with nothing.
'The hell’s wrong with this thing…'
Maya seemed to notice his troubles and stared at him strangely. “What are you doing?”
“My door won’t open.”
“Uh… Well, probably because it's locked."
"I know it's locked. But how do I even open it when there aren't any instructions here?"
Maya stared at him for a few moments, mouth slightly ajar. "...Are you being serious?"
"I'm not a fan of wasting time. If you're not going to help, stay quiet."
"Well... Maybe you should use the key that you just got? Brilliant idea, right?”
Reivan froze for a moment before taking his hand off the knob, noticing that there was indeed a keyhole on it. When he took his key out and inserted it, the tiny piece of metal fit in like a glove.
‘What the fuck… Everything’s been so magical that it kinda feels strange to use a key in such a normal way…’
Honestly, he expected the door to be unlocked just because he had the key with him — just like how the teleportation pad worked. And quite frankly, he had associated the key to the pad, so he was a bit blindsided by how it also opened a door.
Reivan cleared his throat and ignored Maya’s snickers, quickly entering his room. He immediately closed and locked it just in time before Maya got inside.
“Hey! Open up!”
Of course, Reivan did not open up and proceeded to examine the room, particularly paying attention to anything supernatural.
‘Nothing out of the ordinary… Just some normal household stuff.’
He had thought that the rooms would be bugged in some way, but it seemed the Tower didn’t feel the need to do that. Considering where they were, Reivan understood their sentiments.
"Pretty good..." he muttered as he scanned the room's interior.
Just as the female battlemage who welcomed them said, their rooms were equipped with just about everything they’d need. Reivan couldn’t help but liken it to the one-room apartments he often saw in anime and films though.
‘It’ll do.’
Reivan saw a bed, a desk, a closet, and another door that likely led to a bathroom. That was all that mattered to him. Having all the other furniture was nice, but his purpose in the tower wasn’t to relax or live like a king — it was to take as much knowledge back home as he could, all while finding other ways to further Aizen’s interests. And of course, it was also to seek out a path to immortality for Elsamina.
“I guess I should set things in order… Ah.” Reivan froze on his way to the closet, realizing that he’d left his suitcase in Maya’s care. “Fuck.”
She had a spatial ring after all, and it apparently had enough leftover space to hold his stuff. That's why he'd agreed to let her carry it when she proposed to do so.
'Did she plan for this...? Nah. I don't think she's slick enough.'
With resigned reluctance, Reivan got out of his room and knocked on Maya’s room. It only took a few seconds before the young woman opened the door, a smug look on her face. Glancing downward, it seemed she had exchanged her travel attire for a more comfortable — and slightly revealing — set of loungewear.
“Look who it is.” she sneered. “Forgot something, asshole?”
“... I would like my stuff back.”
“Is that how you ask someone a favor?”
Reivan sighed and licked his lips. He contemplated just forcing her to give it up but decided to give her what she wanted. “I’d like my stuff back, bitch.”
“That’s right, you should ask nicely— Wait, what did you say?”
“I said I’d like my stuff back, please.”
“That’s not what I heard…”
“You heard wrong.”
Maya crossed her arms under her chest and leaned against the doorway. “I don’t think I heard wrong. But I’ll forgive you if you do a sexy dance for me. Of course, you'll have to be toples—”
Reivan didn’t wait for her to finish, snatching her arm and quickly prying off the ring on her finger.
“Hey!”
“Relax, I’m just taking my stuff,” he said as he dodged out of her grasp and put the ring on his pinky, immediately manifesting his belongings. “Done.”
“You’re such a brute…!” Maya seemed infuriated, rubbing her arm where he had grabbed her. “Can’t you treat a lady more gently?”
“Ladies don’t try to force people into doing sexy dances.”
Reivan went back to his room and threw his luggage onto the bed, deciding to fix it later. For now, he wanted to check the Mess Hall.
‘If I’m lucky, I can scout out the rest of the entrants.’
He wasn’t too worried about talented people if their talents lay in just sorcery. But it would be nice to find out if anyone in his batch had some kind of special ability he had to watch out for. That way, he could decide if they were worth assassinating — or poaching.
When he got back out, Maya was still there, leaning against the wall.
“I figured you’d want to head to the Mess Hall.” Maya giggled before pushing off the wall and walking beside him.
“Don’t you have stuff to do?” Reivan followed the direction dictated by the sign he saw earlier. Given how Room #100 was the last room in the hallway though, he only had one direction available.
Maya tilted her head. “What stuff? All my things fit inside my ring. I don’t need to leave them in my room, do I?”
‘I suppose she’s right.’
Reivan shrugged and let her follow him. Along the way, Reivan observed the numbers on the room and noticed that the hallway’s exit stood right in front of Room #091, which meant that rooms were likely grouped in tens.
'Must be because squads are grouped in tens... outwardly, that is. But we know there's an extra member dedicated to scrying from afar.'
“Wow. This place is bigger than I thought…!” Maya exclaimed upon exiting the hallway.
“They probably did the same thing with the first floor.” Reivan looked around the massive hall, which seemed big enough to comfortably host a soccer game in.
The teleportation pad was noticeably in the middle, but interspersed all around it were numerous circular six-seater tables. There was even enough of a gap between each one, providing additional assurance that one wouldn’t be overheard by one's neighbors easily. Numerous floating chandeliers illuminated the entire chamber, which was bustling with people.
‘One, two, three… ten doors leading to different hallways. So there should be a hundred rooms.'
That meant that Reivan and Maya were the last to arrive. A result that wasn't too strange given how they were delayed by all sorts of misfortune.
‘A hundred recruits this year… I think that’s a lot for them. Are they becoming looser with their criteria?’
If he was right, some things could be inferred. For example, the republic might be preparing for war or a large battle of some kind, seeking to bolster its forces even if the quality was a bit lower than usual. With the relationship between Arkhan and Argonia improving, it wasn’t too hard to imagine who the target of aggression was.
Of course, there could be some other reasons Reivan couldn’t even imagine. The increased recruitment might also be to increase their numbers, solely to act as a deterrent to other nations.
‘Nonetheless, I should definitely report this when I get the chance.’
“Hm?” Reivan suddenly noticed the absence of the woman beside him. He looked around and was flabbergasted when he found her chatting with a few ladies like they'd known each other for decades.
‘Well, maybe they do know each other?’
If that wasn’t the case though, then Reivan really had to marvel at Maya’s socializing skills. Her sociability grade as a battlemage was probably at 5.0 or close.
‘Her skills and adaptability are shit though, so she’s the complete opposite of Clover.’
Making friends and connections was nice, but when shit hit the fan, you could only count on yourself. If he was in charge of the Tower, Reivan would nurture Clover over Maya any day.
Reivan chose an empty table to sit on and continued watching people. Fortunately — and unfortunately — he didn’t see anyone with a special ability. He did note how only thirty percent of the people he observed had an elemental affinity though.
And that there were only fifty of them there.
‘The other fifty must be staying in their rooms or out and about. Unfortunate.’
Done with scouting the competition, Reivan directed his gaze over to a small sign at the table. Inscribed on it were a few rules to follow while in the Mess Hall, as well as how to order food.
‘Might as well get something to eat.’
Reivan took out his key and followed the instructions, placing the key on the table.
A moment later, a plaque sprouted up from the metallic table, a list of food carved on it with glowing ink — a menu, he mused. Reivan then proceeded to tap his key against a few of the selections before putting it back in his pocket.
After a few moments, a humanoid golem appeared from the teleportation pad, marching toward Reivan’s table with a tray. It then wordlessly laid the tray across his table and walked back to the pad, disappearing right afterward.
‘Neat.’
Reivan looked down at the food and found that it was exactly what he’d ordered. It seemed that each battlemage could order up to three meals a day and eat them at any time they wanted. They could even eat all three meals one after another.
There were a few more details and rules to follow, but that was apparently how it worked in the Mess Hall.
“Hey there, friend. Haven’t seen you around here.”
Reivan looked to the side to find a smiling male youth with swept-back brown hair and striking blue eyes.
‘Guess I’ll act a little friendly… It’s what Clover would have done after being warned about his sociability, after all.’
“Yeah.” He nodded with a light smile. “I just got here a few minutes ago.”
“You seem to have figured things out already though.”
“The instructions were pretty clear, so I didn't have to think too much.”
“Guess, that’s true.” The youth sat down the seat to Reivan’s right and held out a hand. “I’m Aldimir, by the way. Don't mind my last name. Oh, and I’m the guy at Room #098.”
“Clover.” Reivan took the youth’s hand and grasped it firmly. “I’m right next to you. Room #099.”
“Figures. I’ve already met the guy in Room #097.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. Big as a carriage, that one. Almost ran me over too.” Aldimir snickered at his own joke. “Anyway, nice to meet you, Clover.”
Reivan nodded. “Same. It’s nice to meet you too, Aldimir.”
“Now that you’re here, I guess we’re just waiting for the one in Room #100.”
“Not really.” Reivan shook his head and picked up the mug of mead he’d ordered. “They’re already here.”
“Is that right?” Aldimir raised a brow. “How’d you know?”
“I came with her.”
“I see… So it’s a woman, huh?”
Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
“Yes.”
Aldimir hummed in thought for a moment before he leaned into Reivan and smirked. “Is she hot?”
Reivan’s mug froze on its way to his lips. “What?”
“Like, you saw her, right? C’mon, I need some details. Is she attractive? Does she have big tits? A big ass? That’s what I want to know.”
“Uh…” Reivan thought about it for a bit and eventually nodded. “I guess you can say she’s attractive…?”
Even though she was somewhat annoying, Maya was indeed attractive by conventional standards. He couldn’t deny that from her, at least.
“Nice… What about, y'know.” Aldimir mimed something round and heavy in front of his chest. "Her baby feeders."
'Baby feeders. What the fuck did I just hear... I mean, it's true, but still.'
Today was a bad day to have ears it seemed, but Reivan still humored his newest acquaintance. "They're pretty average, I think? Maybe a little below that..."
"What about her ass? She's gotta have some, right?"
"It's great."
"Nice." Aldimir snickered and playfully punched Reivan's arm. "Thanks for the info, man. You're a cool guy."
Reivan looked at the spot the youth punched, suddenly thinking of Hector. These were the types of stupid, lecherous, and ultimately pointless conversations he would have liked to share with his best friend. Instead, they were nations apart as he pretended to be someone he wasn't. Nostalgia and a desire to go home hit him like a truck but he tried to put it out of his mind for now.
Aizen's spies were away from their loved ones for decades, and sometimes, they never even got to step back into their homeland's soil. What kind of prince would he be if he couldn't deal with his homesickness?
Reivan wouldn't be able to live through the shame and self-disgust.
'It's only been a month... Damn.'
Aldimir nudged Reivan's arm as he looked around. “Oh, wait. I think I see her… She’s the only pretty face I don’t recognize.”
Pulled out of his thoughts, Reivan followed his gaze and confirmed that the youth had indeed found Maya, who was getting along really well with a group of attractive young women. “I guess you’ve been scouting, huh.”
“You bet I have.” Aldimir nudged Reivan with his elbow, a boyish smirk on his face. “Man, she’s definitely a looker. Best one I’ve seen since I got here a few days ago. Not that I've seen everyone, of course."
“Right...” Reivan answered noncommittally as he started devouring his food.
‘Teenagers.’
Perhaps it was typical of most men this age to have nothing but women on their minds. But Reivan had expected a little more from the select few people who passed the Spirit Tower’s hellish entrance exam. He tried to be understanding though, citing how fooling around with women may have been the youth's way of dealing with exam stress.
‘Well, not like I can say anything here.’
Reivan had gone and lost his virginity very early. And right after that, he enjoyed relations with numerous women, all of whom would make a lecher like Aldimir drool.
‘Yep. I really don’t have much to stand on in this argument. I am a horny bastard. Yes, I am.’
Now wasn’t the time to let his crotch do all the thinking though. He was in the heart of enemy territory, surrounded by enemies. In this place, sex was just another way to act like a normal guy with normal motivations — a tool to get what he truly wanted.
“Hey, hey.” Aldimir suddenly interrupted him from his meal, pointing at something. “I think she noticed me looking at her.”
“Oh yeah?” Reivan resisted the urge to roll his eyes and focused on his food. He was quite hungry, after all.
“Hey, you think I have a chance?”
“Uh…”
Reivan stopped chewing and took a moment to consider, glancing at Aldimir’s physique. Though Reivan didn’t know much about Maya, one thing he was sure about was her preferences toward her partner’s body.
Basically, she liked men with a bit of muscle.
In fact, she seemed to place so much importance on it that no matter how excellent a man was in every other field, Maya wouldn’t give them the time of day if they weren’t buff enough.
‘I don’t think it’ll work…’
Aldimir was actually quite handsome. And he wasn’t skin and bones either. But Reivan doubted whether the youth could even lift a sandbag.
‘Eh. Well, maybe I’m too harsh? Most adults can at least lift one, right…?’
Honestly, he wasn’t sure anymore. But in any case, Aldimir definitely lacked the rugged muscles that Maya seemed to prefer so much.
“We won’t know until you try.” Reivan tried to phrase it positively, not wanting to shut the guy down immediately. For all he knew, Aldimir could have godly levels of charisma when it came to chasing women.
As such, he decided to be supportive.
“Alright, alright…” Aldimir eyed Maya from afar and nodded before turning back to Reivan. “Oh, you don’t mind, right? I don't wanna step in if she's taken.”
“Be my guest.”
“Great. Wish me luck, brother.” Aldimir stood up shakily and fixed his shirt’s collar — which, Reivan just realized, was of immensely high quality.
‘A rich kid, huh?’
Reivan looked at the guy’s status again, focusing on the last name to see if he could recognize it. He had looked at everyone already, but with the volume of people to check, he had only looked at their Might, Affinities, Age, and Special Abilities — everything else was irrelevant.
‘Let’s see here… Aldimir… Adamantes… Hm? Adamantes?’
Eyes slightly wide, Reivan checked again just to make sure. The name was still “Aldimir Adamantes” though.
‘What the hell? This guy’s from the Star of Fortune… And from the main clan, too.’
Of course, just having the last name didn’t mean that he was anyone important. The current chairman had dozens of children, and those children could obviously have dozens of children too.
At the very least, Aldimir wasn’t Kalman’s — the 34th son of the chairman and the Star’s most likely heir’s — progeny. Reivan had memorized everyone important to the future head of the gigantic conglomerate.
That alone was enough to calm Reivan’s thoughts.
‘He’s a nobody.’
Aldimir Adamantes wasn’t a person Reivan had to pay particular attention to. But there wasn't any harm in forming a connection if it wasn’t too inconvenient.
Reivan finished his meal and talked to Aldimir about a few things, stating how unfamiliar he was with Vel Ayala.
The youth was all too happy to divulge his knowledge, seemingly in love with the sound of his own voice. He even pointed out a few seedy shops in the city that offered excellent services despite Reivan saying he wasn't interested.
After dozens of minutes, it was obvious that they had hit it off.
That said, Reivan wasn’t doing much. Men generally weren't too selective of friends, so all he had to do was react normally to whatever Aldimir said. And the youth seemed satisfied enough from their interaction to invite Reivan out — not on a date, but rather, to show him around Vel Ayala when they both had time.
A guy's night out, apparently.
It was obvious what the lecherous youth had in mind and Reivan wasn't too enthusiastic about it.
“Man, I’m glad I finally get to talk to someone around here.” Aldimir sighed.
“Didn’t you say you got here a few days ago? There are a lot of people to talk to here, no?”
“They’ve already formed their little cliques before I even got here so it feels a bit awkward to just butt in, y’know?”
“Ah…” Reivan scanned the Mess Hall and somewhat nodded. “Yeah. I get what you mean.”
“Well, not all the people in our batch are here, apparently. A bunch of them probably have houses in Vel Ayala and just went back there after laying claim to a room. Then they’ll just come back the day before the ceremony — at least, that’s what I would do if I was part of some magus clan.”
“Right.”
The Four High Magus families and dozens of other rising sorcerer clans were all based in Vel Ayala's Upper City, so it was a bit pointless to have members of their clans live in the tower when their actual houses were so close by. Especially when the semester hadn't officially started yet.
“Anyway…” Aldimir slowly stood up, his eyes trained on Maya and the group of girls around her. “I think I’m gonna go shoot my shot.”
“Uh… Are you sure? There are a lot of them over there… Didn’t you just say approaching groups was intimidating?”
“It’s fine. I’m more comfortable approaching girls, anyway. Worst case, the new girl rejects me and I go for the other girls instead. Pity points, y'know?”
Reivan shrugged, not particularly agreeing with his plan. “Good luck, then.”
“Yep. If I’m lucky I’ll introduce you to some easy ones afterward. Maybe we can even... y'know. Team up. Heh.”
‘No thanks, I’m good.’
Reivan downed the rest of his drink and watched Aldimir heroically approach a table full of attractive young women, thinking that it would be interesting.
Aldimir’s adventure started out pretty well, and he seemed to chat amiably with every girl at the table. There was laughter and everyone seemed to be getting along. But eventually, Maya stood up and said goodbye to everyone, heading for Reivan and leaving Aldimir with a complicated expression.
‘Guess he blew it. Unlucky.’
“Hey, Clover. Finished eating?” she asked, taking a seat right next to him.
“Do you see any food on the table?”
“I mean, you can always order more, right?”
Reivan thought for a bit but couldn’t offer a rebuttal. “I guess you’re right.”
“Yep. I’m slowly getting used to dealing with your crappy personality.”
“You have a crappy personality too.”
“Anyway.” Maya clapped her hands, her smile suddenly falling off. “The guy you were sitting next to earlier just suddenly tried to talk me up. Know anything about that?”
“I told him to go for it,” he admitted instantly.
“I knew it.” Maya sighed at him. “You know what type of guys I like so why would you do that? At least find me some hunks.”
Reivan shrugged. “Who knows, maybe he had a good personality that you might like.”
“My eyes need to be satisfied first, okay? I have standards.”
“Standards that let you fuck a guy a few hours after meeting?”
“Yes. If they look good enough and don't smell.” Maya unabashedly admitted. “I don’t like how you phrase it so negatively though. I just like men with a bit of muscle on them. What’s so bad about it? It’s the same with guys who only like women with huge tits or a big butt. I bet any guy here would jump at the chance to do it with a hot chick, no strings attached.”
“Hey, if you took offense from what I said, that’s your problem.”
“You’re such an ass…”
“Bitch.”
“Anyway.” Maya grabbed his thigh under the table, making his shoulders jump a little. “Let’s head to your room to work off what we just ate.”
Reivan grimaced. “I’m not really in the mood.”
“After what you did to me on the way here, I don’t care whether you’re in the mood or not. You owe me for all the suffering I went through.”
“You started that shit though.”
Maya completely ignored the fact that she did, indeed, start it. “Don’t wait for me to make a scene here.”
“Do your worst.” Reivan sneered.
A few moments passed in silence as they stared into each other’s eyes, each one intent on getting their way.
“Alright. Fine.” Maya got up, smirked, and suddenly sat on Reivan’s lap. “Clover, was last night nothing to you!?”
Reivan blanched, looking around to see that he had the entire Mess Hall’s attention. He absolutely did not want so much attention on him. As a spy, what he wanted most was to stay low-key.
‘This crazy bitch…’
When he dared her to do her worst, he actually didn’t think she would go ahead and do anything. But it seemed he underestimated the thickness of Maya’s face.
Reivan heaved the deepest sigh he had ever released in his life as he nodded. “Fine, just shut up. Let’s talk somewhere else.”
“Really? You’ll stop playing hard to get, right? I know you like it.”
“Whatever. Get off me so I can stand.”
“Okay!”
Maya hopped off him and waited for him, bouncing on her heels. The happy smile on her face would have looked cute if she hadn’t just coerced him into doing what she wanted.
Reivan caught a glimpse of Aldimir from the corner of his vision and thought the youth would hold bitter feelings after seeing what just happened.
But who would have thought Aldimir would raise two thumbs up instead? He was even nodding with an admiring gaze and mouthed the words “Nice work, man!” at Reivan.
‘I guess his attitude isn't trash, at least.’
Maya wrapped her arm around his and waved at the table of young women she was talking to earlier. Then she pulled Reivan toward the hallway where their rooms were.
----------------------------------------
The two days of waiting at the tower quickly passed.
When Maya wasn’t bugging him, Reivan found himself spending quite a lot of time with Aldimir. The guy was a fountain of knowledge about Vel Ayala, since apparently, he had been to the place on numerous occasions and even stayed in the city for an extended duration a year ago. Reivan had to filter out all the useless tidbits about sex workers and which girls provided the best experience, though. Aldimir was also prone to losing focus when an attractive woman was nearby.
Still, Reivan learned a lot just from picking Aldimir's head.
Also worthy of note was how the Mess Hall received an influx of visitors the night before the supposed ceremony.
Gong! Gong! Gong…!
Just as the sun began to rise, a bell’s deep ringing reverberated throughout the entire floor, penetrating walls and doors to wake up anyone who wasn’t already awake.
‘It’s time, I guess.’
Reivan, of course, was already awake and dressed properly. Just to make sure he would be in good condition even if the ceremony occurred at the crack of dawn, he had kicked the very disgruntled Maya out of his room last night. He had even gone against his daily routine by not exercising at all.
“Good morning to our new brothers and sisters.”
“Hm?” Reivan raised a brow as he stood in front of a full-length mirror, fixing his appearance.
The experience of having some mysterious man’s voice fill his room was certainly strange, though not very unexpected given where he was.
“Gather in the Mess Hall for the initiation ceremony within thirty minutes. Do not be late. Or today will be your last day here.”
‘We've got a spicy one, huh?’
Being used to such instructors, Reivan smirked involuntarily. He didn’t want to admit it, but he kind of missed the old bald bastard that helped him become an infinitely better version of himself.
Missing the man wasn't the same as wanting to see him though.
‘Anyway. I’m already dressed and ready to go, so I might as well head there.’
Reivan smoothed out his prized black coat and left his quarters. No noises were coming from the rooms adjacent to him, and from his impression of them, Maya and Aldimir were the type of people who would sleep for as much as they could.
Meaning they likely weren’t already up when the bell rang.
Before he left for the Mess Hall, he banged on each of their doors to rouse them awake, mentioning how he was heading to the Mess Hall first.
On the way there, he could already hear distant chatter, confirming that he wasn’t the only one who woke up early in anticipation of what was to come. Reivan scanned the hall and estimated that about thirty people were already there, each doing their own thing.
Some were even eating — an act that Reivan decided to replicate. He didn’t know what the ceremony entailed, but having some food in his stomach wouldn’t be bad.
Reivan chose an empty table and quickly ordered a meal. He’d done it a number of times over the past two days and had grown accustomed to it, though his refined palate didn’t think too highly of what was served.
‘Now’s a good time to scout them out. I’ve never seen most of these people.’
While waiting for his food and even while he was eating it, Reivan took a peek at everyone’s information through [Supreme Insight] one by one, freezing when he noticed a certain someone.
It was an absolutely gorgeous young woman with a striking pair of bright red eyes and a crown of shoulder-length crimson hair framing her pale white face — looking not unlike one's mental picture of a vampire princess. Her beautiful features were marred by an incredibly unkind expression, but Reivan knew that she looked like that by default when she wasn’t paying attention.
In the words of his past world, the young lady just had a bitchy resting face — a quality she was both aware of and annoyed at.
‘What the fuck is she doing here…?’
Reivan frowned and looked at her information one more time just to be sure.
~^+— Unit's Statistics —+^~
Name: Inaria Netral
Species: Human
Realm: Mortal
Age: 18
Sex: Female
Special Abilities [NONE]
Might: 9 Extra Skills Elemental Affinities: [Fire] [NONE]
Favor: (Indifference) 0 / 100 Threat Level: SSS+
‘Yep. My eyes aren’t busted. It’s really her…’
Inaria Netral.
Severan Netral’s youngest daughter.
In other words, she was the youngest daughter of the Magitechnocratic Republic of Arkhan's president.
She was also not supposed to be here, as far as he was aware.
‘I knew she was enrolled in the curriculum but… she didn’t tell me she was good enough to try for the tower.’
The girl in question was calmly seated on her lonesome, poring over a grimoire. A plateful of bread and a mug of hot tea lay neglected beside the thick tome.
Reivan’s shock quickly turned into delight though. With Inaria here, he had secured yet another card to play if things ever went wrong for him.
After all, when Reivan researched how the Favor stat worked, Inaria was one of the subjects he focused on the most. She was one of the subjects whose romantic feelings for him reached a rating of 94 — which was high enough for her to agree to just about anything he asked of her.
Even betray her own father.