On one of the more prestigious areas of the city, there lay quite a lavish mansion. It was filled with numerous guards, this certain building was being protected by elite Solvers. This was the residence of a certain white-haired girl.
Whether they were someone who had quite a reputation or someone who had high talent, they were all barred from entering. Her residence was one of the most secure places in the city. It was clear who would be so willing to protect her, her only known parent.
A group of five showed up in front of such an established building with trembles. They were an unfortunate family that had everything taken away from them. It was a story that was far too common to see that people have become numb to it.
As one of the guards saw these extremely out-of-place wastes, he immediately knew just how much trouble there’d be right after. Still, he had to act out in accordance with his post.
“Halt, no one is allowed to enter except for Fiona and the people she allows.” He had said this line numerous times before and the exact same scenario would unfold. “Now that’s done, just show me your pass. After that, there are rules that you would have to follow or we’ll kick you out.”
The father of the family had sunken eyes and wrinkled limbs. He was already nearing the end of his life but he still had the will to continue on fighting for a better life for his family. “She said… to give you this…” He took out a coin which had a peculiar design. It depicted a scale with a heart on one end and a brain on the other.
The guard took this coin and verified it. There were no signs of forgery, “Head inside, there are enough rations and accommodations for everyone. If there’s any conflict, and I mean any tiny little issue that I find with your attitude then I’ll personally kick you out.” This guard didn’t like the fact that he had to cater to such useless people.
He was a genuine Bind Solver, a person who had graduated with high grades and was at the top of his class. With such a status, he would already be free to essentially do anything he wanted in the city yet now he had to lower himself to accommodate lucky fools who had lost everything.
“T-Thank you… Son, don’t make any trouble alright? This is all we can do for now. Honey, I’m sorry but I can’t support us any longer. I’ve made a mistake that can’t be remedied except for running away.” His condition seemed to be extremely terrible as he couldn’t stop his arms from shaking. His health had deteriorated to the point that working wasn’t an option anymore.
The eldest child meekly nodded along. His eyes were still extremely wary of how kind Fiona was to them. If anything, he was extremely suspicious that they would be signing their own deaths.
They all followed inside where countless other people wore depressed and empty expressions. Some of them still held smiles on their faces as they hoped that their situations would get better but the rest were just empty shells. Even though they all looked like this, they were all genuinely glad that they at least had a roof over their heads.
As this family went over how the entire place worked, it was essentially the bare minimum to survive. Meals that didn’t taste like anything, standard beds that were slightly too hard with nothing else better to do but stare at the sun doing nothing.
It seemed as if the person in charge wasn’t putting in enough effort but if you think about the sheer amount of people here and the amount of resources that Fiona could acquire, she was barely making it week by week.
Just how much wealth could Fiona acquire? She was just a naive teenager with a big dream. She wasn’t working for anything nor was she extorting anyone for money. She was trying her best by trying to find sponsors to fund everything. Unfortunately for her, the only person willing to do that was Dean Alabaster.
It was obvious that Dean Alabaster was only sending resources that could barely keep the entire operation afloat. Even with Fiona begging for even more funding, he kept using the excuse that he could not due to upholding his own responsibilities.
It even turned into a very manipulative tactic for Dean Alabaster. If she did something that he liked then he would make life for them even more comfortable and if she did something wrong then he would pull even more funding, forcing them to suffer even more.
This was the very ‘support’ that she had been extremely keen to try to gain. It was very much a give-and-take relationship where Fiona had to constantly show that she was worth the investment.
Fiona’s troubles had been growing for a few months now. With Arin’s proposal, she finally saw a ray of hope at the very end of such a dangerous predicament. If she could convince someone like Arin, then it would finally show everyone that her vision has some kind of plausibility behind it.
Within her luxurious room, she started writing a letter. As hopeful as she was in this being a turning point for her, she couldn’t turn a blind eye to how heavy the burden of bringing even more people in was.
The growing amount of people down on their luck that she was recruiting was getting too far out of hand. She had already used up most of her residence to house them and her remaining living space was starting to bear the aftereffects of having so many people being around.
Fiona had a somber smile on her face, she recalled how much freedom she was given growing up. She had learned far too many things, both good and bad. Even still, despite seeing just how low people would stoop, she still held onto her belief.
She finished off the letter and immediately called over a servant. “Please send this over to the post office.”
“Miss, I’m sorry but… this doesn’t have an address?” He looked at the letter to ensure that there wouldn’t be any issues but this glaring problem wasn’t something he wouldn’t just miss.
“It’s fine, just send it over. Thank you.” Fiona smiled and looked over to her window. She knew that her father had been keeping a close eye on her this entire time. This thought comforted her dearly.
He awkwardly went over to the post office and dropped it off. He was questioned by the person manning the desk. It took a while before he was allowed to drop it off.
As expected, after a few minutes, the letter that was sent over was taken, a black-robed man took the letter and immediately opened it up. He wore a completely dark outfit that made it hard to pinpoint what his features were. The only thing people could point out was that he was fit and tall.
“Dear father, how are you? I’m doing well and I’m still pursuing my dreams. It’s been a while since I’ve written you a letter, I recall the last time I did so was when I turned the oppressive King’s Valley into the more friendly Student Body Committee. I’ve been doing my best and I’ve met numerous people.” He read the contents carefully, making sure that he managed to understand everything she intended to say.
“I still want to try and change the world to be a better place but… it’s starting to become harder for me to handle alone. I didn’t want to bother you but it looks like my dreams need something I didn’t think of that much, funding. Dean Alabaster said that you’re doing well so as shameless as it is for me to ask, can you please let me get by for a month? A single month is all I ask. A person finally listened to me and said that if I could show him it's possible then I’ll think about it. I just need this one step to make people believe me more.” Her words were a little messy as if she was either extremely excited or she was extremely nervous.
“Father, you’ve always supported me in what I’ve done and I know that you’ve pulled a lot of strings to make this happen. I just need your help one last time and I’ll be able to show you the world I envision. Love Fiona.” The black-robed man took in a somewhat unsteady breath as there was a tinge of joy on his face.
Stolen story; please report.
“They grow up so fast.” The black-robed man smiled under his hat. “This is the second time you’ve asked me for something so there’s no reason for me to not go all out. Fiona, even if I hold the same beliefs as everyone else, I just can’t put you down. My heart can’t bear it.”
His eyes were placed on one particular part of her letter. She mentioned a person that she had made a deal with, using his own sources, he knew who it was. “Arin Theo. What a small world…”
He delicately took this letter and placed it inside his jacket, ensuring that no dirt or stain would ruin it. As he took a single step forward, his entire existence vanished, it was as if he was never there. If one were to closely look, the floor that the man had stepped on had a few shards of an unknown black crystal.
Fiona’s heart was racing, “I wonder if Father got it already. I’ve been so tired trying to keep going so this will be a huge burden off my chest…” Saying so, Fiona fell asleep on her desk. With no one daring to go near her without permission, she was left alone to rest uncomfortably.
In the middle of the night, an unknown assailant easily passed by numerous guards, entering her room without making a single sound. This person carried Fiona and placed her on her bed. Her previous tired and strained expression turned into one of bliss and comfort. He placed a blanket over her and promptly left. No one except for him knew what happened here.
As the artificial sun rose, Fiona’s eyes opened as she greeted the new day with such ease. She hadn’t felt this relaxed in such a long time. It was only at this point that she noticed that she was in her bed, comfortably. She was happy.
She immediately finished up her morning routine of ensuring that everyone that she was taking care of was doing well and left for school. She was going to face the first day of the challenge.
“This will be difficult, extremely difficult but… I can do it- No! I have to do it!” The sheer difficulty of extrapolating clues from such simple puzzles was already difficult, now she had to find a way that was even more ludicrous. She needed to let everyone achieve a Perfect Clear.
As oppressive as the task she had to undergo was, she was even more excited at the fact that this was it, her chance. She came to school extremely early, she needed to prepare the Student Body Committee for the day ahead. A small meeting to handle the tasks that weren’t addressed the previous day.
“President Fiona, there’s been conflict between two first-year classes, it seems as if it was a territorial battle.”
“On another note, the veiled girl has been luring numerous students to her cause. Their faction has been growing greater than we anticipated. What do we do?”
“President Fiona, you cannot ignore the issues of the upper years. Viener’s disappearance has caused a vacuum that still hasn’t been addressed yet. The battle between people with Fragments has been increasing to an unprecedented degree. It seems like the main Syndicates are out for blood.”
“Some students under your protection have been harassed again. They even expressed intentions about leaving under your wing.”
“Urgent news! A higher-up backstabbed us and took a resource point. They’ve collided with one of the main Syndicates to steal our resources.”
“Even more urgent news! Elliot seems to have been approached by one of the main Syndicates again, they have started threatening him to follow them instead.”
Fiona sadly smiled, these were the main issues that she was dealing with. Countless fights broke out, conflicts between terrifying forces, and traitors. She was being assaulted from all sides. Even with her completely overwhelming power, she just couldn’t do everything alone.
Ever since Elliot had been given the role of Student Body Vice President, some of the smaller issues were fixed but the giant core issues still haven’t been solved yet. The option of complete tyrannical oppression would solve all of this just like what Viener did but this wasn’t the path she wanted to take.
These people were the few ones she could truly trust. Despite being just a massive organization with so much power in the academy, her true rule was only so limited. Her relevance was quickly losing its shine. One of these students was the boy Elliot had come up to protect, Mason.
She dealt with everything, relaying orders that they could do as she tried to prioritize issues that would endanger a life. Which was really difficult since most of these issues dealt with human life.
The amount of workload she was under was beyond what one would actually expect from a person like her. Despite spouting such idealistic words, she tried her very best to follow along with them. With non-stop work in the academy dealing with conflicts, she still didn't have time to rest as she had to resolve problems arising from personal conflicts between the people she was taking care of.
“President Fiona, you look better these past few days. Have you finally gotten enough rest?” Mason asked. He was concerned for her well-being. Not because he would lose his protection but because he genuinely cared for her.
“Not really, if I’m being honest, everything has been getting worse…” Her gentle smile didn’t stop showing though. “It’s just that I finally have a shining bright star of hope on the horizon.” Fiona laughed to herself as she gleefully awaited to face Arin’s challenge.
Hope really did bring people into the darkest depths to see the light.
They all looked at each other and wished her luck. Arin’s challenge had already spread throughout the entire academy. Everyone knew that Fiona was a fool but never did they expect that the most promising student would be daring enough to challenge her beliefs.
After finishing all her duties she still wasn’t done as she personally patrolled the entire academy to stop some of the conflicts that arose. A few were still in the early stages where they were just spouting insults at each other while the others were at the very end of their fight as they were both bloody.
A few trips to the clinic later, it was finally time for class to start. Due to her special status, she could choose not to attend her own classes. After all, she has already proven to everyone that she can already solve extremely difficult Seal Maze trials.
She opened the door to Professor Ferial’s room and was greeted by a room of full students. Apparently, everyone had been waiting for her. Although she wasn’t extremely late, only being 10 minutes behind, it made her look bad.
“You’re late, Fiona. That doesn’t exactly make you look good.” Professor Ferial reprimanded.
Fiona could only accept this. She would gladly be late than let another person be in grave injuries as they waited for help. Her schedule was essentially stacked every moment of her life, she was pushing through day by day but it was getting more and more troublesome.
Professor Ferial continued on, “Let me repeat myself, the grading of this class would be determined by whether you all manage to get a Perfect Clear or not. As another caveat, Arin would not be participating.”
Arin narrowed his eyes, he didn’t think he would be excluded. Seeing Arin’s reaction, Professor Ferial responded in kind.
“You were initially going to be in but I changed it.” Professor Ferial actively admitted to going against Dean Alabaster’s orders. But with such fearlessness, it didn’t seem like a big deal.
“His grade would be according to whether you succeed or not. If you win, then Arin will get a failing grade. On the other hand, if you fail, everyone will get a failing grade and all your resources will be given to Arin for this assessment.”
Fiona saw that there were a few empty seats but they were all surrounding Arin. With such a case, she had to sit right beside him. She didn’t mind it and was rather excited about what would happen next.
“Do we have a choice in this one?” One of the students raised his hand and asked out loud.
“You can opt out and immediately get a failing grade.” Professor Ferial saw that the student immediately brought down their hand. They didn’t want to be mistaken in getting a failing grade.
“So, you’re doing this one?” Arin didn’t particularly care if she was late. It was her problem at that point. He was more interested in the fact that she was doing this trial in the same class as him. “Everything’s going in your favor.” His bored expression made it seem as if he had full confidence that she would fail.
“I’ll be honest, I didn’t think it would go like this either. I expected to slowly convince you as we went along…” This was an unexpected but welcome change. “I guess we won’t have time to talk for a while.”
“I’ve heard that you have access to a few Maze-level Trial and Bind-level Trials.” Arin saw an opportunity and tried to go for it. “Why don’t you add that in? Raise the stakes.”
“Raise… the stakes?” Fiona thought for a moment before agreeing. She was going all out, after all, she might as well go for it. “You want to access them? No problem. But instead of thinking about it, promise me you’ll change your ways for the better.”
Hearing such an annoying answer Arin immediately replied, “Never mind.” He wanted to try and see if he could access another alternate Trial. These Trials were extremely dangerous but at the same time, were highly valuable. He wanted to see if he could push himself even further.
Fiona saw that she went overboard and realized that she was far too hasty. Changing a person wasn’t that easy. “How about, you help me out after school? You could access the Trials during class hours and you help me out with some of my problems in a kind manner. Seeing that you aren’t busy, this should be favorable for you.”
Arin saw how desperate Fiona was, she was genuinely putting everything she had to try her chances. “I’ll ‘try’ to do it your way.” To gain even more power, Arin didn’t mind acting like that. Brutality worked far too well for what he wanted but if it was to act nice then he could still stomach it. Growing more powerful was his first priority.
“Deal!” Fiona was ecstatic. Unfortunately for her, the sheer difficulty of the task before her was going to be monumental. This was it, the start of something that could either grow her dream or shatter her hopes.