Alexander stood with his arms crossed in the middle of an alley suspiciously devoid of any signs of life

All that was around were ordinary buildings, similar in design and with dull colours

The sky covered with gray clouds gave this place a gloomy appearance

Alexander directed his eyes to the skyscraper that was clearly visible from a distance and he could distinguish where he was thanks to that tower

The skyscraper was Emmett's company

This indicates that he is currently in the Varyag city

But how did he get to this place?

All he remembers is that he went to bed and then found himself here

What made matters even more strange was that the place was suspiciously quiet, as if there was no life in this place

Although he used the hunter's eyes, he did not find any life around him

Bam!

Suddenly his ears began to pick up the sound of heavy footsteps that sounded like someone wearing very heavy armor coming from one of the nearby alleys

Alexander disappeared from his place and appeared at the specified place several milliseconds later

But he found nothing there

Bam! Bam!

The sound of footsteps came again, but from a different direction

Alexander rushed again in the direction from which the sound came, but again he found nothing

The game of cat and mouse was repeated several times, but each time Alexander arrived late and was unable to catch the person who made those steps.

Alexander returned to the alley in which he found himself from the beginning, and he was confused by what was happening around him

He used all his speed, and yet he couldn't catch the person who was playing this trick on him

Is this an illusion or a dream?

He felt as if the world around him was completely unreal

“This is very provocative...” Alexander closed his eyes as he thought about what was currently happening

But suddenly he started to feel a slight tingling in his chest

When he opened his eyes, he saw a full meter-long blade in front of his eyes

What?!... Alexander slowly lowered his head to look at his chest, which was bleeding after being pierced from behind by that blade.

He did not understand why the hunter's sense did not alert him to the presence of danger nearby

He tried to turn his head to see who had stabbed him from behind, but he could not move his head any more because his life was gradually draining away.

"They came after you..." Indistinct words came out, as if someone was whispering right next to Alexander's ear.

Then everything disappeared and complete darkness fell in his field of vision

----------------

“A new day, a new nightmare...” Alexander stood in front of the window with his hair disheveled, looking at the usual snowy scene, even though he had not been able to adapt to this cold weather yet.

The cold didn't have much effect, but it was still annoying if exposed to it for a long time

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

It is as if there is an annoying fly around you, and although it will not harm you, you will continue to feel its presence.

Alexander began to prepare some tea on the stove that the intelligence had prepared for him

It was just a small stove that had clearly been used for a long time due to signs of use and rust. It was placed on a metal table

When they brought this thing to him he was shocked

Isn't intelligence one of the most important institutions of the empire?

So how could they not provide a slightly better stove than this scrap?

Even after his questions, he did not get a satisfactory answer from them

All he concluded was that these bastards didn't want to bother paying extra money for him

Despite his anger, he couldn't help but surrender and accept reality

All he could do was calm himself down with some tea, so he poured two cups of tea and left the room

After a minute, Alexander left the building and headed towards the nearby vending machine, then placed the cup of tea near it. “This will help you in this cold weather.”

A small door opened on the side of the vending machine, and a hand came out, picked up the cup and pulled it into the vending machine, then the small door closed again.

Alexander smiled and went to the bench, which was located a few meters away from the vending machine, and sat there to drink tea

“Good morning...” came a voice from behind Alexander

Alexander felt heavy and did not want to respond, but he was forced to maintain his general manners, so he turned his head in response, “Good morning, Mr. Isaac.”

Isaac approached and sat next to Alexander quietly

Alexander glanced sideways at Isaac, "You're coming early."

Isaac was adjusting his tie to make it look perfect, " I always come here after finishing praying in the church."

"Oh, I didn't know you were such a religious man." Alexander took a sip of tea

“This tea is wonderful.” Swanson was enjoying the taste of the tea to the fullest

After all the money I spent on this tea, how could it not be wonderful?... Alexander took another sip from the cup.

Isaac smiled at Alexander's inquiry, "I learned to go to church at dawn since I was young when I lived in the Republic of Arametes."

“Kuh...” Alexander coughed hard when he heard the name Aramitis

“Oh…” came the sound of Swanson’s embarrassed cough, “ I thought you knew this boy's background, so I didn't bother mentioning him to you.”

Alexander moved his neck mechanically, looking at Isaac, “You are from the Republic of Arametes?”

“Yes…” Isaac took out a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to Alexander, “My family is one of the noble families of Arametes.”

“Try to be careful with him…” Swanson advised anxiously, “Trust me, you don't want to antagonize the Lippincott family.”

What's the use of saying this now?... Alexander blinked angrily at this belated advice

Then he used the handkerchief to wipe his mouth and put it in his pocket, “I will clean it up and return it to you.”

"No problem..." Isaac got up and went to the vending machine to buy an iced coffee, then returned to Alexander's side, " Others are often surprised to hear about my background.”

“Oh…” Alexander nodded nervously

The Republic of Arametes was located to the east of the empire

Unlike the empire that occupied most of this world, the Republic of Arametes was strangely small

However, the influence of the Republic of Arametes was unimaginably wide

The reason for this is...the Holy Church

The Church was founded on the lands where a war took place thousands of years ago between the gods and the outsider demons

The main headquarters of the church remains on that land to this day

But due to the different factions belonging to the different gods, a council was created to represent the different parties in order to satisfy all parties

Thus was born the Republic of Arametes, which is considered the most powerful religious state and which even the empire cannot openly challenge.

History books mentioned the massacres committed by the Republic of Arametes against many other countries that tried to depart from the Church. It was mentioned how anyone who objected to the worship of the gods of this world was excluded and exiled.

Entire kingdoms and countries have disappeared because they thought of challenging the Holy Church

It is not because of the power of the church itself, but rather because of its ability to mobilize an innumerable army of believers spread everywhere

Even if you manage to escape from the grip of the church somehow, you must move carefully because a religious extremist may come out of somewhere and stab you.

This is what made Alexander wince as soon as he heard that Isaac was one of the nobles of Arametes

The nobles of Arametes were the priests responsible for protecting the church and eliminating its enemies

That is why the heads of these nobles were stuffed since their childhood with ideas aimed at turning them into robots that blindly obey the church..

“I'm used to getting this reaction.” Isaac smiled self-deprecatingly

“It's just that I'm a little surprised...” Alexander tried to find a suitable escape from this embarrassing situation

Then he said after a few seconds, “I was surprised that you preferred to come here to study instead of studying at the church.”

The church had an educational system no less efficient and good than the imperial academy system

That's why it was strange that a nobleman like Isaac would pass up the opportunity to be educated in such an elite educational facility

The smile disappeared from Isaac's face suddenly

Alexander winced when he realized he might have said something he shouldn't have said

Isaac looked at the sky with an emotionless face, “There were a lot of disagreements between me and my family, so I preferred to come here instead of fulfilling their wish by going to church.”

".." Oh...

“You shouldn't have opened this topic.” Swanson's voice was uncomfortable

".." do you think so?

Alexander felt remorse for getting himself into this thorny subject

How can I get out of this predicament?

“I understand your situation...” Alexander decided that going along with the situation was the best thing for now, “I have family problems too, my relationship with my father was not ideal.”

“It seems we have something in common.” Isaac's eyes became more cunning, retaining his usual sarcasm

“I think so...” Alexander let out a relieved breath when he thought he had overcome this thorny topic

Isaac got up from the bench and dusted off his clothes, "I have to go to the student council, these files will not sign themselves."

"You're from the student council." Alexander looked at him curiously

"Yes..." Isaac's answer was neutral and did not contain any pride or condescension

“How much do you get paid monthly?” Alexander asked, ready to do a quick calculation of the annual salary of the student council of this academy

" Excuse me...?" Isaac was confused when he heard this strange question

“How much does the academy pay you for your extra work on the student council?” Alexander repeated the question and did not understand why Isaac seemed surprised

“...” Isaac stared at him for a few seconds

Then he answered after a moment, “Why should the academy pay us?”

“Are you saying you work for free?” Alexander's eyes widened

“It sounds bad when you say it like that.” Isaac shook his head, still confused by Alexander's words, "I don't understand why I should receive a salary as a result of my work on the student council. After all, this is just a volunteer position."

With these words, Isaac began to walk away, waving towards Alexander, “See you later...”

“Only the Imperial Academy provides a salary to the Student Council members due to their great efforts.” Swanson explained the matter to Alexander

“Volunteer work? This is just modern slavery...” Alexander sighed as he watched Isaac’s distant back

“Not everyone is as opportunistic as you.” Swanson scoffed

“I don't like being used by others, it has nothing to do with opportunism.” Alexander shrugged

“By the way, my boss called a few minutes ago and wanted to talk to you.”

Alexander held his breath for a moment, “Did he say what he wanted to talk to me about?”

"I don't know, but his voice was angry, as if he was ready to kill someone."

Alexander's mind began to work to find an excuse to evade Walter's call