Distant Wind City. 3 days later.
"Do you think they will accept me?" Aric asked as he and Gopher were heading to the city square to see if he had been selected or not. Today was the last day, and it would be announced who would be accepted to the schools and who wouldn't.
The background check was quite important for the schools, as some spies might enter and then gain recommendations to official positions in the empire.
"If you think they wouldn't, why would you not speak of your background and let it be verified by them?" Gopher couldn't understand why Aric was being so secretive about his past now.
"I told you, I am an orphan from a nearby village," Aric protested.
"And you want people to believe that an orphan from a village was able to get rich so fast with his own ideas and has such an amazing talent?" Gopher rolled his eyes as he asked that.
"Why is it that hard to believe? My village was attacked by bandits, and I had to run away. This city gave me shelter. I had my own ideas, and I implemented them," Aric said.
"You using fancy words like 'implemented' is enough to show that you are a learned person. Sigh! Whatever your past is, I hope Ravenguard won't hold it against you. They are an unconventional school, and they might just overlook your past," Gopher said. This made Aric do a double take, as he didn't expect that his use of modern words would throw him into a pit. He really underestimated this world when it came to intelligence.
Soon, they reached the Ravenguard tent where Sylva was sitting, and on the side, there were two more teenagers. They didn't look very well-nourished and seemed like they came from villages. One looked a bit proud, while the other was shy and scared. He could easily tell that these two were accepted by the school.
Sylva's eyes shone when she saw Gopher and Aric walk inside.
"I thought you got accepted to another school," Sylva said.
"Aric did say that he wanted your school from the beginning." Gopher seemed a bit offended that Sylva asked that.
"We have investigated Aric here, and the school is ready to accept him. But there will be conditions. If Aric comes clean about his background, the initial contract will apply, but if he doesn't, he will receive all the privileges but will have to pay for them. That is what the Principal of the School has asked for," Sylva said.
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"Hahaha... Your school is quite greedy, going after his money. You know well how rich he is." Gopher laughed angrily, as he could see what Ravenguard was trying to do. Since they couldn't learn his background, they wanted him to pay, so if anything happened in the future, they could proclaim that the school had nothing to do with his actions and could just kick him out while pocketing the money.
"Don't badmouth our school. We will follow the original contract if he comes clean, and the reason our school is ready to accept him is because we are not affiliated with the empire and also because of the central continent's Midnight Sun Empire," Sylva replied to Gopher with the same intensity.
This made Gopher fall silent as he looked at Aric. This meant there could be no more negotiations.
"How much do I need to pay for the school?" Aric asked.
"If you want all the facilities outlined in the contract, you will have to pay 1,000 gold coins per year. If not..." Sylva said, but before she could finish her words and pitch the different 'plans' of the school, Aric interrupted.
"Here are the 1,000 gold coins." Sylva's mouth hung open when she saw the gold coins. Not because she hadn't seen such a huge amount of wealth, but because she was surprised that Aric carried so much wealth with him, and she also didn't see from where he had pulled the coins.
Nonetheless, she accepted the coins and also handed him the new contract.
"Show up tomorrow at 9 a.m. We will be leaving for the school," Sylva said.
"I have a question," Aric said.
"What? The school won't provide you with any extra privileges, even if you pay more. The school is giving you enough," Sylva said, as she thought Aric would ask for more privileges, understanding by now that money was the least of his problems.
"No, no... As you have seen, I run a business here. Will I be allowed to continue it in the new place as well?" Aric asked.
"You better not say no to that," Gopher said, this time with intimidation.
"As long as he doesn't miss classes and scores good marks in exams, he is allowed to do whatever he wants in his free time," Sylva assured the duo. Aric was relieved when he heard that because it would have been a dealbreaker for him. He then proceeded to sign the contract using his own blood as his thumbprint. It didn't take much to prick his left hand's finger and make one.
Once it was done, Sylva accepted the money and also provided another document stating that the payment for the first year was completed and that he would need to pay the next year's fee on the exact same day.
The proud teenager seemed to look down on Aric more after he paid the money and signed, while the other one didn't have much of a reaction. Aric didn't care, but that didn't mean he wouldn't pay attention to others. He could already see what was going on in the minds of these two boys, and he didn't mind their attitude at all.
Soon, both of them were outside, but Gopher didn't look happy at all. He seemed pissed.
"What is it? I don't think the attitude of the teenagers should ruin your mood. They didn't even say anything." Aric joked. Everyone could see that attitude of those two boys and thus said.