Way of the Knights

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"Well…" Mark spoke after going reuniting with the team. "That was stressful."

The others could only sigh helplessly and agree to his words, they too felt the same upon talking with the contractors.

After Alice told them that they have to meet up with the contractors, they entered a a place where they will meet them. They were interviewed one by one by the contractors and was asked about their ideas for their new homes.

First of all, this 15 kilometers landmass was specifically reserved for the Genius Class. As for why is that so? The contractors simply answered: 'Because you're a genius.' Which doesn't make any sense but they were forced to accept it either way.

So far they have seen multiple abodes built in this place, but they were informed that majority of those abodes were empty, either their previous owner was demoted from the class or just dead. As abodes like this didn't take 'too much space', they didn't bother taking them down and instead built another one for the next batch.

They were then informed about the general span of their territories. Once they chosen a spot where to build their abode, their territory will start 75 miles in radius around their home, the same goes for everyone. Entering someone else's territory without consent would be punishable according to rules and regulations. So far, there are no cases of this happening since there is a clear sign if one was near someone else's territory. They home owners can give out some bypass talismans to their family and friends so that they would be provided entry without raising any alarms.

Next, they then asked to choose a spot for their own abodes. The contractors showed them a detailed map of the landmass and they were chose to pick where they wanted their new homes to be constructed. This is the part that took most of their time since aside from the location, the contractors also asked about other things such as the how big they wanted it to be, the general idea of what the abode would look like, the interior design, if they wanted servants and etc.

And after a long discussion, the team was finally done with the interview and were now resting at a temporary home for them since the construction of their new home would take some time.

"How would it take for them to build yours?" Paul asked after a while of silence.

"They said about a week or so." Mark replied while shrugging.

"Lucky you." Paul smacked his lips, "Mine will take about a week and a half."

"How about you girls? How long was their estimation."

Ellen replied and said that it would take her to be built after a week just like Paul, Anne's the same and for Luna, five days were enough. After they replied, they then looked towards Raven curiously. Seeing this, he only smirked and said:

"Three days."

The rest raised their eyebrows in surprise, and here they thought Luna would be the first one to have a home built for her but the construction of Raven's home was faster.

"Don't be so surprised." Raven chuckled as he saw their confused expressions. "I don't need my home to be high-class. Just a place to stay would be fine."

Understanding came to them as soon as he said this. They figured that Raven must've asked for the bear minimum when it comes to his home, after all he was used to living in simplicity like always. What they didn't know is that the ideas they have in mind is very different from reality.

Shortly after, the team heard a knock on the door. Paul was the closest there so he simply reached out to open it. They saw Alice came in, she bowed in greetings and said:

"It seems that your negotiation with the contractors went well." She smiled upon saying this. The team nodded their heads in agreement. "Very well, I just came here to bid farewell to you. My job as a tour guide shall end here. Although there are some places that we haven't visited yet, I'm afraid that even with your status, it's still off limits. There will be someone who will introduce those places to you when times comes, so I'l just leave the task to that person. Before I leave, I wonder if Young Fairies and Young Masters have any questions left?"

When Alice finished speaking, there was a brief silence inside the room. This atmosphere was quite awkward for her but she endured it since it won't take long before she leaves, and that might be the last time that she will ever see them.

It was then that she saw someone raise their hand. She glanced at that person and saw that it was the unassuming guy who had been silent throughout their journey.

She was referring to Raven.

"Yes, Young Master?" She asked.

"'First of all…" Raven sighed in helplessness. "Will drop the act already?"

Needless to say, Alice was stunned on the spot as she heard his words.

"M-my apologies Young Master, but I-"

"Like he was saying…" Ellen interrupted her before she could continue, "Drop the act. We know that you're just forcing yourself to appear polite and humble before out presence, but instead of masking your true intentions, you stick out like a sore thumb."

Alice shivered in disbelief after hearing Ellen's words. Fear flashed on her face as chaotic thoughts started appearing on her mind. She bit her lips hard while lowering her head down and clutching the hem of her uniform.

"Girl…" It was then that Anne's pleasant voice rang onto her ears. "Don't be frightened. We just want you to act naturally since it's too uncomfortable to see you force yourself doing something that you clearly don't like doing."

Alice's guilt was quickly rising, her silence was a tacit agreement that their observations about her were correct. After a long time, she finally stopped biting her lip and just accepted her fate, there's no way out for her anyway. She raised her head and smiled, but her smile was that of helplessness and defeat.

"Well…" she said after while, "You got me. I guess after this, I'll get what I deserved for deceiving you." She heaved a deep sigh and continued, "Whatever, I'm not too optimistic in the first place anyway. If you have any more questions then ask away, I'll answer whatever I could."

Seeing her attitude switch made the rest quite guilty, from the tone of her voice, the situation that she's in might be more serious that they thought.

"You…" Hesitating for a bit, Raven threw out the assumption that he had for a while now. "Were supposed to be our classmate, correct?"

Seeing her body shook and her eyes widened in disbelief, was already enough to confirm that his assumption was correct, from her on out, the truth shall be more or less revealed.

"Y-you…how did you know?" Alice uttered after recovering from her initial shock.

"Quite simple actually." Raven smiled wryly as he answered her question. "First of all, your acting was good, but not enough to fool us. We had a fair share socializing with people who does the same thing, albeit better than you could. So you see, it's not really hard to point out."

"Next, is the way how you treated us. You know that we'll be a part of the genius class from the very beginning and it's quite obvious that you're wary of us. But at the same time, you awfully know a lot about the Genius Class for being just a regular Inner Branch student. So I made a bold assumption that you must've had first hand experience with those benefits that you mention, but how could that be possible if you're 'just' a regular Inner Branch student?"

"And the final hint that I saw, was on the way you looked at the abodes earlier." Raven gazed at her sternly as he proved his point further. "We saw several abodes upon getting here, but you stared at one specific abode and never looked at anything aside from that, you only looked away when it was time for you to lead us somewhere else. That was previously yours, correct?"

Alice was speechless. She found it hard to believe that this guy was actually observing her actions closely without her even realizing it. From observation skills alone, she could confidently say that she can't compare with this guy. In the end, she could only chuckle helplessly and say:

"Usually I'll say something like 'As expected of someone from the Genius Class' but, you're clearly above that."

Without any way out, she could only smile and let loose of the worries that she had on her heart. Worrying about those was useless anyway so she figured that it's better for her to come out clean and drop the pretenses. She cleared her throat and bowed to them once more, with a serene expression on her face, she introduced herself once more to the people in front of her.

"Greetings.. My name is Alice Endrun, a demoted student of the Genius Class, pleased to meet all of you."

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