Chapter 134- Trick?
Elise looked at Rin for a few seconds, unflinching as if she was waiting for him to say something else other than that. She assumed that he was intending to say that he was joking or that it was just a mistake. But, Rin didn't utter another single word after that.
So, after a cruel 10 seconds of pure silence, Elise sighed and shook her head.
pαпdα Йᴏνê|,сòМ "I won't."
Two words, as simple as they may sound, were enough to make Rin blink a few times in surprise, clearly taken aback.
"It's either both of us or no one." She continued.
"... Can I ask why?" Rin calmed down and looked at the scenery with much more appreciation than before.
"I have no reason to run away."
"Huh? What about you-"
"My life?" She asked casually which made Rin nod in response.
"Well, I have no need for that."
"But that's not the…"
"No, it is the point. I won't accept this, end of the conversation." Elise stubbornly didn't want to continue trying to convince Rin. She knew that he won't be able to accept her reasoning as it was merely something she understood.
It was something completely linked to her past. The idea of running away wasn't something that she could tolerate especially when it was related to her well-being of herself too. If she kept living with that guilt, she was sure that eventually, insanity will plague her thoughts and that will be basically her end, all that was left was to dig a hole and put herself inside of it.
"I… understand. But, at least, don't actively try to make yourself look like a suspect too, ok? That way, there is a good chance they won't be focusing on you." Rin said as he tapped his fingers against each other rhythmically.
"What is your plan?" She asked after a while.
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The next day, while Rin was still asleep, a loud ringtone echoed in the whole room, waking him up. Well, he instead basically jumped on top of his bed because of the sudden loud noise. Then, he frowned and rubbed his head as he read the notification with squinted eyes.
In a nutshell, the notification was telling him to wake up and get ready before heading toward the magic grounds area.
"Sigh, wasn't there a better way to wake me up?" Rin grumbled annoyingly and quickly left his bed.
After getting ready and eating breakfast, he walked out of the room. Exactly in front of his door, swarms of students were passing by and walking toward the exit in groups. Everyone was discussing the matter of the cult and the incidents.
It has been a few days since that news became public and so everyone was aware of what was going on, to a certain extent. After Rin told Emilia everything he saw, she made a note that he must not tell anyone about it except those he can trust.
She was more than certain that if Rin told a person by mistake and that person turned out to be a cult member, Rin would be in imminent danger.
However, the latter was slightly skeptical about that for a few reasons. The first one is the weird reaction the bulky cult member showed when he was about to kill Rin. Not only did he not finish Rin off, but he also showed such a deep, soul-chilling fear in his eyes when he gazed at Rin's clear violet eyes. Rin was still extremely confused about that reaction.
Why did he fear Rin? Wasn't he toying with him not even a second before that? What did he see that made him cower in fear like that and lose all of his composure then run away without looking back?
Not to mention the weird words he said 'You aren't… You aren't him! You aren't worthy!'
Who was this 'him' he mentioned? Did he mean the shadow monarch or another person? If he meant the shadow monarch, then what did he see that made him think that Rin was the shadow monarch? As far as Rin can remember, the man didn't see Rin using shadow manipulation so that should be impossible. However, if he meant another person, who was this person? Did he have some kind of connection with Rin he didn't know about, yet?
A thousand questions and no answers. But, what made Rin rather calm and chill about the matter is that the answer will eventually appear. The cult was still hiding inside the academy, waiting for a perfect time to strike, and as far as he knew, Rin would be one of those affected by it along with the others or maybe even more than the others considering his weird connection with them.
'Having something inside you getting worshipped by some lunatics is sure not the best experience out there. I feel like some kind of god.'
[Aren't you, host?]
'I am no. I still am technically, biologically, genetically, and socially human. There is no changing that for the time being.'
Reaching the training grounds, he found himself in the middle of hundreds and even thousands of people. Students, administrative personnel, maids, butlers, cooks, cleaners, you name it, all waiting for the same exact thing.
They had all been invited to be appraised. The matter won't take that long even with this huge number of people to test. It was all a matter of a few seconds before the next person will be tested that's not to mention that the academy will be using multiple appraisal stones to be able to make the process as swift as possible.
Normally, Rin and Elise would meet before going anywhere, but since they agreed to keep their relationship mysterious and low-key, he made sure to come here alone and not get in contact with her in any form until the end of the tests.
After waiting for a while, tens of guards walked toward them and started organizing the lines and the groups assigned to them. Students were on their own and other academy workers were on their own to make it easier to distinguish between them in case of fishy suspects.
After that, without any more explanation or even any speech, they started the process. Rin guessed that the academy had already given the culprits way too much time before this so they wanted to quickly get to the root of it before anything can happen.
Slowly, people approached the appraisal orbs, and touched them, myriads of colors would shine on the orb before it lands in a certain color that represents the element that person has. Most of them were varied shades of green, blue, and red.
They all represented the most common elements in the world: Fire, wind, water, and earth. Since these elements were the most common in nature, the majority of humans would be linked to them because of them. Rarer elements mean rarer users for that element because of its rarity.
'Elements like ice, lava, lightning and such are quite hard to find since they are merely a variation of a bigger element. Yet, they are also way stronger than those main elements.'
As Rin thought so, gasps of admiration echoed around him. Looking at the person who was getting appraised now, he didn't really show many reactions.
'A sound user?' Rin thought.
Sound was also one of the rather rare elements even though it was something basically abundant in the world and could be found basically everywhere.
However, it was a very strong element with a lot of potentials that could guarantee its bearer a fruitful future. The user that got that appraisal merely smiled proudly before gazing at everyone with a clear hint of disdain. He was extremely happy that everyone was now appreciating his talent and power.
After that, a series of people went buy. Rin's turn was getting closer and closer and subsequently, he was starting to feel nervous more and more.
'Are you 100% sure, system?'
[The system would never lie, host.]
'Well, if I'm fucked then you are also fucked so no worry about that.' He thought causally as he calmed his beating heart.
When it came to his turn, he walked to the appraisal orb with confident strides to hide any suspicious nervousness from appearing on his face or in his movement.
The woman that was taking care of the process, assessed Rin up and down before quickly averting her eyes and focusing on the orb.
"Put your hand on it."
Rin nodded and extended his hand closer to the orb. Then, he closed his eyes and made the last push.
A few, long, excruciatingly horrifying seconds passed. Rin felt the time halt to a stop when he touched the cold, smooth surface of the orb. He thought he was already prepared for the worst but now that he was this close to it, he could only swallow a mouthful of saliva secretly.
'I'm dead, or alive… dead or alive… dead or alive?' He kept asking in his head as he waited for the woman to say something and free him from this tormenting wait.
"The element of air, good. You can pass." She said in one single breath.
(A//N: How he did that will be explained in the next chapter :) )
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