In the grand hall, in front of a sizable audience stood Sirius. Every set of eyes were planted on him as he walked out of the Gate with the badge in his hands. The badge was plain and smooth before it was touched by Sirius and now the engraving of a hand holding a flower was visible. Sirius was standing next to the Gate when Professor Sionn announced, “Next batch, get ready.”

Mehr walked up to Sirius and looked at the badge, that Sirius was now pinning over his heart with the help of mana. He noticed that the badge differed from the one Fynn had.

“Congratulations, Sirius,” Nora said while walking towards them. Sirius smiled and thanked her, and looked around to search for Adhara but couldn’t find her anywhere.

“Did you fall for that strange girl? Why do you keep looking for her?” Mehr asked while chuckling.

“Hmm, I wonder-♪♪” Sirius said jokingly, “She reminds me of someone… and she’s as strong as us if not stronger.”

Mehr, Sirius and Nora walked towards the door as they had this conversation.

“Hoh, as strong as us? And what do you mean she reminds you of someone?” Mehr asked.

“She reminds me of an idiot who prances around teaching other people about life while still quite unsorted. She is just like you or at least I think so.” Sirius answered while waving to Hope and Fynn who were approaching the group.

“Are you okay?” Sirius asked Hope who was looking downtrodden.

“Well, she did get kicked out pretty early on,” Fynn said while making fun of her, “Anyway, we won’t be getting the final results until tomorrow and we were planning to go look around the city of swords. This is our first time here, after all. Would you all like to come along?”

Mehr, Sirius and Nora looked at each other and nodded. They had nothing to do either way.

“Anyway, why is everyone looking at us like that?” Nora asked while looking at the audience and other people present in the hall who were gawking at their group from their places.

“Well, I can be a bit self-serving by saying that they are looking at all of us because of our Houses and our results in the trial, but it is obvious who they are looking at.” Fynn commented while gesturing to Sirius, “Everyone had heard that the Heir of Frye was here, and now they all know his face. Everyone wants to make your acquaintance.”

“Aren’t you all High Nobles though? Why do you think it’s because of Sirius that all of them are looking at us?” Mehr asked.

“There is a fundamental difference.” Nora said, “Every High Nobility House is called a Great House, while only House Frye is called the Supreme House. The Fryes don’t answer to a King and are completely independent of the Mainland’s politics, just like this Academy.”

“But Father was a Royal Advisor to the former King of Ruvonne,” Sirius said while walking away from the eyes of the people.

“That is why it was such a big deal. Lord Frye had bent his knees for a king and actively worked to make Ruvonne the greatest nation. And it was an equally big deal when he very clearly refused to bend his knees to the current King, King Acacia.” Fynn chimed in.

The group had left through the door and were walking down the corridor when they heard a little commotion to the side. They noticed that a little group was formed around a fat guy who was shouting at people kneeling in front of him. His chin’s flesh would flap with every word he spoke and because of the increase in his voice and temper, spit would sneakily escape from his mouth and spread around the people kneeling below. The fat guy’s garb was extravagant, with his body adorned with jewels and his headwear giving off a noble feeling. On the heart of his garb, there was a small sigil with three gold coins that depicted the guy’s House.

“Someone from House Albarone,” Hope spoke up for the first time in a while.

“Well, it cannot be more obvious that he is from Albarone. His belly must have reached the academy an hour before him.” Fynn laughed while looking at the scene.

“You’re stereotyping him.”

“I’m not stereotyping him.” Fynn said, “Look at the size of him. He must have eaten three whole humans before coming here. I recognised him just from his belly while his sigil was a mile away.”

The group laughed at Fynn’s words and decided to leave the academy to go tour the city. However, Sirius noticed that Mehr was walking towards the shouting fat guy.

“Mehr?” Sirius called out but Mehr had already reached the fat guy and was looking at one of the people who were kneeling while his arms were crossed. The person that Mehr was looking at had two swirling marbles rotating over his head as he kept his head to the ground. It was David Eastmere. The fat guy was scolding David and a lot of other people when he noticed that Mehr had come up to his side and was standing idly.

The fat guy didn’t notice any Sigil on Mehr’s garb but by the expressions that other people showed towards him, the fat guy politely asked, “Which House are you from, friend?”

“None. I’m a commoner.” Mehr replied while still looking at David, who at this point had raised his head to look at Mehr.

Mehr’s answers brought a sudden shift in the fat guy’s behaviour as he spouted, “Damn peasant. Kneel when you see someone of High Nobility.”

Mehr looked at the fat guy for a moment before turning to David, “Choose who you serve wisely. A dumb master can throw your life in the ditches.” By this point, Sirius and others had also joined Mehr.

Listening to Mehr’s scathing words, the fat guy was thoroughly enraged. The flaps under the many folds of, what used to be, chin were quivering due to anger. And yet, he didn’t move a finger. Any kind of fighting outside the dedicated classes was prohibited in the Academy and the fat guy knew it. And so he resorted to an attack of words.

“Peasant, did your mother never teach you to speak? She must have been filthy who-”

Swish.

His words hadn’t ended yet and a sword was laid on his neck. The fat guy had only blinked once but somehow he was infinitely close to dying. The shine of the golden hilt was blinding as he looked into the eyes of the attacker. The greenish orange eyes were looking back at him as if warning him not to even take a breath any further.

“Please don’t finish that sentence,” Sirius said while withdrawing his sword from the fat guy’s neck and sheathing it. He smiled and looked at the fat guy to continue, “Words that harsh can hurt someone and so can swords if you ever forget that.”

“Let’s go, Sirius. He’s not worth wasting our time.” Mehr said while walking away from the group, “And our words might take some time to reach his head under all that flesh.”

Sirius smiled and patted the fat guy’s shoulder as he turned back.

“You know it is prohibited to attack in the Academy, right? Nora asked.

“Of course. That’s why I never attacked him. I was just showing off my moves.” Sirius chuckled while tagging along with Nora and others.

“Where are we going anyway?”

“Whichever place looks interesting.”

****

In a room illuminated with the light of mana orbs, an open window was allowing the cool, night breeze in. The curtains were ruffling softly when a woman entered the room. She was wearing a long robe with the insignia of the Academy etched on the heart. She locked the door behind her and slowly got rid of her robe under the light of the mana orbs. Her dark green hair flew behind her due to the incoming wind. She put on her nightgown and went to sit in front of the mirror. Her light blue eyes looked back at her as the face of Professor Cecilia was reflected in the mirror.

She gently raised her finger and put it in the centre of the mirror. She closed her eyes and focused for a bit before noticing the change in the mirror. The mirror had gone completely dark and it looked ominous enough to swallow everything within it.

“Any information?” Professor Cecilia asked.

The darkness in the mirror whirled around as it took the shape of a human’s face.

“My apologies, My Lady. We couldn’t find anyone who comes from the town of Varay.”

“That is impossible. The child should’ve attended today’s trials if they wanted to attend the Academy.” Professor Cecilia said irritatingly.

“Is it possible that the Star might not attend the Academy?” The man in the mirror asked.

“I don’t know anymore. Heavens have stopped giving me signs a long time ago. I can’t infer anything from the silence.” Professor Cecilia stood up and walked up to the window.

“My Lady. There might still be hope.”

“How so?”

“While we couldn’t find anyone who should have been in Varay a decade ago, there are three children on whom we couldn’t find any information.”

Professor Cecilia turned to the mirror and asked interestedly, “Who?”

“First is Sirius Frye. For someone so famous, the information about him is suspiciously sparse. It’s as if Erwin and Maria had kept him hidden for years before he came to the Academy. No other noble houses know much about him.”

“A Frye…. But there should logically be no reason for him to be in the forest of Varay all those years ago.” Cecilia said while shaking her head gently.

“Next is Mehr, the child who came with Sirius Frye. There is only one piece of information I could find about him which states that he is Maria’s distant relative from the Neer Republic. This information is quite shaky as it comes from some murmurs in the Noble Houses. Apart from that, there is simply no information.”

“I do remember him…. Who’s the last?”

“Adhara, another commoner. We tried searching for any thread of information but all we could find was a failure. It’s like she just sprang out of a dark void yesterday. Before yesterday, no one had ever seen her before.”

Cecilia sat down on her bed with her head in her hands as she mumbled, “Why is it so damn hard to find the Star when I’m the Diviner. What sort of a practical joke is this?”

The man in the mirror coughed at Professor Cecilia’s grumbles.

“Is there anything else?” Cecilia looked up at the mirror and asked in an annoyed tone.

“Yes, Lady Cecile. His Majesty has sent a letter….again.”

“Burn it.” Cecilia, or rather Cecile Amavus, ordered as soon as she heard the man.

“As you say, My Lady,” The man said and disappeared into the darkness of the mirror. The swirling mirror soon came to rest and the serene silence wrapped the room again. Cecilia stood up from her bed and went to the open window. She leaned on the sill while looking at the night sky with myriads of twinkling stars and scoffed at her inability to find a child.

“Where the hell are you, Lord Star.”