"Did you hear that Orion was defeated by a half-wolf that morning?"
"But isn't he a golden pendant?"
"Yes, he is! But I heard that he was defeated by a novice."
"Who is this half-wolf?"
"Apparently he's a new assistant to Mr.Zhanid."
When Meredith heard this, her ears popped up. She intently turned to the wheel of girls who were chatting. With a total focus on what was being discussed. No doubt her half-fox instincts became even more attenuated when she heard something related to Luke.
In her head, several thoughts were spinning, already imagining that the worst could happen. This was a defect that intensified in her heart, this constant worry about what might happen, about the future.
'She spoke a half-wolf, it could be any half-wolf.... But it's Zhanid's assistant... It's definitely Luke, it can only be Luke.'
What made the girl incredulous was precisely this question. If the subject was about Luke, that would imply that he managed to get into a fight in less than a week inside the academy, an environment that until now was peaceful and quiet, but if there was one person who knew what Luke Lange is capable of, no doubt it is Meredith...
'He would definitely be able to do that... But still, it's so early, I wonder what motivated him to make trouble so quickly. Even more so a duel? How could he manage to have a disagreement so quickly...? And he's still weakened, it doesn't make sense. What happened Luke?'
The conversation of that group of girls continued, which gave Meredith even more answers and questions.
'I heard they dueled on the beach'
Said a girl with long green hair and red glasses, she was excitedly shaking her head from side to side, making little jumps of excitement.
"Yes, yes! Near the flight center."
Answered a girl with short blonde hair, who was also wearing glasses.
"I wanted to see Orion swinging his sword!"
Continued the blonde.
"He must look so attractive fighting."
Answered the green haired girl.
"From what I heard, he used a greatsword"
Said a red-haired girl who was on the wheel, she carried a sword on her back.
"And yet he was still defeated? How impressive!"
Answered another girl who possessed pink hair and rabbit ears.
Meredith's eyes widened, her face was making a genuine expression of astonishment and at the same time fear. Her heart was beating incessantly, with doubts and questions of what might happen now. After all, they could be in serious danger.
'Gold pendants are the strongest members of the academy...If Luke got into a duel with one of these guys, that's sure to cause trouble.... If he draws too much attention, maybe even the demons will notice our presence in the academy.'
She was nervous, and now that she knew about the demons' influence in the academy, she had an even greater desire not to draw attention to herself. Knowing that one of the teachers had direct contact with the demons was something that terrified the girl at first.
In theory, the academy space was supposed to be alien to Melki's government. But the geographical proximity was obviously a factor that would eventually influence, drawing the empire's interest to the magical knowledge of that island.
'The first servant would easily recognize Luke, we need to consider now that the demons have already realized our presence here. This place is too protected for them to attempt a direct attack, but currently we are isolated... I wonder what might happen on the outside, now that they know Luke is too far away to interfere...?'
Various thoughts were flying back and forth in Half-fox's head, who was tapping her foot on the ground with anxiety. She was trying to imagine everything that could occur with this new news. They were oblivious to any information, and without Luke's help, the demons would surely take advantage of Ayumi's weakness. They already had no news from Broteforge, which was making them both worried, now the situation was even more critical.
Depending on how Luke was going to react, he might have the will to directly confront Max Willford, just the thought of Luke getting into a direct confrontation with a professor was something that made the half-wolf extremely worried. After all, the half-wolf was still weakened and unable to use skills, no matter how much he had apparently won a duel against a prodigy student, it's a completely different situation when it comes to a teacher. To make matters worse, Luke would still have to face him using only magic, since he would not be able to use his gene skills without being affected by the curse, which in Meredith's view made the duel even more dangerous.
A teacher at Melki's academy is a master of the magical arts, even if Willford was young, his ability and strength should be amazing to be able to teach at the academy. But letting the production of Chimeras continue would undoubtedly be a wrong decision, which would directly influence the war between Melki and Broteforge.
So as much as this situation was degrading and extremely dangerous, it would be necessary to intervene in Mr.Max's research. The question is how.
'Luke is too weak to Fight him directly... Maybe with Zhanid's help we can stop the project from continuing. But would Zhanid help us? What would happen if we intervene?
A new and even more worrying possibility crossed Meredith's mind.
'We can't say anything about how the academy would react to this, maybe the directors themselves are supporting Mr. Max's decision... If that is true, are we really safe here? The demons can't attack the academy directly, but there's nothing stopping them from attacking us in the night... Even more so if they have the support of the academy members.'
Now the very safety of the two were in doubt.
'Is Melki's academy really neutral towards the empire? Can we really trust anyone here?'
The half-fox's face was now pale, with a sense of fear she hadn't experienced in a long time.
Until she suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder. It was the girl with the red hair, who was talking in the group. Meredith jumped with fright.
"Ya, Oh I'm sorry." Half-fox said, embarrassed.
"Don't worry, I'm the one who's sorry. But is everything okay?" Questioned the red haired girl.
She was dressed in her standard academy uniform, wearing a white skirt and long black stockings that went up to her thigh. Her hair was a very strong red, her eyes were also red, and on her back she was holding a long silver sword. Soon the other girls followed the redhead's attitude, and approached Meredith. The girl with pink hair and rabbit ears came hopping up.
"You had such a worried face! I'm glad Ruby came to talk to you! "
This girl was dressed in her academy uniform, but on top of her shirt was a white sweater that hid her hands and part of her neck. Her long pink hair was completely messed up, while her rabbit ears were protruding upwards.
"That's right, do you need help? I've never seen you around here before," said the blond haired girl. She wore black glasses, and had relatively short hair, just above her shoulders. She was wearing a ponytail.
"Yeeyy! A new friend! You were very handsome offering help hein Rubyy" continued the rabbit girl. Poking the redheaded girl's face, who took the chance to bite her friend's finger.
"Well, my name is Ruby. What's your name?" Said the red-haired girl.
The Half-fox then looked down, her heart still churning with several bad thoughts of what might happen at the academy. But she sighed deeply and chose to think it over another time.
"My name is Meredith, it's a pleasure to meet you."
"Call me Yuuziiii! umu" the rabbit girl said.
"My name is Ainz, and the green haired shy girl is Ellen."
The group of girls then started talking to Meredith, which eased her tempers a bit for the day. Later the situation regarding Luke was resolved, when another girl who attended the academy's flight group explained what happened.
"So Luke lost very narrowly to the captain in a flying competition, and it spread like he won a duel?" Said Meredith
"Hmm Unforeseen things happen, but really. That was a big change of information, it's not the first time that's happened." Ruby commented.
The redheaded girl then scratched the back of her head.
*sigh*
"It makes sense that you would have been so worried, hearing that your beloved has entered a duel must be very scary. Even more so after such a short time that you have joined the academy." Ruby concluded
This relief kept Meredith from negative thoughts, although, this support from the girls didn't last long.
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