Chapter 303 Volume V - Chapter 21: Before the Rector, the Professor and the Prince
"Adrian Caleo!"
The doctor shouted louder this time, and for a moment I just stared at him. Shaking myself out of my thoughts, out of the dream I was having, I looked up at the man who had been standing next to me since I woke up.
As we made eye contact, he too finally paused, the urgency and slight worry in his eyes disappearing.
"Ah... Well, I apologize. I got lost in my thoughts..."
The doctor turned away with a sigh. He called out to a few people waiting outside the room and asked them to bring something. Then he focused on me again.
"Do you feel anything wrong with your body?"
"No, I feel pretty good."
The nurse next to her quickly started taking notes on the tablet-like device in her hand.
"So... how is the mana flow in your body?"
Oh, is he talking about me being a half-blood?
Right... I'll have to deal with that.
"I have had my mana system since birth. Since then, it's been functioning as it should, which is to say normally. It doesn't seem to have any problems at the moment."
The Doctor opened his mouth as if to ask a few more questions, he even looked a little excited... but before he could, the door suddenly opened and three guards entered.
The Doctor closed his mouth as he saw them enter and stepped back slightly, making way for them. He looked like he was dying to ask me some questions, but instantly restrained himself.
The security guards who entered were not simple people. And that was clear just by looking at them.
They were not like normal hospital security. They were wearing uniforms similar to those worn by policemen, but they were different from them too. Perhaps the most important difference was the royal seal on their lapels.
The man at the front spoke solemnly, his eyes narrowed.
"Adrian Caleo... I guess you can more or less guess what will happen from now on."
I nodded, smiling slightly.
"Pretty much."
"Then... you also know that you have to come with us."
I nodded once more, and after the doctor assured me that there was no problem and I could be discharged... they put handcuffs on my hands. I had only been awake for a few minutes and before I could find out anything about my friends or the general situation, they took me to the police station.
Though it wasn't a police station... It was just a place that looked like one, but it was obviously a much more important place.
Because... we had to go several floors underground.
*******
It looked like a room in the movies, a few floors below the ground, where I sat doing nothing.
It was a simple room with gray walls on three sides, the wall to my right was a black glass wall with no visible back, and a simple table and chairs in the middle. It was just... a bit big. And by a bit big I mean really big.
The handcuffs on my hands were removed. But I couldn't feel the flow of mana through my body because of the... bracelet or something that they had put on my arm. Of course, because of this, my communication with Lithoa had also disappeared.
In short, I was completely alone. The only thing they told me was to wait and that's what I was doing. Of course, there was nothing to stop me from thinking.
I revealed my identity. Even now I'm not in my human appearance, I'm in my original form, and my friends saw that I'm not really human at all. But most importantly... almost everyone in that place saw it.
Of course, I've gotten into a lot of trouble for hiding it, and that's why I'm here. For example, the documents I submitted when I enrolled in the academy were stamped as fake because my true identity was exposed. There is also the fact that I am in an academy where only 'humans' are allowed to enroll.
In short, according to the laws of the kingdom, I am now a criminal.
But do I have a problem...? Not so much, actually. Because a long time ago, I spent days and weeks thinking about what I would do if my identity was revealed. Even though I'm not a very smart person, after thinking about it so much, I know it's going to be a bit of a headache, but I know I can get away with it.
Power is everything, after all. And I'm so powerful now, given my age, that I don't think they'd want to lose me, especially after what's been happening lately.
Power is the most important thing the kingdom needs right now. With dungeons all over the world, an emerging terrorist organization, and the fact that I'm still a Cevilian citizen even though I'm half-elf, I'm more than useful to them.
It had been about ten minutes since I was left alone in the room when the door finally opened again. When I looked at the people coming in... for a moment I just froze in my tracks.
The first person to come in was one of the people who had brought me here. He still had that serious and monotonous expression on his face.
The person who came in right after him was Melany Quie, the CDA Rector, as I expected. But the next two people who came in behind her were the ones who surprised me.
The first was Crown Prince Lucas. I didn't think he would come to see me in person, even though I knew that blowing my cover was no small matter.
The last person to enter the room... was one of the people I didn't expect to see here. It was a professor from the CDA. He was also Aiden's sword instructor, as I recall. His name was... I think it was Calvin.
The reason I was surprised was because he had nothing to do with me. We were supposed to have met each other maybe twice at most, but here he was.
Melany Quie, Prince Lucas, and Professor Calvin immediately pulled up a chair opposite me and settled themselves. The first person to enter the room, a security guard, employee, soldier... whatever, moved next to me, but instead of sitting in a chair, he stood.
Normally, the police or people like them would be asking questions, questioning the person they were arresting, but... Rector Melany was the first to speak.
"You know why you're here, right?"
I finally tore my eyes away from Prince Lucas and Professor Calvin. Then nodded in agreement.
"Because I'm half-elf."
"That's one reason, but there are a few others."
There are a few more reasons...?
"So... Can I know them?"
"For the moment, except for one, yes. The spear you used on the festival grounds, for example, is the second of the three reasons you are here. We'll get to the third reason in due course. For now... let's talk about who you really are."
The Rector sighed slightly, folded her arms, and looked at me sharply.
"Why did you hide yourself? I hope you realize how much suspicion you are attracting now that this has come out."
Do they think I'm a secret agent or something?
"I already told most of my past before I enrolled at the academy. I came here from the very bottom of Wiathen, and I've been wearing my necklace the whole time because I don't think I need to explain what might happen to me there if it turned out I was half-elf."
Melany nodded in agreement, telling me to continue.
"That's why I decided to hide the fact that I was a half-blood, at least until I reached a certain level of strength, and I kept it up to get into the Academy, and that was it. It is a fact that the CDA does not accept any race other than human as students."
"Why didn't you ever think of going to Eshaware? You could have gotten an academic education there and continued to grow stronger. Besides, you're almost indistinguishable from elves, and without a blood test, it's almost impossible to tell you're a half-blood."
"I had a teacher I met before I joined the Academy, he was the one who suggested I stay in Cevilian. At the same time... I didn't have the money to go to Eshaware."
Melany sighed once again.
"And do you know who your parents were?"
"I was living with them before they were both killed, and I ended up living on the streets of Wiathen. But I was about ten years old when it happened and my father hardly ever talked about his past. So I don't know anything except their names."
"What are their names?"
"My mother's name is Sophia Caleo and my father's name is... Ethil Caleo. He was my elven parent."
Melany was silent for a while and even seemed to be in a thoughtful mood.
I had given the names of my parents out of curiosity to see if I could get any information about them, which was not normally my intention. The rector's thoughtfulness also gave me some hope. But in the end, she sighed and didn't say anything about this matter.
"To be honest, Adrian... your identity is of little importance. At least the fact that you have elven blood. Because CDA doesn't just accept 'human' students, it accepts Cevilian citizens regardless of race. This has been the case for at least three years. So it's not that you can't continue studying at the academy just because you're an elf. I only asked these questions to confirm something, and thank you for not lying."
I was disappointed that she didn't say anything about my family. But I didn't dwell on it, because after her last words... Melany Quie became serious again. As if, as she said, the fact that I was a half-elf and half-human hybrid was the least important issue here.
"Let's talk about that red spear you have... Where did you get that spear? Depending on your answer to that question, your whole future can change in an instant, so be careful not to lie."
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