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Chapter 34: The Golden Spoon And The Tadpole

A refreshing breeze wafted through the young man who raised his head, with a serene smile and slowly opened his eyes.

"Hm, I've forgotten what it felt to have so much power... Alright, let's do it!"

He crossed the angelic corridor, on either side, there were students from Saint Nova, dressed in elegant uniforms and hairstyles as if for a gala, they were chatting friendly and one after the other, turned towards this student wearing the Nebula Academy military uniform.

"Hm? Who's this girl?... Wait..."

"Ah, Yeah, the exchange students were for today, right?"

"So he's a real emissary? What's his name? He's quite charming."

They made a fuss as he passed by, he could have easily decided to talk to one of them to settle this matter, but he had a specific target.

"Hello? Can you hear me?"

"No, but I can see your words, so, anything better than asking stupid questions?"

"Good, this primitive behavior confirms that there is a part of Sigma in you, now for the rest of the plan, I need you to take a walk around the academy, I need to see the students to decide which one will be a perfect toad."

"Aye, aye, Miss Stress."

As she asked, he crossed the corridor, all the attention of the students had fallen on his classmates who were entering in their turn.

"Hey, it's lady Iris!"

"Lady Iris! It's been a while!"

They were looking at Dora and whispering when he made his entrance, but now they went into a frenzy and surrounded the young girl, she wasn't a high-ranked noble, but her power alone put her above everyone else.

The concept of this event was not just political theater, to remind everyone of their place, but also a way to forge links with a person with a great future.

For the knights, being enlisted by a great house was a huge springboard, for the nobles, it was the possibility of offering their family the services of a formidable protector, generally for generations. Treating Iris basically meant offering the services of her family, she should then be at that time the eye of the storm of big shots, those that Dora had to avoid at all costs.

For several minutes, he walked through rooms and corridors, encountering different types of students, subjects to the judgment of Midgard.

"No, she is from a family often associated with the Royal family, avoid her at all costs."

Or again

"She talks like there's no tomorrow, very bad pick."

Or even

"She looks like the cat who ate my lunch, I hate her."

"Aren't you a little too picky?"

"Aren't you strangely only meeting girls? Aren't there boys in this academy?"

"I don't make friends with someone who thinks I'm a girl at first sight."

"Do you realize how much this narrows it down?"

They argued like this for a while until he entered a vast flower garden. Dora stopped momentarily, surprised by the beauty of the scene.

Good flowering bushes, fruity shrubs, what was the point of their presence though? It was sure that these nobles would never pick one of them for a snack.

But the next moment, what took the boy's attention were 4 people in the middle of the place, one of them very familiar.

Hope was facing a young man with shoulder-length blonde hair wearing the Saint Nova uniform; near them, in front of a tree, stood a charming young girl with long silver hair and magenta eyes and a frail little boy, looking terrified and whose hair was reminiscent of the young girl's.

Hope noticed the young man who had just entered the place and exclaimed.

"Y-you? Damn... Where were you?!"

The others turned to the newcomer who understood nothing of the situation.

Hope continued.

"I've been looking for you everywhere... But now my hands are a little full. Don't move! I'm finishing with this guy and I'll deal with you."

Dora sighed, he quickly lost interest in the situation and was about to leave when his attention fell back on the trembling boy.

"Wait... This one looks like an abandoned dog... Maybe this is the toad we're looking for."

He turned around and walked towards them, a sinister smile on his lips, causing his former comrade to panic.

"Wow, wait there buddy, are you planning to let me fight and attack me when I'll be too tired to defend myself? Sounds a lot like you!"

He decided to simply ignore him and approached the young man who was trembling more and more, terrified by the demon approaching him, it was then that the young blond man intervened.

"Ksss... You, knights, are a lost cause, is it that important to you to serve a beautiful lady? Aren't you supposed to protect anyone indiscriminately? "

Dora paused for a moment.

"... Beautiful? I don't know what you're talking about, young man, my target today is male."

"Huh?"

Hope jumped.

"I knew it! Since it's like that, I'll fight you first, and then I'll deal with you later, Moonra."

The blond guy turned towards Hope irritated.

"What is that? This is a duel, you can't just postpone me like that! We have a bet so don't make fun of me! On guard!"

He took out a sword.

"Wait-wait-wait, what's about we change the rules? I fight against Dora in the Semi-finals and I face you in the final, You're a very important noble right? You need to be saved for the main event."

For a better understanding of this situation, a small jump in time seems necessary.

After Dora entered the main building, Sunnah followed him, according to a specific plan from the council.

Hope was disturbed by his reunion with his old friend. The words of Thomas, his benefactor, kept running through his head and he finally thought about putting aside his grudge against him, after all, he blamed him for not fighting and he had confirmation that the opposite happened, so why not go back? Only, when he tried his pathetic approach earlier, he was harshly rejected, and now Thomas was watching him.

He entered accompanied by his comrades and the scene that followed stunned him.

All the Saint Nova students rushed towards them, or more precisely towards Iris.

He tried to make his way through the crowd and when he freed himself, he saw Sunnah surrounded by other students, the young girl, true to her nature, was stammering, unable to continue her mission.

"Damn, Sunnah is immobilized... Iris too... Hey, master, we should... Master?"

Farther away, Thomas was also surrounded by students and tried as best he could to answer each of them, who were the most important students students now?

"Damn... They are all stuck... Seems like there's no other choice, I'll get him myself!"

Thus, Hope rushed through corridors and stairs, looking for his lost friend, and after a while, he ended up in this strange place where 3 people were discussing.

The young blond man was leading the conversation, facing him, a girl indifferent to him, her arms crossed and leaning against a tree. Her long hair looked like a shining river on her shoulders and back, she exuded an incomparable grace and her eyes seemed to pierce the mind and plunge into the depths of the being of those who met her gaze.

Familiar with the nobility, Hope immediately recognized the one who was considered by many to be the most beautiful girl in the kingdom, the daughter of the Duke of Midas, Freya Astaroth.

"Aah... What is she... Is she a goddess? Am I dead? If I'm dead please don't revive me."

The blond boy turned around, hearing the young Hero's whispers.

"Who goes there? Show yourself!"

"Ah!!! Heh... So-so-sorry, I'm coming!"

He timidly walked towards them, the young blond observed him for a moment with intrigue.

"This uniform... You're from Nebula Academy, right? Who are you? And what are you doing here?"

Hope clenched his legs and gave a military salute as large beads of sweat oozed down his forehead.

"Ho-Ho-Hope Balder, E-rank Hero, n-n-nice to meet you!"

It was very unusual for Hope to be so intimidated, but this time, the one in front of him wasn't a normal individual, it wasn't just Freya, but principally the boy, a noble beyond the nobles, with a figure well-known in the kingdom, Moonra Mundifaery, the prince.

"Hohohope Balder? Doesn't sound familiar, but still, what are you doing here... Oh! Wait a second, I know, you see that, Freya? This is as I told you, it has already begun."

Freya barely looked at him before turning her gaze, insensible. Moonrah walked towards Hope furiously.

"You're here to ask Freya to choose you as a knight right? You guys from Nebula are really hopeless, you know there's a reception room but you come all the way here just to approach me, Freya, and Gersey, how far should we go to get some peace?"

"I-I-I assure you that this is a misunderstanding, my prince, I'm only looking for a friend!"

"Oh really? You think we're your friend?"

"That's not what I said, my prince!"

They argued like this for a while, under the bored eyes of Freya and the little boy who had not remained indifferent to Hope's last name.

This situation seemed like it could last forever until Moonra attacked Hope's sore spot.

"But... My prince, we Knights are the best fighters and guardians in the world, I can assure you that with me, you and Lady Freya would be safe."

"You? Please, you're just an emissary, do you think that makes you special?"

The young boy flinched.

"What? With all due respect, I'm Hope BALDER, yes that Balder, I'm the little brother of someone you may know as Lady Elizabeth and we're both Heroes. Don't take me for an average emissary."

"... Elizabeth? Lady Elizabeth? The S-rank legend?... I don't trust you."

"Why?! Ask my friend, Miss Iris, yeah, this Iris too, she'll tell you."

"That's a lot of bullshit, and even if it were true, you're E-rank, you can't seriously think about becoming Freya's knight."

They faced each other, forehead to forehead.

"Well, Lady Freya needs a powerful knight and not only do I come from a knight academy, but I am also a powerful emissary and the future strongest, you, the no-power man, should stand down."

"Ha! And who said I don't have any powers?"

Moonra released a wave of energy which lifted the dead leaves, Gersey took refuge behind the tree and Freya looked at the two competitors for the first time.

Hope was jubilant.

"Oh? So you're an emissary too, huh? I heard some of you know how to use magic but I didn't expect the prince himself to be a big deal."

"Because you Knights live in your own little world, you cannot see how the world is constantly changing, but I warn you, I am not E-rank."

"Is this a threat? The prince wants to throw hands?"

Moonra smiled at his opponent and glanced at the girl next to them.

"Maybe, but a fight without stakes is not interesting, so let's do this: we will fight here and the winner will be Freya's knight, what do you say?"

Hearing this, the girl frowned but remained silent, Hope looked at her and, feeling wings growing on his back, exclaimed.

"Deal!"

And that's when Dora made his entrance.

"So basically that's what happened."

"... Wow, that was unnecessarily long."