For I Am A Side Character - 85: Meeting with the Principal and After, Instead of going home Straight, I was given a Detour.

As I stood in front of the principal in his office, I could feel just how quiet my surroundings were. It was unnaturally quiet, as if every sound I made was heard, from the beat of my heart to the breath that I took. I could only imagine that magic was involved in this place…a magic that contained the sound inside and prevent anything else from spilling out.

After all, I came here as a member of the house of shadows, and coming to the principal’s office without notice from any of the teachers makes it very suspicious. He made every precaution to secure the privacy of this meeting.

But it wasn’t just me and the principal in this room, I could hear another heartbeat hiding in this room. But I didn’t let it be shown to the principal, I only waited for him to reveal it himself that we weren’t alone.

“Thank you for having to come here at your convenience, I hope you don’t mind me using magic to conceal any word of our meeting from spreading to the academy.” he said as he looked ever so observant of my reaction.

“Its fine, but I’m sorry that I didn’t get to come as early as I would have. Being a student of the academy, I could only make time now when everything is finally settled.”

“That’s alright. You must be curious about the mission I told you the first time we met, and judging by your expressions…you must have a lot of unanswered questions. Seeing as how Cecil ended our talks because of his priority to get out the truth from you, I’m sorry if I couldn’t comply to your curiosity all the way through.” said the principal.

And it was true. I still had a few questions in mind regarding certain matters of the issues circulating around the city.

“I hope you can give me time by answering my questions.” I said as I pushed his generosity to answer my questions.

“Of course, we have all the time in the world…”

“First off is regarding the Red Door Organization. Is it true that it was completely taken cared of? Even the issue about the drugs that Dr. Yohan Rogers made?”

“Hmm, its obvious that you would be curious about this issue when it regards to be your first mission. Very well, since its now a resolved issue, I can tell you that anything regarding the Red Door Organization’s involvement with the said Drug has been resolved by your brother alone.”

“!?” I was shocked to hear that Cecil was able to take care of the situation by himself…

“Since it was a newly made drug, it wasn’t able to spread as fast as they could have predicted. Using our connections, we were able to cut off their entire system in just three nights. So right now, the Red Door has nothing other than its usual Demon-worshiping activities.”

“Are there still some cultist in the City?” I asked.

“Yes, and we’re slowly handling it night by night. Usually its Cecil who deals with it by our orders, but soon enough, we’ll also hand these kinds of missions to you when the main branch acknowledges your profile as a member of the 11^th branch.” he said.

“I see…”

“But since with your unauthorized involvement with the handling of the ‘High-Ranked Demon’ issue, its going to take a while before you are fully trusted with the missions. But since it was a highly ranked demon you took care of, this puts you in a good light. Let’s just hope the high-ranked members of the house doesn’t overreact to your actions.”

“…And what about Jason and the Miller Brothers. What do you plan to do with them since they were involved with it as well?” I asked.

“Hmm, for the Miller brothers, they were only involved because of the Cursed Artifact that they gained. Having to carry a cursed artifact around, especially at a potent level as what they discovered would naturally bring in the attention of someone like the Red Door Organization. We decided to simply let them be.”

“Oh, that’s good.” I said as I was relieved, it turns out that they know nothing about them yet.

“But it isn’t the same case with Jason Emory.”

“What?!”

“I’ll say this now so that you can put this issue at rest, but the house has taken an interest in that boy…not it a bad way, but the house sees a benefit in the boy’s involvement with the attack against the demon.”

“In what way?” I asked.

“Jason Emory…from the records of his previous hunts in the dungeon, we figured a certain aspect of his power that classifies him as an asset…but maybe even a problem if he persist. This similar matter goes the same way with ‘John Bishop’. The boy who approached you recently.”

“!?”

“Don’t be too surprised. We already knew about John’s condition since the moment he received the blessing. It was the same matter a few years ago with the first saint who took on the same blessing of having to attain a pure body of holy magic. Him meeting you was not something I expected to happen…but if you thought that you could hide it from us, then you are surely mistaken. I suggest that you report everything he has said to you in a detailed aspect.”

“…R-Report?” as I asked, I felt his presence change altogether.

He sighed a breath of his air into the room, and from it, his gaze turned deadly. It wasn’t sharp nor was it cold…nothing like what a shadow could produce…

Instead what I felt was a pressure of fear that simply signified his strength and capability to crush me in a moment’s notice. Pure power that was directed at me.

I could not explain this feeling all to well, for the next thing I knew, I started losing control over my breathing and my left eye started to get uncontrollably twitchy…I did not understand why…but it was fear of a different category.

“Either you do it, or we force you to do it. It won’t take long for us to take some kind of answer from both of you if you like.” he said in a threatening voice.

“…” I could look to him as I felt powerless in this moment.

This was the power of the head principal…and the power of a man who works under the house of shadows.

In the end, I was forced to comply.

“…I understand, but don’t be surprised about what I’m about to say.” I said as I felt cornered yet again.

Being in a place of authority as deadly as the house of shadows…you can’t do anything but follow their orders. I know well enough to accept this fact.

As long as they do well to save the people, I wouldn’t go against their ways…after all, their here to fight the same enemy as I am. Its just how things like this work…and to make it work, I’m not going to be stubborn about it. I trust the house enough to know that they are not the enemy.

So I told him everything that John told me this morning.

And once I did, the coincidence of the Miller Brother’s identity simply became more of a priority. Their involvement in the overall story could not be escaped.

The Miller brothers being a target for murder was a problem that I could not handle by my own. If I have the strength of the House of Shadows in the works around this issue, it lessens the burden of having to keep the brothers safe.

“What are you going to do now?” I asked after telling him everything that John has said to me.

“…We’re not sure yet.” he said as his tone and presence returned to normal.

“…”

“But from the way you explained it, this situation has a high chance of having a demon involved. And it especially worrying that a demon was able to enter the dream a boy who has the blessed body of holy magic.”

“…”

“Either that or the vision that John had was actually real; that the Miller Brothers are Half-Demons, but we can’t make that decision yet. For now, just as what you said to John, we can only wait for more information straight from the source himself. Keep us updated in this since it seems like John trust you.”

“I understand.”

“Now then…for the reason why I called you here.”

And with that, we switched to the main topic at hand.

My mission for the event in the [Interim Guild Faction]

“This mission requires a set of hands at play. Meaning, it isn’t just you who will be undertaking this mission alone, instead, there will be two of you.” as he said this, he snapped his fingers and out came from his shadow was the sight of a person wearing the shadow garm-set. But based off of their features, it was a woman, seeing as how even with the equipment she wore, her chest was what first caught my attention.

‘…eh, ah…F-cup.’

The moment I had this involuntary thought, a throwing star was thrown my way, but I caught it easily enough.

“Pervert.” said the woman’s voice who seemed very cold and menacing.

“She’s about your age and she’s undergoing training under my supervision for about a year now. Just like how your master and Cecil teaches you the ways of the 20 gates of the shadows, I’m here to train her to become one of the leading members of the Crow’s Coop.”

“So she’s taking the same mission as I am?” I asked.

“Indeed. Introduce yourself.” he said as he ordered the young member of the Crow’s Coop.

“…Tyen-Lin. 16 years old. 5 foot and 6 inches tall…still growing… I hate perverts.” she said in her expressionless face.

Other than her chest that spoke of her identity to a boy such as myself, her cold expression and cold voice was all that I could get from her. But based off of her long eyelashes and pale ice-like skin, I can only assume that she was a beauty.

“Wow…so she’s been doing this longer than I have.” I said as I commented about her 1-year of experience training under the head principal.

“Indeed, but unlike you…she mainly focuses on stealth actions and information gathering. She’s already underwent 15 missions, making her your superior.” Said the Principal Lionel.

“Amazing, is she a student as well?” I asked since she was only 16 years old.

“Yes, and she goes to Class B.”

“Really? Huh…well, since she’s attending the same mission as I am, is she also going to be apart of the top 7 participants in class B?” I asked.

“No, I intend to have her focus somewhere else. You on the other will have to participate in the event. Seeing as how your ranked 4^th overall in the first year category, I don’t have anything to worry about that, do I?.” said the principal.

“No, I’ll participate in the event.” I said, assuring the principal that I can secure my position in the event.

“Good, now I’m sure you’re curious as to why the house of shadows needed to involve themselves into the academy’s activities.”

“I am…does this involve a demon at play?” I asked.

“No, Its more complicated than that.”

“…”

“Throughout the whole event, you are assigned to guard a certain person in the event.”

“What? Guarding a person? Are we going to act as bodyguards now?” I asked as I was a bit surprised by the mission.

“No, you need to act more discreetly when attending to this person’s safety. Act as a shadow and protect him as a shadow should.”

“Okay…so who is this person? And why does he need our protection? Especially now where he’s involved in the event?”

“Listen, the person you’re protecting does know that the house of shadows exist…but he is here simply to cooperate with us,  as well as to live his life among the many who will participate in the event.”

“So you are saying that who we are about to protect is a student?”

“Yes. Exactly.” he said with a clear tone.

“A student who knows about the existence of the house of shadows…what can we expect of this person?” I asked.

“…Hmm, Other than the things that I’ve said, the person who you are about to guard is someone of a mystery even to the house of the shadows and even to us in the Crow’s coop.” as he said this, his tone completely shifted.

“…W-Who is he?” I asked as I felt somewhat nervous of this person’s identity.

“Tyen-Lin will give you his available profile on a later date. Don’t be too surprised to find so little information about this person. Just know that for now, simply ready yourselves for the upcoming event.” he said.

“I see, I understand.”

After our meeting, I was asked to leave.

Leaving, knowing that I had to protect someone who even the House of Shadows felt nervous about…and for that person to be a student, I could only wonder who it was…

The Event was still one week away…and before it arrives, I need to be ready just like what Principal Lionel said. I need to be ready for anything.

Making my way out of the academy, to my surprise…I found Jason still at the academy, swinging his sword at quite the speed. I can tell that just from his form alone, he’s been makign perfect swings consecutively.

‘…impressive.’ I thought as I watched from the distance.

But even as I kept my distance, Jason was able to notice my presence, and without halt; for some reason he stopped his swinging altogether and made his way to me at a rather excited pace.

With his smile ever so wide and his wave as friendly as his nature, I can’t help but wave back in return.

“Hi Soril, where are you…going right now at this…hour? Haa..ha…ghaa” he said as he was catching his breath from swinging his sword all day.

“Home.” I said, minimalistically.

“Oh…um, listen if you don’t mind.” he said.

“I probably will.” I said in return.

“No seriously consider this.” he said as he sounded a bit desperate.

“Okay…I don’t like where this is going, but okay…”

“You remember this morning how Jessabelle attacked you for no good reason?” he asked.

“Uh huh…yeah, I remember it.”

“Well, she really wanted to apologize to you personally. but she was too afraid to face you knowing that you might…you know, hate her.”

“I do somewhat feel a bit threatened by her constant attacks every time we meet.”

“She’s not doing it on purpose. You know this. I mean think back to when you were attacked by her the last last time, didn’t she apologized to you?” he said as he made me remember back to when she punched me in the face for no apparent reason.

“I do remember it…but I don’t think I ever did receive my apology back then.”

“Oh, really?” he asked.

“I don’t know…its been a while.”

“Anyway, if that is the case, maybe now might be the perfect time to do this.” he said.

“Do what?” I asked as I started to feel a bit nervous of what h was about to propose.

“How would you feel about having to meet Jessabelle today? In thirty minutes from now..”

“What?”

“Okay, let me explain. Jessabelle is waiting right now at a restaurant over at the city. here, I’ll give you the address of the restaurant and all you need to do is go there and get her apology personally. Wouldn’t that be great?” he asked.

“No…I don’t think it would. And meeting at a restaurant at this time of day really is a bit suspicious.” I said.

“Wha- come on. She really does want to apologize to you and make things right. She might even explain why she keeps hitting you for now reason at all. Wouldn’t this be a great opportunity to know why she does it?”

“Well…how do I know that she wouldn’t hit me then and there at the restaurant?” I asked.

“Trust me, she wont.” he said confidently.

“Hmm…are you coming as well?” I asked as I wondered if Jason was coming along.

“Oh….umm, no. I still have my training on, I still have about 2089 swings to go.”

“Oh…”

“And also I really smell like sweat, so going to a restaurant like this might ruin the opportunity for her to apologize well.” he explained.

“Okay…well, as long as she’s just there to apologize, I’m sure nothing bad won’t happen right?” I asked.

“Hmm, lets hope. Hahah.” he said as he laughed softly at the end.

And so off I went to a restaurant in this said address.

Unlike with Jason, I didn’t spent my entire day training, so I wasn’t smelling like sweat. I was good to go in a restaurant even with just my current uniform.

About 25 minutes laters, from rising my motorcycle to the address. I arrived at the restaurant.

And to my discovery, this restaurant was quite fancy.

With chandeliers displayed above along with the carpeted floors, I felt like I was at a Michelin restaurant.

When I walked in, I was asked about a reservation by the host. And when I spoke of Jessabelle’s name, he quickly recognized this name and he lead me to her table.

Looking around, I can see that the restaurant was packed.

Everything seemed so fancy, I couldn’t help but feel like this place was out of my comfort zone.

But even still, I followed through the many people who dined in this restaurant, only to find that the host lead me to the elevator of this restaurant.

“W-what’s going on?” I asked.

“Miss Morrison is at the 7^th floor, at room 8.” as he said this, he pressed the button for the 7^th floor and he left me riding the elevator on my own.

I was a bit nervous…

Being on my own, I could only listen to the soft jazzy elevator music playing on the background as I waited. When I arrived at the 7^th floor, I found this place to be even more fancier than at the bottom, but at this place…it seemed more private since I didn’t find tables here, only rooms with designated numbers.

Since I was called to go to the 8^th room, I simply searched for it.

After a while, I finally found the 8^th room which wasn’t that hard.

And when I knocked the door, I heard a feminine voice on the other end.

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

“ Who is it?” she asked.

“Its me…Soril.” I said, nervous for some reason.

“Oh, um…come in.” she said as she sounded a bit hesitant.

When I opened the door slowly, I was met with a sight that made me feel a bit taken aback. My heart beated twice and I gulped in the view of what was standing before me.