Chapter : 24 : That's A Good Painting :
Location: Kingdom Of Valerion : Valerion Academy :
" Hey ! Delia is everything going okay are you feeling comfortable in the academy . "
" It's alright Olivia , everything is fine in the Academy . "
" Then why do you look so troubled . "
" Sigh ! You know it's about my father . He really made a very big scene by crying just because I was coming to the academy . "
" Hahaha ! Well what can you say he really loves you . "
" I know he always thinks good for me but come on I am not a little girl anymore . "
" That's true you are now a very beautiful women who can now bring a boyfriend home . "
" Oh ! Please if I do that then my father will take the entire house on his head . "
At this moment Delia Steelheart was walking through the corridor with another girl called Olivia by her side .
And from the conversation it was quite clear that they were very close friends .
" So that's Olivia huh ! "
Looking at them from a distance Cian couldn't help but show a sad smile on his face .
In the original novel both Delia and Olivia were quite close friends since childhood and during the first part of the story Olivia would be the first person to realize her friend's love for the hero .
Infact she would be the most insistent person wanting to push both of them together .
Coming from an ordinary family whose parents ran an ordinary cake shop in the capital her friendship with Delia was very iconic .
It was during Delia's 6th birthday that a cake was ordered from Olivia's parent's shop .
Little Olivia accompanied her father to the party where both young children's met each other .
Since then their friendship started to grow and both of them visited each other often .
And while many noble or powerful families would have disdained the fact that their childrens were playing with someone of such lower status but Eren Steelheart was different .
He was very happy that finally his daughter was having a friend .
A genuine friend.
Since then their friendship has been very good .
But this peace would not last long .
During a picnic trip outside the capital city their class group would be attacked by a group of dark wizards .
In that attack the Academy students will suffer some losses and unfortunately among those losses one would be Olivia .
A dark wizard summond a magical beast who was going to attack Delia from behind while she was fighting other enemies .
Olivia would managed to come in time and save her friend but in that process she would be struck by the incoming attack that will go right through her .
The attack was so sudden and very powerful , that by the time Liora managed to reach the scene with some healing elixirs it was already to late .
It was the first major loss of a character in the series and would have a deep impact on the hero party .
Especially on Delia Steelheart who would go on a rampage trying to find more dark wizards to take revenge .
When the hero and the others tried to stop her she would have an heated argument that would almost see the end of their relationship .
" Later in the story just after 2 days of that incident she will get a lead on a dark wizard group in a nearby village "
And without telling anyone she left the Academy towards the village.
And just as she was reaching the area she was ambushed and captured by the group of dark wizards .
Delia Steelheart was strong but at that time she was still an Academy student .
" So it was not possible for her to fight multiple dark wizards at the same time . "
Especially not when the leader of the enemy group was a mid battle mage rank wizard .
Fortunately for her the hero party had already started looking and managed to come to her rescue .
Then quite obvious hero came to save her from an attack at the right moment .
And this will start moment where she would start having deep feelings for the hero .
At the end of the day due to the timely intervention from Eren Steelheart the dark wizards were defeated and everyone came out safe.
After this incident Delia would be eventually punished by the academy and would be suspended from any future classes for 2 months .
And this would be the end of the matter but her hatred for the dark wizard will remain forever since then .
" In fact that picnic event would actually happen only one month after the Apex battle . "
Meaning soon Cian would have to choose how he would interfere in the incident .
" Both of the situations weather it is saving Olivia or Delia Steelheart in the later incident carries a lot of risk. "
So whatever he chooses it would have to be very careful .
Either he can allow the situation to develop just like it did in the original series with Olivia's ending and then wait for a chance to change the incident with Delia .
" Or I can act first and stop the situation from ever coming to that point by saving Olivia . "
Both of it had risk and rewards and whatever he choses will have to be carefully thought .
After thinking for sometime Cian finally decided that he would consider this matter in the future .
Just as he was thinking about this matter he suddenly saw Zeal Cloudseaker already entering scene .
Suddenly a smile appeared on Cian's face as he looked at the hero with a mischievous grin .
" Well ! It seems the man of the hour is here . "
" So let's get the party started . "
Time Skip : 4 Minutes Later :
" Ahhh !!!! "
" Why did Jenny have to leave with that second prince right now . "
" What am I supposed to do alone . "
Zeal Cloudseaker complained to himself as he made his way towards the dormitory .
Just like Cian he was also lectured by the teacher about his light magic affinity for more than 10 minutes .
As a man who prefers to use his muscles over his brain all those complicated teachings went over his head .
And by the time he was released his condition was far worse was then Cian and he looked like someone who just entered had to give 4 maths exams at once .
But just as he found his sister that second Prince once again showed up .
He invited both him and her to a tea party in the cafeteria .
His sister obviously agreed but Zeal refused as he wanted to go back to the room to sleep .
" I don't get what does sister even see in that boy . " - he grumbled .
" I get that he is handsome but I don't like his attitude . "
Zeal's impression of this second prince at first part of the story was not very good .
Zeal Cloudseaker was a man who
couldn't understand the various complicated political webs of the noble society .
But he was smart enough to understand that the prince was not there to be just a friend .
" That guy is obviously trying to impress Jenny . "
And was Zeal's problem .
From the beginning Zeal had a little bit of a bad impression of the nobles .
It was because from the beginning he saw that all most all the nobles treated the commoners like lower status people .
In his hometown the local lords often mocked them for their status and this led to many fights between him and those brats .
In the end however due to the fact that his family was poor he had to apologize to the other side .
That's why when Zeal saw the second prince trying to get close to his sister he naturally felt that it was some kind of play .
What if the second prince was just playing with his sisters emotions .
After all he had a fiancee and it was known throughout the academy.
You already have a fiancee and then you are trying to get close to another girl .
Now that's not a good impression that you would like to have with your future brother in law .
He even tried to tell his sister about this and at first it seem Jenny was actually understanding the matter as well .
She deliberately tried to refuse his offers .
" But recently she is actually becoming quite happy spending time with him . "
" Sigh ! What should I do . "
At one point he can see the genuine happiness that Jenny is feeling while she is with the second prince .
And he wants to see his sister happy more than anything else .
But on the other hand there was the concern of the brother .
Just thinking about it made him clinch his fist tightly .
" If that man does anything to make my sister cry then I'll make sure to beat him . "
" Doesn't matter if he is a prince or not. "
Zeal Cloudseaker was a straight forward person and did not fear anyone with higher status .
If his his family or the ones he cares about came under harm than he would breakdown any status of gold or power standing in between .
And even Cian agreed that this exact attitude is what made him the hero .
Obviously he had the plot armour because otherwise he wouldn't be surviving all those reckless things he would do in the future
He is man who was go through heaven and hell to fight for the people he cares about .
That's what made him the hero everyone followed .
" Swish ! "
In his deep thinking Zeal who was absent minded faild to notice that a sudden object was coming right towards him from above.
" Bamm !!!! "
" Ahhh !! Ouch !! "
" What the hell was that !!!! "
Suddenly an empty bucket fell right over his head making Zeal cry out in pain .
" The hell man who .... "
But he did not get the time to stabilize himself as the moment he stepped back he suddenly felt another bucket hitting him .
But this time the bucket was full of paint and its bread all over the ground and his shirt .
" Wahhh ! "
The result was that due to the lequid paint the floor became slippery .
And in the next second Zeal the hero of the story who defeated men and monsters alike couldn't help but fall face stright to the ground .
This resulted in him getting his head to toe covered in paint , mud and grass .
This event was witnessed by the some passer by some of my whom immediately burst out in laughter .
" Freakin hell ! That idiot actually triped and fell like that . "
" Gosh ! They that bucket actually directly hit him ! That must have been painful . "
" Hey buddy ! do you need me to take you to the healer . "
" Who is that idiot that let those paint buckets fall . Anyone could have been in his place . "
As the commotion started to get big
more and more people were attracted towards it .
Even Delia and Olivia who were walking towards the testing room were expected by the incident .
" Man ! That was unfortunate . " - Olivia said her voice was filled with sympathy for Zeal who was getting up from the ground.
" Well ! He should have been more careful of a surrounding . "
Delia on the other hand felt that the situation was a little amusing especially looking at the boy who after getting painted looked like a clown .
" Hey ! That was rude . "
" Alright ! alright ! I won't say it again but we need to move on or I will miss my test . "
The kind hearted Olivia quickly scolded her best friend for saying such things which Delia quickly dismissed and urged that they should go forward .
But what neither the hero or the young steelheart noticed was that behind a tree at this moment there was a boy standing with a mischievous smile on his face as he held a slingshot in his hand .
This was obviously none other than Cian himself who was behind this entire thing .
" That's a good painting . "
( Author's Note : Hello guys I hope you all are doing well and before ending this chapter , I would like to thank you all for reading the story so far .
And if you have liked today's chapter then do consider supporting my work by saving it in your library as much as possible , which I will highly appreciate .
And you can also give your reviews and power stones .
So that's all I had to say today and see you soon in the next chapter .
Thank you for reading . )
To Be Continued .