"This is Noir Drake," Reinhardt said.
Although, I guess maybe I should call him Hiro instead. I didn't realize Reinhardt wasn't his real name, but then again, who am I to talk?
He mentioned that he came to this world seventy years ago and that he was lied to. Honestly, that sounds messed up.
I would be lying if I said I could fully relate to him, but it would be an even bigger lie if I said I didn't have any sympathy for him. Being told you're the only one who made it to another world, while your friends were actually transported to the same world at different points in time, is cruel.
"Reinhardt," I said, tapping him on the back. "If your friends are truly just in different points in time, it means you'll meet them again. Who knows? Maybe some of them are arriving today, or maybe some came before you."
Reinhardt and Akari—the purple-haired woman—looked at me intently.
"At the very least, you know they're here. Why don't you try to find them? Sounds like a plan, does it not?"
Reinhardt stayed quiet for a moment. The hope in his eyes from earlier hadn't disappeared, but it was mixed with something heavier now—seventy years of believing he was alone.
Akari, still not fully understanding the conversation, looked between us. She could at least tell the mood had shifted.
"...You're strangely optimistic for someone who just rewrote a city's fate," Reinhardt finally said.
I shrugged.
"I've seen enough people lose things. If there's still a chance, you take it."
Reinhardt gave a small smile and a light bow.
"I'll take your words to heart."
He sounded more optimistic than before. I returned the smile, then moved on to the real reason I had brought him here.
"Anyway, Reinhardt, I have a favor to ask."
"And that is?"
"Could you act as a translator between me and Akari?"
"For now, maybe. But I can't do this forever. At best, until the academy entrance exam."
That was good enough for me. I agreed to his terms.
With that settled, only the hard part remained.
Explaining everything to Claudia.
I left Reinhardt and Akari to continue talking and walked over to where she stood.
Good luck, Khaos muttered.
I stopped right in front of her.
Claudia looked up at me, waiting.
"Claudia," I said. "I need to tell you something important."
She straightened slightly.
"What is it?"
I held her gaze.
"I'm going to enroll in Selene Academy under the name Noir Drake."
She looked at me with a doubtful expression.
"...Noir? Noir Drake. As in the same Noir Luna told me to give the Dragon Claw to?"
Yeah, I'll admit, that does sound suspicious.
"Yeah, pretty much," I replied.
She looked at me for a moment before her expression suddenly became serious.
"But why Noir Drake?"
"Because I can't exactly walk into the Academy and introduce myself as Abel MorningStar."
"That's not what I meant. Why hide your identity at all?"
I paused.
This was the one question I had hoped to avoid.
Doing so meant revealing that I've been lying since the day I was born. About being Abel MorningStar when I'm actually the God of Chaos, Ephraxis.
So, to get around that, I gave her a pretty vague reply.
"There's a certain goal I have. I've had that goal for a very, very long time now," I replied.
"When I was younger, in order to achieve that goal, I had to sneak out and become Noir Drake. And right now, attending the Academy is going to help me with that goal."
I didn't tell a single lie. My reply was honest. The only thing is, I just didn't tell her the whole thing. There was no need for her to know I was once the God of Chaos. Not to mention, I didn't need her trying to interfere.
Claudia sighed, then put her hands on her forehead.
"This goal of yours... you can't share it with me?"
"No."
"And you've had this goal since you were little?"
"Yes."
"Well then—"
She stuck out her fist in front of me.
"You better achieve it, ya hear?"
That was unexpected. I honestly thought she'd overreact.
Yeah. Me too.
Despite her words, there were tears welling up in her eyes. I guess she thought she couldn't be weak around her little brother.
"I will," I said as I raised my fist in front of hers.
"That's—!"
"I will save Luna. You can count on that."
I did have a goal. And that was to defeat the gods. That was a long-term goal.
For now, though, I needed to save the big sister I never knew I had, so that my other big sister could be happy.
It might have been a bit hypocritical of me, helping someone even though I didn't want their help, but at the end of the day, that's just who I am. At least, who Abel MorningStar had become, who I had become. At this point, what's the difference between me, and him.
Being human is a pain, ya know.
Hmm.
Did you say something?
Nothing. Nothing at all.
But once I muttered those words, the waterworks began, and Claudia started sobbing.
Everyone else kept looking at me as if I were some sort of scumbag.
Don't look at me like that.
---
Things had been pretty hectic for the past few days.
While this would be my first time at the academy, Claudia was already a student. A student who had been missing since the original Crimson Army incident. But, seeing as how it never happened, she was now just a student who dropped out of school.
Luckily, though, Reinhardt was here, so he could come up with a solution. I mean, he was the Commander of the Arcane Knights. He could just say Claudia was acting as his apprentice or something like that.
The headmaster wasn't a problem. He still had his memories from the original incident. The problem was the school board. That excuse should be enough to convince them not to punish her. Or at least lessen the punishment to some extent.
As for me, I was busy studying. Whatever the entrance exam was, I knew it would be tough. I made sure to study up on history, classifications of skills and magic, and basic math and science.
I made sure to study what I could, but I wasn't that worried. I mean, I had Khaos. Anything I read, or even just skimmed through, would automatically be saved by Khaos.
Reinhardt and Akari were also studying. Well, technically, it was only Akari. Reinhardt was teaching her the basic language system of this world. I had given them a personal space where time didn't flow, so they could spend an entire month there while only a few minutes passed for the rest of us.
Apparently, though, she was a quick learner. Within a few weeks—via the dilated time—she was able to speak common phrases. Although, her words were quite jumbled.
Apparently, it took Reinhardt five years before he was able to fully master the language. All the more reason I had to visit the Spirit Realm.
As for Shiro and Astra, they had been training the Eclipse Legions.
The Eclipse Legion was basically the name I gave to all my soldiers.
They were how they were ranked, from lowest to highest:
Initiate — E
Vanguard — Low-D
Adept — High-D
Knight — Low-C
Captain — High-C
Commander — Low-B
General — High-B
Overlord — Low-A
Sovereign — High-A
At the moment, most of my soldiers were around the Adept rank, with only the wyverns and wolves being around General. But with Shiro and Astra's help, the Adept soldiers should be around Captain pretty soon.
For the record, Shiro, Astra, and Fang are in a different rank of their own. One I like to call Origin. It basically means they are the most powerful out of everyone.
Though Fang likes to spend his days napping, but who am I to judge?
Claudia decided to join their training, saying she needed to get stronger quickly. I agreed because I thought maybe she just wanted to do a bit of sword training, but she ended up fighting every single one of my Eclipse Legion soldiers and winning.
At least, until she got to Shiro and Astra.
That's where she lost. Hard.
But she still kept on going.
When I saw this, I couldn't allow myself to fall behind, so I took up my sword and began practicing as well. I also decided to expand my knowledge of weapon tactics and martial arts, just to give me an edge.
Through that, I managed to learn a new energy system and upgrade my sword. I knew it would be quite useful in emergency situations.
---
Before I knew it, two whole days had passed, and Claudia and I were getting ready to head out to the Academy.
At this point, Claudia's uniform was no different from an old rag.
So I used Weaver to remake her uniform. I also imbued it with an automatic stitching and cleaning system to prevent it from getting dirty and torn. I also added a weight-increase spell to the uniform.
Claudia could activate it whenever she wanted to train.
Akari was also going to be enrolling as my maid. It was a school for both nobles and commoners, so it wasn't exactly uncommon to bring a maid along with you.
Now, let me get a few things straight. I did not do this for no reason.
Claudia told me there was a practical part during the entrance exam. The theory part would be a problem for Akari, but it wouldn't be impossible, provided she learned enough.
But a practical exam could be anything. Monster hunting, spell tests, sword training, basically anything. I didn't know how well Akari would do against that.
But if I brought her as my maid, she could skip the practical part and focus only on the theory.
That is all. There is no other reason besides that.
Anyway, as of right now, I was currently changing my clothes. I decided on a blue blazer with a black shirt underneath It. I wore white pants and some black high boots as well.
My hair was still tied in a high ponytail, but I decided to change its color to a more blondish shade.
I needed to dress the part of a noble, after all.
I had documents printed stating that the Drake noble family was one that had been hidden from the world for a long time. I would be the first member of our family to attend Selene Academy in three hundred years.
Obviously, if they did a background check, I would be caught.
That's why, some years ago, I had paid a certain adventurer to spread the word about us.
Then I researched a fallen noble house from three hundred years in the past. They were still nobles, but within a few years, they would crumble under debt and famine.
So, I had the same adventurer visit their kingdom and offer them a deal. In exchange for changing their surname to Drake and registering Noir as part of their family, I would supply them with money and help them regain their political power.
In hindsight, I hadn't expected them to agree that easily, but to my surprise, they accepted my conditions in a heartbeat.
So, most of the money I made at the Adventurer's Guild was sent to their small kingdom.
My monthly income was around five thousand gold coins, which was a pretty high amount of money for nobles. I mean, I usually hunted A-rank monsters, so that was to be expected, I guess.
Within two years, the Drakes—the noble family—had managed to clear about eighty percent of their debt. The remaining amount of gold coins was then used to host auctions to sell some of the monster materials I had acquired.
Apparently, the dragon scales I had obtained from Fang's old body were worth millions. A few months after that, they were able to pay off their debt completely and rebuild their entire kingdom.
So now, they and their subjects were living pretty good lives thanks to me.
By now, their influence should have spread, so it was finally time to reap the rewards of my efforts.
Before I went to the academy, I would go and visit them to collect the documents. This would technically be the first time the nobles would see me as well.
In a way, it was kind of like a family reunion.
As I put on my mask and opened the door, I was met with the sight of Akari in a maid uniform next to Claudia in her uniform.
"Noir, done change?" Akari asked.
Like I said before, she was definitely doing a great job learning the language, but she couldn't form full sentences just yet.
"Yes, I believe I am finished. Your speech has vastly improved."
Claudia looked at me strangely before speaking as well.
"Why are you speaking like that?"
"I've decided to change my manner of speech. I must perform like a true noble, if I wish to attend the Academy."
"In other words, more lying."
"Precisely. You are quite sharp, my sister."
Claudia just shook her head in disappointment but I wouldn't let that bother me. I was now ready, so I left my room and opened a gate to the Drake kingdom.
"Are you sure this will work?" Claudia asked.
"Trust me."
And so, we stepped through the gate and into the kingdom of the Drakes.