The Carriages from the Church of Water stopped before the Dean's Castle.
Throughout the journey, the carriages were escorted by the guards of the Academy to make sure that not a single person from the Church of Water could leave on their own, unaccompanied.
By the time the Carriages stopped, all the teachers from the Head Council had already gathered at the entrance of the Castle to welcome the Head of the Church of Water.
If it were just a Head Priest, the Head Council Members still would've hesitated in giving these guests so much importance, but as it was the Ruler of Water herself who came here, they needed to show her proper courtesy.
Despite that, there were some who were still discontent, especially with the timing of their arrival. The one who was the most irritated was the Head Teachers of the House of Lightning Qin.
"I was having such a nice dream, and I was woken up. Can't these people wait until the morning?" Qin complained to Eliana. "They just had to disturb our sleep!"
"I don't think they wanted to disturb our sleep either," Eliana answered, standing firm with her hands behind her back. "If the Ruler of Water had to come here at this hour, then it must be something important. We should at least listen to her."
"I agree. If they came here, I don't think they came here for a picnic." Rem agreed with Eliana. "Something important must've happened. Something that can make a Ruler of the Church come here herself."
The doors of the three Carriages opened. From the first carriage, there came three Head Priestesses. From the third carriage, there came three more.
"Hmm? Why would she bring so many Head Priestesses?" Xinci grimaced. "Is she here to wage war or something?"
A Head Priest or a Head Priestess was the second in command at a Sacred Church of Element. They were strongest after the Ruler of the Church. Just one Head Priest was enough to defeat hundreds of advanced mages, let alone six.
Not a single person in the Head Teachers Council could understand why Elora came with so many Head Priestesses. Something didn't seem right.
Finally, the door of the middle carriage opened, and a woman stepped out, being another Head Priestess! There were now Seven Head Priestesses here when each Head Priestess was almost on the same level as the Mages of the Head Teacher Council.
"If there is a battle, we would be at quite a disadvantage," Yoan muttered under his breath. "Even though they were inside the Academy, there were only six of them, while there were seven Head Priestesses, but even counting the Ruler of Water herself."
Even Eliana was somewhat suspicious now, but she still had faith in herself! This Academy was their base. Even if the entourage from the Church of Water tried to pull something, they had ways to counter it!
Moreover, the Sacred Church of Light was also nearby. If the Mages of Water actually attacked the academy, it was going to cause an all-out war of the Lumen Empire with the Church of Water, which even the Church of Water couldn't afford since the Academy and the Holy Church of Light were going to fight together on one side!
Moreover, just because the Dean wasn't here didn't mean there were no defenses at the Academy to hold a Ruler of Element back. Also, it wasn't as if the Dean was never going to return. If Elora tried to pull anything here, they were going to burn all the bridges in between.
Another person came out from the second carriage. A beautiful blue-haired woman stepped out of the carriage, donning an exquisite blue gown wrapped around her figure. Her deep hazel eyes observed all the Teachers of the Head Council. She was Elora, the Ruler of the Element of Water!
Elora could feel the unease on the faces of their hosts. She also understood just what could be making them uneasy. She did come with a heavy entourage at such a late hour, after all.
Despite their uncertainty, Eliana stepped forward, reaching out her hand. "Welcome to the Academy, Lady Elora."
"I am Eliana, the Dean of this Academy in the absence of Lord Izen." Eliana introduced herself before turning to the others. "They are the Head Council Members and leaders of their respective Elemental Houses."
"He is Rem, from House of Earth. Right next to him is Lishen, from House of Wind...."
One after another, Eliana introduced all the Head Council Members. Elora greeted them all with great respect.
Surprisingly, her reaction was quite different at the moment than it was in the past when Lambard introduced Gabriel and Lira. Since these people held important positions at an important organization, she did greet them properly instead of ignoring the introductions.
Elora also introduced people from her side, starting from Joan, who was on her right.
Joan was also the closest to her at the moment. Other than Elora, Joan was the one other person who had seen Gabriel and Lira before since she was in Lambard's city with her.
"It's good to be here." Elora smiled. "Is there a private place where we can talk?"
"Of course. I was informed that you came here to talk to our Dean. In the absence of Lord Izen, I might be handling the administration, but the entire Head Council is responsible for the Academy. I hope you won't mind if they accompany us as well?"
"Ah."
Elora seemed somewhat hesitant with the proposal. She just wanted to deal with one person since many uncertain factors could come into play if there were more people in the equation. It was much easier to deal with one person.
"I am afraid I would have to decline the offer. I'm here for something which I am not comfortable telling more people than I need to. I only wanted to talk to Lord Izen about it, but since he's not here, I came to talk to you as I have no choice. Can just the two of us talk?"
