So, five days had passed since the disaster. The award presentation ceremony was concluded without a hitch.
Alright, okay, maybe not entirely without a hitch, but hey! At the very least, no one was killed, and somehow, the world didn't end!
That counts as something, right?
Amelia helped me catch Sera with her wind magic. Anastasia, Aster, and Nero helped me return the stolen badges, medals, and various other shiny trinkets that Sera had snatched from the crowd.
I had to apologize to Count Dekrauf. He merely gave me a cold, indifferent look before concluding the award ceremony with a brief speech and striding away.
After the ceremony came to an abrupt end, I had to apologize to everyone else. I swear to the heavens, I bowed so many times that day that my back started to hurt.
Some media folks didn't let go of the opportunity to emphasize how unheroic I apparently am despite the fact that I belong to the Morningstar family.
Slowly but surely, I'm beginning to believe that the media isn't exactly fond of me for whatever reason.
Well, to be perfectly frank, I do know the reason and I can't exactly blame them for that.
Given my public history, it's very clear that the general public isn't overly fond of me either.
If the media were to portray me in a positive light, they'd undoubtedly face a backlash from the masses, and that would not be good for their viewer ratings.
That said, not every single person out there downright hates me.
After some of my recent accomplishments, especially after my surprising performance at the King's Tournament, I've gained a modicum of support.
Believe it or not, there are more than a couple of fan pages bearing my name on a few social media platforms.
People have even been creating edits of my battles.
So, I guess, it's safe to assume that at the very least, people of my age group aren't entirely averse to me.
Anyway, enough about me. I should talk about what happened during these past few days.
Hmm, let's see. Oh, the academy managed to catch three vampire spies on campus!
Two of them had been posing as janitors, while the last one disguised himself as a construction worker. All of them were trying to escape.
Of course, these three were the very culprits who had been leaking insider information to Kl'Drog and his unit.
Leo was tasked with extracting information from one of them.
And somehow, almost as if he was going on a fishing trip instead of interrogating a bloodsucking abomination, Master asked me to accompany him.
He took it upon himself to educate me about how to play with a vampire.
Okay, that came out wrong... Maybe I should've just used the word torture.
Ahem, well, moving right along, after a little bit of grueling torture, the vampire spilled the beans on all he knew.
As it turns out, these three spies were the only ones dispatched to the Global Academy.
But what was their mission? It was to provide assistance to Kl'Drog and his unit by giving him all sorts of information about the academy.
Now, as for why they chose to launch an assault on the Global Academy and risked the obliteration of some of their most elite squads? Well, even the spies didn't know about it.
Given their lowly status within the military hierarchy, they were basically small pawns following someone else's orders.
But here's the thing: they did tell us that this particular attack wouldn't be their last and the vampire forces would dispatch even more squads to the Global Academy.
Leo regretted the decision to not capture Kl'Drog alive. But in the end, he proceeded to torture the bloodsucker until the poor vampire was dead.
I had to admit, that Leo could sometimes be even more callous and cruel than me.
There was a point during the vampire's torture when even I felt a twinge of sympathy.
Or perhaps it was revulsion? I can't quite remember. What I do remember is that all of it was disgusting.
I highly doubt I'll ever have to torture someone, but if circumstances forced me to, I believe I'd do a good job.
Ah, well, enough about torture.
After the vampire spies were captured, the academy allowed the cadets to leave the confines of Global City.
Over the past two days, Global City turned into a ghost town. Once-vibrant streets lay deserted, shops mostly shuttered, and an eerie silence pervaded the academy halls.
Most cadets had already left the city.
Of course, a handful of cadets, including Grace, Kai, Alberto, and the rest of Kai's group, as well as myself, stayed behind for our assigned punishment.
And that punishment was enduring several hellish training drills, closely supervised by Instructor Matterhorn, our combat arts teacher.
Two days passed like that, and much to my surprise, I managed to stay alive!
I somehow endured the torturous ordeal that our borderline insane Instructor called training.
To be honest, I was beginning to miss Leo's training sessions. After all, at least he gave me rewards for enduring his training.
Anyhow, for better or worse, I managed to survive and completed my punishment by the end of the second day.
Kai and his clique had a few more days of punishment ahead, but finally, I was free to depart the City.
After discussing a few matters with Kai, I packed my stuff and was ready to leave the city. Well, kind of. Technically, there was one final task I had to do before leaving.
Right now, I was standing in front of two rather peculiar individuals in the guest room of Kai's apartment.
One was a young man with raven hair cascading around his neck, his deep black eyes appraising the girl beside him.
The young blonde woman next to him was alluringly beautiful, her bewitching face capable of enslaving the hearts of countless men with a single glance.
Yet, the tall young man only looked at her with nothing but disinterest, while the blonde continued to glare daggers at me.
The two of them looked almost comical standing side by side.
Releasing a soft sigh, I stopped avoiding Grace's gaze and addressed the duo:
"Welcome, you two. Given that you've both been here before, feel at home and take a seat, please."
Quinn complied, slumping onto a nearby sofa with his legs crossed, while Grace remained standing, arms crossed.
Observing her, I couldn't help but sigh once more. After a brief moment, Grace finally broke her silence:
"Why did you call me here?" Her voice dripped with coldness. "What schemes are you plotting now?"
Beneath her cold exterior, I sensed that the hostility in her tone had gone down a little, if not at all.
Drawing a deep breath, I sank into a sofa myself, crossed my legs, interlocked my fingers, and tilted my head slightly.
Clearing my throat, I began, "I wanted to have a conversation with both of you... about your futures."
