*Knock* *Knock* A knock was heard and a silver-haired man who was sitting on the chair spoke with a calm look on his face, "Enter." The doors opened up and an extremely beautiful woman wearing Agresia Academy's uniform walked in. "Lord Declan." She bowed her head. Declan, however, didn't even look at her and only acknowledged her presence with a bow. He was busy caressing the bird that was sitting on the table. Taking that bow as her cue, the woman started, "Vaan Astra Vesta's card was upgraded to Silver White and he returned after meeting Headmaster Octavius." Hearing those words, Declan paused. He then turned to the woman and seeing his face that reached perfection, the woman flinched. No, she wasn't taken aback by how handsome the man was, this was not her first time talking or reporting to Declan Dawncrest. She had seen this man more than she had seen her father, she was already numb to this man's handsome face. The reason she flinched was because she was scared. Declan directly looking into her eyes was something that had never happened before, at least not when she was reporting to him and even if it did happen when the two of them were doing 'other things', she wasn't in the condition of looking back into his eyes and realizing it. "He received 5 Excellence Stars in 2 days?" Declan questioned with a slight frown on his face. "That is correct." The woman nodded. "Have you looked into the matter yet?" "Yes." The woman nodded again. "I was suspicious so I ordered our people to look into it, however, according to what I have found, all the stars he received were rewarded fairly." "So the Headmaster had no say in this?" Declan wanted to confirm.
"I believed that he was involved in this, so I was looking into it from that specific angle since it would help our case in the future when we would kick Octavius away for good, however, no matter how I looked into it, Octavius wasn't the one who initiated his. None of his close subordinates were involved in this instant. It was the Professors of the Magic Division who suggested the reasonings for his Excellence Stars." The woman reported and hearing those words, Declan's face turned cold. It had only been 3 days since that man was here, however, that man was already becoming an eyesore. 'I need to crush him before his influence gets too big.' At first, he was more wary of that red-haired girl. A 4th Circle Mage at the age of 21 was absurd. That was a Talent that was comparable to the current head of the Vesta Family. Declan had already started preparations to deal with that woman, however, this bastard who appeared out of nowhere turned out to be an even bigger hassle to deal with. Declan could smell trouble. Vaan Astra Vesta reeked of trouble, especially considering what he said in the article that was released after his battle with Alex.
It wasn't very difficult to understand what that man was trying to do. He was trying to unite the dispersed and dispirited Magic Division by talking about how 'weak' the students of Swords Division were, he even went as far as using his mother's name and announcing that he would be bringing back that 'era', Those weren't said just out of pure arrogance. That man came off as a hard-headed type, someone who couldn't plan, Declan however, had a different opinion. He knew that Vaan Astra Vesta had two sides, a rash, brutish side he showed to the rest of the world, And the cold, calculative side that he hides deep inside him. And that's what makes him much more fearsome than other students. "Look into Vaan. I want to know everything about him starting from what he likes to eat to the number of elements and spells he has.
Do not miss anything, his personal relationships, potential weaknesses we can use in the future, or his strengths that we need to be aware of. Make sure to look into everything and I need an update of everything you discover every single day. How you do it, whether you flirt your way through it, spy on him, or whether you target the people close to him to extract information, I do not care. Make this man your priority till you know everything there is to know about him, is that clear?" Declan ordered, looking right into the woman's eyes. The woman was taken aback, she had never seen Declan act like this before, all the opponents this man had faced before, he always had this unwavering confidence in dealing with everything even if anything out of his expectations happened, the same confidence however, couldn't be seen when this man talked about Vaan and this confused the woman. However, after thinking about it for a while, she understood the reason, Vaan was different. Even if he was just a 3rd Circle Mage, that man was full of surprises. She wasn't a Mage, however, she perfectly understood all the shocking things Vaan had done in his battle yesterday, those Advance Magic Circles that even the 7th Circle Mages were shocked by, the ability to move while casting spells, everything that man showed was completely different compared to any mage they had seen before. Wariness was essential. The woman was actually glad that Declan wasn't looking down on his opponent just because of everything he had achieved so far in the Academy. He was treating Vaan like a proper enemy, unlike how he treated other members of the Vesta Family. 'Heh, those fools were never his match to begin with.' The woman couldn't help but chuckle inwardly as she recalled how Declan played with the Vestas until they realized the significance of what they had lost. Thinking about it, the woman started looking forward to a faceoff between Vaan and Declan. Someone who could make Declan actually take all this seriously… n/)O1n
'Do not disappoint me, Vaan Astra Vesta.' The woman thought inwardly and then, *Knock* *Knock* Another knock was heard. Declan narrowed his eyes, unlike before, he wasn't expecting anyone else, especially when all his people should know that he was currently busy, "Who is it?" He questioned. "Lord Declan, it is Alaric and Kaelen, they wish to meet you and talk about the interview that was just released. They said that they wanted to know what their future actions should be." A voice was heard. "Interview…?" Declan frowned in confusion as he turned towards the woman. "I was about to come to it." The woman spoke. "Speak." Declan ordered.
"The Academic Insights Club released an official interview they did with Vaan Astra Vesta, he said some interesting things in that interview, the highlight of the entire thing was how he mentioned that he wanted to challenge Swordsman Alaric and Kaelen, in a 2v2 match. I believe that is why the two of them are here. They must have wanted to know what you wanted them to do." The woman spoke and hearing those words, a big smile appeared on Declan's face, "So that bastard is already moving huh?
Alaric and Vaelen, weren't they the ones who challenged the Vesta Students first?" "That is correct, you told them that you would take them in if they win against the Vestas." "Hahaha~ So he is targeting my men." Declan laughed out loud. "But how is he going to win? Both of them are 4 Star Swordsmen, no? He is only a 3rd Circle Mage." "His Advance Circles make him stronger than ordinary 3rd Circle Mages, if we only count the number of Inner Circles he has, he has 2 more even compared to a 4th Circle Mage. Not to mention that the one he would be fighting together is his fiancée, Elara Flameheart. A 21-year-old 4th Circle Mage, we do not have any information about her strengths or weaknesses. So they might be hiding an element of surprise." The woman answered and Declan nodded in understanding. "So he wants to remain on the attacking side till most of his abilities are hidden eh? Is he trying to take us by surprise?" Declan questioned. "That could be a possibility." The woman nodded. Honestly, she had no clue what Vaan was thinking, neither was she interested. She only nodded at Declan's words and let him do all the thinking. There was no reason to foolishly suggest something and face the consequences in case her plan failed. "Was the interview posted publicly?" Declan questioned and rather than answering, the woman directly gave her SIC with the posted interview opened. Declan started reading it with a curious look on his face, the woman on the other hand, walked towards the door and, "Tell them to wait, they will be summoned shortly." She ordered. "I understand." The person outside the door nodded and walked away. "Kek, 'I do not need to foolishly take over some buildings', that man is salty about the House his family members lost." Declan laughed out loud. He was having the time of his life. Just imagining how Vaan's face would look like when he crushed him made his heart flutter with immense joy. It would be fun indeed.
