–Chapter 86–

Just when Dean felt things might calm down, he found himself standing outside one of the academy’s administrative halls with a tired expression on his face.

The chip on his shoulder was still quite high but apparently surviving a Blue Zone did not earn someone rest.

It earned a shit load of paperwork.

Just earlier, one of the academy staff members had come looking for him.

Destabilizing his morning training routine with instructions from Richard himself.

It was about the official W.S.A report regarding the zone incident that he spoke to Leona about .

Still outside the building and Dean already regretted showing up.

"These people really want me to relive my trauma just for free," he muttered under his breath before pushing the door open.

The room was quite deceitful. It looked larger on the inside than outside.

It had long black tables that stretched across the polished floor while several documents floated through the air. Probably with the use of telekinesis.

Leona stood near the entrance of the room with her arms folded calmly across her chest, pushing her bust upwards.

Beside her was Harlequin, looking the most energetic he had seen her. The usual rudeness in her eyes was gone, as she sorted papers carefully.

Richard sat quietly near the center table. But Dean’s attention quickly shifted toward the unfamiliar man seated beside him.

The stranger looked older than everyone else present. His dark silver uniform carried the symbol of the W.S.A across the shoulder while several medals rested near his collar.

Unlike Harlequin, the man gave off no friendliness at all. He looked like a predator that was waiting patiently for him.

His sharp eyes studied Dean carefully the moment he entered.

"Dean Gray," the man said calmly,. "Take a seat."

Dean immediately disliked him. There was something smug about his face that irritated him instantly.

Still, he obeyed quietly and sat opposite the table.

Harlequin smiled brightly. "Relax kid. This is only procedure."

"That’s what people say before prison sentences too," Dean replied.

Harlequin burst into laughter while Richard rubbed his forehead with a small smile.

The older W.S.A official remained expressionless. He obviously didn’t know how to take a joke.

"State your full involvement inside the Blue zone." he said immediately.

’Hmm.. straight to business.’ Dean shrugged. He respected that much at least.

He leaned back slightly before answering.

"I entered with Saint Leona after the unexpected escalation."

"And why exactly did a first-year student enter an unstable Blue Gate?"

Dean opened his mouth before Leona answered first.

"I approved it."

The room became quiet briefly. The official slowly shifted his gaze toward her before nodding once.

"I see."

Dean almost laughed internally. So even the W.S.A stepped carefully around Heralds. How interesting... Dragon supremacy.

The questioning continued for several minutes.

Most of it involved: the demise of the Void Serpent.

The guardian which was the Diamond Colossus, the environmental instability namely the time dilation and how the Verge fluctuations inside the zone affected both of them.

The deposition at this point was bothering research work. And Dean answered honestly where he could.

Mostly honestly anyway... Things about Rend seemed to slip his memory every now and then.

Then the questions finally shifted.

"During the latter half of the operation," the official continued calmly, "our sensors detected an unidentified surge."

Dean remained still. Waiting for what he’d predicted to actually happen.

The man’s eyes narrowed slightly. "A high-density summon signature."

And there it was. Dean already knew where this conversation was heading.

Beside him, Leona’s expression did not change at all. But for some reason, Dean suddenly felt like she understood exactly what the official was trying to ask.

"What summon are you contracted to?" the man asked directly.

Dean answered without hesitation.

"A slime."

Harlequin snorted loudly while Richard hid a cough behind his hand.

The official ignored them. "A slime caused that level of Verge disturbance?"

Dean shrugged lightly. "I don’t know about any disturbance. So I’m not sure it’s the slime."

This part at least was true. The official leaned forward slightly.

"So what do you presume caused the disturbance.?"

"I wouldn’t know.. Leona was there. She is more powerful than a First year. You could ask her."

Dean finished and let the silence settle. Even Harlequin looked surprised.

The man stared at Dean for several long seconds like he was trying to detect a lie directly from his soul.

Unfortunately for him, Dean had years of experience pretending life was okay. So this was easy peasy.

Leona finally spoke again.

"The summon remained inactive throughout most of the operation."

The official slowly leaned back again.

Dean noticed it immediately. He wasn’t satisfied.. But he couldn’t do anything about it.

After another round of questions, the man finally closed the file in front of him.

"For now, this concludes the report."

Dean almost sighed in relief.

Almost...

The official’s gaze shifted toward him one final time. "You’ve attracted attention, Mr Gray."

Dean smiled faintly. "Good attention or bad attention?"

"That depends on how you serve humanity."

Dean stayed quiet. There was definitely a threat in there, somewhere.

The meeting eventually ended a few minutes later.

Harlequin gathered the remaining documents while Richard stood from his seat.

"I’ll handle the academy side from here," Richard said calmly.

The W.S.A official nodded once before leaving the room entirely.

The atmosphere instantly became lighter after he was gone.

Harlequin stretched lazily. "That old man really knows how to drain happiness from a room."

"He was trying to interrogate a student over a slime," Dean replied.

"A suspicious slime," Harlequin corrected playfully.

Dean pretended not to hear that. Leona finally walked toward him.

"I’ll be leaving the academy for a few days," she said calmly.

Dean blinked once. "Oh.."

"There are still unresolved matters regarding the Zone. A blue zone shouldn’t have appeared at that point in the city."

That made sense honestly. Someone like her was probably too important to remain sitting inside classrooms all week.

And about the zone breach not meant to appear where it did. He didn’t know much about it yet.

Leona’s red eyes settled on him briefly.

"In the meantime, get a student mentor, you’ve already done the hard part."

Dean sighed dramatically. "So..you really won’t let that top ten percent thing go."

"No." She answered so fast, he knew it was non-negotiable.

Dean shook his head while smiling softly.

"Cruel woman."

Leona ignored that completely. Then after a short pause, she added quietly.

"You know what you want...get it!"

For some reason, that simple sentence landed harder than he expected.

Before Dean could answer properly, Leona turned and walked away with Harlequin already following behind her.

Dean watched her leave again, before exhaling slowly.

"Damn," he muttered. "Now I actually have to study."

---

Later that afternoon, Dean walked through one of the quieter academy hallways while checking his updated class schedule.

That was when another figure suddenly stepped into his path.

His stalker was back. Astrea Vermith.

Dean blinked once in surprised. Why did it feel like she was waiting all this while.

Her crimson eyes briefly met his, before she held out a thick book toward him.

"You forgot this in history class."

Dean stared at the book. Then at her.

Then back at the book.

"Umm...Mr Richard hasn’t taught since last week."

Astrea froze for half a second. A very small pause. "...Right."

Dean almost smiled. This was the worst excuse he had ever heard.

Still, he accepted the book anyway.

"Thank you."

Astrea nodded quietly. For a moment, it looked like she wanted to say something else.

Instead she simply adjusted a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"You are still causing a lot of trouble," she murmured softly.

Dean snorted. " All I did was survive. Apparently people hate that."

A faint smile almost appeared on Astrea’s face before she suppressed it immediately.

Peeping at something on the side before leaving.

"We’ll talk later."

Then she walked past him calmly. Dean watched her leave with narrowed eyes.

"Why did she look so different," he muttered.

"Who?"

Dean nearly jumped before turning his head sharply.

Ymir stood nearby with both hands inside her jacket pockets while staring toward the hallway Astrea disappeared into.

"You people need bells around your necks," Dean complained.

Ymir grinned. "Sorry. Werewolf privileges." She tapped her nose.

Dean shook his head before noticing the folded paper in her hand.

"What’s that?"

Ymir looked down at it before her blue eyes widened slightly.

Then she looked back at him.

"Wait..."

Dean immediately recognized danger.

"What?"

"You’re my mentorship assignment?"

Dean faked a face of exaggerated surprise before looking normal again. "...Apparently."

Ymir stared at the paper again. Then at him.

"You mean I’m officially stuck with you now?"

Dean shrugged lightly. "You were already mentoring me anyway."

For some reason, Ymir suddenly became very quiet. A small blush crept toward the tips of her ears before she coughed awkwardly.

"Well... I guess that’s true."

Dean smirked slightly.

Ymir quickly recovered and pointed at him accusingly.

"This changes nothing noodle hands."

"Sure."

"Also...your future is in my hands now." She smirked deviously.

Ymir grinned again before suddenly locking her arm around his shoulder and dragging him forward.

"Come on then, Mr Blue Zone. Since I’m your mentor now, we’re starting immediately."

Dean looked horrified. "Umm.. let’s take a quick break first.."

"We’ve not even started yet." She laughed.

As they disappeared deeper into the academy halls together, neither of them noticed the pair of angry yellow eyes watching quietly from the far side corridor.

Marcus stood silently with his jaw clenched.

And his eyes remained fixed on Ymir’s hand around Dean’s arm.