Scarlet

I yawn as I enter what is apparently Allen’s office after being called over – and woken up – by Sage using the intercom again. This time about my application to Lion’s Heart. And the first thing I see in his office is the sight of him sitting down on a comfortable looking sofa holding his head with his elbows resting on his knees.

“So is this because of Belle? Or something else?” I ask with a raised eyebrow, making him look up with a scowl. “Your moping I mean.”

His eyebrow twitches.

“Maybe a little of both?” I ask while putting my hands comfortably in my jacket pockets and walking over to the sofa across the table from him to sit down.

He just stares at me, scowling all the while.

Probably a little of Belle and a little of my capabilities.

Eventually, the man lets out a sigh and reaches over to grab a document from his desk that he then puts onto the table in between us as he says, “This is the application for Lion’s Heart Guardians University. Fill it out.”

Oh, he’s really in a bad mood. But also, it feels a little bit different from his normal bad mood. Since he’s normally fine with yelling at me then.

Meaning he must also be happy about something I did? Or something involving me right now?

Either way, I reach forward to grab the paper, only to find that I don’t have a pen. But before I can ask, he grabs a pen and puts it on the table as well.

“Thank you,” I mutter before beginning to read over the application. Which isn’t really that much. Just basic information, who my sponsor is, answering a few personal questions about humans, demons, and Guardians, along with some of the laws that are in place that are different between humans and Guardians.

After I finish filling it out, I place it back on the table again and say, “Done. Anything else?”

He lets out a sigh and gets up from the sofa while saying, “Yes. You will also have to take an exam, but that is given out in person. But I doubt it’ll really have an impact on whether you’re let in or not, just purely because of your capabilities.”

There’s the exam. Knew there would be one of those.

“You know when we’ll be doing that?” I ask, only to be surprised as he meets my eyes and says, “Now.”

My mouth parts open for a second, only to close as he adds, “Or rather, a couple of hours from now. On the university campus.”

Oh.

Two hours later I find myself standing in the office of the Registrar for Lion’s Heart, who does not look to be very happy.

“So why did you bring this orphan girl here, Cipher?” the woman asks with a scowl on her face and a slight look of hatred directed towards me. But the hatred immediately vanishes when Allen tosses my file on her desk in front of her, the woman’s eyes latching onto it in the process.

Wow. She's rude even towards Allen. Although then again, this is a Guardians University. Meaning every single person on the campus is a Guardian as non-Guardians are not allowed to step foot within the campus bounds. And considering that she's the registrar for the greatest Guardians University in the world, she's probably at least Class IV as well. Just like Allen.

Probably rich too.

Silence follows for several seconds. Then she immediately reaches to grab it as if her life were on the line, reading every last capability I have and occasionally glancing between me and the paper.

Wow. Guess my capabilities really did matter that much.

After what feels like five whole minutes but is probably just half a minute or so, the woman finally asks, “And this has been verified and confirmed by the Governmental Office already?”

Her eyes widen even further after seeing Allen nod his head. Then she turns to me with a brilliant smile and says, “Welcome to Lion’s Heart Guardians university! I hope you have the best stay possible!”

My mouth drops open in shock at the complete change her personality just did.

She ignores my very obvious shock to gather the paper along with my application as she says, “Now, of course we still have to deal with your examination, but I’m sure that won’t be a problem. But I think I should also get the vice-headmaster in on this, since I’m pretty sure they’d want to be notified about such a shining star of a new student, don’t you think?” she says the last part while glancing up at Allen with a pretty smile on her face, showing off her perfectly white teeth.

The Registrar lady then takes me and Allen to a very comfortable looking lounge where she leaves us, saying that she will be right back with the vice-headmaster.

I stand in silence, not even bothering to sit down as I stare at the door she had just left through.

“What… what just happened?” I mutter, dumbfounded by the events that just took place.

Allen just bursts out laughing. And laughing. And laughing some more.

Eventually I get sick of it, so I threaten, “You keep that up and I’ll tell Belle about your little stash of-”

He stops before I can even finish, immediately saying, “No! There’s no need for that!” Then, after seeing me sit down, he sits down as well and says, “A lot of the faculty, and especially the higher ups and professors at this university are incredibly old school in how they do things. They’re even worse than the other universities in terms of orphans since they like ‘well-bred stock’ as a matter of terms. People who are raised in the best of families, with the best educations possible.”

And certainly not orphans, much less ones from a Tier 3 city.

“But at the same time, they value capability and magic over basically anything. And you have both of those in spades. An incredibly useful magic. One that is versatile and can be used in many different ways in combat. And the capabilities of a lifetime. Practically a dream come true for any Guardian University,” he explains, making me understand just why he was moping so much recently but also silently happy with me. “In fact, you’re so important that even if you completely failed every last part of the exam far below a passing score, they’d probably just fake the test results entirely.”

“Wait, so my results on the examination literally don’t matter?” I ask him, feeling that that’s more than a little unfair.

He nods his head with a shrug and says, “Yeah, but that’s just how high society is with Guardians. Power makes right. And talent makes power.”

I blink in surprise. Doesn’t that mean I’m now one of those people who have a positive handicap in a way?

Our conversation is interrupted as the door opens again, this time with an old man walking through it. Which is surprising, considering that Guardians don’t tend to age that much. Mostly depending on how much they actually fight and level up, since leveling up tends to stall your aging process.

And the moment he sees me, his eyes widen with what looks like recognition.

Huh? What’s up with that?