Chapter 118: Crowns Shrine 1
It’s been a week since I got to know about Aeloria being my partner for the upcoming trip.
Apart from some occasional meetings with the heroines, I spent most of my time with Emily, Breg, and, for some reason, also Fatima.
From all the things that have happened between me and Emily, one thing I can say for sure is that she is probably not the same girl from the game.
She is hiding something, or, to be more specific, she doesn’t want to tell me about whatever that is.
"Something is definitely wrong with her."
Three of the two [Main Heroines] are not following the plot, while the last one’s plot has already changed because I am keeping my distance from her.
And with six boring days, today is the day of the trip.
"Let’s see how the brainwashing will go."
This whole event was planned by the royal family and has been happening since the start of the academy itself.
The purpose of the entire event is to instill a sense of duty and responsibility for the kingdom in the students, who will become powerful individuals in the future.
In the game, the event was set for the hero or the players playing the game to score some points with the heroines and spend time with them.
But this event will be mainly focused on Aeloria, the first [Main Heroine] to start liking Aron.
"And now that’s not going to happen."
Mumbling, I combed my hair as I tied my long hair into a bun with a rubber band.
Fate...
Fate, huh...
What is the plan of that bitch this time?
"At least this event will be a little peaceful."
Apart from some terrorist attacks and the deaths of a few students here and there, everything else will be peaceful.
Probably?
"I am gonna be late."
After admiring myself in the mirror for a while, I moved out of the washroom as I made my way towards the central building.
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"Damn, am I really the last one to arrive?" I mumbled as I entered the area of the teleportation gate of the central building, looking around.
The teleportation gate was at the east end of the academy, where people with special permission or those who are members of the higher teaching staff have the right to operate.
I took quick steps, and from the looks of it, I was the last one to arrive.
It wasn’t my fault, though; I am having a hard time living with Sophia.
She would never bother to wake me up in the morning, and I have a hard time sleeping at night.
"He is here!"
As soon as I arrived, someone shouted and pointed towards me.
"Okay, that makes all of you guys complete. Check again among yourselves; if any of you guys are not present, inform me within five minutes," Sophia instructed as she closed the notepad, moving back towards the rest of the teachers.
Anyway, I arrived just in time before they left me behind.
The gaze of the students around me wasn’t nice, but I have gotten used to it by now.
It’s been going on like this for a week now, so it’s not that effective for me.
Most of their gazes have fear or anger, for who knows why?
Maybe because of my stigma as a rapist.
Or
Maybe because of the rumors about me being a part of the Dark Church.
"Why are you always late?" As I made my way through the crowd, I met the gray-haired girl who was waiting for me to arrive.
"Leave it, Emily; you can’t do anything about that." Fatima, standing beside Emily, said it with a haughty expression while her gaze was on her nails.
"Yeah, good to see you," I replied as I stood beside them. "And if you are trying to show your new nail paint, you are doing a terrible job."
"I didn’t ask your opinion," she replied, giving me an annoyed look.
"Whatever." I shrugged my shoulders as I shifted my focus to the teleportation gate.
It was a huge semicircular frame firmly held in the ground, inscribed with runes all around it to nullify the effect of space distortion while also providing strength to the frame.
"Attention, everyone!" Professor Alvin shouted, gathering everyone’s attention.
"We will be the first to move inside, and all of you will follow us one by one. And I will warn you, especially the commoner students, that it’s possible that some of you might feel nauseous after entering, but don’t worry; it happens to everyone who uses the gate."
After explaining, Professor Alvin entered the gate, and it gave out a blue hue as soon as he stepped through; he disappeared, followed by Professor Geilna, while Sophia stayed behind to keep an eye on us.
The first to enter was the ’Cerium class,’ with Grace taking the lead, followed by my siblings.
Talking about Grace, she has been ignoring me all this time, not even glancing at me if we ever cross paths.
But at the very least, I could say that she doesn’t hate me as much as she was supposed to in the game. For now, that alone is enough.
Following them was ’Platinum class,’ with Steve taking the lead, and Breg followed them as well.
At last, it was our class, with Angelina taking the lead, followed by Aeloria, and then Aron and his group.
Soon, everyone else also entered the gate, with the last ones being me, Emily, and Fatima.
"I will be going first," Fatima said.
"Hmm?"
Just as I was about to enter the gate, I looked towards Emily, who had a troubled look on her face.
"First time?" I asked as I moved back towards her while Fatima entered the gate.
"Yeah." She nodded her head slightly, looking at me.
"Grab my hand." I replied as I extended my hand.
"Are you sure?" She asked hesitantly.
"Yeah, I am fine."
"Thank you." She replied softly as she held my hand, her soft skin touching mine.
I started to enter the portal with her while completely ignoring Sophia, who was giving me a death glare.
As soon as I felt the distortion in space, the scenery around me changed, and I found myself inside a big hall with all the other students.
The students were not having a good time, as most of them were nauseated while they tried their best not to throw up.
"Are you fine?" I asked Emily as I saw her frowning.
"Yes, I am." She replied as she got a hold of herself.
"Move." A chilly voice brought me back to reality, and I quickly separated my hand from Emily for Sophia to pass between us.
"Why was she holding your hand?" As Sophia passed us, Fatima came towards us and asked, narrowing her eyes.
"Look forward." I said, ignoring her question, as I noticed someone coming in front of everyone.
"The students of our esteemed academy, I welcome you to the Crown’s Shrine."
A woman with a beautiful face and a charming smile greeted us.
"Thank you, miss." Professor Alvin said as he nodded his head towards her, "We will start moving after the students recover."
"Of course, sir. The guide will also be here any minute now." She replied, smiling with a slight bow as she moved back.
"Okay, everyone, form your team of two, which was assigned to you beforehand." Sophia said as she arrived in front of everyone.
"Let’s go, Emily." Fatima said as she held Emily’s hand, taking her away.
"See you later." Emily said, waving her hand. I nodded at her.
There is nothing else to do, so we looked around the area where we had been summoned through the teleportation portal.
It was a huge camber-type area where many large portraits of the previous king were hung on the walls all around.
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The largest portrait was of the very first king of this kingdom, who was the one who founded it.
"Why is it blurred out?" I mumbled as I looked at the portrait.
The only thing that I could figure out of the portrait was that the man was handsome, or maybe it was the portrait made that way.
Anyway, I shifted my focus away from the portrait as I looked around once more.
I also noticed Aeloria coming in my direction, but I didn’t stop looking around.
’It’s not in this place.’ I thought that I hadn’t found the tomb that I was looking for.
The tomb that I was looking for had something that I had wanted for quite some time, but due to the heavy security of this place, I couldn’t.
The First Easter Egg of the Game.