26 Arrival at the Academy

When Leilade exited the tent, she noticed the nearly empty plaza. Compared to when she first arrived, it was silent and only a few people were present. The guards, some families that went passing through and a group of adventurers. Unlike the magician that was walking straight toward the city hall, she paused a bit and waved at the seven men. She was not ingrate and it had been a very long time since she was pampered like that. In response to her gesture, she saw all of them waving and smiling and she even heard that one was bragging about his vision of the future. Two similar men quickly hit the back of his head, provoking more laughter.

She will probably meet them in the future, but not as an orphan and small pitiful child, but as the Empress of the Underworld. That city was barely a week away from her base if someone of that planet rode a horse for that period. It will be impossible for them to not either capture or destroy it in the future. The best would be for them to pacify the populace and show them the numerous advantages of being ruled by the Demonic Empire. But that would be the task of Malakov for the moment. She was tempted to contact her servant but sensing once again her pitiful reserve of mana she dismissed the idea. He will be able to handle anything, otherwise, he wouldn't have been called her envoy.

Following the old man, she saw him leading her toward the inner court of the buildings. All the numerous people inside it diligently made way for the magician, not daring to impede his walk. Each time he passed in front of a guard, the latter will correct his posture and stand proudly. It was at this moment that she noticed the fact that the six guards inside the tent that were following them and the one inside the city hall were different. However, the memories of the souls only recognized the symbol of the local soldiers and not the peculiar outfit. All wore the same armor, covering them from head to toes, but each had an emblem near the heart. The local one was a black wolf in a green forest while the other was a sort of white gryphon on a black background.

Only after reaching the garden did Leilade understood the signification of the emblem. Two gryphons were eating a cow and more guards were guarding them. Ten of them were present. Near this gruesome spectacle, a young boy was petrified and his eyes were fixated on the two imposing becks tearing apart the poor cow. The gryphons were neither small or big, barely five meters tall. Of course, it was from the standard of Leilade but she had to admit they looked strong. They were visibly well fed and trained and their feathers were even glowing a little. That meant that they had reached adulthood and began to manipulate the mana surrounding them. She couldn't help but imagine how much mana she could gain if she absorbed one. Probably enough to fully restore a single tentacle, better than nothing.

The arrival of the old man quickly led to the interruption of the meal. Even if the two monsters were not happy, they had to oblige and crouched in front of the soldiers. After that, two saddles were arranged on the back of the two gryphons and after a few verifications, everything was finally ready. While that was happening, the magician looked at the child next to him and saw nothing but apathy. Checking the two diametrical opposed behaviors of the two children, he shooked his head once more. Since it was his job and the girl was probably fine to be left alone for a short time, he approached the boy. After a few minutes, he managed to reduce his fear and even convinced him to ride one of the gryphons.

The little boy was shivering as he walked toward the giant monster. Fortunately, a few soldiers helped him sit down and attach himself to the big saddle. When it was the turn of the girl, however, even they were shocked by her total disinterest. To not be afraid was possible for a young child and it could even be intense worship or curiosity toward the gryphons. But that nonchalance was hardly seen often, even among the adult. Seeing this, the old man rode along the boy and let the girl ride in front of him. Each saddle could fit 12 humans so the sixteen soldiers split themselves equally across the two mounts. This limited number of places also revealed the low probability of finding a worthy apprentice. Counting all the adults, a grand total of 7 empty places were available and because of the interruption of the test, only two were occupied.

The depart of the two gryphons were accompanied by the annoying scream of the boy that lasted half a minute. As for why it stopped, the reason was the fact that the magician cast a sleep spell on him. He was prepared to do the same for the girl but when he looked at her, he saw her disapproving eyes staring at him.Thinking that he already let a few courageous boys enjoy the travel toward the Academy, he restrained himself. However, he tried to remember the last years where he conducted the examination and didn't find a single time where a girl was not fainting just because of the sight of a gryphon.

"There is always a first in everything." Mumbling in his beard, he looked downward and at the beautiful sight. Farms spreading across the land, a few forests spared by the woodcutters, the clear roads built decades ago. They were not flying that high and the temperature was still relatively fresh but not cold. Sometimes, he saw groups stopping their tracks and looking at the two flying creatures.

Besides the sight, the travel was eventless. Only at one moment, the guards began to shout their dissatisfaction. Trying to see what caused that, Leilade only noticed a caravan blocked by a group of armed men. The bandits were only twenty or so while the caravan had at least fifty people. Near them, a flag with a white hand inside a bigger black hand was planted. However, to her surprise, it didn't seem that they will fight and the merchants were even chatting with the brigands. She supposed it was that friendliness that provoked the anger of the soldiers. Even the old man was visibly disappointed by it.

Right before arriving at their destination, she saw on the horizon a huge city. It was the capital of Massalia, named Teldil like the second name of the sovereign. She thought that the location of the Academy would be inside the capital but they were visibly slowing down and descending toward the ground. (I would say we are ten kilometers away from the capital.) Without even letting her do the maths by herself, the Viscount gave her what she sought. That distance could be said to be huge, but at the same time small. She knew of spells that would still be effective even after 50 kilometers so ten was totally unsafe. For the might of the local magicians, that should still be enough. None one would want a place where a fireball could leave the building and create a conflagration inside the capital.

Turning her head toward the front, she noticed the numerous houses, manors, and towers spreading in a disordered manner. All were built in stones and she could felt many magical inscriptions, shields, and seals on them. Besides the chaotic arrangement, two enormous compounds and a giant greenhouse near it. That was probably the location of the courses, gardens, and laboratories. As for the rest, they were most likely the personal residences of the full-fledged magicians. Especially the few towers, their insides would be turned into a personal workbench and bedroom where they could study and create without being disturbed.

They landed near the greenhouse and she saw that behind it was the stables. Inside, a few more gryphons and hippogryphs were leisurely resting and eating. Unlike their counterparts, the hippogryphs were the same size as a big horse and probably the personal mounts of the magicians. That was still proof of their capabilities at breeding and maintaining a healthy relationship with magical creatures. Even if the pride of those two were immensely lower than the arrogance of a dragon, for example, to make them cooperate to that extent was a great achievement. Leilade had no choice but to accept the fact that they won't be able to use sheer strength to conquer this planet. Just the Massalia Kingdom was in better shape than they originally thought and it was not even counting the future reports of Davion, Meridiana, and Kardel.

After the soldiers helped her dismounting, she saw the boy finally waking up. He was mumbling some stuff about his mum, his dad and the monsters with feathers. Only after walking a bit and turning his head toward the stables did he realized that it was not a dream. He screamed again and hide behind the old magician. That made the soldier laugh and the incoming humans too. Leilade saw them arriving from inside the compound and they wore the same robe that the magician that accompanied them had. Checking one last time her illusion, she was prepared to play the role of a country bumpkin. And if someone really got on her nerves, well, she was still seeking some volunteers for her recovery.