Chapter 264 - The Blaring Of Sirens

Matilda sucked in a breath of cold air and finally spoke out confidently with her chest pumping out and her hands leaning on her waist "I am his girlfriend" 

Everyone looked at the pair with widened eyes, yet a second later they all closed their eyes and opened them with eyes that glinted with pride.

"I am so proud of you boy" Alan patted him on the back

"You make me proud" Throid wiped a tear from his eyes while patting Zack's head

After a few more seconds of this, they both looked towards the direction of Zarch before asking "How about you? Do you have a girlfriend? Or maybe two or even three? I heard the academy girls like wimps" Throid asked

"M-M-Me?" Zarch pointed at himself, once again turning rose-red

"Do you?" Alan chimed in.

"OF COURSE NOT!" He cried out loud, causing both of them to sigh at the same time and look at each other with a burning determination

"Hey! What are you guys thinking of?!" Zarch pointed at them while retreating a few steps back.

"Does he like anyone?" They both asked Zack

"Uhm..." A sinister smile stretched across the face of Zack as someone appeared in his mind.

"Yeah... her name is Lucy" 

"Then we will get you that Lucy!" Alan and Throid held Zarch from either side while lifting him up by his arms.

"that way" Zack pointed towards one of the forgemastering areas with a smile, allowing them to turn into blurs and disappear with a gust of wind.

Matilda simply watch all of this occur with an agape expression, yet eyes darting between Zack and the rest as if they were all idiots.

"Oh yeah... Granny?" Zack turned towards Xela.

"Yes?" She moved her hand away from her face after having facepalmed at their antics.

"Have you heard anything from Pandora?" He asked

"Sadly no... Your dad knows something but he isn't telling us" She looked down at the ground with a sad smile.

"Wait, he knows something about her and he isn't telling us? Is he scared of mom or something? I can talk to her if you want" Zack blurted out without thinking of anything he was saying.

"I know you will... Hahaha, I always thought that you hated your sister. It really shows how you do not appreciate something to its fullest extent until it is taken away from me" She chuckled

"Is Pandora your older sister?" Matilda could not help but feel left out in this conversation, therefore she was prompted to ask a question.

"No... She is my younger sister. Mom tried to force her into an engagement when she was 6 and she decided to run away." Zack replied, a little sad about how everything had turned out.

"I think it would be more accurate to say she left the family rather than running away. They say she walked out of the family house that day still haunts your father every day... Even your mother is starting to feel it now in the last year or so..." Xela sighed in disappointment, After all, it was her daughter who had created this problem.

After a moment of silence, Zack decided to change the subject by mentioning something else.

"Won't grandpa be coming in a few months?" He asked.

"You mean great-grandpa? Yes, he is coming in a month or so." She answered with a smile she tried to use to hide her sadness once again, but all that came out was a sad smile.

"I am sorry granny. It was an accident." Zack looked down in a bit of shame. While in front of others in the academy he might have put up an unbearable, confident yet arrogant persona, in front of his family he was nothing but a child, and he first knew that after he lost his younger sister for the first time, not wanting to lose another person he regarded as family.

"It's fine" Xela waved it off like it was nothing before looking back towards where Throid, Zarch, and Alan had gone.

After that, Xela had to leave to find Alan and Throid so they could all go back to their stations while getting ready for the days that were about to be upon them within the next days.

"All I can say is that I hope the tide doesn't come earlier than expected" She sighed

"You're going to jinx it Xela. It isn't worth it!" Throid cried out while Alan simply smiled at his antics.

"This is supposed to be a C rank tide so even if it does come early, we should be able to hold the tide back until the students are ready. Only then will we be able to get a little bit of leisure when fighting as we would only be protecting them from the beasts, not fighting the beasts head-on" Alan shrugged.

After a few more seconds of silence only disturbed the sounds of rustling and moving around within the tent did someone break it.

"Hello~" A young man, no older than 23 walked into the room while stretching his arms and back at the same time. Alongside him walked a woman with amazing assets wearing a long white cloak and a clerics hat. This was the same woman that had accompanied my grandmother on the expedition to find me.

"Ugh! I am so tired! Thankfully we aren't grouping up to fight another lighting mage, especially one that is as strong as an Imperial Wizard while still being in the Wizard rank." Another woman walked in too, stretching her back and arms the same way the man in the front did.

"Gold?" Xela looked back to see the 'Goblin-slaughterer' standing in front of the tent opening.

"Oh hey Xela. Throid and Alan told us to come just in case. Our junior cleric over here however will be going to the cleric division to help out with a few things, right Clara?" Gold patted Clara on the back before slapping her buttocks, causing Clara to become beet-red in an instant.

"Hahaha" Gold laughed out loud.

"Don't bully her too much" Alan chuckled from one of the bunk beds.

As they all conversed, a sudden loud sound pierced through their ears, yet instead of them grimacing in pain, they all felt shudders travel through their bodies and spines.

"BEAST TIDE HAS BEEN SPOTTED! ALL UNITS IN PLACE!" The earth-shaking voice rang out through the entire city while sirens constantly blared.

In an instant, the once peaceful camp in front of the city walls had turned into havoc and chaos as people ran around in panic, trying to get ready for what was about to come.