Chapter 95 - I Pray That No One Reincarnates In Such Places

"The city is divided into two sections. Beyond those walls is the second section where the nobles and the royal family live. This section is the normal section where anyone can live and where most people come looking for jobs." The woman slowly explained while pointing at a circle of high walls in the distance.

But Aiden was not paying attention to the walls. He was instead thinking about what the woman had told him earlier. 

< How can there be a royal family here when the real thing is at the real capital? That's what you are probably thinking. >

'Exactly. How can no one from the capital not know about this?' He asked back but Sera had no reply for him.

"Anyways, what else do you want to know about?" The woman asked while raising an eyebrow.

"Can you tell me about the location of the royal academy?"

"It's situated right at the entrance to the second section of the city. You just have to show the guards your badge and you can easily move inside." 

"Thank you for your help," Aiden said with a small bow as the woman smiled and shook her head.

"Don't worry. I came from a small town too and this place was too overwhelming for me but I sadly didn't have the potential to become a member of the royal academy. But since you have that opportunity, don't waste it." She said and said her goodbye before leaving for her restaurant.

'I guess I should look for a library.' Information was the key to most things so Aiden had to first learn about the history of Mondstad.

After all, he had no idea how a continent could have two capitals and two royal families unless that place was divided into multiple kingdoms.

But according to the books at the palace, no such thing was there on the continent of Sephiroth.

So either those books were wrong or some sinister thing was happening in Mondstad.

Finding a library didn't take as long as he had thought it would. After entering the place, he just had to show his badge to the librarian and she gave him a slight nod.

According to her, Aiden could roam the entire place and take whatever book he wants to on the first floor. The second floor of the library was only for third years of the academy and the third floor was only for high nobles.

So after moving around the lower floor of the library, Aiden found all the history books he needed.

After that, he sat down and started reading them as though his life depended on them. But with each page that he flipped, something new was revealed to him. 

After a few hours, Aiden closed the last book with a sigh. He went put the books in the deposit section before moving out of the library with a blown expression.

According to the library, the entire continent had always been divided into four kingdoms with each kingdom having its own capital. The rulers of every continent were referred to as the royal family.

Aiden's home was called the Shadowstone kingdom with the Shadowstone city being the capital. But the books there had mentioned that there were only four major cities on the continent and one of them was their capital.

Now, this was something that confused Aiden even more. How could the Shadowstone city not know about this and how could the Mondstad city not know about what was happening in the Shadowstone city?

< This is indeed confusing. But I think there is only a single person who you can currently ask this about. >

Hearing Sera's words, Aiden glanced down at the bracelet on his wrist. He then went into an alley before touching the bracelet and establishing the connection with Aysel.

[ Hello mother, can you hear me? ]

Aiden waited for a few seconds but no reply came back. He sent a second message but Aysel still didn't reply. He then stood there for a few more minutes before leaving the alley.

'So we should gather more information?' 

< If that's what you want to do, I support you. Though you will have to be careful in the academy here. If what the books told us was correct, then that academy is definitely a royal academy. >

Aiden then walked towards the entrance to the entrance to the second section. Only a single person was standing at the entrance but Aiden could tell that the single person was as strong as many demons.

"I am here for the royal academy." That is why he walked closer to the man and showed his badge. 

"Go inside." The man said without looking at Aiden as the latter moved inside. He could see many teenagers around his age moving alongside and all of them were heading in the same direction.

Aiden also followed them before he came in front of the building. Alongside the rest of the teenagers, Aiden moved inside the building before he saw the same man from the entrance.

"Welcome to the royal academy of the kingdom of Mondstad. Before we proceed, I ask you all to kill the person on your right side. You have two minutes to do so." The man finished as Aiden stood dumbfounded.

But the people around him clearly didn't feel that as they started attacking each other. Within moments, Aiden could see many dead bodies lying on the ground and after two minutes, half of the people there were dead.

"If you killed a single person, you pass. If you killed no one, you pass. If you killed more than a single person, you failed." The man said as he pointed at a few people in the crowd.

They automatically left the place through the way they had come from but they deposited their badges to the guard first.

'That went for 1 to 1000 damn quick.' Aiden thought with wide eyes as the man proceeded to talk more.

"Now that's over, all of you are members of the royal academy. You can remove that badge freely and leave the city if you want. But remember, you should be back by tomorrow or we will follow you and drag you here. Goodbye for now." The man quickly said and vanished.

All of the teenagers then started moving out of the place and Aiden was left dumbfounded.

'What the fuck was that?!' He thought while moving out of the second section.

But before leaving, he could see a few people coming towards the bodies and some of them were crying.

Perhaps the fallen had been their family members but Aiden didn't know. 

'Sera, should I leave the city now? I don't have a good feeling about this place.'

< I have the same feeling but you will have to travel straight without any breaks this time since they might send soldiers after you. So you can either risk that or stay here. Honestly, neither of them sounds like fun things. >

'I pray that no one reincarnates in such places. I thought that the Shadowstone city and my parents were messed up. But now, it looks as though the entire continent might be messed up. Heck, the entire realm might be messed up.'

< But that's the thing host, the gods have never seen anything like this and I can probably guess that they are laughing at this moment. Some might be cringing and wondering why your adventures are like this. But there is nothing no one can do about it except one person. >

'I know..' Aiden replied with a sigh before he started looking for a place to stay the night at.