As the sun was setting on the Horizon, a Flying Ship descended from the sky and landed on the Northern Part of Brynhildr Academy.
It bore the insignia of the Royal Family of Wisteria, and it had four other flying ships accompanying it in its descent.
Standing on the deck of the ship were three of the most important personages in the Kingdom of Eastshire.
They were none other than the King of Eastshire, Austen Whitehall, and his Queen, Evane, who stood at his right side, as well as the Grand Archmage of the Kingdom, Lord Edmond, who stood on his left.
Originally, the meeting should have been held in the Royal Palace of Wisteria, but since the other leaders of the Shire Continent didn't want to go to the Capital of Eastshire, King Austen compromised and agreed to host the conference in Brynhildr Academy.
"How long has it been since we've come to this place, Evane?" King Austen asked.
"I think we stopped coming here after your 25th Birthday," Queen Evane replied.
"It has been a long time." King Austen sighed. "Frankly, I never thought I'd visit this place again."
Queen Evane smiled faintly, understanding what her husband was thinking about.
Brynhildr Academy was a special place to them, so as much as possible, he didn't want it to be involved in any kind of politics.
But after not visiting it for decades, he was back again, and the conference would not only involve his kingdom, but the entirety of the Shire Continent.
"Do you think Professor Rinehart can have dinner with us?" King Austen asked Lord Edmond, who was close friends with the Headmaster of the Academy. "Since we're already here, why don't we just invite him for dinner?"
"I think it's possible," Lord Edmond replied. "But do you really only want to have dinner with Rinehart? Are you sure you don't want to invite anyone else? Like a certain young man with long blue hair, and cause trouble wherever he go?"
Lord Edmond smiled faintly, making King Austen chuckle because he understood what the Grand Archmage was implying. However, the King of Eastshire only shook his head.
"We will see him in two days," King Austen replied. "If I meet him now, the other Leaders will definitely raise their eyebrows, so it will be best if I don't stir the hornet's nest for now. Let's just wait until the conference officially starts. It will not be too late to talk to him then."
Lord Edmond nodded in understanding.
A minute later, their Flying Ship landed in its designated area, and there, Professor Rinehart and Professor Barret were already waiting for their arrival.
"I've been seeing you a lot lately, Edmond," Professor Rinehart said. "You must be slacking off in your work, right?"
"As if." Lord Edmond replied with a snort. "You're going to join us for dinner, yes?"
"Actually, the Queen of the Elves, the Queen of the Fairies, as well as the King of the Dwarves have invited me to have dinner with them," Professor Rinehart answered. "Why don't we all have dinner together? That will be more fun, right?"
King Austen pondered for a bit before nodding his head. "Sounds like a plan. It will also be a good way to observe their current stance in regards to the threat of the Fomorians."
"Well, then. I'll escort you to your accommodations," Professor Rinehart said. "So please follow me."
Their destination was none other than Brynhildr's Tower, where all of their guests were staying.
The students of the academy had already been told about the arrival of the different rulers of the Shire Continent and had been ordered not to go to the Northern Part of the Academy.
They were also asked to be on their best behavior and to immediately report any suspicious individual to the Professors.
With so many people gathering in one place, there was bound to be trouble.
So, Professor Rinehart and Professor Barret were thankful that they hired the Protector Clans to keep watch in the academy.
The Catkins under Enzo were all monitoring the Academy Grounds while acting as helpers in the academy.
Their presence, however, gave the two Professors some peace of mind as they did their tasks in the academy.
In fact, they were so short in staff that they nearly employed all the people from the Protector Clans.
Of course, not all of them could come to the academy since they had already set up their shops in Limeburgh Town.
There were five elves in Limeburgh Town who were selling medicinal herbs, and five Dwarves who were handling weapon repairs, as well as weapon production.
The shop founded by the Meredith Clan was a general store that sold nearly all daily necessities.
So, in total, twenty members of the Protector Clans were stationed in Limeburgh Town, and the rest were inside the academy.
The added personnel surprised the Professors in the academy because they weren't expecting Elves, Dwarves, and Catkins to ask to become a member of their staff.
But Professor Rinehart simply said that they were looking for work and wanted to explore Eastshire, so he hired them.
As they walked through the hallways inside Brynhildr Tower, they came across Seff, who was accompanied by Conall and Lyall. Sёarᴄh the ηovёlFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
He had just received a message from the Heads of the other Beastkin Races that they had arrived at the Gate of the Academy.
Seff was just about to meet them when he came across the King of Eastshire, whom he had only met once in the past.
"It's been a while, Seff," King Austen greeted.
"Mmm." Seff hummed in reply. "You now look old, Austen."
"And you still look like you're in your prime," Austen sighed. "Beastkins can live up to five hundred years. I hope we Humans can do the same."
"Then just do it," Seff commented.
"Easy for you to say."
"Heh."
After that short exchange, Seff walked past the Human entourage and headed outside of the tower.
King Austen watched him go before shaking his head.
Seff had never been someone who liked to have long conversations with anyone. In fact, for him to stop and even talk to King Austen showed that he acknowledged the latter as an individual and not just as the King of Eastshire.
"I just hope that we will not have a brawl in two days' time," King Austen said to Professor Rinehart. "You have Beastkins, Dwarves, Elves, Humans, and Fairies. I say that's quite a recipe for disaster."
Professor Rinehart chuckled after hearing King Austen's reply. However, if one listened carefully, his chuckle contained a hint of resignation.
He knew that this conference would not go smoothly, but there was really nothing he could do about it.
At this point, he was only hoping that none of the students would get involved if a fight did break out.
What Professor Rinehart didn't know was that a certain ghost, who went by the name Lyle, was already thinking of ways to instigate a brawl.
He was someone who liked fighting, and he believed that the best way to make the other races recognize each other was through fighting.
Of course, the other Wills of the Founders of Brynhildr Academy found his plan annoying. They even planned to tie him up to prevent him from doing what he wanted.
But before they could do it, Lyle escaped and headed toward the Brynhildr Tower, ready to throw a spark on the powder kegs, which would appear at the Conference in two days' time.
—-----------------------