Legends of the University #3

"Haha!", I laughed loudly, "Yes, I suppose I have been rather blessed. Don't you think that's a little on the money though?"

Drawing all the attention on myself I walked up to Cliff who staggered backwards a couple steps in response.

"Sylphy, would you please pick up my food for me? I'll be right back."

"Come with me", I said as I grabbed ahold of Cliff's trembling shoulder. "Let's walk and talk."

From my response and tone of voice, I made it very easy for Cliff to understand that I didn't want him talking about this any further. Unfortunately... he didn't seem to get the message.

"But... S-She's supposed to be d-"

*ZAP!*

A bolt of electricity shot between myself and Cliff. Cliff fell flatly onto his back and laid still on the ground, minus a small amount of twitching.

"Oh my! He seems to have been struck by extreme levels of static electricity!", I announced to the horde of students watching the spectacle in the crowded cafeteria. "Don't worry! I'll take him to the infirmary."

I picked up Cliff's paralyzed body and threw him over my shoulder as I carried him out of the cafeteria... in the exact opposite direction of the infirmary. The crowd of students parted to make way for me as I carried him towards the cafeteria's exit.

"T-that's, uh not the right way to the infirmary."

Professor Abigail, who happened to be in the cafeteria, was the only person who had the courage to state the obvious.

"I know a shortcut." I gave her an annoyed glare along with the curt response.

Being the wise and learned professor she was, Abigail realized that I obviously had no reason to lie and must therefore know a shortcut that she wasn't aware of, so she let me pass without question.

After leaving the cafeteria, I made my way to a small door labeled [SUPPLY CLOSET] and used earth magic to dissolve the door's lock and carry Cliff inside. Several students who were making their way towards the cafeteria glanced our way in curiosity as I closed the door behind us and sealed it shut.

The closet was cramped, and now that I shut the door it was too dark to see. Supplying mana to one of the magic circles engraved on the glove I wore on my left hand, I teleported the two of us to the magic circle in my basement.

While Cliff remained paralyzed and unable to speak, the shock on his face due to the sudden change in environment was apparent. Actually, he's looked pretty shocked for a while now so I guess it's hard to tell.

I closed the door at the stop of the stairs remotely using my gravity magic and then placed my palm lightly on Cliff's chest.

"Now Cliff, I'm going to heal you. Once I do, your full mobility will return. We're currently in the basement of my house and some of my family members, including my two little sisters, are upstairs. I'm going to ask you very politely, please do not cause a commotion by yelling or screaming. Do you understand?"

I waited calmly while I watched Cliff's face. Slowly, his face visibly relaxed to the point I was confident he wouldn't immediately scream, so I began to heal him.

"W-what is going on!? How did we get here!?"

"Hey. Remember what I told you, just a moment ago? Keep your voice down, I don't want you causing a commotion."

"You don't want ME causing a commotion!? After what you just did in the cafeteria!?"

"Rudeus, is that you?"

I heard Lilia calling from the top of the stairs.

"Yeah, it's just me. Everything's fine. I've brought a friend over."

"Oh, you have. Come on upstairs, I'll prepare some tea and snacks."

Lilia opened the door to the basement as she said this and then walked away towards the kitchen.

"Ugh...", I facepalmed. "See what you've done? I wanted to talk in private."

"To talk? You just wanted to talk? Then why did you attack me!?"

"I'm sorry Cliff. I really do feel bad about that, but you were making a stir about the Blessed Child, and for her own safety, I couldn't allow that."

"What do you expect? Everyone thinks she is dead. How could I not be shocked."

"Yeah. I made sure it looked that way. Now she doesn't have a constant stream of assassins coming after her."

"So... you... saved her?"

"Well, yeah. Despite what you may have been told, I'm not some kind of monster."

"I don't think you understand the chaos you caused by doing so."

"Oh, I can imagine."

"Then... Why would you do it? So many people lost their lives because you kidnapped her. Both factions of the church immediately started throwing accusations at each other and it turned into a bloodbath."

"That was bound to happen anyway. I know that you knew the Blessed Child had multiple attempts made at her life. Your grandfather wasn't going to stop until she was out of the picture. What do you think was going to happen once he succeeded? The exact same thing that happened when I saved her, that's what."

Cliff bit his lip when I said this. He didn't want to admit it, but he knew I was right. While his grandfather never involved him in his plans, Cliff wasn't stupid. He knew about the conflict between the factions. He had even witnessed one of the assassination attempts himself. If Eris hadn't been there, it surely would have succeeded.

"What about her guard? We found their ashes and burned armor in the woods. Is she really ok with the fact that you killed her entire personal guard?"

"Uhh... she may or may not be aware of that."

"What does she think happened? That they just let you take her peacefully? How could she be so naive!?"

"You've got a point. Do me a favor though and don't tell her that. She's made a life for herself and is happy here. There's no need to traumatize the poor girl, don't you agree? She's been through enough."

"You know, once the church realizes she's still alive, they're going to come after her."

"It would take well over a year to travel from Milishion to Ranoa. We're on the other side of the world. I doubt they will ever find her again. Even if they do, by that point the Pope's faction will have a firm control of the church. I would hope that as long as Luna keeps her distance from the Church that your grandfather will not see a need to send his assassins across the world to get her."

"Luna?"

"Oh, yeah. That's the name she has chosen for herself. We couldn't very well just keep calling her 'Blessed Child' when she's supposed to be in hiding."

"I suppose that makes sense. Well, you might be right about her safety, but then again maybe not. She represents the only viable threat to his control of the church, after all."

"Does she though? Luna doesn't personally have any investment in who controls the church. It was the cardinal who was using her to further his goals. I assume that with his most powerful piece on the board taken from him, the Cardinal will slowly lose most of his influence in the church."

"That's true... even before Grandfather sent me away for my own safety, he had already begun prosecuting several of the Cardinal's followers."

"Exactly. By the time they find Luna, if they ever do, your grandfather will have concrete control of the church and Luna won't even be a threat to him anymore."

"You're right..."

"Still though, for her safety, it's better that they don't find her for as long as possible. You'll keep this a secret, won't you?"

"O-of course! I would never betray you!"

*Sigh*

I could feel the fear in Cliff's response.

"Cliff, I'm really sorry I attacked you earlier. You just caught me off guard and I didn't want you to blow Luna's cover."

"D-don't worry about it."

"Why do you keep acting so afraid of me? Like I said before, I consider you a good friend."

"Why? I don't understand? What have I done to earn your friendship? I don't even know you!"

'How do I explain this to him? He's got a point. From his perspective we're total strangers. Worse than that, he thought I was some powerful mage assassin who his grandfather hired. How can I expect him to trust me in these extreme circumstances if I don't give him the same level of trust?'

"I shouldn't have taken you to my house. Let's go somewhere more private."

I lightly touched my right hand onto Cliff's shoulder, and, supplying mana to a different magic circle on my glove, I teleported the two of us to another location. We appeared in the center of my assigned room in the research facility. Right above the inconspicuous rug in the center of the room.

"W-wha? How!? Would you stop doing that!?"

"Haha sorry... As you may have guessed, I have mastered teleportation magic. If you'd like, I could teach you one day. You are a genius magician, after all."

Cliff gave me a dirty look when I called him a genius. He probably thought I was mocking him.

"Cliff, I understand how confused you are about everything going on. You might not believe me, but I consider you to be one of my most trusted friends in the entire world."

"How can you say that? I don't even know you!"

"Let me tell you the truth. The honest truth. Something I've only ever told one other person before."

Suddenly the tone became much more serious. I pulled out the lone chair by the dining table and indicated for Cliff to sit down. I then reached my right arm out and formed a clump of stone which soon took form into a similar chair which I placed down on the other side of the table before sitting down myself.

"I'll start from the beginning..."

[Legends of the University #3: The boss has secret passageways that lead all throughout the school]