Crownless: The Fallen World - Chapter 39

Axel furrowed his brows at his holographic screen. He couldn’t contact Hale at all, even after a few attempts; it always led him to the voice answering machine. He just gave up in the end. There was no way that he would know what really happened to Aires.

He sighed as he looked at the direction where the little dragon headed to. The other noticed this and they simultaneously asked him: “Did you hear anything about Lord Aires?” “What really happened? Did you get scolded?” “Did Sir Hale say something that disappoints you?” “Is Master Aires really dead?” “What? Huh?”

Being bombarded with questions, he never knew what questions came from whom, so he yelled, “Can all of you calm down?!”

The silence was too sudden that it deafened Axel for a second. He sighed as he shook his head, “There’s no response from Sir Hale’s side. We won’t be able to know what really happened to Sir Aires.”

They all hummed as a response; though Julian never knew who those people were, he still hummed as an acknowledgment. An idea suddenly struck him then he voiced it out, “Did someone check where we are?”

“Oh, shoot,” Axel exclaimed as he fumbled to know their location via satellite transmission and there he got it. They were farther than they had expected, He suddenly saw this red location mark that he put then realized that they were near the coast where the 21st Lord’s Excursion will commence.

“Guys, we’re near Excursion Island!”

“And?” They all answered in chorus.

Axel was blank for a good moment when he, again, realized that Excursion Island was supposed to be a surprise activity by the Student Council and he just blurted it out, “Well, it looks like I don’t have much of a choice.”

“What choice?” Adelaide inquired.

“You see, this Excursion Island is the hidden type of island that the future Lords and Ladies will have their activities in order to sharpen their ability to rule over a territory. Competitions and challenges were in it as the Top 600 will compete for a spot. The highest will be given privileges and his territory will be decided then and there. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t be able to tell you all about this but in our dire situation, I have to. As to why I’m telling you all this, we’re going there to get help from the organizers.”

They all nodded in understanding and Julian questioned amidst their contemplation, “How about the lady dragon? We’re going to just leave her?”

“To be honest, I want you to leave the group because you’re not a student or even a member of the board in the High Order Academy,” Axel said with a look of consideration.

Julian pursed his lips then nodded, “I see. Well… I guess this is where we’ll part?”

Kaia and Adelaide then held him down firmly by his shoulder. He gave them a quizzical look as he eyed Axel with confusion laced on his face, “Uh… am I going to be held as a prisoner?”

“Of course not! We’re going to enroll you in the High Order Academy. Though you have to start as a freshman, of course,” Axel nodded and smiled smugly, earning a few scowls from his members which he ignored.

“Really? I don’t have to pay that ridiculous amount of tuition?!”

The students of the High Order suddenly looked at him as if he was weird, “Tuition? What tuition?”

“High Order Academy: 1,000,000 Kline per semester. My Ma told me this and the others also said this, out of town too. That’s why they never got the chance to enter that academy but some rich people in some places got in. Then I never heard of any news after that.”

Trystan tilted his head; Adelaide and Kaia laughed while Axel had a serious look then said, “We never implemented any tuition for the students. The High Order Academy is top class and is being funded with all the admins and the previous students’ income in their territories. Of course, the High Order only wanted 3% of their incomes but sometimes they gave a lot. That’s all it is about. Besides, if we wanted a person to enter the Academy, we will send a private message to let him or her know then they’ll come in this specific location and never tell anyone about it.”

“Are you saying…”

“Yes, it’s a scam. I’m thankful that you told us about it. No one can ever dirty the name of the High Order,” Axel immediately contacted their Council President, Zadie McKenna, as he signaled to Kaia to take over. When the call was picked up, the other four looked at each other, never knowing what to do.

Kaia started to break the silence, “Uh… well… this is awkward.”

They all nodded as a response. Suddenly, the grassy ground became much more interesting than the others’ faces.

Kaia couldn’t handle it and said, “How about some food?”

“Damn. I’m in. I’ll go check if I have some more ingredients left,” Trystan opened his Holowrist. Adelaide and Kaia did the same with a wide grin.

Julian… well, since he never had those kind of scientific gadgets, he just remained motionless until his stomach grumbled, earning the laughter of the three as they hurried to arrange the food they got.

When Axel finished the call, he turned around to tell them some of the news and orders he got, but he saw them eating their lunches out without him, “HEY! Leave some for me!”