Arcadia's Ignoble Knight: Dark Elf Arc

Chapter 55

Arcadia's Knight Academy had never looked so dead. The students that would normally be bustling around were not present, the instructors that should have been filling the halls were absent, and the servants that worked on keeping everything neat and tidy were gone. It was like stepping into an abandoned cathedral.

Built on the edge of Axium, the academy in which nobles train to become the knight of a sorceress was a massive structure that had been walled off from the rest of the city. These large walls had five towers, forming a pentagon meant the represent the five elements.

A group of cloaked individuals walked into the courtyard through the front entrance. They stopped upon entering, slowly turning their heads to look this way and that, observing the completely silent and empty courtyard, which should have been bustling with students.

"Man... it's like a ghost town," Christo muttered from beneath his hood.

"Something definitely happened here," Caspian agreed.

"It looks like the entire place was cleared out," Erica murmured.

The nine figures stood in the entrance for some time, wondering if maybe their idea to come all this way had been a bad one, but it wasn't like they could stop now. Heaving a deep sigh, Caspian took a single step forward. Then he took another, and another, and another.

"Come on," he said. "We're not going to find out anything by just standing here."

Passing through the massive double doors, Caspian led the group through a hallway with large half-columns embedded into the walls and a ribbed ceiling. Their footsteps echoed across the empty hall. It sounded ominous somehow, but perhaps that was merely a figment of Caspian's imagination.

"By the way..." Christo began. "Why are we wearing cloaks with hoods? Why didn't we use one of Loki's illusions?"

"Because we're here to speak with the headmaster," Caspian explained. "It would be weird if a bunch of random people he doesn't know showed up, right?"

"I guess... but we could always just drop the illusions after reaching his office." Christo didn't seem convinced that their decision to wear big cloaks was the right one.

"Stop complaining."

"Are we sure Headmaster Stratello is still here?" asked Elincia as they turned a corner and climbed up a set of stairs. They moved slowly, cautiously, as if expecting someone to jump out at them. "I mean, it really does look like this place has been deserted. Perhaps the headmaster also left."

"I don't think he has." Caspian shook his head. "While something has definitely happened to this place, the headmaster has always been dedicated completely to the academy. Even if it's been deserted by everyone else, he'll still be here."

"Caspian is correct," Sylvia announced. "I chose Stratello for this position specifically because of his loyalty toward the cause. I doubt he would leave this school so easily."

Nobody had anything to say about that, and so the group continued until they reached the corridor where the Headmaster's Office was located.

They found a man standing by the office door, garbed in the black and white outfit of a butler. This man seemed both young and old. His physical appearance did not seem to match his mental age. Of course, the reason for this was because of the severe scowl this man was always wearing.

Caspian was actually relieved to see Soren standing there. If he was here, then Stratello must also be in the academy.

"Soren." Caspian removed his cloak as he walked over to the door. "Is Headmaster Stratello here?"