The minutes gradually turned into hours, until Emery eventually lost track of time. The lit candles scattered throughout the room were almost at their end, but he was still being confined in this dark room.
Even though he was still able to move his limbs around, the symbol marks visible on the ground had basically constrained him to the chair, denying any kind of changes from his current position in the room.
However, even if he was somehow able to escape the restrictions imposed on him, Emery definitely wouldn't leave the room before he was asked for fear that it would complicate things more than they already were.
All the accusations charged against his name were false, so he would definitely wait until his name was cleared. No matter how long the process would take, as he knew it was mostly due to a misunderstanding.
Emery's mind was pulled back to reality when he saw the door starting to open. He saw in front of him the three magus, who had escorted him earlier. The three of them didn't say anything, as they immediately approached him and released the restriction.
"Follow us now."
After stretching his body that had been sitting for too long, Emery immediately followed the three, who had walked out first.
"Can you at least tell me where we are going now?" Emery asked, when the three people didn't have any intention to talk with him.
One of them, the same person who spoke earlier, looked back without stopping his steps and said in an indifferent tone, "Just follow us."
"Okay.l." Emery said in low spirits. "Could you at least tell me if I'm convicted or acquitted?"
"No," answered the same magus, this time without turning his head.
Receiving such treatment, Emery couldn't help but wonder if these so-called enforcers were trained to be like this or he was just fortunate to get this particular bunch.
Realizing he wouldn't be able to glean anything, he decided to keep his mouth shut, while continuing to follow them.
The group of four quickly made their way out of the dungeon-like building. Several minutes passed, as Emery continued to follow the three magus. They walked through the hallways and onto the bridge; Emery finally realized where they were taking him.
It was a place that he had been before: the Headmaster Office.
The three magus stopped right at the door and gestured Emery to enter. After doing that, they immediately left.
Emery entered the room and was immediately greeted by three figures, who seemed to have been waiting for him. He recognized them all: Headmaster Delbrand, his master, Magus Xion, and the female grand magus he saw in the dark room before.
Looking at such a line-up, Emery couldn't help but ponder what was currently happening. He noticed how Magus Xion seemed to look a little anxious. when the headmaster called him over to stand in front of his table.
"Emery Ambrose, first of all I apologize for what you have just experienced." Headmaster Delbrand said apologetically.
"Here let me introduce you to her: Magistrate Kadek. She was the representative of the Magus Alliance stationed in the academy. She's here to help improve our security and make sure we're kept up to date."
"Headmaster, please tell me what is going on."
Headmaster Delbrand calmly explained that, with Emery being considered for inclusion in the privileged class, and added with the fact he had no clan behind him, extra security measures were needed to be put in place.
This was because the facilities and access of information provided to the privileged acolytes could not be given just based on talent: loyalty to the alliance was one the most important factors.
Magistrate Kadek turned her head to Emery and said,
"That's when we found some suspicious facts about you, fortunately some have already been confirmed and cleared."
Magistrate Kadek continued on her words, saying how Magus Xion filled in a few facts about his Earth caretaker petition, which was the reason he was at the Magus Alliance's headquarters.
His master also was there when Headmaster Altus mentioned Patriarch Lucius to Emery, this was also confirmed by Grand Magus Ororo, who was present at that time.
Of course, this testimony was not enough to dispel the suspicions that existed on Emery.
The real nail that convinced the Magistrate was when she heard words from Master Grom of the Apothecary Institute, who knew about Emery's possession of the recipe and the fact he worked on it diligently in his lab.
Emery was inwardly feeling grateful to those, who helped him as he continued to hear Magistrate Kadek's words.
"Does this mean I am cleared up?"
Unexpectedly, this one simple question seemed to bring silence to the three in front of him. This naturally made the already relieved Emery turn anxious once again.
"I am not getting into the privileged class, am I?" Emery said with a wry smile.
Headmaster Delbrand quickly responded, "No, of course… you will. I have promised those and you have successfully lived up to my expectations. In fact you will start as a privileged acolyte as soon as possible."
Even though Emery was not that excited about being in the privileged class, he would still feel bitter if he got robbed of this opportunity. Again. After all, he literally went through flames to fulfill the expectations and won the game, both this year and last year.
"If that's the case, then why am I here?"
It was Magistrate Kadek who stepped up and answered the question, her gaze fixed on Emery.
"Emery Ambrose, with you pertinent in this matter between the Wolf and Serpent Bloodline, we the Magus Alliance would need your help for a simple matter."
Emery was startled when he heard the magus alliance wanted his help. "Help? What kind of help?"
"A mission. I will prepare its details first and inform you at a later date."
Emery could see his master's face turn pale at the Magistrate's words. Hence, he could quickly guess this so-called simple matter would actually not be simple and definitely dangerous.
Even so, he understood that not accepting such a mission probably wasn't an option as well.
It was at a moment like this that Emery knew he had to be smart. Thus, he took a deep breath, wore a smile on his face and opened his mouth.
"Magister… with respect, being an acolyte from such a lower realm, my time here in academy is very precious… of course, I would like to help, but… surely the alliance will not send a young acolyte like me to the depth of dangers for nothing, right?"