After having a fun spar with Kasogonaga, William exited the Thousand Beast Domain.
Ironically, the moment he left the domain, Wendy knocked on the door after finishing her morning lessons to ask him if he wanted to have lunch with her.
William happily agreed to Wendy's proposal and went to the usual spot where they would always have a picnic together. When they arrived at their destination, Est and the twins were already there and had already spread out the food on the picnic blanket.
"The lovebirds have finally arrived," Est said in a sarcastic manner. "Ian, prepare the melon seeds. I heard that Half-Elves love them."
William smiled and sat down in front of Est, while Wendy sat beside him. "I do love melon seeds. Ian, do you have some?"
"My seeds are too good for you. Better find someone else's," Ian replied with a snort.
Wendy lightly patted William's shoulder and whispered, "I'll buy you some later. I didn't know you liked them."
"Thank you," William replied as he unconsciously kissed her forehead.
Est and Ian stiffened because the Half-Elf didn't even try to hide their PDA in front of them. Isaac, who was watching from the side lit a candle in his heart. He prayed for the Half-Elf's swift and painless death after his Young Master and twin brother had their way with him.
"The two of you should just get a room," Est said with a fed up expression. "Aren't you afraid that lightning will strike you down for acting lovey dovey like this in public?"
For some reason, he couldn't stop the irritation that was slowly surfacing in his heart, from showing.
William, on the other hand, smirked. He was not afraid of lightning falling down from the heavens. After all, his Job Class "Prince of Thunder" was not just for show.
"Calm down and cool yourself down." William grabbed the jug of fruit juice with a mischievous grin plastered on his face. "Here, let me help you."
Suddenly, the exterior of the jug was covered with a thin layer of ice. Est's, Ian's, Isaac's, and Wendy's eyes widened in shock as they looked at the frozen jug before shifting their attention to William.
"You recovered your magic power?" Est inquired with a serious expression on his face. "When did it return?"
To be honest, Est felt very guilty for the sacrifice that William had made in the Trial of Courage. He had long wanted to find a way to repay the Half-Elf for helping him clear the trial. His initial thoughts were to have him knighted and added to the Knight Order of Gladiolus.
However, never in his wildest dreams did he consider that the Half-Elf would found his own Knight Order that was recognized by the King.
"Just an hour ago," William replied. "It's quite unfortunate that I can't use it in the Inter-Division Battles. I bet everyone's jaws would drop off if I start shooting ice shards in the middle of the fight."
Wendy frowned as a sudden realization came to her mind. "Since you have your magic back, shouldn't you be in the Magic Division as well? How about you tell the professors about a transfer? I'm sure Professor Layla would be extremely happy to have you."
After their relationship had become more serious, William had also told her the story of how his powers were sealed. Back then, Wendy felt sad because if William hadn't lost his powers, he would be in the Magic Division with her.
"That's right!" Ian seconded Wendy's claim. "It is only right for you to be in the Magic Division since you have regained your powers."
Est, however, shook his head. "Although he could do that, he won't. Isn't that right, Will?"
William nodded to acknowledge Est's words.
"I will stay in the Martial Division," William replied. "At least, until this school year ends. I still have a lot of things to do, and leaving the Martial Division at this time will lower their morale. I can't do that."
Everyone quieted down after hearing William's reply. They knew about William's responsibility as the Commander of the Angorian War Sovereign. Right now, the Half-Elf was the pride of the Martial Division. If he suddenly switched to the Magic Division, they would be devastated.
"Let's not worry about this for now." William cleared his throat to change the topic. "For now, you should just focus on thinking of ways to beat our lineup. Mind you, even if all the big shots among the First Years were to band together, you guys won't get an easy win."
"Don't worry," Est commented in a calm manner. "I'll make sure to beat you up in the arena."
"Oh, you sound confident. I wonder where that confidence of yours is coming from?"
"Just you wait. I'll wipe that smug smile on your face and win the bet we have agreed upon."
Wendy, who was eating from the side, raised her head to observe William's and Est's banter. Deep in her heart, she thanked the Gods that Est was born as a boy. Her boyfriend and her Head Prefect get along so well that it would often make her jealous.
'Fortunately Head Prefect is not a girl,' Wendy thought. 'If he was, he would be a more dangerous love rival than Rebecca.'
After eating their lunch, Wendy, Est, and the twins returned to the Magic Division for their afternoon classes.
The Half-Elf had already decided to skip classes for the day because he had more important things to do.
"I just hope he will believe me," William muttered as he walked towards the Dean's Office. Since the issue with Carter concerned the entire school, it would be appropriate to let Simon know about it before it was too late.
-----
"Tell me, William, how did you come to know this information?" Simon inquired. The Elf looked at the red-headed boy with a serious expression.
They were currently inside the Dean's office and a powerful enchantment had been put in place to prevent eavesdroppers from getting wind of their conversation.
"I can't tell you how I got the information," William replied with a calm expression on his face. "However, I can guarantee that this information is credible."
"Really?" Simon narrowed his eyes as he stared at the youngest Knight Commander of the Hellan Kingdom. "Let me get this straight. You're saying that a professor is subtly taking control of the students inside the academy through the use of candies?"
"Yes."
"Do you have any proof?"
"I brought some candies with me," William said as he placed the pouch of candies that he had confiscated from Wendy on top of the table. "Please, check them yourself, Sir."
Simon nodded and opened the pouch. He then took one candy from it and used his spirit power to give it a closer inspection.
A minute later, the Elf returned the candy inside the pouch and nodded his head.
"You're right," Simon commented. "There is indeed a strand of Spirit Power embedded inside it. If not for my strong spiritual sense, I would have not discovered it."
"What are you going to do, Sir?" William asked. "If this continues, I am afraid that more of the students might fall prey to this dangerous scheme."
Simon took the candy pouch and stored it inside his storage ring. He then looked at William in contemplation as if weighing the words that he wanted to say.
"Rest assured, I will take precautions to handle this matter," Simon stated. "For now, I want you to keep this secret to yourself in order to not alarm the mastermind behind this 'candy incident'. Not a word to anyone, do you understand? We should be ready for the possibility that the Professor doing this behind the scenes is able to tap into the memories of the people under their control.
"If word of this spreads then our chances of capturing the mastermind will disappear completely. Who knows? He might also have acquaintances hiding in the background. For now, act as if nothing is wrong. Also, there's no need for you to look for me again if you discover something else. I have my own ways of monitoring the people inside my own backyard."
William nodded his head. He felt a little relieved that Simon took his words seriously. In the beginning, he was afraid that the Dean of the Academy wouldn't believe him and might even accuse him of spreading fake news.
Fortunately, that was not the case and William left the Dean's Office feeling slightly better. With Simon's help, he was confident that they would be able to catch all those who were involved with Carter if the two of them worked together.
A few minutes after William left the room, Simon sighed and knocked on the top of his table.
"You can come out now," Simon said. "It seems that your Young Master is very able. To think that he managed to know about this scheme without any of you telling him is quite a feat."
A black mist gathered in the center of the room. Soon, a man wearing a hooded black robe materialized in front of the Dean of the Academy.
"So far, everything is in order," Ezio replied. "While the Commander feels a little guilty in not telling Young Master Matthew and Young Master William about the details of our operation, it is for their own good. Also, it limits the person in the know which would prevent the leakage in information."
"Are you sure that William will not tell anyone else about his discovery?"
"He won't. The fact that he came to you with this secret is because he also understands the meaning of discretion. So, for his sake, and the sake of all the students in the Academy, we mustn't fail. Failure is not an option, you also understand this, right?"
Simon sighed before nodding his head. In fact, he knew that Carter was only a pawn behind the candy incident, which was something that William was not aware of. Although the academy looked peaceful on the surface, there were many things being done behind the scenes in preparation for the battle that was about to come.