Order of Creation

Chapter 1

With that, he left the boy to his own thoughts.

Heading through the mansion, Elphonse was lost in his thoughts. No matter what scenario he came up with, nothing explained why his sister and her husband would want to take their life. As he entered his office, there was a nagging feeling at the back of his head that refused to leave. Could this have been a crime of passion? Sandra did have a lot of noble suitors that were extremely scorned when she picked a commoner over them. One specifically came to mind; the current headmaster of the Freizaire Magic Academy, Eldrage Elemore. Would it be a good idea to send Albert there then? Between his daughters and Bellius Araine, he could cover most scenarios that might threaten the child. But that was only if the threat was Eldrage. No, something was definitely out of the ordinary here. Yet he couldn't figure what exactly. His intelligence network was working overtime to find out any information that could help him, but nothing had come up yet. Despite that, they continued to work tirelessly. He jotted down in his notebook that he would have to prepare an adequate reward for them once all of this was over. Snapping it closed, he wondered if the King would be gracious enough to add to the reward.

"Hmm, yes. That would be ideal. I must ask the King that when I see him next,"Elphonse muttered.

"And what is this that you need to ask of me?" a voice replied.

Stunned, Elphonse was brought back to reality. He wasn't expecting King Elbrim to be here. And even more surprising, the Empress of the Halbredian Empire was here as well. He quickly rose to his feet, lowering his head.

"Your Highnesses! I didn't expect to see you here."

The King nods, beckoning for Elphonse to raise his head.

"Elphonse, you know better than anyone that you don't need to use honorifics when we're in private."

Empress Lavinia nodded, a smirk on her face.

"Or are we no longer friends since we became the heads of our respective nations?"

Elphonse shook his head.

"Forgive me. I sometimes forget that we don't always need to follow decorum. Please, have a seat."

Beckoning to the seats near the window, Elphonse led Lavinia and Elbrim to them.

"So, what brings you here," Elphonse asked. "I remember both of you saying that you didn't want to cause a commotion at the funeral, so you wouldn't be attending."

"True," Elbrim replied. "But that was more for the public funeral. And while we didn't attend it, we were still around. Though now we're here on more personal issues."

Elphonse was curious. It was rare for Elbrim to call on him for a personal matter, and even rarer for Lavinia. So for both of them to call on him, it must be extremely serious.

"But before that, I have some good news for you. I was able to get Albert a spot in Freizaire Magical Academy on my recommendation. But the Church refuses to allow him to enter without being re-tested for aptitude."

That was a major concern. While he knew of Albert's affinity for magic, the boy didn't. And since he hadn't been tested yet for aptitude, he would have to be tested for both during the school year.

"That should be fine," Elphonse replied.

It would, but their insistence has something to do with our problem."

Elbrim nodded to Lavinia.

"There have been rumors circulating in my kingdom that the Earth Creationist has passed away."

That took Elphonse by surprise. A Creationist had a lot of power, and because of that they were rarely seen in public. In fact, most people didn't know who the Creationists names were, or how they looked like.

"Really? Is that why the Church has been taking a keen interest in all S Ranked Earth Mages?"

Elbrim nodded.

"The Head Priest is hoping to have some influence over the Order of Creation by having one of them in their ranks."

That made a lot of sense. Creationists had a lot of control over their element as well as the mages that shared their element, so it would stand to gain having a voice at the table would make an organization like the Church of Heloise more influential.

"And that's why they insist on testing Albert?"

Elbrim nodded again.

Some things were starting to make sense. The church would already know Albert's elemental type, so it would stand to gain that they would want to know what his aptitude is. But would they go as far as killing a child's parents just to get control of him?

"Do you have any guards for the child," Lavinia asked.

Confused, Elphonse shook his head.

"I didn't consider getting any because I thought my daughters plus the teachers would be enough of a deterrent."

"Well then, I would suggest getting some. And it so happens that some of my subordinates have taken quite a liking to the boy."

"And pray tell, how do you expect them to keep an eye on him without being in the school."

Elbrim and Lavinia looked at each other. Elphonse knew that look, and was dreading the answer.

"Well, it so happens that Elbrim here was gracious enough to offer me two slots in the same class as Albert."

Of course. Wait, same class as Albert? Elphonse looked suspiciously at Lavinia.

"What? They're the same age as him, so it shouldn't be an issue. They just happened to be the daughters of my head guard. They were interested in magic, so when they heard that Albert was going to Freizaire, they insisted they had to go as well."

A reasonable story, but one Elphonse was suspicious about.

"And when will these girls be arriving?"

Despite asking the question, Elphonse already had an inkling of what the answer would be. He just needed confirmation.

"Well...it just so happens that they're already here. I was hoping you could house them until the term started."

Elphonse sighed.

"You two really have not changed, have you? Once you have your minds set on something, you go ahead and do it and figure out the details later. Or in this case, expect me to figure out the details for you"

The three of them laughed. Despite all the hardships all of them have had over the years, they knew they could always rely on each other.

"Do you want to meet them Elphonse," Lavinia asked.

"I might as well," he replied. "If I'm going to trust them with Albert's life, I should at least see for myself what they can do."