Who Said A Necromancer Can't Be A Priest?

The encounter with Malkan fired up other professors as well. Because of Malkan's reputation, everyone wanted to know what Aaran did to earn so many points from the stingy professor.

That meant he was called to either perform or answer questions in every class. His status as one of three special admissions didn't help either.

More than that, the nobles were already busy forming cliques. After all, Medibi was a great networking opportunity, and no one wanted to be left out.

Aaran should've been doing the same, but after what Seraphina told him, his restlessness made it impossible to focus on anything. He thought he had given up on his parents. Then why was he so worried about them and Aurelia?

Besides, the voice in his head, which soothed his emotions, was nowhere to be heard. It's as if the news had silenced it. If Aurelia was attacked by outside forces, Aaran could have used that excuse to fight for it.

But it was a coup.

That made things difficult.

While Aurelia was a part of the Empire, the Emperor couldn't officially intervene in a kingdom's internal matters. That didn't mean he couldn't interfere, but Aaran didn't think his father would use that excuse to save Amara and Lucien.

Thankfully, it's only in the planning stages. I hope they can handle it themselves.

Yes, hope. It was the only thing Aaran could do. Hope that no harm would come to his biological family.

Even with Aurelia in his mind, Aaran didn't fail to notice the commotion outside. People were shrieking, and some were even bowing in reverence. It was weird seeing them like that as they all came from well-off families.

[Goddess of Salvation urges her priest to watch carefully.]

Watch what—?

Aaran was stopped in his tracks when he felt a sudden burst of divinity outside the classroom. For the first time, something other than his troubles interested him as he turned to look and found someone interesting, someone he didn't expect to see there.

The Saintess.

Aaran smirked, remembering her. As a saintess, she hated everyone, though she never showed it. Much like her jet-black hair, her heart too was dark. So much so, it made Aaran wonder which stupid god chose her as their saint.

But those were things the Saintess told him in private, in one of his incarnations.

In public, she was the ever-gentle and kind saintess. Also called the Saintess of Mercy, she was by-far the strongest saintess who ever walked on the planet. Even stronger than Lucien.

"Your h-holiness, I'm Silen Griffith. I hope my family's carriage was comfortable."

Despite being the illegitimate child of the Griffith's, Silen had always been opportunistic, ready to take any path to achieve the throne.

Everyone realized what that sleazy bastard was doing. By mentioning that the Saintess traveled in his family's carriage, he was establishing a relationship with her.

Since everyone revered the saintess, they would wonder what relationship the two shared and even be willing to form connections with Silen, improving his social standing.

"Ah, yes, your highness. I had no problems. Please give your mother my well wishes," Alicia nodded before entering the classroom.

The atmosphere didn't change much inside the classroom. People were just as crazy about her as they were outside.

However, amid everyone's bows, Alicia saw someone that got her attention. A man who ignored her, finding the sights outside more interesting than her.

Alicia wasn't one to act offended by it, just curious.

Ignoring the other nobles, she walked towards Aaran.

"May I?" she asked, pointing at the seat next to Aaran.

Aaran didn't bother looking at her and nodded.

By this time, the students had stopped reacting to Aaran's unconventional behavior. Yet, the way he ignored the saintess came as a surprise to everyone.

"Hello, I'm Alicia."

"Aaran."

"This might be weird, but I wasn't present for all the classes till now, so I wondered if you could help me with the lessons."

"Sure."

"Thank you."

Aaran was intentionally being cold to Alicia, hoping she would take the hint and leave. Unlike other lives, getting entangled with the saintess won't end well for him. Especially when he was planning to eradicate the temples.

That alone would place a bounty on his head. A bounty so big, that even his summons might turn against him.

As such, getting involved with Alicia would cause unnecessary complications.

Not to mention Seraphina.

He didn't even want to imagine what would happen if she found out he was getting cosy with the saintess.

Unfortunately, it didn't seem Alicia wanted to give up.

Because she was there to kill him.

***

Late in the evening.

A skinny man sat on his bed in the dorm while a buff person, who looked like he ate dumbbells for dinner, kept pacing around.

"That bastard! Did you see him?" the buff man asked.

"I have eyes, Theo," the skinny man replied, fixing his spectacles.

"Then how can you be so calm, brother? That fucker killed a Marki and there wasn't a shred of remorse on his face!"

Theo and Deor were two of the few named Marki siblings. While they couldn't care less about the person who died, he was a Marki. So what if he acted as their butler? He had their father's blood running through his veins.

Yet that bastard Aaran killed him. To make things worse, the guards couldn't even touch him. They tried and failed. He was just too good at covering his tracks for them to do anything to him… legally.

That's why Deor was angry beyond reason. In contrast, Theo smiled.

He already had an answer.

Tomorrow would be practical lessons. There'll be spars, games, and whatnot. Such lessons could lead to unimaginable outcomes. Sometime people even got paralyzed. As long as it was an accident, nothing would be done to the perpetrators.

Since Aaran enjoyed playing around loopholes, they would do the same.

Besides, if they got rid of Aaran, their father would acknowledge them. That was their goal. To become one of his favorites, because just being named wasn't enough for them.