Tournament Observatory RoomA few minutes ago

Cipher wasn’t very surprised when he got put in charge of security in the observatory room itself, where over fifty instructors of the GU along with the other important faculty members all watch the competing students together and pick out the good ones from the bunch. What he was surprised about was being told to guard it from the inside by the vice-headmaster, Alfred, instead of patrolling outside like he would’ve preferred.

And to make matters worse, the instructors who he’d gone to university with were here as well and practically strong-armed him into joining them for a drink. Which wasn’t very productive towards his job as a security guard, but is also exactly what he expected would happen, and expected to be the reason Alfred sent him inside away from the rest of his men.

The bastard’s leaving me in here for when questions eventually rise about Scarlet so that he doesn’t have to deal with the instructors himself, isn’t he?!

Of course, Cipher doesn’t just stay and take the fate given to him. He tries to leave the group a few times, with no success.

It isn’t until he notices a white-haired woman walk into the room in complete silence, not allowing a single person in the room to see her except for Cipher. And Cipher knows very well that no human would ever spot White without her allowing them to.

Not with her null magic…

Cipher tries to move towards her, only to find his body not moving at all. So he looks down to find a very, very thin layer of almost clear white energy coating his skin.

Guess she doesn’t want to talk to me, but wants me to know she’s here? Or she just didn’t bother blocking my sight of her.

When he looks up, he finds the woman – who is wearing a simple outfit of black and white pants with a black and red jacket extremely similar in appearance to Scarlet’s jacket prior to Cipher’s father upgrading it over a white shirt – walking over to the screen currently showing the dome that Scarlet is in right as she reappears in the thing from a duel. Then he sees her usually cold face slipping ever so slightly to show a hint of warmth before it fades away again, and she narrows her eyes. But when Cipher looks to see what she’s looking at, all he finds is some boy wearing a ridiculous magi-tech armor consisting of a simple t-shirt and shorts fighting on another screen.

What’s so interesting about him?

Cipher continues watching him fight for a few seconds before he’s distracted by one of his friends patting his shoulder and pointing out a different screen to him. So he begins politely chatting with him for a little bit until the friend from university is satisfied and quiet again. Then he turns back just to find White completely gone, which is also when he realizes that he was moving again.

Damn it… I haven’t seen her since she gave me Scarlet and signed off on my Association. I really wanted to ask her some questions about the brat.

And as if being summoned by his thoughts, a loud beeping sound echoes from the dome Scarlet is in, drawing the attention of every Guardian in the room before a robotic voice echoes across the room, “Scarlet Asger has successfully challenged every student in dome #1 and either defeated them or had them decline her challenge.”

Not even five seconds later, Cipher can hear whispered conversations breaking out all across the room.

“Scarlet Asger? Who’s that?” “I don’t know. Bring up her papers. Let’s see her capabilities…” “Who is that?”

Cipher slowly closes his eyes and sighs.

That girl is going to be the death of me some day, I just know it…

Then the whispered conversations grow much louder as people find her capabilities.

“What the fuck is this?!” “Are these real?” “These aren’t fake, right?” “They have to be fake!”

And of course, the people begin to notice the part stating her Association affiliation.

“Silver Association? The girl’s with Cipher?” “Wait, I think I recognize this girl from the news! Wasn’t she the one who fought with a wraith while still only a little over a week post-contract?!” “If these capabilities are true…” “And she has blood magic as well!”

Then the one Cipher has dreaded finally comes around.

“Cipher’s here, so why don’t we just ask him?”

Silence fills the room.

Cipher slowly opens his eyes to find everyone staring at him, and he swears he sees a flash of the old vice-headmaster grinning as he passes by the doorway to the room, the door itself magically opening before closing again as he does so.

Yep. Definitely more payback. And much worse than giving me paperwork I didn’t actually have to sign.

“Yes, the capabilities listed there are true, yes they were confirmed by the government, and yes, she is a part of my Association,” Cipher says, deciding to answer their questions without being asked.

Nearly three fourths of the nearly hundred or so people in the room all rush over to Cipher, crowding around him without giving much room to speak as they pepper him with question after question after question.

“Who is this girl?” “Where did she come from?” “Is she related to you?” “Why is she in your Association already?” “Do you know what this means for us?!”

Every last person continues berating Cipher with questions without giving him a single moment to answer, leaving him unsure of how to feel. Whether he should be annoyed with the old man, or with Scarlet.

“Let the man answer!” a loud voice echoes over all of the others, bringing everyone’s attention over to the man wearing full body armor from a much more medieval era. Then they turn away from Dark to look at Cipher again, but silently this time.

Cipher lets out a sigh before giving Dark a nod of appreciation and immediately getting into the tedious task of dealing with other dozens of Class III and IV Guardians.