Chapter 26: Grandmother’s Surprise
"—in, in your account that’s a—" Vesper’s voice was raised as his eyes widened at Aisha’s screen.
Sabel’s hand quickly clamped over his mouth before the words could fully come out of his throat. But their actions had already drawn the attention of the surrounding students. A few of them who stood nearby glanced at them with a frown.
"What are you making a noise about?"
"Are you lining up or what?"
"Hurry up and get your food already!"
However, it was fortunate they didn’t notice anything wrong. Kane also hurried Aisha to take out her student badge from the scanning terminal.
Their hearts were lodged in their throats as they moved. They never expected Aisha to have that option available to her.
Vesper kept wanting to say something. But Sabel’s hand attached to his lips as if it were glued on it, turning his words into a mumbling mess that no one could understand.
"Mmph! Mmmph!"
He struggled, flailing his arms to try and peel her fingers off his mouth and nose. Sabel ignored him, tightening her grip.
"Don’t say a word, you dummy!"
On the other hand, Kane reached over and pressed his palm flat against the display, blocking it from view instantly. His usual easygoing expression turning serious for once.
"Put your student badge back on," he murmured. "Now, if you can."
Aisha blinked at him, but as he said, tapping the badge back against her wrist where a thin band absorbed it beneath her sleeve. Once it was gone, Kane finally let his hand fall, breathing out in relief.
Sabel dragged Vesper step back from the counter, still keeping her hand firmly over his mouth even as he behaved obediently without protest.
"What was that about?" Aisha asked, glancing between the three of them.
Kane hesitated before answering. There were still a lot of students around them. He gestured for them to follow him to a corner where there were fewer people to eavesdrop on them.
"Aisha, listen. You might not be used to this because you were just reassigned. But you need to keep that a secret. Don’t let anyone else see what’s on your account. Not your classmates, not your friends, not anyone."
"Why?"
It looked nothing as serious as they made it out to be.
But judging how tense Kane’s shoulders had become and Sabel’s forceful action acted against Vesper’s freedom of speech, it clearly wasn’t as trivial as she thought in the beginning.
"Because everyone on this floor comes from families who could never dream of affording a single energy pill, which is slightly different and better than the white energy pill students get," Kane began explaining. "5 million credits, that’s not something most families will ever see in their entire lives. Maybe some would in ten years without rest from work. But the fact that you could access it even after getting demoted from your former class, that means many people will try to get close to you and take advantage of it."
"Some might even try to use you," Sabel added, finally releasing Vesper, who gasped dramatically and wiped his mouth stained with his drool over his face. "Students from top class and higher-ranked sentinels and guides are protected. The academy doesn’t even bother doing that because we can’t gain access to it."
"You’d get kidnapped," Vesper said bluntly. He rubbed his jaw where Sabel’s hand had pressed a little too hard. "There are two ways to get access to energy pills. One, buy it legally through the terminal connected to the Association’s system. Two, buy from an auction house."
"Then, there shouldn’t be a problem with me getting access to it." Aisha was even more confused. "I’m a member of the Novalis family."
Sabel and Kane nodded. They did not deny that she came from a wealthy family or feel that she was boasting it.
Only Vesper scoffed at her words, pointing at Sabel, "And this amazonian is from the Voss family."
Aisha seemed to have heard of that family name. A second passed, and she realized where. In the list of wealthy merchants on their planet, the Voss family was the second. Meanwhile, the Novalis family came in fifth.
"I don’t have access to it," Sabel confessed. "My father might have, but it might only be because he’s a trader and his cousin is the first consort."
"Look at your account. See if there’s anything that might link to how you could gain access to it." Kane urged Aisha, who immediately looked into it.
After a few scrolls and a minute of searching, she finally found out the reason.
"It’s my grandmother."
Turns out Aisha’s grandmother gave her access to it for a long time after she left their planet. The date the energy pill was made available in her account matched the day she left. It also contains information on repeated purchases in the last two years.
Aisha already knew who it was. The only one who was desperate to change her rank and improve her purification rate was Aisha Novalis. She must’ve used up all her money just to buy them.
No wonder when Aisha checked it for the first time, the bank account she saw in her terminal was almost depleted.
Unfortunately, even after spending a lot on energy pills, Aisha Novalis was not able to increase her purification value or increase her rank.
When the three heard this, they understood her meaning as well. They weren’t exactly unaware of how many S-rank sentinels and guides have been produced by the empire. Thus, they no longer asked Aisha about it, only feeling glad that it wasn’t a mistake from the main system.
"In any case, you can’t let other people know about this." Sabel made a point by gesturing to zip her mouth. "We’ll also act as if we never saw it."
No one in their group disagreed.
"Thank you for telling me," Aisha was grateful she had someone who knew more than she did.
After telling Aisha to stop using her badge for now until she could block the section off showing the energy pill, Sabel took responsibility for treating her for lunch.
They had barely settled into their seats when a shadow dropped from above.
A boot slammed directly onto the surface of their table, rattling the trays and spilling their drinks.
"Well, well. Look who decided to show his face today."
A young man stood over them, one leg propped casually on the table’s edge. His uniform bore the black and silver of a sentinel with the seal gleaming proudly at his collar—A-rank.