novelzi Chapter 330: Alexa would be proud
Chapter 330: Alexa would be proud
It took a few extra more minutes in which the weird guy furiously punched at his phone as if wanting to confirm something, all the while he was covering his chest emblem, what was the deal with that?"Amm…." The weird guy turned to look at Big sister and [Golem], as if to check once more, then looked down to his phone only to gulp, "So… Like I was saying, I wanted to check on the competency."
"Competency?" Ale asked confused, what was he speaking about? No wait, "You are also going to Aquila for a job?"
The weird guy looked at Ale weirdly, "Whoever gave you that thing, didn't told you?" The weird guy said confused, "It must have been someone high in the echelons, those thing are only given to the most brightest stars under the Saintsworths."
It was?
Ale had gotten it from Alexanders without meaning to ask, she had only checked to see if her bracelet could show the emblem of the golden eagle after all. The blonde asshole hadn't even told her it could do this. Or had it been Main Core the one to set the projection?
Ale wasn't sure at the moment, she doubted it was Main Core, this particular iteration didn't seem to hold the same degree of loyalty to the Saintsworths as the previous one after all. If anything this Main Core seemed to care more about Ale, it had even seen Alexa as a possible antagonist force after all, and that was weird in itself.
"You could say that, want to elaborate? Or should I ask Cardinal?" Ale said pointing at the speakers.
For his part the weird guy merely gulped again before closing his eyes and sighing to himself again, "Aquila is a project fully funded by Alexanders Saintsworths, of that much you are aware, are you not? I don't think someone who is traveling using a private Saintsworths Plane wouldn't know that, or you would have traveled using the public ones."
Public ones? The ones that the students would use? Like the ones that had offered to Big Sister and [Golem]? Ale had thought about using one of those before, and if they hadn't used them was mostly because she wanted to travel with Big Sister and [Golem], which could prove difficult if they used said planes.
"Yeah, everyone knows that." Ale decided to not elaborate on her full reasoning, that would not help her position after all.
"The high council will make use of it," The weird guy said, "Aquila may be Alexanders Saintsworths personal project, but since it has the name of our promised Capital, the pick for the new Scion of this generation will take place there."
The new scion?
"Wasn't Alexanders the Nascent Scion or something?" Ale said confused, she had heard people refer to him like that, actually, why did they use that term with him? He wasn't new to the Saintsworths, nor was particularly you know, young. That term fitted more to someone like Alexa who was still a child.
"That is the title he has yes." The weird guy said nodding to Ale's question, "He has not settled within his duties to the Saintsworths, nor has taken a title, or hadn't. He announced he would soon."
…Oh…
"So he will finally accept to be called the Dragon of Calamity by the public?" Ale said with a smirk, she would see about making him a dragon plushie or something later when they landed in Aquila, since it was designed as a capital city it ought to have the right type of stores for that, right?
If not then she would need to coordinate with Alexa to see if they could get him something, speaking off… She was still somewhere in the back right? Ale wasn't that sure since she hadn't been making noise as of late.
"…We aren't sure what title he is going to pick. But since the Patriarch wields the title of The Conqueror, we suspect he would pick something like God Emperor or King of the World." The weird guy said shaking his head, "To symbolize how he managed to expand the Saintsworths hegemony over all civilized cities."
Boot licker much?
"… I think he will pick something with Dragon on it, honestly, what do you think Big Sister?" Ale said turning to Big Sister.
"The Dragon of Assholes?" Big Sister said in a thoughtful mood, "Maybe King of Blondes? Or mayhap… Bachelor King?"
"That one last may not be, he is known to have at least a couple girlfriends across the years." [Golem] chimed from the side, "Perhaps King of Corporations? Emperor of Conglomerates?"
"Also he has his weird purple girlfriend." Ale said shrugging from the side, "So, what's that to do with us? How will they pick the new scion using his city?"
That was what bothered Ale the most, more so since this guy had come to them for this particular reason, Ale didn't believe for a second that he had come with good intentions, and she would check on with Cardinal later about that, assuming the information was not already available within the Saintsworths database, speaking off…
Ale sent the query inwardly.
[Checking database…]
[Warning, data has been purged.]
[Notice, database has been isolated, read privileges has been revoked for all user unless they hold administrative rights.]
[Mistress wields administrative rights, but perusing the database may leave a trail for other administrators to follow, do you want to continue?]
[Y/N]
Ale said sighing inwardly, she did not want to cause waves if it wasn't needed, besides, she could just ask the AI sisters if needed, she didn't think they would leave her hanging… she hoped at least they wouldn't leave her hanging anyway.
"They will set up a whole city war between the schools." The weird guy said looking behind his shoulders, as if someone else could come in, "The ten schools backed by one of the laboratories will get a representative and the one at the top will be crowned as the newest Nascent Scion of the Saintsworths."
…Oh, that was not something that Ale wanted to deal with.
"So everyone is scrambling to pick the right school." The weird guy said lowering his hand from the spot it had been covering, somehow, the golden eagle emblem seemed…faded, less lustrous and almost gone, probably some weird effect from the lighting, that or the guy had used some weird artifact to hide it, but that didn't seem to match what Ale knew about the Saintsworths.
They all were too… disinterested with what other people thought about them, at least those Ale had seen, but then again, her sample was Alexanders, old man Alexanders and this guy, well, Alexa too if you got into it.
"So no one knows what schools will participate?" Ale said nodding, she was under the impression that they had only so many schools… Alexanders list included…only then schools… that motherf-
"Correct," The weird guy said at Ale's statement, "With the size of the city there are many possible options, it does not help that Alexanders Saintsworths put so haphazardly the parts of the city that could be used as spots for schools through the ten districts, nor does it help the fact that the directors of those schools are not part of the Saintsworths, but merely people who Alexanders recruited at his own whims."
So… did that mean that the list that Ale had of the schools was the right one? Those were the schools that would participate?
"How does one decide which schools get picked?" Ale asked, unsure if the weird guy would even answer her, if Ale was getting this right, this man was part of those that wanted to participate right?
"Like Saintsworths do." The weird man said smirking down at Ale, "We are Saintsworths at the heart of it, meritocracy is the way to go."
"Then it doesn't really matter what school you pick." Big Sister said frowning, "Then what? You are here to ensure Ale didn't go to a school that isn't in your sector? By looks you should be a university student right? Ale is part of the middle school section."
"There are schools that would allow one to climb farther down the echelons," The weird guy said looking at them, "You two picked the right ones, but I checked in all the schools within the system that we suspect are the ones equipped to achieve the best achievements and found no Alexandra Saintsworths, unless you registered under your other name?"
Other name?
"Like I said, my name is Ale Saintsworths." Ale answered confused, "But that is not what you mean I guess, and I registered under my actual name as Ale Saintsworths."
Ale browsed the mails and pulled out the one that confirmed her registration to her phone, "See?" Ale said showing her registration, why was she even defending herself like this?
"…The… Was that not a joke school?" The weird guy said looking confused, "Did… Did your sponsor tell you to pick it?"
"No?" Ale said shaking her head, "I picked it because it seemed interesting."
"…I…" The guy seemed as if the world was crashing around him, "I… guess that is… a good strategy?"
He didn't seem convinced of his own statement though.
"[Lady Ale, your plane is ready for departure.]" Cardinal suddenly spoke, making the weird guy jump for some reason, "[Mister Bucephalus, in case you want to cancel your arrangements, this would be the best moment to do so.]"
Arrangements? Ale narrowed her eyes at that statement, It never was too late to try and check on it.
[Querying local AI.]
[Downloading data logs.]
[Perusing data.]
[Results are as follow…]
Main Core uploaded several hours worth of data into Ale's brain, among the data that she found… it was quite pitiful, on normal circumstances it may have been worth and successful, at least if he had used them against anyone else but Ale.
But don't even mention Ale, the hitmen that this guy had recruited couldn't even deal with Big Sister, and that was before [Golem] was put on the equation. Ale couldn't help but sigh at that and turn to the speakers.
"Cardinal… Will there be an issue if we dispose of them?" Ale asked, making the guy turn to look at Ale surprised.
"[If there are no evidence left of the attackers, the airport may think you attacked their facilities, making it rather… annoying to deal with it.]" Cardinal answered, during this time the weird guy had been speaking in hushed tones to his phone, with more and more crazed eyes, was he okay? "[On the other hand, should you fix the damage… A combination of your own powers, mister Eduardo's powers and some practical use of Miss Skye should suffice.]"
"Really?" Big Sister said surprised from the side at the mention of her name, "I was planning to throw them into the wilds, but you say I can help fixing the damage too?"
"[That is correct, your school is setting up a special curse to use a commonly mistake when using your type of Powers as a way to expand the scope of power.]" Then Ale could almost see the AI Sister turning her attention to golem, "[As for you Mister Eduardo, I assume you don't need clarification?]"
"No, I know exactly what you meant." [Golem] answered standing up, "Shall we go then?"
"Wait!" The weird guy said raising his hands as if he was surrendering, "Wait just a minute! A single minute! My men are cleaning the… brigands that wanted to attack you!"
"Oh…" Ale said in a defeated tone, "I kinda wanted to test some stuff…"
She of course meant the time it took for her new armor to materialize, technically she was still wearing it, but the transition from the metal liquid that was stored within her body to the fully integrated form would still take sometime, and that was before she took into consideration the time her mana took to transform her body from biological to mechanical. At least in the parts that she wanted for such an effect.
"It's fine," Big Sister said shaking her head, "The plane we are taking is a Saintsworths one, so you should know how good they are, besides, I doubt there is someone mad enough to attack a group of Core Users."
"A group?" The weird guy said looking at Ale, "She is one too?"
"You didn't know?" Ale said surprised, "What exactly… Cardinal, how much information is about me on the Saintsworths databases? And in whatever this guy used to find about me?"
"[The information available within the Saintsworths database is your full name, age, gender, a description and a photo, mana density estimated on your Core.]" Cardinal answered, Ale had expected as much, "[That data, however, is safeguarded under lock. Most of those that are attempting to get the scion title can't view it… And those that want must provide a payment appropriate for the information.]"
"Who decides the price?" Ale said before stopping herself to think about it, who would pick the price about her information, probably Alexanders…
"[The Administrator of the Data cluster.]" Cardinal answered, that hadn't been the answer she expected, "[They are the ones who decide the impact of the information and the impact the owner of said information can have on the world at large, the more impact one is capable of achieving, the more expensive the information becomes. As an example, the confirmation on if Alexanders Saintsworths is or not a Core user would require someone to give a similar amount of wealth to the one Alexanders wields.]"
"…So… how much would that be?" Ale decided to ask, just in case.
"[You would need to give ownership of the Eurasian continent, or to be precise, the ownership of the mega corporations that administer it.]" Cardinal answered, "[The Royal Crown and the rights to appoint a ruler over it could also work, but they would need to prove those right are enforceable first.]"
Of course they would.
"So, do we wait?" Big Sister suddenly jumped from the side, "This guy seems to be having a panic attack, do we bring him with us? Or do we leave him here?"
"Hmm… Let's leave him here." Ale decided and then turned to Big Sister and [Golem], "Could we teleport straight to the plane?"
"Of course," Big Sister said nodding, "Do you want me to?"
"…No, let's just go about it as usual." Ale said shaking her head, "Cardinal, please inform the airport staff that we don't need escorts and that the attackers will be dealt with, ask them if they want to deal with them, or if we should deal with them ourselves."
"[At once Lady Ale.]" And with that, the contact with the AI sister was cut.
"As for you… I will not hold it against you," Ale said smiling at the weird guy, "You entertained us while we waited for departure so thank you about that. Also… If you attack us again, then we will retaliate, see you later."
With that done, Ale turned to walk towards the door, Main Core was already getting control of the local network (Probably with Cardinal permission… or straight up using what Cardinal had left), so Ale now had full awareness of where these attackers where and what they wanted to do.
It was, as Alexa liked to say, time to boogey.