楼上的上瘾女士

The staring contest of sorts went on for a few more seconds before Devon eventually averted his eyes and gestured to Hal that it was time for him to leave.

When Hal stood up, Melinda made to follow but Devon called to her, 

"No, Melinda wait a moment more" he said and Melinda sat back down with a deeply disgruntled look.

Hal left the tent just as his communication talisman alerted him.

Hal went off to somewhere relatively private and away from the raucous of celebrations to take the call.

Out of the talisman boomed the familiar voice of Ehrlich, 

"You\'re alive" said the Princess\' stooge with a tone of disappointment.

Hal grinned, 

"Well, I\'m wasting my time talking to you so I must be" Hal said.

"Wasting your time? How dare you? I am contacting by order of the process and you go about saying nonsense like that." Ehrlich said and Hal rolled his eyes, 

"Yeah, yeah, quit your yapping and get to the point, will you?" He said in annoyance.

Ehrlich paused and then,

"Now that the war is over, the princess has another mission for you to undertake" he eventually said.

Hal did not ask how she knew about the end of the war as Devon being a general to the Emperor must have long reported the end of the war through a communication talisman, pending a direct, possibly face-to-face report to the Emperor.

Instead, he mulled it over, 

"No" he eventually said.

As Ehrlich misheard his reply, he had already launched into a description of this mission,

"Okay, so it will require you to go to a different Duchy. One you\'ve most likely never visited... Wait, did you say \'No\'?" He asked as his brain eventually caught up.

Hal nodded even though Ehrlich could not see him, 

"Yes, yes I did. I won\'t do any more missions until I get to have a sit down with the Princess. If I can\'t even be afforded that, then I\'d rather not offer up my services."

"Hey, hey look here, you are in no position to make demands. The princess requires your services, then you offer them up in the entirety" Ehrlich said.

"I don\'t think so. I never swore loyalty to her. I work to be paid and as such, I have absolute freedom to act as I please. If I do not want to offer up my services, then I will not. Deliver that to your princess and don\'t ever contact me until she accepts to have a sitdown.

Oh, and don\'t attempt some stupid stunt like kidnapping because I assure you that you will regret it" 

And with that, Hal disconnected the communication talisman before Ehrlich could say a word in reply.

...

The Haronian army left Gelread valley the very next day. The expedition was over and it was time to go home.

Hal was especially happy to see the end of the expedition.

Now he did not have to act as though he gave a crap what happened to the Haron empire.

Although, those who had fought with him would claim that he had never shown any interest or form of patriotism from the very start.

Anyway, they soon arrived at the border forts where devoted experts kept an eye on any activities in the enemy continent and where the first sighting of the invasion-planning Dystopian Army had been seen.

They were only passing through and continued into the Haron continent\'s territory proper.

...

Once they were back in the Silva Duchy capital where they were given a sort of hero\'s welcome as they walked through the streets, Hal and Melinda were quick to separate from them.

This was actually a form of insubordination as all members of the army were to return to the main barrack behind the General and the commanders where they would be addressed on how well or how bad they had acted.

This was mostly formality but it was a formality that was to be followed but Hal and Melinda could not care less.

Once they arrived at the mansion Hal had been given by the Alchemist Organization, Arya was waiting to welcome them both and Hal had not even settled into his return to his mansion and his and the ladies\' eventual entry into the Harem space when a visitor arrived at the mansion for him. 

The visitor was a silver-haired young man with pale eyes, who even though Hal had not seen for months, he still remembered was Pierre Silva.

When Pierre saw Hal, Arya, and Melinda, he smiled at them and moved forward in excitement while presenting his hand to Hal who eyed it for a long while before shaking it, 

"What are you doing here?" Hal asked as soon as their hands had disconnected.

No greetings. No false theatrical show that would have normally involved him struggling to recollect the Silva man\'s name before been reminded, he simply went straight to the point.

Maybe Hal should have been more friendly but he found it hard to be for numerous reasons.

He was still not pleased with the male gender, except if they were serving him and fighting for him. Even then, he only endured their presence.

He would much rather cuck, cheat and kill them.

He was sexist that way.

He was also no longer interested in \'powerful allies\'. Having been decided that if a male was not marked or contracted into servitude by him, he had no need for their alliance.

First Pierre greeted Melinda and Arya with words and a gesture of his head. A gesture Melinda accepted in quite a curt manner.

Pierre smiled uncomfortably as he said to Hal,

"I said you should come to visit me at the Duchy palace but you never came. Surely, your run-in with Adeline could not have put you off, could it?"

Hal shrugged, 

"The idea of a visit to your home fills me with trepidation. I\'d really rather not." Hal said and

  Arya soon excused herself.

Melinda thought to leave as well, but eventually stayed put to listen to what Pierre and Hal would discuss with her legs crossed.

"So, you\'re an alchemist" Pierre said not as a question but as a statement of fact. A fact he knew. 

Hal did not find it surprising that he knew as the news was sure to be spreading in the top echelons. Especially since the top young alchemists whose league he was now unwittingly a part of, were part of the top Echelon.

"Yes, I am" Hal replied knowing where this was going and that it was related to the fact that Pierre knew he was a Runemaster.

"Wow, I never thought I\'d get to see someone capable of the two professions. You really are incredible." Pierre said.

"But?" Hal asked as he knew there was one such word coming, 

Pierre smiled, 

"... But I never thought you would be linked to a Dane." He said and gestured to Melinda with his eyes.

Melinda sneered, 

"What? Does that throw you off?" She asked.

"Throw me off? What is that supposed to mean?\' Pierre asked but Melinda rolled her eyes, 

"Oh don\'t play dumb. Since you came here, you have never made mention of what you actually came to visit Hal for. You want Hal in your corner, don\'t you? But you are thrown off by the fact that you met a Dane by his side."

Pierre smiled lightly, 

"Even if that was indeed what I came here for, why would your presence affect such plans? After all, the Danes have been loyal subjects of the Duchy for millennia" Pierre said.

Funny thing was that both Hal and Melinda knew Pierre was saying that because that was what he believed.

The Silva man was being as unenlightened as he possibly could. However, maybe from certain things he had heard or certain things he might have experienced, he could sense the unspoken rivalry between the Danes and Silva and it made him uncomfortable in Melinda\'s presence.

After all, it was very likely Pierre knew nothing of the history between Danes and Silvas, or maybe he knew it in a manner that painted the Silvas as the \'good guys\'.

Of course, it is prudent to know that this was practically how Isabella\'s take was to Hal as well. He (Hal) after all, had no way of knowing if all he had been told by the Dane patroness was the truth and nothing but the truth.

"Why are you here?" Hal asked and Pierre sighed before finally coming clean, 

"Okay then, I did come for an alliance. An alliance during the Royal Academy Entrance exam taking place in two weeks"

Hal raised his brow, 

\'That\'s right, it\'s about time for that stupid exam. It completely slipped my mind\'

\'Of course, it did. You don\'t need all that nonsense, all you need is me\' Grimoire perked up.

Hal\'s lips twitched, 

\'What? Are you jealous?\' Hal asked but Grimoire remained quiet and declined to comment.

Meanwhile, Melinda who had clearly not forgotten about the exam even if she did not care either way, asked, 

"So what?"

Pierre cleared just throat, 

"The exam\'s challenges usually change every year but this year there will be two main stages; Group battles and single battles.

During the first stage, from the rumors, from reliable sources, I have heard no one fights alone and whether you have prearranged teams or not, you must be part of a group and work together towards your collective goal.

What that goal is, I have no idea, but I do know that having a talented cultivator such as yourself in my group could not possibly hurt my chances to get to the second stage."

Hal showed two fingers, 

"Couple questions, why come to me when, as a Silva, you are sure to have many talented cultivators to fight with you? And also, how the hell do you even know I\'m going to be taking the exam?"

Pierre looked a little confused at the second question,

"You don\'t know?" He asked but from Melinda\'s expression, it was clear that she knew and she proceeded to tell Hal,

"It\'s no big deal but the names of those participating is not a secret to be kept but something to be honored to be a part of. The list of participants already spread about the continent\'s main Duchy cities during your time at war."

Pierre nodded and presented Hal with a copy of the very long list where he had highlighted a few names, one of which was;

Hal from Sapphire city.