As Theo told him the full story, Alea let out a small moan and gradually opened her eyes, finding Theo and her father talking with each other.
"!!!" Alea was surprised to see the two together and realized she hadn't died yet. Not knowing what they were talking about, she quickly rose from the bed, wanting to explain, but the pain jolted her brain as she dropped again to the bed.
"Oi, oi! You shouldn't push yourself." Her father quickly rose from the seat and checked his daughter's condition.
"Father… Where am I?"
"You're in the hospital. You should rest first since you're not healed yet." He shook his head helplessly while answering her.
Theo, on the other hand, felt that he shouldn't intrude on this family, so he said, "Since she has woken up, I should return home."
Alea's father tilted his head in confusion. "Eh, why? You haven't told me everything yet."
"Eh?" Theo opened his mouth in surprise as he didn't expect such an answer. He blinked his eyes a few times and made a weird smile. "That… You can learn from your daughter. I'm sure that she is more believable than me."
It was a perfect answer to leave this situation, but Alea's father might have a screw loose in his head as he actually looked at him coldly and said, "Did you say you want to force my daughter to tell me the whole story in this condition?"
"Wait, what?!" Theo was dumbstruck. Considering the Eilric Family's reputation, they should have something strict manner in their home, and an unknown guy should have left them alone now that everything was alright. Yet, he became angry because Theo wanted to leave them alone to respect their privacy?
"As I said, you're staying here." Alea's father demanded before grabbing an apple on the basket next to the bed. He then showed it to Theo before the skin was completely peeled as if it was burst from inside. After that, the apple was cut into eight perfectly with Magic Power. "Come, come. I still haven't heard the whole story from you. If it's from my daughter, I will be biased, so I need someone like you to tell me. Come, come. I will let you eat this."
He stuck one of the pieces in Theo's mouth before pulling him back to his chair. "You said you are going to tell me, right? Now you need to finish the story."
"Eh?!" Theo's expression twisted, not comprehending why he acted this way.
"Father… You shouldn't force him. No matter what anyone else said, he has saved my life. He also needs to rest."
"Tch." He clicked his tongue and scratched the back of his head. "Since you have said it, I will let him go."
Not understanding the sudden change, he just continued to leave the room before he changed his mind.
The next day, Theo returned to the school, where they were informed about listening to another briefing because of yesterday's Earthquake.
Surprisingly, Alea had already recovered enough to walk and a simple run, but since the agreement between him and Alea was still effective, Alea only took a simple glance at him to check his condition.
Theo gave a nod to her before going to the gym to listen to the principal.
When he entered the stage, he was accompanied by another person who happened to be the organizer of the training.
"I'm sure that every one of you has known yesterday's condition. Out of ten percent of people who are hunting outside the training ground, twenty-three people have been confirmed dead and fifty are still missing. I'm sure that this is a shock to you, but you need to remember that the moment you step on the other side, your life will be in constant danger.
"After this, you shall register your name in the school database so we can check whether you're still alive or not before doing some investigations." He then stretched his hand and said, "And I would like to introduce you to the head trainer for Grand Gaia, Mr. Radvils."
As soon as the principal gave him the place and time to talk, Radvils started with a strong vibe of a villain as he said, "You all are pathetic. To think that only ten percent actually realize the meaning of my training. Do you think you are going to be provided with information all the time? No!
"If you want to survive on the other side, sometimes you are required to get to know the monsters by yourself as there are no data about those monsters. The same applies to the tournament. Do you think you can get every information about other competitors? No! If you can't even see through the real reason why I set up that type of training, I don't think you have the right to even compete in Grand Gaia."
This immediately kicked their pride as most of them looked at him in anger. However, Radvils simply ignored them and continued. "What? You are mad at me? I don't care. You can hate me all you want because it won't change the fact that you're useless? If you don't like it, prove it to me and slap me right on my face.
"Either way, I won't waste my time to the likes of you. That's all. You can try to replace me as the trainer if you don't like it, but I can assure you it's impossible unless you have the president's authority." He shrugged and turned around, leaving the stage. "That's all."
Eigen made a weird smile before shaking his head helplessly, trying to smoothen the mood. "Mr. Radvils's strength is among the best despite his personality. However, it's also formed by his experience. If you can ignore all profanities, you will get the best advice from him.
"Other than that, I am here to tell you that the training will be resumed starting tomorrow and there's no change in the schedule. You're to arrive here at 6 AM tomorrow so we can send you there or go by foot today. The choice is yours. That's all. I hope that you work hard."
Eigen then went off the stage and found Radvils waiting for him with a smug.
"As expected from the principal…"
Eigen's eyebrows twitched as he gritted his teeth. "You're too harsh!"
"I'm not harsh at all. When we get to the main stage of the Grand Gaia Competition, no one will favor us because we're simply a team from a small country. Many people will look down on us and do you think how much pressure the students need to endure?
"If they are beaten by this small "talk" alone, then they will be useless in the Grand Gaia. I have said it to you, Principal Eigen. I don't care what they think about me. My main goal is to have those kids compete in Grand Gaia, not participate." Radvils shrugged his shoulders and left.
Eigen clenched his fists. He knew he hated this method but couldn't rebuke him because he understood the reason and its importance.