After talking with the principal, Rio came back out. Amelia was staying with Patricia, she didn't participate in the second part of entrance exams anywhere. And was going to join Sunshine academy directly with the invitation, but now that decision has been changed. Patricia had already informed the principal of sunshine academy about it and he understood it too.
There was nothing he could do, since he couldn't just force her to study there. The application where she chose sunshine as the first choice was also dismissed and Artemis already talked about her admission at Zenith academy too.
The principal had no problem with it, as he already anticipated it. Amelia only refused the admission letter from Zenith academy due to Rio's demise and now that he was back and joining here again, she had no reason to go anywhere else.
After coming out from the office, Rio and Amelia, along with Patricia went back to their mansion. While Artemis along with the principal went forward to release a statement to all those reporters and crowd.
Rio wanted to do a press conference himself, so he could answer their questions and mold the truth and rumors in his own way. Knowing that questions about comparison between him and Leon would be asked, he was actually looking forward to fanning the flames of jealousy and pride in the protagonist.
But Artemis didn't want that. She was adamant on keeping Rio away from the media for now. She didn't doubt Rio's ability to handle them, but she didn't want him to come across people who labeled him as a lackey of some evil God or those churchists who believed him to be a chosen one.
Once he joined the academy he couldn't leave or come into contact with the outside world easily, so it wouldn't be a problem for a while and with that much time the people would mostly forget about many things. So she herself went forward to answer the questions of everyone.
After leaving the floating islands through teleportation gates, Rio, Amelia and Patricia were on their way to Blake mansion now. The journey had been a silent one, as Rio fell asleep as soon as he sat down. He didn't sleep a minute last night, as he was busy going through his plans, so he was feeling tired now that it was all over.
The journey from the magic association branch, where the teleportation gates left them, to their mansion was going to take more than an hour, and considering Esme was the one driving the car, it would only take longer.
Finally after getting a short nap when he opened his eyes again, he found Amelia sleeping at the side too. her head gently resting on Patricia's shoulder.
He was looking at Patricia, the grandmother of the original Rio. She had short black hair, tinged with streaks of silver in between. Her face showed signs of subtle wrinkles, while her eyes hidden behind a pair of glasses. Her attire consisted of simple clothes, nothing fancy for her standards. But still no one could judge her, as just her aura and the way she carried herself spoke volumes.
Ignoring them Rio looked at the time, it had already been an hour and half since they left. He looked outside and from the surroundings he could identify they were about to reach their estate.
Rio was planning to summon his system and have a talk with it, when Patricia asked something, that drew his attention
"So who was that girl?"
"One of my previous classmates." Rio replied. Knowing she was probably asking for Lisa. The scene she created did catch the eyes of many. He was trying to imagine the reaction of the protagonist, since at that time he didn't look for him. But it was to no avail, since he didn't know about the relationship between them now. Last he heard from Lisa, Leon was still unawakened and they were close.
But now after 2 years, he didn't know if Leon's awakening was the only thing that changed between them or were they still the same.
Patricia looked at him and inquired again "She seemed happy to see you. One of your friends."
"She was." Rio replied.
Hearing his reply she just nodded her head, and started to look outside the window. Rio waited for a cross question but it never came.
He looked at her face and there were no expressions. "You sensed it too, right?" He asked.
"Your mess up in a crowd of hundreds, yes I did." She said, referring to me releasing my bloodlust. If not for that barrier preventing it from leaking out, it could really cause a commotion for him.
"So won't you ask why?" Rio said.
"Would you tell me if I asked?" Patricia looked at his face and replied.
"Maybe not." He said, and she just nodded her head.
"Keep the letters of admissions for me and Amelia as valid and waiting response. I don't trust Zenith." Rio said trying to change the topic. Hiis words catching Patricia by surprise, which ended up in a smile.
"And yet you still want to go there?" She said and continued "You see I never understood why your mother agreed to your requests even after everything that happened last time. But I think I see it now." Patricia asked as she looked at him, her eyes boring into him "Tell me, what lies have you used to fool her into helping you?"
"I'm sure you know it already. She must've told you, didn't she?" Rio said, not clarifying whom he was talking about - her Goddess or his mother.
"And was that the truth?" She asked directly.
"In a way it was." He replied truthfully. He didn't want to continue this conversation, as her innate ability simply made it harder for him to lie and hide things from her. So he just replied in puzzles or indirectly, hoping it would be enough to keep her and her goddess' curiosity in check.
"You know why I wanted to have you join sunshine?" She asked.
"Because you don't trust Zenith and its principal."
"No, it's cause I don't trust you." Patricia said, her gaze getting serious,as Rio had a bad premonition "You were trying to do something way out of your league and you didn't think about the consequences. Thus it led to your death and a whole lot of mess. By joining back here, I think you just want to continue where you left. Isn't that right, my little Rio?"
"I don't know what you mean." Rio said, channeling his mana trying to utilize his blessing that could stop her skills, if she used any.
Looking at his efforts, Patricia just shook her head in dismissal before turning her gaze away "I'll hold on to your letters, but be careful this time. There's a limit to how lucky one can be."
Hearing her words and seeing she had no efforts to ask or say anything else, Rio took a calm breath. 'She's scary.' He thought.
'These 2 are really a perfect pair.'
He thought, remembering that the new grandparents of his were both monsters in their own way, one known for his brain and other for his brawn. He had only met this duo twice or thrice in all his time here and it was enough for him to know that fooling them was out of his league by a million miles.
So he preferred to keep silent as much as he could when he was near them. At first he thought once he was all grown up and wasn't a kid, he could handle them, but even that was impossible looking at Patricia now. These two had skills and gods backing them, that simply made no sense for a normal human to have.
'If only everyone loved me like Artemis or cleaned up for my actions silently like Servirous.' Rio thought, remembering 2 others who were so nice to have around.
A/N - any idea what her ability is? Or what Rio's plans were and how she knows?