CHAPTER 142: IT’S TIME TO LOOK FORWARD

It’s Time to Look Forward

The interview went well enough, if Osho said so himself.

Jessica was pretty receptive, if a bit intense, and Osho hadn’t needed to use any intense mental gymnastics to answer the questions as he answered.

What’s more, to his surprise, no questions were asked concerning Gale’s evolution or his possible involvement with Maven.

Once everything was finished, it felt easy. Almost too easy.

Back in the lounge the group was in before, all of them sat quietly for a while before Kurt spoke up.

"So... did everything go weirdly well for everyone?" He addressed the elephant in the room, and everyone slowly nodded.

"They just asked me about my experience during the Beast Tide and the entrance exam. That was it, and I answered mostly honestly." Ellie concurred.

"Huh... are we being set up?" Sam mumbled, and Osho hummed as he genuinely considered that possibility. Was there some sort of plot he was missing?

"You aren’t, don’t worry." Lady Haggai suddenly walked into the room with Mrs Jane and spoke, immediately catching everyone’s attention.

"Do you know what’s happening? Things aren’t exactly going according to plan..." Sam asked while scratching her head.

"Indeed. It would appear that our worries were for naught." She started. "As it turns out, we aren’t the only ones unhappy with how much time has been wasted concerning your admission." Hearing this, everyone became even more curious, and the two women didn’t bother keeping them waiting.

"I said before that things keeping potential students back from getting their admissions immediately aren’t rare, considering how dangerous the world can be and the different situations each Citadel faces daily. However, it would appear that you lot have wasted a lot of time, even now." Lady Haggai explained.

"Hence, when the investigators from Eden Citadel issued a further waiting time due to wanting to investigate students, the Envoys from the different Beast Tamer Colleges weren’t happy. As such, they all filed a formal complaint and sent it to the Citadel. Keep in mind, most of the Envoys are from Zion-Class Citadels, with a few even coming from Zenith-Class Citadels, so with multiple of them sending complaints like that, not even Eden Citadel can act recklessly. Hence, the official waiting time was scrapped, and you lot were only required to be interviewed for the bare-minimum of information before being led over to where the Envoys are gathered. There you will do your screening and be allowed to accompany them back to their Citadels." Mrs Jane explained.

"Also, we were just made aware of this information by the Citadel Lord, which is why we are telling you now." Lady Haggai finished, and the group was quiet, then almost simultaneously, they let out relieved sighs.

"Finally." Irene groaned, the tension almost melting away from her.

Everyone was the same. In the end, the amount of mental energy they expended for this entire ordeal was far more than they had initially anticipated, or even wanted to expend.

Keep in mind, they should have gone to a beast tamer college after a bit over a month after they hatched their beasts. But then the Beast Tide happened, and then the Abyssal Scrounger attacked.

Osho was honestly surprised that the schools hadn’t just said that they should wait until next year before they can take the entrance exam again and enter the school on time.

Mrs Jane cracked a small smile before smiling.

"I will be honest, I’m terribly sorry about everything that happened. You all are dealing with far more than what people your age should be doing, and while there isn’t exactly anyone to blame besides the perpetrators, I can still recognize that all of this is something that should not have happened." She sighed, but Osho shook his head.

"Well, you guys are the ones that constantly hammered into our jeads just how unpredictable the world can be, so there’s no need to lament over it. It has happened, so we just need to look forward. After all, we’ll enter the Colleges in the end, regardless of how inconvenient the timing is." He huffed before asking.

"Say, while we have managed to avoid wasting any more time, what about, you know, scamming them?" At this, Lady Haggai just shrugged, seeming unbothered at the prospect of scamming out one of the most powerful Citadels humanity had.

"We don’t have too many details yet as they immediately went to meet the Citadel Lord after they were done with you lot, but from what we learned, they are having an intense virtual closed-door meeting with several high-level individuals to discuss the implications of everything. But mostly how they can get into contact with this Maven and possibly strike a deal." She said while giving Osho a pointed look.

"Speaking of, Osho, won’t you eventually have to humor them?" Ellie shot him a glance, and Osho smiled.

"Oh for sure. Chances are that when we get a break from college and we return, I will eventually show up and show interest in what they have to offer. In fact, maybe we could even tell them that I might surface around that time because you asked me and I just gave a vague time frame." Osho rambled a bit, sounding noticeably chirpy after realizing that things had finally come to a close.

"That’s not a bad suggestion, actually." Mrs Jane noted, and Lady Haggai nodded.

"Right, so when are we meeting the Envoys?" Sam asked, and Mrs Jane just shrugged.

"Today would be preferable, but you guys can do it within the week as that’s how long they will be staying. Naturally, they can screen every single student in a single day. However, I’d like that we do it now since barely anyone knows that they are here yet, so we can get a head start." She pointed out, and the group seemed a little surprised, but upon closer inspection, it made sense.

The Envoys wouldn’t know that their Citadel had any particularly special students other than Ellie and perhaps Han Jiwon, and he was dead, so to them, this Citadek was just a loose end that was refusing to get wrapped up.

It made sense that they would be impatient and a bit upset, hence, they most definitely wanted to get everything done with as soon as possible and be on their way.

"I’m all for going right now." Osho shrugged.

"Me too."

"I second that."

"I don’t see why not."

"My parents say I’ve been at home for too long anyway." The others all concurred, and Mrs Jane nodded with satisfaction.

"Great, so we can get going immediately?" She offered.

"Uh, wait just HOW soon? Can it wait for a few hours? It’s still pretty early." Ellie said while scratching her head, and the others once more concurred.

"Hm. I suppose we could wait a bit, im assuming it’s so that you guys can pack your belongings and personal items?" Mre Jane didn’t seem all that bothered.

"I also wanna say farewell to my dad." Ellie smiled.

"That too." Kurt said and the other girls nodded.

"Well I ain’t got no parents, I just wanna grab some old keepsakes." Osho said flatly and everyone went quiet, staring at him with shock while the two adults just raised their brows at him.

"What? It’s true." He shrugged, and everyone sighed.

"Yeah, sure. Let’s just do what we want to do." Ellie shook her head and Osho smiled slightly.

___

Osho walked into his old apartment with a small sigh.

He took in the cramped space as he slowly walked around it, his memories slowly coming back.

Both in this life and in his past life, this apartment had been his base, of sorts. Back then, he didn’t have many people he could call friends. Ellie was the only one he was truly close with, and she died early on.

’I wonder if time is moving back there. What happened after I died?’ He mused. It was questions like this he usually thought about. If he went back to earth, what would he see?

He shook his head.

’Osho, you have mixed feelings about this place?’ Gale asked, and Osho smilled as he too the bird of his head into his arms.

’Yup. I’ve stayed here for so long. For a while, it was most of what I knew for a while. It was home... but in many ways, it was kinda a cage.’ He entered his room and set Gale on a table. The bed was still made.

’Every time I come back here, it reminds me of the shitty choices I made and the mistakes that I couldn’t recover from. It was the place I stayed when I failed to make genuine connections with people and instead saw them as tools to be uses.’ He sighed and opened his closet, ignoring the few clothes as he dug into a corner before pulling out a small photo.

In it, and small boy who looked to be barely a toddler was throwing a fuss, and standing behind him were a couple that looked to be in their late twenties.

Osho stared at the picture for a whike before putting it in his pocket. He sensed Gale wanted to ask questions, but held himself back. Something he was grateful for.

’But now. It’s like to look forward.’ He turned, allowed Gale to hop back on his head, and left the apartment, not taking a singke thing with him besides the photo.