After around an hour, we had to depart straight into a forest. The paved street slowly turned into a bumpy road.

Five minutes later, we had to stop at a gateway. A middle-aged man approached us after he left his small cabin. Miko explained who we were, so he opened the barrier that had closed the road before.

We came across some different wooden buildings while driving toward the school property's parking lots.

Everything looked more like a holiday resort instead of a campus.

"There it is. Parking for guests." Miko said, pointing at a sign that was placed on a tree.

I followed the road ahead, and finally, we found the parking space.

"Should we take our bags with us?" I asked, unsure if we had really stopped at the right place.

"Yes, of course, we will meet with our contact person at the cafeteria."

"Oh, we got a contact person. Good to know." Yeah, why should she tell me that we meet a certain person? I am not that important; I don't need to know that at all.

"Just follow me," Miko said as she hung her bag around her shoulder.

And so, I did.

If you are a fan of nature, this campus would be your place to be. They got several kilometer-long hiking trails, a waterfall, and even a lake. Maybe we could go swimming in there.

But we headed in the exact opposite direction of all these attractions. Our destination was the cafeteria district which was next to the educational buildings.

"This place is huge." I was impressed. This was not even comparable to the small school in my hometown.

Miko seemed to enjoy my amazement because she just stared at me occasionally while I couldn't close my mouth in wonder.

After a short walk, we met other people for the first time. They actually wore a kind of uniform. That reminded me of universities in other countries where it is normal for everyone to wear the same clothes.

The students just eyed us and started whispering after passing us. Maybe it was something special for outsiders to walk around here. Or they knew who we were. Perhaps we are the hot talk of the whole school?

"Do you know anyone from here?" I asked.

"Yeah, some students and one teacher. But I don't know that girl we will meet now. I just know that she is the leader of this school's student council."

As we arrived at the cafeteria building, I saw a few people gathered around someone. And the moment I laid eyes on this person of interest, I knew that she was someone special.

She had beautiful long brown hair tied into a ponytail, a nice tan, and shining green eyes. The last time I was so impressed by someone's presence was when I met Lilith for the first time.

Our eyes met; she started waving in our direction and shooed away her followers. After she finally managed to get away from the other students, she walked over to us.

"I am so sorry that you had to watch that." She said, laughing. "I rarely got time to talk with my fellow students, and meeting me outside the student council is fairly uncommon for them."

"No problem, my name is Kayla, and that is Miko." I introduced us as I put out my hand toward her.

She took it and shook it softly. "It is a pleasure." She said while giving Miko a cautious side-eye.

"So you two want to use our facilities to train, am I right?" she asked.

"Exactly," Miko answered. "I don't want to sound disrespectful, but why are you taking care of us?"

"The principal is on vacation, and his representative is busy teaching, so I have been tasked to ensure that you have a great time here."

There was a weird tension between these two, but I could not grasp what it was.

"How should we call you?" I asked, genuinely interested since she did not introduce herself.

"I am so sorry. You can call me Hannah," She smiled awkwardly, "I see you got your luggage with you. Let me show you the place where you will stay." And so we started walking to the dormitories.

"I suggested giving you a room in the teacher's dorm, but they denied my request, but I managed to get you a room next to mine."

The dorm building was a huge villa from the outside. And from the inside, it looked a lot like a hotel. There was a reception, and every room got a unique number at its door.

Our room was at the end of the right wing on the second floor. It was quite a walk, but we had the advantage of a separate exit from the dorms leading straight to the educational building.

"This exit is worth more than you may think. I can't imagine running through the dorms when I need to get to my lessons on time." Hannah explained… she definitely had problems because of her popularity.

The room was not that special. It really felt like a hotel suite. I immediately felt at home. Even the size reminded me of my own apartment.

"I hope the double bed is not a problem, the rooms are actually designed for a single person, but it was requested that you both stay in one room."

I didn't know who requested that, but I was happy with it.

"If you got any questions, just text or call me," Hannah said, handing me a business card. She had a business card with her name, photo, and mobile phone number on it.

"Thank you," I said, smiling at her while storing her card in my pockets.

"Um, would you two like to have dinner with me and my friends from the student council tonight? I'm assuming you two won't be starting your training immediately, so I thought it would be great if we could get to know each other..." Hannah asked, sounding a bit shy.

"Great idea," Miko answered. "I am curious what you think about me at your school." She added.

I think I know now why people started whispering behind our backs. If anyone heard about what happened three years ago, they knew that Miko had a past worth talking about.

"I can assure you that we from the council deeply respect you for your actions."

"Everything is fine, Hannah. I look forward to our dinner, and thank you for your help so far," I said, trying to end this conversation before it could continue.

"See you later…" she said, leaving the room.

"Are you pissed?" I asked, looking at Miko, but she was already unpacking her bag and ignored my question.