Chapter 15: New Wife Candidate
Isaac sweated.
Why was she asking which hand he used to touch her?
'Don't tell me she is going to cut it?'
He had used both hands and a lot more!
Just then, another voice, calm and dignified, came from the other side of the door.
"There is no need to tease them like this, Catherine."
After talking to Professor Catherine Lorrain, she addressed Isaac,
"Young man, get dressed. We can talk after that."
"Just give me a minute."
"Tell the young lady to not hide."
Isaac wondered why the voice felt familiar as he got dressed.
He found his answer when the door opened, and Professor Lorrain entered along with an elderly woman.
Her silvery hair was tied in a bun, and her blue eyes stared at Isaac and Emily with gentleness. Despite being old, she carried herself with grace and authority.
She wore white and gold academic robes. Just by looking at her, one could tell she must've been an incredible beauty when she was young.
"Eleanor Weiss?"
"It's Miss Eleanor for you, young man."
Isaac couldn't believe she was the scout who came from the Master of Sanctum.
Eleanor Weiss was one of the strongest awakeners. She had transcended humanity and reached the status of an Overlord.
The ranks of an awakeners were easy to remember.
Initiate
Adept
Elite
Master
Champion
Overlord
Eleanor was at the peak of power, and she was the vice principal of the Master of Sanctum.
She stepped forward and bowed to Emily.
"It's good to see you, my lady."
"Thank you?"
Emily tilted her head in confusion.
"She is one of your vassals," Professor Lorrain whispered in her ear.
"Oh," Emily's face brightened, and a gentle smile appeared on her face. "I've been hoping to meet you for so long."
An expression of pain flickered across Eleanor's eyes. She hid it quickly.
"I'm happy to see you again too, my lady."
Eleanor stood back and turned to Isaac.
"It's good to finally see you, young man. Catherine told me a lot of things about you."
Isaac could see the smiling face of Professor Lorrain from the corner of his eyes. It didn't take a genius to realize she had painted him in a nefarious light.
"Miss Eleanor, I never forced myself on Emily—"
"I know it. If you had done anything like that, Emily wouldn't have been happy to stand next to you."
"....Weren't you going to cut my hands just now?"
"It was one of Catherine's bad jokes. I hope you get used to them soon, or you will be troubled a lot by her."
Isaac's eye twitched when he realized he was tricked twice by the damned foxy woman.
Suddenly, a screen appeared before him.
[A suitable target detected in host's vicinity.]
[Eleanor Weiss]
[Age: 167]
[Rating: 97]
[Personality: Dignified, Unbreakable Will.]
[Likes: Swordsmanship, honest and hardworking people, challenges, collecting swords.]
[Dislikes: Laziness, complacency, arrogance without strength, unnecessary violence, disrespecting the Sword, being called old.]
[Status: Sad that Emily does not remember her anymore, happy that Emily found someone who cares for her and would go to any length to protect her.]
Isaac almost puked blood.
'What do you mean she is a suitable marriage candidate?!' He shouted at the system.
Isaac was an open-minded person. He wouldn't mind his partner's age if she looked young.
But Eleanor looked older than his grandmother! And his grandmother was dead!
"Is there anything wrong, young man? You are staring quite intently at me."
"I simply was amazed by your beauty, Miss Eleanor."
Isaac almost said he was amazed how she was stubbornly clinging to life even after living a century.
Fortunately, he recalled she hated being called old and changed his words.
"Hoho, you are quite the smooth talker."
Despite her words, she was visibly pleased.
"Catherine, you can call the others now. This much is enough for a meeting with the young lady."
"As you wish, Vice Principal."
Catherine went outside and came back with two men a few minutes later.
The first one was Dante Riven, the Dean of the Combat Department at Aeternum University. He was quite famous and known as the 'Scarred Wolf'.
He was a tall, broad-shouldered man. Scars were visible on his arms and face. He wore a reinforced combat coat with metal plates and carried a greatsword on his back.
The other one was a tall, lean man with sharp features, slicked-back dark blue hair, and golden eyes. He had an easygoing smile on his face and looked very friendly.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Dante Riven, a Dean of Aeternum University."
"And I'm Lucian Vale, the Principal of Horizon Institute. I must say, I didn't expect our history's first SSS-rank Farmer to be so handsome."
"Thank you for taking your time and coming here to visit me. I'm Isaac Hargraves."
Isaac shook hands with them.
He was surprised to see the 'scouts' were not some random people. They were people with the highest authority in their fields.
Normal people could never get a chance to meet them. Yet they came themselves to meet Isaac.
"Please have a seat."
As they settled, the first one to speak was Dante Riven.
"Isaac Hargraves, our university believes we are the best suited for you. We boast the highest number of students who successfully completed their Class Advancement Quest.
"If you were to join us, we would like to congratulate you with this."
He took out a wedding ring box and opened it.
There was a mesmerizing blue tear inside the box.
Isaac could feel the gentle power within the 'item' calling out to him.
"This is an Astral Lotus Seed. It can gather the vital energy from the air and use it to nourish the land, effectively increasing the growth speed of the crops by two times.
"It will be an invaluable resource for you as a farmer. After all, your skill levels will grow rapidly if you can grow and farm crops at a high speed, and this flower will help you with that."
Isaac eyed the blue tear, now knowing it was called Astral Lotus.
Lucian Vale, the Principal of Horizon Institute, chuckled.
"Dante, are you really tricking Isaac? Astral Lotus takes five years to mature and show its full effect. If you want to cajole him, give him something of this level at least."
The man took out a tiny scarecrow from his spatial ring.
"Don't mind the appearance, please. It will grow in size when you use it."
Isaac noticed everyone in the room was shocked when they saw the scarecrow.
"You are giving that to him? It's a Mystic-grade Treasure your university's task force found in the depths of the Akaza Ruins. It's too priceless to given to someone who isn't even Adept-rank," Dante Riven said.
Isaac eyed the treasure with renewed expectations upon knowing its rank.
Treasures were divided into three ranks:
Mortal-Grade
Spirit-Grade
Mystic-Grade
The scarecrow Lucian wanted to give was the highest-ranked treasure! It was Mystic Grade!
"This is the Deathwood Guardian. It will protect your farm from anyone up to Champion-rank.
"It will kill the intruders and absorb their life essence to nourish your crops, thereby increasing their growth speed and quality," Lucian explained.