“Excuse me?” Grasius Sorn, the headmaster of the Monster Hunter Academy asked his visitor. This was his last year before retirement, and he really didn’t think he was going to survive it. He was ancient, thin, and bony with large knuckled hands that he was now wringing in stress. His hair was gray and wild. His bushy eyebrows were thankfully keeping the sweat from his eyes and his thick beard covered his ruddy and scarred cheeks. Appearances aside, Grasius was once a mighty hunter and still one of the most powerful magic users on the continent. Yet as always he was absolutely powerless before this intruder. The founder and (typically absent) director of the academy had suddenly barged in for the first time in decades.
“I decided to come back and take over my old class.” Agitha repeated, holding the jar of boiled sweets from the headmaster’s desk as she reclined with her feet on said desk.
“M-mistress Defaria, I’m afraid there are protocols to follow in this situation.” Grasius stuttered.
“Oh okay, guess I’ll just have to shut the school down then.” Agitha said easily. “After all I opened it and eighty percent of its budget is pulled from my accounts. Unfortunately that includes your retirement fund. Good luck out there in the job market, Grasseater.” She stood to leave, carrying the jar of sweets with her.
“Wait!” Grasius ignored the mean nickname she had given him fifty years ago as a student. “Of course you can resume your duties here, I was just saying that It might take a few days to renovate your office is all! Yes that’s it.”
“Oh good! See ya around Grasseater, thanks for the candy!” He could hear her boots clicking on the marble floored hallway as she left.
Grasius groaned and clutched at his stomach. He reached into one of the desk drawers to retrieve his indigestion medication from Karakis’ shop. The jar was empty. Grasius Sorn sagged into his chair, wishing he could just keep sinking right into the ground.
In just a few hours he would give the final MHA commencement speech of his career. Among the first year students this year would be a slew of terrifying prodigies. Both of Coralia’s children were attending, one trained by Agitha herself and the other by Grasius’ rival in magic Karakis the salamander. The Corso twins, both accomplished arena masters were already making a mockery of elite adult fighters. Finally, two supposed diplomatic exchange students from Red Isle had caused the staff member reading their mana levels to faint from the pressure they exuded. All of it was so unprecedented, and now that damned bully director was back to torment him. Nevermind him, these poor modern students would never be able to grasp the hellish nightmare that was Director Defaria’s class: General Fitness.
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Zell was just putting the finishing touches on Goggles’ new outdoor enclosure. He had worked hard on it and was proud of the results. It was twenty feet by twenty feet in size, and even included an underground cave with plenty of room for Goggles to grow into. The spider had helped with the design process himself thanks to Zell’s communication magic, and was as happy as a giant magical beast could be with the results.
He looked up at the sky and noticed the sun’s position on the eastern horizon and flew into a sudden panic.
“Gah! Late!” Zell blurted as he bolted into the house in a blur. He tore at his dirty work clothes as he ran up the stairs. He had let himself become too absorbed in his project and now had no time before Rin and Nin were supposed to meet them for their walk to the academy. He was half naked and wild eyed as he zoomed past Cora in the hallway. She was already dressed in her cute new clothes and ready to leave. She raised a sleepy eyebrow but said nothing. Shouldn’t she be heckling him mercilessly? The thought was passing. Zell dressed himself, washed his face, and bolted to the front door in a literal flash.
He tore the door open to see Nin and Rin standing there, Nin still had her hand raised to knock on the door. He started to step outside with Cora in tow when a voice drifted to him from inside.
“Master Zell, Mistress Cora! Your meals for today.” It was Sira, the head maid of the house. She along with her two sisters had moved in just the day before and were already running the house like they had supervised its very construction. There wasn’t a speck of dust to be found, all the beds were made, and their food was first rate.
“Master and Mistress...” Nin echoed under her breath derisively. “Got some big shots here...”
“Thanks so much Ms. Sira! And you don’t have to call me that.” Zell said, his face beet red.
“Me neither! Cora was similarly flustered. “Thank you for the food.”
“You are the first family that we actually desire to serve, so it gives us great satisfaction and pride to do so. Using proper honorifics is part of our training. If possible, please grant us the selfish request and allow us to continue addressing you with the titles so few actually deserve but so many demand.” Sira was so polite, yet firm in her resolve that Zell could only nod and accept the woven basket of food she handed him.
Honestly, Sira’s posture and noble bearing made Zell feel like the roles had been strangely reversed. His commoner instincts told him that he should be the one cooking, cleaning, and saying ‘Mistress Sira’.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
“Right. I’ll just get used to it then. I’m counting on you all to look after things here. Have a great day Ms. Sira tell your sisters the same for me!” Zell said cheerfully as the four of them started walking down the path away from the mansion.
“That was intense.” Rin said after a minute of walking in silence. “She’s serious.”
“No kidding!” Nin agreed. “I was going to make fun of you two but she took the wind straight out of it.”
“All three of them are amazing.” Cora suppressed a yawn and continued. “It feels so unnatural to have someone else make my bed, but when I made it yesterday and came back later I could tell they just remade it up to their standard.”
“Me too...” Zell said in a mystified tone. “It’s so true though. Somehow they can tuck the linens in a way that they don’t wrinkle up when I sleep. It’s like magic.”
“Lucky Rin, getting to marry into that kind of awesome luxury!” Nin teased after she had skipped a few yards ahead to be safe.
Rather than take the bait, Rin simply wrapped an arm around Zell and agreed. “So true, unlike my old maid sister. I do pray that she isn’t always so unwanted!”
Nin puffed out her cheeks and glared but accepted the defeat. There was just no coming back from some blows. A sudden dense question from Zell proved her salvation.
“Was that like a roundabout proposal?” Zell was just innocently trying to keep up with the banter but apparently when it came from him, Rin couldn’t handle it. She went stiff and red next to him.
Rather than dig her own conversational grave, Rin clammed up and took the draw against her sister. Dammit, why had that triggered her so badly? It was a casual point of conversation that they’d always be together but the thought of him actually proposing sent her adrenaline into overdrive.
Cora had lapsed into silence as the other three carried on. She was exhausted. She was always exhausted. All she could think about was sleep, and avoiding sleep. The giggling cheerfulness of the others was beginning to grate on her frayed nerves too.
“What did the living have to be so damn chipper about? They were all as good as worm food in a mere handful of decades.” Cora’s thoughts took a strange turn and she jerked into awareness. “Huh? What the hell am I thinking? The living?”
The foursome arrived at the entrance of the large campus without any further event. There were three tables set up with administrators seated behind them. New students were being directed to each table based on their family name alphabetically. The names Balfonse and Corso luckily were in the same line.
Zell was daydreaming as the line moved slowly. He noticed the grip around his elbow tighten and looked over at Rin. She was listening to a group of slightly older male students from the line next to theirs.
“Guess the freak twins are finally going here, huh?” The one at the front of their group said with disdain. He was a plain looking seventeen year old with a dirty blonde bowl cut and a gangly build.
“Psh, hope I never get paired with one of them.” The one at the back of the line added. He was a stocky fifteen year old with short black hair and acne scarred cheeks.
“I wouldn’t mind getting paired with that brown haired one though. She’s got a spooky sort of look that I like.” The middle one said suggestively looking at Cora. This one must have come from a bit of money. His clothes were fashionable and his dark brown hair was cleanly kept in a short ponytail.
The three tactless boys carried on. Zell started to move in their direction but Rin stopped him short. She shook her head and gave a strained smile.
“Let it pass, they’re not worth it.” Nin whispered from behind Zell, also noticing his bristling posture.
“Ohh you’re ticked off about something! Go ahead and tell aunt Tarithiel all about it.” The succubus’ voice suddenly cut into his thoughts. Zell sighed. Even though the axe was all the way back at the mansion she could still butt in like that?
“It’s nothing, just some annoying boys being crude.” Zell communicated back in spite of his first instinct to reject her.
“I don’t mind if you use me to crush them you know...” The voice was suddenly seductive. “Naughty boys should be punished after all.”
“That’s enough outta you. We’ll talk later.” Zell wasn’t sure if she would listen or not but no more messages came through.
Eventually the antagonistic students found other topics, and the group reached the table. The bored administrator didn’t even raise her eyes.
“Name and year?” Came the deadpan question.
“Zell Balfonse. First year.” Zell answered politely.
If a bolt of lightning had struck the young woman, she wouldn’t have stiffened up as much as she did on hearing that name. Slowly she raised her eyes as if expecting a monster to appear. Only seeing Zell’s wide eyed innocent face, she sighed and shuffled through a stack of forms on her table. She found Zell’s registration form quickly and stamped his arrival.
“Go on ahead to training field A for the commencement.” She said, handing him a different form.
“Alright, thanks ma’am!” Zell said as he stood to the side waiting for the other three.
“Imagine standing in a line like dirty cows in a corral.” A boisterous and somewhat familiar voice behind Zell caused him to turn his head.
A few nobles were walking past the lined up students with an air of superiority. Zell recognized the speaker as a noble that he had caught harassing a female servant at a party honoring Agitha the previous winter. He had drawn a weapon and attacked Zell to little effect before Nin and Rin arrived and scared him off.
Zell patiently gritted his teeth as the insufferable group passed. The line was full of chatter, most of it was happy friends being reunited. Zell decided to focus on that rather than the negative minority. Just as his smile was returning, the chatter ceased. Zell knew why. A sudden feeling in the pit of his stomach along with intense goosebumps made him look around in alarm.
It was the same feeling as when Dalazog had entered the cabin. The source was a couple of exotically dressed people following along the same path as the nobles. One was a boy around Zell’s age. He was built like a fighter, nearly as muscular as Zell with a long and messy mane of platinum colored hair. Zell glimpsed the tip of a pointed ear as the boy moved. He walked with his hands behind his head and his narrow blue eyes nearly closed. He couldn’t have seemed more bored with the world. His clothes were also strange. His pants were baggy and cuffed above his muscular calves. He wore a silk embroidered purple and gold vest with no shirt underneath. Rippling abdominal muscles and pecs were on brazen display. Zell could see many of the girls in line blush and immediately start gossiping furiously as he passed.
Walking next to the strange boy was what Zell could only guess was an elven princess. She was the very image of sophisticated beauty. Her hair was lustrous and black. It shimmered in the morning sun and flowed to her lower back straight and perfect without a single stray strand or split end to be found. A diagonal, ruby studded veil obscured the right side of her face, which only added to the allure. Her exposed left eye was such a deep blood red that it easily overpowered the red of the rubies. She was athletic with a full but not overbearing chest and was very generously proportioned below her narrow waist.
Her dress was red with black trim, and obviously made of the absolute finest material. A long slit occasionally allowed a glimpse of a perfectly muscled, and olive skinned leg. If the boy had the girls blushing, the girl had the boys clutching their chests in agony. She practically floated along the ground, and up the steps with her hands folded in front of her. Trailing behind the pair was a single elven man wearing a fine black suit though he may as well have been invisible standing near the other two.
“Ehh?” The noble boy named Hurb Shepard echoed from atop the courtyard steps. “You think you can skip the line like a noble?”
Zell sighed at the sheer stupidity. “Rest in piece,
noble idiot.”