MAGNUS

A day spent in the infirmary without much to do had to be a torture invented by a psychopathic sadist. While I could talk to Varis and Linaravax I was strictly forbidden from drawing on my talent in any way, shape, or form; which meant no design work. I was able to convince the medic to at least put in a request for one of my course textbooks so I wouldn’t be staring at bare walls the entire time. The second half of my day should have been filled with my law and ethics courses along with history and investigative procedures. Unfortunately the book they found for me was the book regarding the laws of the various nations within the alliance.

It was a convoluted mess since there was no organization between one kingdom and another. I knew they were trying to work out an alliance wide set of laws, but I wanted to know which ones the operatives would have to focus on. The biggest need for operatives was due to the fact that if someone committed theft or murder and then went across the border the guards couldn’t follow them without causing a political incident. Azure and Calburn had policies in place for the transfer of information for criminals, and they would usually send the suspects back to stand trial or be punished. Nilavs had a similar policy with the Mordanian Free Cities before they were annexed, but nothing had been put in place with Eisenricht. Eisenricht was also a land where the nobles had almost absolute authority on their lands, with the severity of the law varying between region to region. Nilavs wasn’t much better, though the laws were the same, the punishment could vary depending on the ruling lord. It seemed to be a matter of tradition more than need as the precedent had been set for some regions back during their founding.

My reading was interrupted by Vara entering the infirmary, a bag clearly loaded with books in her hand. After a quick study of my condition she asked, “Feeling better?”

“Yeah, and sorry for jumping over your leadership in the match,” I responded.

She shook her head and said, “No, I should have stepped up. I was just too shocked to see Marcus Calburnus as our opponent. You and Takahashi were the only ones that actually seemed to keep your heads. That old bastard made sure I knew that I had failed that test.”

I chuckled, “It wasn’t so much of a test yet, and failure gives you room to grow if you survive it.”

“More of your grandfather’s words of wisdom I see. My combat tutors used to tell me similar things, and I wasn’t a fan then either,” she replied with a bit of a huff.

As I wasn’t supposed to leave the infirmary I quickly changed the subject before her temper was directed at me, “How were the other classes?”

That question prompted a sigh, “Honestly, they were a bit boring. I’m familiar with the laws for Nilavs, and most of the laws all seem to agree on what is a crime. The teacher is a stuffy former magistrate who lectures in such a dry tone that I almost fell asleep. Ethics was interesting, more discussion and hypotheticals than actual coursework.”

“I think I would enjoy that class, the old man used to quiz me on those sorts of topics,” I said.

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“Yeah, your mom used to do the same with me. It was amusing to hear some peoples opinions though. History is mostly major events that shaped the Alliance, but there are some interesting little hints of the people who helped shape those events,” she continued with a sneaky smile.

I groaned having a guess at what she was getting at, “Please, please don’t tell me more of the Morgan stories.”

“Sorry Magnus, he was there for most of the events, at least most of the ones that weren’t conflict between nations,” she said with a bit of a teasing note in her voice.

“Maybe I should go with Katherine after graduation, just to get out of the shadow of his legend,” I said with a huff.

“Nope, you have to help me find your mother first. Then you can grab a rowboat and head out after our intrepid explorer,” she said, all trace of levity gone.

“As my grandfather said, we need a thread to pull on to find her,” I pointed out.

“Well then the last class of the day will help. Stormleaf started teaching how to investigate, with examples that are obviously not his own,” she said.

“Gramps again?” I asked.

She nodded and said, “Yes, remember how he mentioned on our visit that he used to be in a job that is similar to what we are training for?”

“Yeah, he said he was a detective for the SPD. I didn’t quite understand the explanation, but apparently he investigated crimes for the equivalent of a town watch. He said that he didn’t have the same tools he was used to, but the basic idea could be shared,” I said.

“The professor gave us an exercise we are supposed to do to help us with spotting information quickly. It’s easier with multiple people so we can show it to you later. But we also were given this,” she said while pulling a folder stuffed with papers out and handing it to me.

I was about to open it up when she stopped me and said, “That assignment is due next Firstday. It is images and statements from a crime, we are supposed to put together our theories and try to solve what happened and why from the information gathered. He said he kept this one as an easier one since you won’t be able to see people’s expressions.”

“Can we work in groups for it?” I asked as I opened the folder once she removed her hand.

“Yes, we can work together for it. The intent is for operatives to always have a partner, so all assignments are designed to be completed in pairs. You are stuck with me,” she said.

“Oh goodie,” I said with a smirk.

“I had to snap you up before the others realized that your knack for patterns will help in this kind of work. Even I saw the patterns in the evidence that Stormleaf showed the class, so the more difficult ones could use a little extra,” she replied.

“I’m not sure if I can use it to recognize the patterns in clues without draining myself,” I said.

Varis manifested on top of the folder, blocking my sight of the assignment, and spoke up, “You wanted a way to test the ability. This seems like a good way to do it.”

“Hi Varis, has he been a good patient?” Vara asked.

“No, he keeps pestering me when I try to read, or take a bath, or nap. Did you meat sacks really expect him to stay sane while bored!” she shot back at Vara with a bit of playful anger.

“No, I just expected he came up with some sort of prank to play on us when he got out,” Vara said with a smile.

“Hey now, I’m not that bad,” I tried to interject.

Both of the women turned a glare on me that made me try and burrow into the bed again as they said, “Yes you are.”