“Come in, students, do take a seat,” said the instructor with the grey hair, and a faint scar running down his left cheek.

He was leant against the wooden lectern in a smallish classroom, smiling warmly. The front and back walls were lime plastered, while the rest were brick, with large windows that lit up the pinewood floor we shuffled across.

When we were all seated, he began: “I hope our third years haven’t put you off. It was quite the demonstration.”

He paused, looking around.

“There’s no need to look so skittish now, I know the Major can be quite intimidating, but I’m nothing like her. I take a much more considerate approach to teaching, unlike that ardent woman.”

He didn’t speak slow, exactly, but something about his tone was laidback, as if each syllable was lagging behind the other one. He spoke like someone who didn’t care for the passing of time.

“For the next six months, I will be your primary magic instructor,” he continued, before turning to write something on the board, “my name is Dr. Khoroshiydevochka, but you may call me Dr. Khor.”

No way. This man is Dr. Khor?

I would have expected him to be far more… energetic.

“I served in the army in my younger days, and now I work as a historian and an academic.”

He was underselling himself. Andrey Jerusalem Khor served as Lieutenant General to the Second Army Corps in the Southern wars, earning a revered Veronic Star for his heroism and strategic brilliance that allowed the Brent Alliance to secure key points of interest and eventually ensure victory against Ahn Galia.

“Now, I believe the first order of business is to get to know your classmates. I have two fun activities prepared for us. Let’s first take turns sharing our name, and something interesting about ourselves.”

I wanted to curse. Glancing at my classmates, I felt my heartrate pick up. I couldn’t believe he wanted us to share something about ourselves. What should I say? I’m not interesting. I’m just a catboy that lived in a manor in the North with his retired veteran father, practicing magic. This is the first time I’ve travelled past Ulverian borders. How would I not embarrass myself?

“I will begin,” Dr. Khor went on, “My name is Dr. Khor, and beyond my teaching responsibilities, I run the Duos Tournament every year.”

Duos tournament?

He motioned to the cyan-haired girl sitting at the front, “please stand up and introduce yourself to the class.”

She jumped up and turned to face us, pigtails bouncing about, squeaking, “hey everyone! I’m Yvonne, and one interesting thing about me is… I love sweet things! Especially cotton candy.”

Her voice wobbled a little, seemingly from excitement, and she had big, doll-like eyes that made her look twelve years old. She also had the height to match, because the desks were probably three quarters of a metre, and she was only double that.

Next, the tallish girl from earlier stood up, announcing, “the name’s Sophia, and I’ve trained for more than eight years in Taekwondo and Rulaian Jiu Jitsu, so don’t mess with me.”

Noted. Will be staying very far away.

A few others introduced themselves, and then a boy with bright sienna coloured dragon wings and blue hair said, “hi. I’m Silvakane, but you can call me Kane. I’m a dragon.”

…that was really informative.

The third year dragon also had blue hair and brown scales. Interesting.

“Hello~ My name’s Senna, and I really like cats,” said a girl with mismatched eyes, one white, one gold coloured–probably due to a magical mishap–looking around the room with a pretty smile.

“Nice to meet you all,” drawled a girl with a strange accent, “my name is Jeanne Churchill, and I am the daughter of the mayor,” she finished with a satisfied smirk.

Ah. A politician’s daughter. No wonder she looked so high and mighty.

The introductions continued, until it was my turn. Oh no. I’d been too busy listening to the others.

I quietly slid out of my chair, looking at my feet, uttering, “um, I’m Félis… and I like history.”

I glanced up, to find everyone looking at me.

Eek! So many pairs of eyes! My tail flickered with agitation, and I sat down, fighting away my blush and my unruly tail. I shouldn’t have picked the back right corner seat, because I went last, and everyone remembers the last introduction the best.

“Wonderful! Now, I will separate you all into small groups for the second ice breaker, and these will also be the groups for your first assignment, so I recommend you get to know them. The members of group alpha are Félis, Senna, Silvakane, Sophia and Yvonne, please move to table one at the back. Just pull that screen across, the handle’s on the left.”

I found a handle embedded in the back wall, and tugged it, surprised when the wall actually started folding up. It revealed a near symmetrical room opposite, except with six larger tables instead of thirty small ones. The members of group alpha shuffled over to the table marked “1”, where there was a tin of pens and a few sheets of paper, one marked, ‘2 truths, 1 lie’, in cursive scrawl.

“Right,” Yvonne said suddenly, looking around at us, who were standing around the table, “before we get into it, let’s all share our names again. Just so we’re all on the same page.”

“I’m Yvonne,” she declared, putting a hand on her chest, where a small pendant rested against her shirt, black and gold on white.

“And I’m Sophia,” said the dark haired one, walking up beside Yvonne.

She stood confidently, arms crossed and shirt collar up, exuding an air of… disinterest, perhaps?

“I’m Kane, if you don’t remember,” said dragonboy, rounding the table to stand next to me.

Now standing beside him, I could see he was quite a bit taller and his cropped hair ended in white tints. Most noticeable, though, were his sepia wings, which were hugged tight against his back, and still stuck out impertinently.

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“I’m Félis.”

“And I’m Senna,” said Senna, picking up the sheet with ‘2 truths, 1 lie’ and flipping it over, mismatched eyes scanning the explanation on the back.

“Ooh, let me read it out,” exclaimed Yvonne, sidling up to the other girl.

I found myself on Senna’s right, leaning over to see past her coffee-coloured hair, with Kane on my other side.

“Two Truths, One Lie is an exciting group activity to get to know your team,” read Yvonne, “everyone picks the two true most exciting statements about themselves, and makes up one secret false statement, which they write down on the cards. Take turns sharing your statements, and the other members should take their best guess at which statement is a lie. After guesses are made, the speaker reveals the nature of the statements. Remember to make it interesting, informative and fun!”

“Is that actually what it says?” Asked Sophia, leaning over Yvonne’s shoulder, “you didn’t add the cutesy bits, did you?”

“No, look Soph,” she answered, showing her the sheet, with its almost illegible scribbles.

“It seems straightforward enough,” remarked Kane.

We each took a pen and sat down. Yvonne began writing immediately, Senna tapped her pen thoughtfully against her chin and the rest of us stared at our sheets, thinking.

What do I write? What do I want them to know about me?

I finally came to a decision, and scribbled it down. I laid my pen on the table, and seeing everyone had their cards face down, I turned mine over too.

“So who’s going first?” Senna queried, tucking away a lock of brown hair and looking around.

“I will, if you want,” Kane replied.

“Can I go first?” Asked Yvonne.

“You can go first, then, and I’ll be next.”

She pushed her cards to the centre of the table, and picked up one of them.

“Wait!” Sophia interrupted, “I’ll sit this one out, since I already know Yvonne.”

“Good idea,” Yvonne answered, and revealed the first card.

I caused the arrest of King Steve, previous drug lord of Illumassio.

Senna and I both gasped, and Sophia chuckled. Even Kane looked taken aback, his tail stuck up high.

Illumassio is the name of a terrible drug cartel operating in the Southern and Central States, mainly harvesting and spreading a horribly addictive substance known as Saccharus. I think I’d smelt the stuff around the shadier corners of Riyemba marketplace. Riyemba city is a hotspot for drug traffickers, since it's a key connecting city between the Northern and Southern countries, located along the Silke road, where thousands of kilograms of drugs pass through every year.

I assume that’s why Riyem Military Academy was built here.

No one quite knew how the Verlaian government found and arrested King Steve all those years back, as there were always multiple contradicting rumours floating around. Some said he accidentally slept with the police lieutenant and others say he fed Saccharus to stray ducks, who led officers to his mansion.

Senna, Kane, and I each looked at each other. Obvious disbelief written on our faces, but before we could say anything, Yvonne flipped over the next two cards, which read:

I sent my home economics teacher to the infirmary when I gave her a spicy tofu dish that was too spicy.

I came to the Academy because an officer saved me from bullies, and that really inspired me.

“Ok…” Senna began, looking pointedly at the first and leftmost card “I think I know what the obvious choice is.”

“But King Steve was known for having a soft spot for children, and opened up multiple orphanages in his home city, Larae,” Kane returned, “many people immigrated from the South to escape the wars, and a lot of them have settled in Riyemba. If her orphanage happened to be related to the capture of King Steve, then it would technically be true.”

“I’m pretty sure this girl has parents,” she shot back, motioning towards Yvonne, who was watching the conversation raptly.

“Still, we ought to consider the other options,” he replied.

“Fine…” she conceded, setting her hands on her hips with a little huff, “the other two look more believable, especially the one about joining the Academy, since military presence in Riyemba has ramped up these years.”

“You’re right. I just feel like Yvonne here wouldn’t make things so straightforward, no?”

I nodded in agreement.

“I suppose cooking a dish so spicy it sends your teacher who is in charge of cooking and food prep is quite absurd…” she acquiesced.

“Actually, I think you’re right. We should just go for the most obvious choice.”

“Alright then. Yvonne, we think the one about King Steve is wrong, and the other two are true.”

Yvonne gave a devilish smile. Looking, along with her pigtails, like a cheeky little rodent.

“I’m sorry guys, buuut… you’re wrong! It’s actually the one about joining the Academy.”

“Really?” Senna asked.

“Yeah, it was actually Sophia here that helped me,” she admitted, giving her friend a side hug, “she wanted to enrol, and I joined so I could be with her.”

“Awww, that’s really sweet of you.”

“Hehe, thanks.”

Kane interrupted, “wait, so the one about King Steve was…”

“Yep. All true. But it’s a long story, and a little bit of a personal one, so I’m not gonna get into it.”

We, of course, respected her boundaries. What a way to start. I would never have thought someone like you could bring down a criminal even the Shinto Federal Police couldn’t apprehend. This giggling, bright-eyed girl with a uniform two sizes too big did not look like someone that could bring down an infamous drug lord. I couldn’t wait to hear the full story.

“So I’m next?” Kane said.

“Yeah, go on,” Sophia returned.

She hadn’t spoken for a good while, just watching the conversation unfold quietly, so I’d almost forgotten about her, and jumped a little when she spoke.

Kane’s cards read:

I sometimes use my tail as a fishing rod.

Yvonne burst out laughing, Senna and Sophia both chuckled, while I fought off the rising giggles at the thought of Kane sitting by a river with his big red tail draped over the water, waiting for fish to nibble.

I love eating sweets.

I have three sisters, but haven’t seen or heard from one of them in almost 3 years.

But the last one was quite distressing, if it happened to be true.

“Hey,” I muttered to him, “your sister… she’s not passed on, right?”

He shook his head, saying, “nothing like that.”

We all sighed in relief.

“That fishing one is absurd, but I can kinda see it,” remarked Sophia, eyeing up Kane’s tail, which was almost twice his height, at best guess.

His tail wiggled in place, gave a small wave, then went and poked mine.

“Hey!” I yelped, pulling my tail to my chest and hugging it.

He actually had the audacity to laugh. Turning to the girls, I realised they were all trying to hold in their laughter.

“You don’t actually mind, right?” He asked me.

I shook my head, releasing my tail and letting it fall by my legs.

He poked me with his tail again, making my ears twitch.

“Okay,” Yvonne said, “Soph, I kind of get what you’re talking about. You could probably slap some shrimp paste on the end and just dunk it in a river.”

“Then let’s say that one’s true, even if I don’t think he’d catch all that many fish.”

“Then, the other two…” Soph said.

“Sure is a dichotomy,” Yvonne finished.

We stood there contemplating–When did we end up standing?--until Senna broke the silence.

“I think that one’s the false one,” tapping the card about his sisters, “it’s more complicated.”

“Yvonne and I agree,” Soph added, after some short discussion.

Four pairs of eyes turned to me.

“Uhhh… you don’t look like someone who likes sweets, so, I guess that one?” Pointing to the card about his sisters.

“Good job. You’re the only one who got it right. I don’t like sweets, much. I do have three sisters, but the oldest, Kara, is currently on a five year long assignment, for her job.”

What kind of job sends you on five year long assignments where you can’t see your family?

This activity was more interesting than I thought it’d be.