Headmaster Joss slowly sips the wine from his goblet, trying to make it last for as long as possible. He would have had a third and a fourth, but he knows Master Haithur is watching. That snake is doing his best to probe for any weakness he might have, and the headmaster isn't going to make it easy for the slimy bastard.
Master Jev Haithur has been after his position for months now. The headmaster knows the snake has been crawling around , meeting secretly with certain nobles who have always been against him getting the position. Headmaster Joss also knows the forked-tongue bastard has been having meetings with the school administration behind his back, pointing out flaws in his leadership and calling for his resignation.
Headmaster Joss would have challenge Master Haithur to a duel and settle it like men, but he knows the bastard would find a way to weasel out of it and make him look like the villain in the process. That man is just that good. While some men are proficient with swords or bows, this forked/silvered–tongue bastard has a gift with words. He can twists your words against you, lace compliments with poison, convince you he’s your best friend.
And when your metaphorical back is exposed, he will slide in the metaphorical knife and whisper into your ears that he’s doing it for your own good, that he always has your best interest in his heart. And without realizing you will thank him for it.
Headmaster Joss is even sure Master Haithur managed to convince someone to commit suicide once. There was this commoner boy a while back who made the mistake of believing Master Haithur was his friend. He was supposedly being bullied in secret by some other students and when he finally couldn't take it, it was believed he went to Master Haithur for advice. The next day, the poor boy was found dead hanging from a tree in the courtyard with a note attached to him that says “I am unworthy”.
Headmaster Joss personally investigated the matter, but nothing could be proven. Master Haithur denied ever knowing the boy, even though some students claimed they had seen the teacher chatting with the deceased several times. As for the bullying suspects, it was a dead end. No one was willing to say anything and the only small clue that the headmaster managed to uncover lead him to a group of elite and rich students who are constantly in the company of one individual. Can you guess who this slimy and venomous person is?
What really makes Headmaster Joss angry is that the bastard had the audacity to use the boy’s death and the failure of the investigation as further proof of his inability to lead. At the memory of that unpleasant school meeting where the snake raised the issue, the headmaster grips his goblet so tightly he nearly crushed it and spills his drink.
Headmaster Joss immediately calms down. It would be no good to waste such excellent wine over a bastard like Master Haithur. The headmaster sighs and looks at his surroundings. He is currently sitting at the staff table with the rest of the faculty members. Everyone is eating, drinking or making small talks with one another. His deputy, Master Harken Wes, is sitting on his left and it looks like he’s having trouble cutting his steak.
The man is an artist when it comes to sword. Put him on a battlefield and he could paint a masterpiece using your blood and your guts. The same can’t be said about his skills with the steak knife. Watching his deputy struggle to carve the slab of meat is the closest the headmaster could pass off as a dinner and a show (he could almost swear the man was trying to prop up his steak so he could slit it’s throat from behind). And right now, Headmaster Joss needs all the distraction he could get.
Currently, he is fighting the intense desire to look to his left. The headmaster knows that if he does that, his eyes would meet that smug bastard’s gaze, and that snake would raise his glass. Which would force the headmaster to leap out from his chair and try to choke the life out of the bastard. And that is something he could never afford to do.
It would spell the end of his term as Headmaster. It would also mean he will be the last knight from the Order of Enahel to hold the post of headmaster at the Whiteford Academy before it would be taken over by slimy bureaucrats like Master Haithur. Sure, Master Wes is next in line to replace him. But you can bet your life a snake like Master Haithur already has a plan to prevent that and ensure the position falls to him.
Traditionally, the headmaster and the teaching posts at the Whiteford Academy are usually held by knights from the Order of Enahel. But over the years, more and more nobles are trying to worm their way into the management of Whiteford Academy. Attracted to power and prestige, these bureaucrats think it as a mean to gather more power and prestige.
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The only reason why a slimy bureaucratic bastard like Master Haithur could ever held a teaching position at the Whiteford Academy is because his wife is the daughter of some important palace official at the capital. Same goes to the woman sitting beside that snake, Mistress Kana Rayze. She’s the daughter of some big-wig general in the Kingdom of Nurani army. And based on the obnoxious laughter and amount of chatter that reaches the headmaster’s ears, it’s pretty safe to say they’re both on friendly terms with each other.
Headmaster Joss ignores them and focuses at the scene in front of him. The students are chatting and enjoying their steak dinner, prepared especially by the cooks to welcome the first year students. The students currently eating in the north hall are divided into four groups. The first group on his right side compromises entirely out of first to third year elite students (elite meaning sons and daughters of wealthy merchants, nobles, counts and even royalties). The second group on his left is filled with fourth till seventh year elite students. And in the back of the hall, the eating arrangement is repeated. The first to third year commoner students (commoner meaning they’re comprises of orphans, the unwanted or abandoned children and well... commoners) make up the third group sitting on the upper right corner of the hall. The fourth and final group, comprising of fourth until seventh year commoner students is sitting on upper left corner of the hall.
Something needs to happen soon, thinks the headmaster. Dinner protocols dictate he is required to stay for another 15 minutes before he can retire to his office for a much needed drink(s). And Headmaster Joss isn't sure he can last that long before he takes the steak knife from Master Wes (sparing his steak from another round of disembowelment) and stabbing in Master Haithur’s smug face.
Gods, if you can hear me. Please send a meteor or something to release me from this torment. And if you could take out Master Haithur too, this humble servant would be forever in your debt.
BANG!
“GOOD NEWS EVERYONE! I'VE BROUGHT SOME BAD NEWS!”
*stunned silence
“Wait, I messed that line up let me start over.”
...
“Guys! I’ve got some good news and some bad news.”
…
“Bad news first. Around 30 years from now (give or take a few years), an army of unstoppable killing machine will descend from the Khazun mountain range and slaughter everyone in its path.”
…
“Good news is, most of you will be spared the horror of watching your friends, family members and loved ones being killed by them.”
…
“Bad news is, it’s because most of you guys are already dead from a war I started a few years earlier (or a few years from now). It’s all a bit confusing, I know, and I just want to take this small opportunity to apologize to the people who died for me.”
…
“Good news is, I'm pretty sure the war that I started could be averted. Which means the guys who died for me will get to live on. Yay (you can thank me later for this).”
…
“Bad news is, it’s likely you guys are still going to die from the army of unstoppable killing machine that I mentioned earlier. Because I absolutely have no idea on how to stop them.”
…
“Good news is, I've travelled through time to warn you. We could probably figure something out if we all work together.”
…
“Oh and I also met a nice Goddess who offered me tea and biscuits.”
…
“Any questions?”
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You guys can imagine the pandemonium that happens after that.
"Demon Hero Reaper Saviour" will be back after a two days break so I could sort some things out at work.
To all the readers who are nice enough to give my fiction a go, the loyal commentators, the people who follows and favourited my story, the guy who gave "Demon Hero Reaper Saviour" it's first review (you rock), I just want to say
"Thank you."