Chapter 18 - Confusion

“What do you mean, missing?” Aien asked, his voice brimming with concern.

“Didn't they leave for military service? How could they be missing?”

“They never arrived at the Northern Garrison...” Lea said, worried about how Aien would take the news. She knew they were good friends of his. That's why when she had heard the news, she'd sprinted with the fastest speed she was capable of to inform Aien as well as Zoris, completely disregarding the rules of the academy.

“They disappeared into thin air... As if... they tried to desert...” She continued hesitantly. “If they don't report soon and explain their circumstances, they'll be branded traitors and put on the wanted list.”

In the meantime, Derek had returned to find a Rank 3 magus in his shop, which rekindled his nervousness and regret. He was almost about to spill the beans, thinking they'd done something wrong when Aien gave him a short shake of the head and left with Lea after storing the potions in his pouch.

“There've always been deserters around this time of the year,” Lea explained as they walked among the few snowflakes scattered in the wind. It was a cold winter's day, but neither Aien nor Lea needed to worry about extra clothing.

“Conscription can be... complicated for some. The casualty rates in certain outposts are famously high, after all, even for magi. That's why Zoris had worked quite hard to enable the two a safe position in the Northern Garrison. It would be unreasonable for them to defect from the empire after receiving this fortunate blessing.”

Aien listened to her but didn't raise his head as he looked gloomily at the ground. Just like Lea, he seemed to ponder what could have happened, and all the conclusions he came to didn't sound good.

“Regardless, the academy has sent a small scouting party as they do with all possible fugitives. I'm sure we'll soon hear news about their whereabouts, so don't worry too much, Aien.” She comforted him with reassuring words, but they both knew they were empty condolences. A silence filled the rift between them until Lea decided it was better to change the topic to something less depressive.

“What are you doing with all those potions?” She asked curiously.

“Trying to make some money.” Aien gave a curt response and informed her about his plans. It did lighten the mood, which Lea considered a success since Aien seemed to realize that there was no point in worrying about something he couldn't change. 

The two returned to the academy while chatting about nonsense before they each went their way. Lea promised to inform him about any news as soon as possible, and Aien decided to spend his time in seclusion. But when he arrived in front of his room, it was not so unexpected to see a particular someone waiting for him.

“There you are!” Zoris half-greeted him before Aien invited him to his humble abode. It was a small room with only the necessary accommodations, as per Aien's request. Lea had tried to convince him to move him into a better place, but the small bed and desk were enough for Aien's purposes. With all the towers of books and sea of papers that barely allowed the two of them to walk around, the place resembled a storage room more than a private chamber.

“I don't understand this!” Zoris shouted in a fit as he sat on the only chair available.

“I did all of this! Pulled so many strings, and now they decide to desert without telling their friend, who worked this hard, anything about it!? Couldn't they trust me a little bit more!?”

“What if something actually happened to them?” Aien asked worryingly, sitting on his bed. “Shouldn't you be more concerned about them?”

“Oh, please!” Zoris grumbled with anger but then realized how he presented himself and began to regain his calm before explaining further.

“It's been ages since the last time someone went against Zeristin Wezlak. Don't you know what happened to the Wezlaks when they tried to prevent the formation of the academy? After he judged them 'guilty' of treason against the empire's interest, he single-handedly went on to dismantle the entire House. Up to this day, they've yet to recover from their losses, and while they most definitely hold a grudge, they'd never think of going against him again. At least not in a way that would leave traces of their involvement. Kidnapping a pair of students would be out of the question. After all, at this point, his strength and influence are well-known to be almost undisputed. If it wasn't for the good relationship between the emperor and him, who knew which of the two would rule over the country.”

After a short pause, Zoris continued with his assumptions.

"I went a bit off track... Anyway, that leaves us with two other options. They either defected from the empire, or they've been ambushed by bandits. For the latter to be true, there has to be some kind of evidence. No matter how organized a group of bandits was, they'd always leave traces behind. It's the same for any other kind of ambush, and you can't underestimate Divination Constructs, especially those used by the several churches. You'd need a lot of preparations to deal with them, like the ones that are infamously provided by other empires for deserters. Of course, Ethena has them too. This leads to the essential problem the academy's scouts face. From what I've heard, there are no traces of how they've disappeared. That's why I believe they've deserted. It's the only possible option for me."

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Aien had spent a lot of time learning about Divination Constructs in the recent year. There were several limitations to their uses, but they were quite potent nonetheless. As long as there was at least one trace they could follow, they'd always lead to results, unless proper precautions have been made. These countermeasures, however, weren't easily created. They mostly involved the use of constructs, specially designed for these purposes, and were hard to come by even for magi due to their restricted access for obvious safety reasons.

“What if outsiders got involved, possibly some other race?” Aien continued asking, but Zoris raised an eyebrow in response to his question.

“What's wrong, Aien? You are usually so sharp."

After an awkward laugh from Aien, Zoris answered his question. He assumed that Aien must evidently be disturbed by the news, resulting in his lack of thought.

“Why would they get involved with a couple of students? Like the others that went missing, the two are magi sure, but, no offense, they are barely qualified to call themselves as such. They don't have any backing and could be considered fledglings in the world of magic. Forget about taking them hostage or kidnapping them for information."

"Others?"

Aien asked, his eyes widening in disbelief. Zoris realized that he'd let something slip and didn't dwell on the matter any further. He released some more steam before he left Aien alone in his room. It was quite interesting for Aien to know how the current status quo regarding this matter was. He knew about the problem of deserters, but he hadn't expected for the consensus to be this strong. They might have had some bad experiences in the past that led them to think this biased...

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 Meanwhile, in the office of the headmaster, Zeristin sat in his chair, confronting three teachers of the academy, including Lea, who gave their combined reports.

“Seven more students disappeared within two weeks. What is the meaning of this?” He asked, his voice retaining its calmness, but the teachers could see the paper slightly crumbling in his hands.

“I'm afraid the number of deserters this year is especially high...” One of the teachers answered with drops of sweat dripping down his forehead. He knew this wasn't the answer, but what else could it be? This was open aggression against the academy that not even the Noble Houses would dare to do in such a manner.

The headmaster gave a cold snort before dismissing the teachers from his office, only asking for Lea to stay behind.

“Leathe, what do you think about this?”

“I.. I'm not sure...” She hesitated before continuing with her answer. “Usually, it would be plausible to assume the number of deserters to have increased. But it doesn't make sense that those sent to the safer outpost are deserting as well. Most have barely reached Rank 1, and all of the missing are Outer Focus Magi. While it's normal for the Outer Focus Magi deserters to outnumber the Inner Focus Magi, three of the seven haven't even been fully conscripted yet... There's also the problem that we can't find a trace of them. For three of them, nothing indicates that they've even left the city. Half of our scouting parties return empty-handed, while the other half returns with the usual results we expect each year.”

She hesitated to say something more before continuing with another report she pulled out from her pouch.

“And then there is this...” She handed it over to the headmaster, who quickly skimmed it through.

“You think this is related?”

“Most likely, yes... I believe that this indicates that we aren't dealing with mere defections. It started four months ago when the first report came in. A merchant went missing. No one thought it was anything out of the ordinary. Their job contains a certain amount of danger, however... More and more regular people went missing. After two months the numbers of missing people peaked in the double digits, and it was only one month ago that the numbers became smaller, yet it didn't stop entirely. Neither the sentries nor the guards could find anything suspicious, but this was too unnatural. I'm afraid the two incidents are somehow connected... It might even be possible that the disappearances happen within our city itself and have nothing to do with deserting..."

The headmaster pinched the bridge on his nose in exhaustion. This was a problem he couldn't deal with at the moment. There were far more pressing concerns occupying his thoughts.

“We'll disregard these events for now... Announce to the public that the magi in question have deserted. Double the number of sentries and cover it up as a student exercise to keep the panic at a minimum.”

“But-”

“No, buts! More importantly, are you certain you didn't misplace your paper?” The loud voice of the headmaster left no room for discussion, leaving Lea confused as to why he placed far more importance on this seemingly trivial thing. Students of his precious academy, that he'd painfully built up over decades, went missing and yet...

“I thought I was sure that I had placed them into my pouch... Aien thinks so, too, but we can't find them anywhere. I gave up looking for them, and we are probably just mistaken...”

After giving him the same answer she had already told him dozens of times, the headmaster dismissed the still indignant Lea from his office as he resumed thinking about the issues at hand.

“How are these matters related...” He mumbled to himself. Numerous events began escalating, entirely out of his control. His meeting with the emperor bore fruitless, leading to more questions and problems than answers.

He sighed heavily, feeling a big headache coming on. Once more, he reached towards his drawer to pull out a stack of papers. He picked up the cover that was written onto on both sides. One side containing an eloquent speech to be held during the dance. The other containing research notes about the use of wind in transportation with a note, that drastically stood out, stuck onto it.

Choose carefully.

Signed, Tristan Stelfort

"...Are you finally making your move?"