There was an air of excitement amongst the 7th years at the start of the new week. Several new classes were scheduled to start with the warmer weather, and most students had signed up for at least one of those classes. The first class trip to the bestiary was also arranged for later that week, with the entire class eager to see what their lesson would involve. Obviously it wouldn’t be wyverns, but their instructor had developed a bit of a reputation for trying to impress, so speculation was rife.
Today was also the day Yaric would have his first special scouting lesson with the Corporals. Lauren would be joining him as well, which reminded Yaric of the first few lessons before the others had joined them. They would still have regular lessons with Mage Fletcher, in cooperation with the Corporals.
It didn’t take long for them to point out a major flaw in his education. Just like with his first scouting lessons during their expedition, his education in hunting was woefully inadequate. They had received just enough to be able to function in their task, but with staff quietly screening everyone for them and ensuring that there was no real danger of failure, the standards hadn’t been very high, nor had there been the time or opportunity to do more.
And as Yaric quickly discovered, scouts often did go hunting. Foraging to supplement food supplies was a vital part of everyday life, and one that the Corporals insisted they remedy.
“Yaric! You’ve grown bigger!” Corporal Ilves announced loudly.
“Bigger runt, maybe,” one of the other Corporals said with a laugh.
Yaric just smiled in embarrassment.
“I take it this is Lauren Silver?” Ilves asked as they came to a stop in front of the scouts.
“Yes sir,” she replied.
“There will be no ‘sirs’ here. These idiots sleep in the dirt and move like animals. Think like them too. I’m Corporal Ilves, or just Ilves, and these fine gentlemen are whatever names come to mind. Anything but sir. Or gentlemen.”
Lauren smiled awkwardly, but she accepted his instruction. “Yes Corporal Ilves.”
Corporal Ilves was happy with their basic knowledge of anatomy, but he immediately started training them on detailed shots. How to hit the heart specifically, both lungs, or the liver. A broadside shot at a deer puts all three targets close together within the area they were taught to aim for, but all three could have different effects. The corporals stressed that the last thing they wanted to do was hit the liver and then give chase. The deer could run for a couple of kilometers on pure adrenaline if they did that.
No, they needed to be able to recognize exactly where they had struck and make sure to wait long enough for a wounded deer to stop running and grow weak before they showed up. Their goal, however, was for it to be over too quickly for any of that to matter. As another of the corporals pointed out though, “Some shots are shit hot, some are just shit.” The corporal had a deadpan face and spoke like a great sage dispensing wisdom upon the unenlightened.
‘He’s not wrong,’ Yaric grudgingly admitted to himself, remembering some of his own poor shots.
They had to learn the nuances of multiple different prey animals, as well as how to account for different shooting angles.
“We’d originally planned to give you tracking lessons today,” Corporal Ilves admitted at the end of the lesson. “I guess we’re going to have to put our prepared lessons on hold until we catch you up. The thought of how you would dress game makes me shudder. But don’t worry,” he added cheerfully as he clapped Yaric on the shoulder, “everyone has to learn before they can walk.”
“Or in your case, sit up,” someone else interjected.
Yaric was used to being admonished for his tendency to act informally around everyone, no matter who they were, but the corporals took it to another level. And they were military, with ranks and procedures for everything.
“Next lesson, meet us at your archery range. It’s actually better than ours, and I know I saw silhouettes for different types of game. You two are going to practice.”
Lauren seemed excited at the prospect of putting their lesson into practice. Yaric was less so, but only because their scouting lessons had doubled each week while the corporals were visiting, and their next lesson would be immediately after archery. He did not doubt that his shoulders would be sore the next day.
The trip to the bestiary was earlier that same day, forcing the students to jog to make it to their lesson on time. It took over twenty minutes to get everyone registered and through the door. Even then, they couldn’t stray too far from the trails, so they were all spread out in a long line while waiting for the last few classmates to get through.
There were no wyverns in Lekton, and they were simply taken down to one of the fenced-off fields, though this one had groves of trees throughout. Lorelle was waiting for them inside the fence.
The eikthyrnir inside were incredible to see. Standing almost two meters at the shoulder, the oversized stags were intimidating to approach. Each had a double set of antlers four meters from tip to tip, and they had a faintly glowing light to them. As Lorelle had explained before, they naturally channeled arcana through the horns in such a way that left them exceptionally sharp. Simply taking hold of an antler was impossible, as you’d simply lose your fingers.
They were still exceptionally valuable, however. Not many materials could conduct arcana better.
Eikthyrnir were amazingly gentle and quiet for their size. They made almost no noise when walking, and they moved so slowly and with so much care that no one was ever at any risk of being struck by the antlers, not without being extremely careless. They also had endless patience when dealing with the attentions from the students, which Lorelle took pains to point out as being partly due to having experienced the same thing many times. You couldn’t assume a wild eikthyrnir would do the same thing.
Lorelle gave them a hands-on lesson on their anatomy, as well as their feeding habits and unique characteristics. It was strangely eerie to see such large creatures moving so silently through the trees.
Their next new lesson would be the very next week. Luckily, everyone had passes for the weekend.
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“Come on,” Li Na called, dragging Lauren and glaring at the other two. They had things they needed to buy before their next new lesson started.
“Do you even know where you’re going?” Lauren asked.
“No. That’s why we have to leave early.”
The sun was already rising notably earlier, but the sky was still orange when they exited from the main gate.
“I know a few places,” Sven offered.
“Great! We can check all of them!”
Li Na let Lauren go and grabbed hold of Sven instead. She pulled him to the front and started pushing him from behind.
“Where to first?”
Sven was twice her size, but he didn’t offer any resistance. Unfortunately, the time of day did. Everything was still closed.
“Maybe we can get some breakfast first?” Lauren suggested.
Finding somewhere to eat was far simpler. There were so many options that they were still nowhere near trying them all, and with the amount of time they had to kill they decided to have breakfast near the river.
It did bring back some memories, but by now they were good ones. Time can do amazing things after the fear and anger is over.
Li Na was over-excited, despite the food. Sven had to point out that there were two stores nearby before she settled down to wait, eventually joining in the conversation about the practical lessons after her second cup of coffee. Yaric wasn’t sure if she should have been allowed to have coffee.
As it was, the store owner was only just opening her store when the four students approached.
“Good morning,” she greeted cheerfully. “You’re here early. I just need a minute to finish opening up, but feel free to look around in the meantime.”
Sven held Li Na by the back of her top while he and the others greeted the owner, but he let her go once the owner turned to go back inside.
“Ohhh… I need one of these!” Li Na exclaimed.
“We all do, Lina,” Lauren sighed. “Don’t forget that we all signed up for the class.”
“Yeah, we all do,” Li Na agreed absently, picking up one item after another. They managed to make it halfway around the wall before the shop owner was back.
“So, how can I help you?”
“We’re all students at the Academy,” Sven began, “and we need to get kitted out before we start proper lessons.”
“We’re going to be riding horses!”
“I see… Am I to take it that you need everything then? I’ve had students in here often,” the owner quickly explained, “and you all buy different things.”
Sven looked thoughtful for a moment, until he noticed that everyone was looking at him. They had been given a list of the things they needed, but there was a note at the end that mentioned they could use their own equipment in addition to the requirements.
“Well, we need clothing, obviously,” he eventually confirmed, but he still hesitated for a moment longer. “A custom saddle would be ideal. They should learn properly before they pick up bad habits.”
The last part earned Sven a nod and a broad smile.
“I could have saddles made for each of you. My team is large enough that they can work on all of them at once, which would save a lot of time.”
“How long does it take?” Li Na asked eagerly, already looking around.
“For a proper saddle? At least a month.”
Li Na’s face fell.
“It won’t affect much,” Sven pointed out. “It’s not like we’re going to do a whole lot of difficult riding to begin with.”
“Most people will use the saddles the Academy provides anyway,” Lauren added.
“Do we really need them?” Yaric asked, looking at Sven and not the shop owner.
Sven had the same hesitation in his eyes again. “A properly fitted saddle is more comfortable for the rider and the horse, but I’m mostly thinking about proper posture and stability. It’s better for everyone if you’re sitting properly.”
Yaric wasn’t overly concerned, he seldom spent anywhere near his allowance, and he had more than enough. Lauren still didn’t look entirely convinced. Still, they all followed the shop owner when she took them to look at riding boots. It didn’t take long for her to pick up on Li Na’s enthusiasm, and she was soon indulging Li Na’s every question.
Li Na was dragged out forty minutes later. Despite her demands that they look everywhere first, she was now insisting that they could get everything from the first store.
The second store was much the same. It mostly catered to the rider, with very basic equipment for the horse. Things changed with the third store. Vast arrays of equipment lined the shelves, with everything from riding tack to items designed to help care for the horse.
They managed to visit five stores before stopping for lunch, but Li Na’s mind was made up.
“We’re wasting time. We need to go back to the first one,” Li Na said for the hundredth time.
No one else had any preferences, so Li Na got her way, and they went straight back after lunch.
“Oh,” the owner said with surprise when they walked through the door. “Back so soon? Have you decided to make a purchase?”
They all knew what they needed, so it didn’t take long to find their sizes.
“And do you want to place orders for the saddle? We can take your measurements now and the others tomorrow,” she added helpfully.
“Well, that’s the thing,” Sven said. “We aren’t going to have our own horses. The horse will change often, so the saddle can’t be fitted to any particular horse.”
Yaric finally understood Sven’s hesitation earlier. He knew very little about the subject, while Sven had been practically raised in the saddle. Sometimes things that seemed obvious were actually completely unknown to others.
‘Who knew that a custom saddle was also custom to the horse?’
“It’s not ideal,” the owner acknowledged. “But we can customize the upper saddle for you, and there are broad adjustments we can make for the saddle to fit most horses. The fit won’t be perfect, but it will work. Still, I feel like I need to make sure you understand how the Academy saddles work. I’ve sold saddles to the Academy before,” she explained. “Their saddles are done the other way around. Each horse has a custom-made saddle. In your case, the saddle will fit the horse perfectly, and you will need to try and adjust it to fit yourself.”
No one knew what to do, but Lauren resolved the issue for them. “Why don’t we just ask the instructor after the first lesson?”
They all walked out fifteen minutes later, happy with their purchases.
“Uhhh…” Yaric mumbled. “The place where Lauren stopped that thief isn’t far. Why don’t we check on the owner before we go back?”
“That’s a great idea,” Lauren said, nudging Yaric and giving him a wide smile.
It wasn’t really all that close when you took into account that the Academy was halfway between them, meaning they would need to walk twice as far to get to the musical instrument store he owned, but no one complained. They did pick up the pace though, as dark clouds were starting to gather overhead, signaling rain. Luckily spring showers never lasted long, so they just needed to get to the store before the rain started to fall.
“Good afternoon, how can we help you?” the young teenager standing near the door asked when they entered.
Lauren had barely opened her mouth when a familiar voice called out from the back. “I’ll take over, Peter.”
The same man they had helped before rushed over to greet them. “I’m so happy you four came by! After the help you gave last time…” Dorian said, trailing off as he didn’t know what to say.
Stolen story; please report.
“There’s nothing to thank us for, it’s our job,” Lauren said, her face slightly red with embarrassment.
“Come! At least let me offer you all a drink. I seem to remember owing you that much at least.”
Dorian led them through to a back room. The large table at the end was filled with brass pipes in various shapes and sizes, but he took them over to a smaller table that sat to the side. A large bottle with a cherry red liquor sat on one side.
“That instrument you retrieved was a custom order for the Steward of Vantchev Manor. His daughter is quite the musician,” he added with some admiration. “I foolishly put it on display before they collected it, thinking it would attract a lot of attention. Which I guess it did.”
“There’s nothing foolish about that,” Yaric said. Dorian looked up from the drink he was pouring, prompting Yaric to explain further. “Why shouldn’t you put something like that on display? You have every right. It’s the thief who had no right to steal from you.”
Dorian smiled gently and went back to pouring the drink, just as the sound of rain started coming through the window set high in the walls.
“I might have the right, but I still have to take precautions. I’m sure somewhere in Lekton people are getting married right now, as is their right. But now it’s raining on their wedding day. Most if not all would have taken precautions for this eventuality. They can’t just tell the rain to stop because it’s unfair. I’m afraid that most of us are not in a position to meet all changes head-on,” he said with a sigh, pushing the glasses to each person and raising his to Lauren.
“Sit,” he invited, gesturing to the chairs around the table. Sven noticed that there were only four chairs before anyone else did, and quickly stepped back.
“I prefer to stand, thank you,” he replied, gesturing for Dorian to take his seat instead.
It was still raining ten minutes later when Dorian abruptly stood up. “Come, let me give you a tour. I’ll show you my shop and all the different types of instruments available. You can leave your bags here.”
Dorian took them on a full tour, starting right where they were. He showed them how they repaired damaged instruments, started work on new ones, and how they tuned them once everything was done.”
“Downstairs we have our wind and percussion instruments,” he said, picking up several examples. They received a quick lesson in the different kinds of instruments before being taken upstairs. The upstairs area was actually a mezzanine and only one-third the size of the floor below.
“It’s a pity you don’t play,” Dorian mused, “I have several items you could try.”
“I play the flute,” Sven suddenly stated, catching everyone by surprise.”
“What? You never told us that! Is it because you’re not very good?”
“Lina!”
“What? I’m just asking.”
Dorian smiled patiently. “I have several examples downstairs that you could try if you like?” he finally managed to ask once Lauren and Li Na were done.
“That’s ok,” Sven said, looking embarrassed. “I brought my flute with me when I came to the Academy, I just never unpacked it. It didn’t seem important with everything going on and then I forgot all about it.”
“Well, if you ever need an upgrade, you know where to come. I make instruments for a few wizards in your academy as well. Two of them have made it their goal to master every instrument there is, and one is a music instructor.”
Dorian leaned forward conspiratorially and raised a hand beside his mouth. “The other one isn’t likely to ever master anything,” he whispered. “But he does try.”
They all chuckled and quickly began trying to guess who it was, despite knowing that they only knew a tiny fraction of the staff at the Academy. Li Na and Sven settled on Hiawatha, while both Yaric and Lauren insisted it was most likely Mage Fletcher.
“How would anyone decide what instrument to learn?” Yaric asked quietly.
Dorian raised an eyebrow and looked Yaric over. Even Lauren was looking at him speculatively.
“Are you interested in learning?” Dorian asked.
“Maybe… yes… I mean, I’m considering it. But I have no idea where to start.”
Yaric’s ears were burning under everyone’s gaze.
“That’s easy,” Li Na piped up before Dorian could reply. “You use strings to shoot things, so that’s out. You can’t hit anything to save your life, so don’t bother. But you have a big mouth, so wind it is!”
Everyone stared incredulously at Li Na. Not only was Yaric usually quieter than anyone, but of all the people to accuse him of having a big mouth…
“I can show you a few basic examples,” Dorian suggested. “But I specialize in making the instruments, not teaching. I suggest you speak to a teacher at your school and have them help you decide.”
Dorain was showing Yaric different types of drums when the rain slowed and then stopped completely.
Yaric had tried every different category, which had only left him more confused. And more embarrassed. But the one thing everyone knew was that he would not be playing a wind instrument, despite what Li Na believed.
Dorian went with them to fetch their bags and escort them to the door. “If you do decide to take up an instrument, make sure you come back here. You can let your teacher know where you’re going as well,” Dorian smiled.
They walked in silence for several minutes before Lauren turned to Yaric. “Are you really going to learn to play something?”
“I’m thinking about it,” Yaric shrugged, very aware of the three pairs of eyes staring at him.
“I think that would be nice.”
“Yeah, and if you get good enough, maybe I’ll let you play next time I sing. But only if you’re not going to embarrass me. Hey! We need to go sing somewhere!”
“What about your horse riding?” Sven asked casually.
“Oh…” Li Na looked down at the bag she was swinging. “Yeah, we need to get back!”
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The next day was their last day before lessons resumed, which Lauren’s parents had taken advantage of to invite them over for lunch. It wasn’t too far to walk, and there wasn’t much else to do, so for once Yaric and his friends slept in. The sun was well up when they left the campus grounds and started making their way to Lauren’s house.
Yaric was impressed when they arrived. It was far from a manor like the one where they had helped the construction crew, and it wasn’t in any of the exclusive areas, but it was certainly one of the nicer houses in Lekton. What’s more, this was actually the rear of the house.
‘Or is the shop at the rear?’ Yaric wondered to himself. Their property spanned between two roads. On one side was a road lined with exclusive stores, where Lauren’s parents ran their business, Silver Thread Tailors. The side was a much quieter street, and this was where the front door to the adjoining house was.
‘Maybe the back of the house and the shop are in the middle?’
“Good morning!” Amanda greeted them warmly from the front door. “Lauren, since when do you knock and wait outside?” she admonished her daughter. “This is still your home,” Amanda added, stepping back to invite everyone in.
Robin came through just as the door was closed behind them. “Hello, I’m glad you could all make it.”
There were cookies and chilled drinks waiting for them in the living room.
“So tell us what it’s like being proper students,” Robin said once they’d all sat down.
Yaric was confused though, as he was very clearly looking at everyone but his daughter.
“Oh, Lauren sends us letters almost every week, but she mostly talks about you lot. I’m afraid that we need to speak with you three if we want to know how our daughter is doing,” Robin laughed.
“At least the letters have been longer the last few years,” Amanda continued.
“Oh yes. In the beginning Lauren only spoke about Li Na…” Robin explained while Lauren turned more and more red.
“Just Lina, sir,” Li Na interrupted from beside Lauren, though very respectfully. Yaric raised his eyebrows at her deferential attitude, but Lauren and Sven seemed to have expected it. Li Na just smirked at Yaric’s reaction.
“… Lina then. Well, Lauren only ever spoke about Lina until what, three years ago?” Robin asked, glancing at his wife.
“A little earlier.”
“Anyway, Lauren kept sending us short letters that mostly told us about things Lina had done, but then she started talking about Yaric and Sven, and her letters only got longer and longer. Our problem is that she’s never given us as much information about her own experiences at the Academy as she has about her friends. So we thought maybe you three could do the same, and talk about our daughter instead of yourselves?”
“We can assure you that we’ve already heard all about what you three have done,” Amanda explained. “Like how Lina took out all those commanders and Sven led a great defense against impossible odds. Or how Yaric saved the whole competition with his bow.”
Lauren buried her face in her hands while Li Na turned to smirk at Yaric again. Yaric had no idea what Lauren had been expecting, but this clearly wasn’t it. In fact, looking at her reaction and how awkwardly she was sitting in her own house, Yaric wasn’t sure if she’d ever had friends over like this.
“I wasn’t the one who saved the competition, Lauren was,” Yaric said, hoping to save her from embarrassment. Lauren progressed from a blush to looking like a tomato. Leaning forward to hide her face only made things worse, as her hair fell forward to frame her face and only highlighted the bright red color even more.
“Oh? We never heard about that,” Robin said, shifting forward to sit on the edge of his chair.
“Our plan was going to fail, but Lauren worked out a solution at the last moment and saved everything,” Yaric explained.
“Yeah, she set everything on fire!”
“Set everything on fire? When was this?” Robin asked, glancing over at his daughter this time. His eyes were mildly accusing, but when Lauren shifted her hands to cover her eyes he just smiled proudly.
“We planned to hold them off while we smuggled the flags out,” Sven explained. “We were supposed to keep them fighting us until we’d won, or at least hold them for long enough that it would be too late if they discovered that the flags weren’t with us. But we failed. They were about to take the makeshift fort that we were pretending the flags were in, and there was more than enough time for them to head to the other base camps before we’d won.”
“That’s when Lauren burnt everything down!” Li Na said excitedly.
“Yes sir,” Yaric continued. “She sacrificed herself and forced them to wait for several hours. They had to wait for the fort to stop burning and to get cool enough to search through, and even then, we only just made it. One or two minutes longer and we would have lost. Even after the several hours that Lauren bought us.”
“None of which made it into your letters,” Robin pointed out teasingly.
Yaric saw how embarrassed Lauren was and tried to help her out. “It’s not her fault, we were all so busy after the competition. Lauren had worse than any of us, she was singled out for saving our whole team.”
Lauren buried her face again. She could feel everyone’s eyes on her, even if they were all for different reasons.
“Well, I suppose it is our fault,” Robin said, leaning back into his chair again.
“Oh yes, we gave her very bad advice when she was a child,” Amanda acknowledged.
Lauren peeked cautiously over her hands, scowling in annoyance and confusion. Her dad just laughed.
“You see, when Lauren was little, she went to a nearby school with a rather unusual combination of teachers. Most schools have extracurricular activities, but her school had dozens. And the teachers were very well connected, so they were constantly holding competitions and events with professionals. Lauren kept jumping from hobby to hobby. One week she was going to build carriages, the next week she was going to play the violin. Every week it was something new.”
“It was quite difficult to keep up with, I assure you,” Amanda laughed.
“And then, two months before her ninth birthday, Lauren came to us with a problem. She was very upset,” Robin explained. “She wanted to know how anyone could choose what they wanted to do when they grew up. And that was when we made our biggest mistake. We told her to keep trying everything she was interested in but to keep at it for longer, so she could find out what she was good at.”
Robin stared distantly at the table, smiling fondly at the memory. Amanda took his hand in hers.
Sven and Li Na were looking at each other in confusion. Even Lauren seemed unsure of what her father was talking about.
“But that sounds like good advice to me,” Sven offered.
“It should have been,” Robin admitted.
Looking between Lauren and her parents, Yaric couldn’t keep the smile off his face. “She was good at everything,” he said, more as a statement than a question.
Robin lifted his free hand to point his finger silently at Yaric, causing Lauren to drop her face again.
“Please can we talk about something else,” she pleaded, her voice muffled.
Her dad completely ignored her. “Did you know she once entered a competition to build a bridge? They had to pretend that the bridge was over a river, and all they had was a bag of those wooden sticks for skewering meat and a bundle of candle wicks. There were no age groups, everyone competed together, and when they tested how much weight each could withstand, Lauren still came fourth.”
Yaric was surprised, but not because she’d come fourth. Because she hadn’t won.
“Oh, but that’s not all,” Robin continued proudly. “The others all designed their bridges exactly as they were asked to. But Lauren decided that her bridge needed to be able to lift up if there was a large boat that wanted to go under. She came forth with a bridge made from two separate pieces that could be lifted or lowered as needed.”
‘That sounds more like Lauren.’
“And then we discovered that Lauren was an arcanist, and the issue resolved itself,” Robin concluded.
Instead of looking proud, Lauren looked like she wanted to be able to lower herself as well. Probably into a river. She never had a problem teaching or explaining things, but she was always very self-conscious when discussing something personal. It wasn't something she did often.
“Lauren showed us the images she got,” Yaric said, trying again. “Some of them showed you cutting cloth and sewing clothes. Do you really make clothes like in the pictures?”
Lauren peeked gratefully over her fingers.
Robin looked at Yaric for a moment with an oddly approving smile before he answered. “I can’t judge my own product, but perhaps you three would like to have a look after lunch. We’ll set the table and Lauren can show you around.”
Lauren leaped at the chance to leave the room, quite literally. She was on her feet and dragging Li Na up before her father had finished speaking.
The house was larger than Yaric’s and each room was bigger, but the tour only took a few minutes. Lauren’s room was very different from what Yaric had expected. His only real experience had been when he’d seen Sally’s room, which was filled with stuffed animals. Even though Lauren had left for Lekton at a much younger age than Sally had been the last time he saw her, her room had diagrams on the wall, drawings and paintings that she had clearly done herself, three bookshelves filled with books, and an entire shelf dedicated to small trophies and medals from her time at a public school. Several certificates were on the wall above the trophies as well.
Yaric tried to grab Li Na when he saw her smirk, but he was too slow. Li Na skipped over to the trophies and started lifting them one by one, asking Lauren about every trophy she picked up.
This time Lauren handled things far better. She was still blushing, but nowhere near as badly as before. She had always been more comfortable revealing personal details with her close friends than with anyone else. Even Li Na eventually took pity on her though.
Robin and Amanda also stopped teasing their daughter, and they all settled down for a very pleasant lunch. Even after the earlier jokes Lauren still sat close to her parents, passing food back and forth and talking about school and the business.
Robin and Amanda made sure the other three were always included as well, and frequently shifted the topic to things they knew about the others. Li Na was asked a lot of questions about her father’s tannery, and Sven spoke at length about his family’s ranch. They also discovered that a shipping company his family owned often visited ports that dealt with rare and sought-after materials, which Sven himself hadn’t realized.
Yaric guessed that Lauren had told her parents something about his past, because their questions stuck exclusively to what his hometown was like and how a proper mill worked. He usually got annoyed when people danced around the subject, but this time he was glad that the conversation was kept light.
Lauren’s parents took them on a tour of their shop and showed off some of the fancier commissions. Everyone was sad to go, but they still said their goodbyes and promised to come again in the future. Robin shook everyone’s hand and Amanda hugged them all at the door before Lauren and the others turned to make their way back to campus.
They’d all had a great afternoon, even Lauren, who smiled and lightly shoved Yaric in the shoulder while they walked back to campus.
“What?” he asked.
“Nothing.”
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The large doors swung open long before Lloyd got close. Lloyd sighed as he approached, looking through the doors to the high table that circled the room. He wasn’t in the mood for politics.
“Good, you’re here,” Sandy said as soon as he walked through the door. “There’s been a recent turn of events that are going to require your services.”
Lloyd stayed silent and looked at her inquiringly.
“For the record, four students were sent to answer a very basic appeal, two of whom we ourselves sponsored. The appeal was simply meant to get their feet wet. It was hoped that they could learn something and gain experience in the field. Instead, they kicked a hornet’s nest.
“Where most students would head back to report their findings, they chose to dig deeper and resolve the issue themselves. As you already know, the trail they followed brought them to a small-time criminal. Greed and stupidity led the criminal gang to expose themselves unnecessarily, and their whole operation with it.
“You’re also aware of the involvement of a wizard, his efforts to secure a forest for the gang’s exclusive use, and the smuggling operation they were involved in. We have just received the preliminary results of the investigations that followed.”
“Investigations?” Lloyd asked, speaking up for the first time. “Plural?”
“We tried to hit all four operations that we knew about at the same time.”
Lloyd had a sinking feeling in his stomach when Sandy referred to the operations as the ones they knew about.
“The other three businesses and the shipping company seemed to be above the board at first, but when their books were compared there was a startling number of similarities. A small chain of businesses that appear to deal exclusively with each other. Many also used seals that came from here, meaning at least two other arcanists are involved.”
“Two?” Truthfully Lloyd was grateful for the concise manner of this meeting, even if something bad must have happened for the entire Council to be all business and no politics.
“I’m getting to that… The local Baroness also requested our assistance in asserting the health of the forest Ira had interfered with, which is where we have our first problem requiring a Council meeting. A hidden room was found.”
“What?!” Lloyd exclaimed before he could catch himself.
“Yes, it’s exactly like the others. The room wasn’t finished yet, but someone was using the restricted areas of the forest to build a transport hub, which we have no doubt would have been used to bring dangerous creatures through. There are several large towns nearby, not to mention Lekton is only one day’s travel by boat.”
“That doesn’t make any sense. We would eradicate anything that gets sent through. This is the highest concentration of arcanists in almost any nation. Why waste so much time and resources to drop goblins or spiders through?”
“You’re aware of the wyverns and rock elementals?”
“Yes, but those are two of dozens.”
“That’s true on paper, but they were also the only two found near major population centers. As things stand it would appear that small and fast-breeding species get sent to out-of-the-way places, where their out-of-control populations might cause chaos, while the more powerful species are sent where they could make the most impact.
“We are under attack, and we don’t even know who.”
“What do you need me to do?” Lloyd asked, his voice cold and firm.
“For now, we want you to help us find the third arcanist. I will lead the internal search for whoever is helping with the seals.”
“You are certain that there is a third?”
“There’s at least one more. Cross-referencing the business dealings between the three smuggling rings you helped to discover and the shipping company handling all their goods, we found eight other businesses that exclusively deal with each other. It’s a literal network of organized crime.”
“That doesn’t mean an arcanist is involved though.”
“No, but we have managed to interrogate members of the other eight gangs, and five of them were involved with another arcanist, most likely the same one. You’ll receive the full report, but we don’t have much more than that to go on I’m afraid. No one could give any useful information. Almost everything we know comes from what they can’t tell us.”
“Then maybe it was Ira?”
“That’s impossible.”
“But with such poor-quality witnesses, we can’t know that for sure. What makes you so certain?”
...
“Because Ira isn’t a Mind Mage.”