The outside was blindingly bright, illuminated by the sun high at zenith. This brightness radiated from every object the sunlight touched, bouncing even into enclosed spaces through the smallest gaps.
Here, in this room, where tall windows went all the way from the floor to the ceiling, it was as bright on the inside as it was outside. A marble desk next to the windows was hard to look at where it was white and hot to the touch where black veins run, except the spots where three shadows stretched across it.
The grey-haired girl turned her head to the right, looking at the two vacant seats by the desk.
My Magister did not even show up. That means it’s decided then. They are going to seal it. No, given who I am, they will most probably burn it.
She then turned to look across the room where Aeri, the sole survivor of the incident, sat, her gaze glued to her opponent with burning hatred. Their eyes met for a second making it uncomfortable for her and forcing to look away.
It is probably for the best. It is the third time this has happened.
She tried to justify the impending verdict, but even her inner voice did not sound convincing enough. Her fists clenched down by her dress as she tried to contain her anger.
No. Even if I hurt them, it wasn’t my fault. Why can they—
Her thoughts got interrupted by a squeaking sound of the room doors opening. Catching his breath, the Magister almost fell over the doorstep.
“You sure took your time, Magister.”
A disgruntled fair-haired man in his thirties with a short haircut and noticeable stubble covering a good portion of his face all the way to the temples was the first to break the verbal silence. The expression on his face and his pose, with the head leaning on the closed palm of his hand, conveyed a mood between boredom and irritation. Of the three desks arranged in a rectangular formation, he sat by the central one beside three other people.
A younger man with long black hair to his right looked apathetic: there were no signs that would convey his displeasure of being in this room, rather simple lack of emotional engagement. Same as his neighbour he was clad in a strict suit with a white shirt under a grey turncoat.
To the left of the fair-haired man was another one. He looked a bit younger due to shoulder-length, wavy, marigold hair and his face being smooth free of growth except for a triangular soul patch under his lips. He stood out from the rest with his preference in clothing, wearing a green silk jacket over a light-blue shirt. The upcoming hearing seemed to be of little interest to him as well, but unlike the disgruntled man, he preferred to fill his waiting time with use by reading a book, not tearing his eyes away from it even when the Magister appeared.
To the left of him sat a short-haired blonde woman in glasses and black cardigan over a white dress, who only let out a sigh seeing her neighbour’s lack of involvement.
Even without introductions, which seemed to be of little relevance to them, their postures and behaviour were indicative of their roles: the two in the middle being Magistern from other academies, and two others serving as their aides.
“I’m terribly sorry. I’m not acquainted with the layout of the academy just yet, so I’ve got lost searching for the Hearings Room.”
“Not acquainted with the layout?”
As the disgruntled man expressed his confusion, a white-haired man, sitting one seat away from Aeri, stepped in to clarify as he rose from his place.
“My apologies, I should have mentioned it. This is Magister Rensin. He has just taken his assignment yesterday. And since both Magister Manshik and his aide fell ill today, Magister Rensin has been tasked to take his place in this hearing with me landing assistance to him. I am Administrator Chusuran’s aide, Eraban, by the way.”
As the Magister took his place next to the hot-tempered witch he had been tasked to represent, he greeted Eraban with a handshake.
“Doesn’t matter. It won’t take long anyway since there is not much to discuss.”
The fair-haired man straightened as he was about to begin the procedure when the Magister got ahead of him.
“That I am not sure about.”
“Not sure about what exactly?”
“How fast we will be able to carry out the hearing.”
“Please elaborate.”
He now was attentively staring at the Magister with a new emotion read on his face: concern.
“Well, you see, I am not sure if it was lost as the documents were handed to me or my colleague had symptoms that prevented him from completing it, but the Statement of Innocence appears to be missing. So I’ll have to conduct an interview session with my ward to prepare one now, though I’m not sure if it’ll suffice, unless you agree to reschedule the hearing, of course.”
“The Statement of Innocence is not missing. Your ward is not the accused, the aspiring witch from the Sorceress Academy is.”
He felt a bit of relief dismissing the Magister’s concern, though one concern got just replaced by another. The fact that one party was defined as accused, not even referred to as a defendant, instantly raised a flag. Yet the Magister chose to ignore this, listening to his inner voice that was telling him there had to be a misunderstanding.
“Disregarding this…”
Unintentionally, he commented on his own thoughts.
“I understand how the…”
He briefly flipped a few pages in a stack of papers before him, looking for something.
“…how Orena is seen as an offender, but her actions were clearly an act of self-defence.”
Orena snapped out of her self-absorbed state, focusing her attention on the Magister, unable to comprehend his agenda. Meanwhile, too focused on her adversary, the Magister’s remark did not reach the ears of Aeri, until she noticed something catching Orena’s attention and followed her gaze to the Magister, wondering what she had missed.
“Magister, let us follow the formal procedure. Could you, please, read the Case of Accusation?”
The Magister’s state of alert continued to rise, but he complied with the request, wanting to familiarize himself with the content of the Case as much as the fair-haired man, as he had not been given time to do it. He took a sheet of paper from the stack and began to read it.
“On behalf of the aspiring witch Aeri Uilounyuk, the Magistertum of the Academy of the Vanguard Coven hereby presents an accusation against the aspiring witch of the Academy of the Sorceress League, Orena Eltonska.
On 04.06.157 U.C., Orena Eltonska assaulted—”
His tone rose as he finished reading the word, followed by a brief pause, which his mind needed to process the contradiction between the words on the paper and his telling of the events that had occurred.
“…three aspiring witches, the members of the Kol of Omniscience of the Academy of the Vanguard Coven, inflicting fatal injuries on two of them, namely Minali Angohanyuk and Sumi Senko.
Witnesses claim Orena used a kind of powerful invocation that was clearly meant to kill her opponents.”
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
As the Magister continued reading, his tone changed from conveying scepticism to unconcealed disbelief.
“If it wasn’t for the actions of Aeri’s kol-mate Minali, who pushed her out of the way, Aeri would have suffered the same fate.
Based on this, the Magistertum of the Academy of the Vanguard Coven formally accuses Orena Eltonska of the first degree assault on aspiring witches of the Academy of the Vanguard Coven.”
The Magister then skimmed through the document once more, even flipping it over to inspect the empty other side.
“That is it?”
“Obviously, there is nothing more to it. With this, I will pass the verdict to the covens to decide upon a sentence.”
Hearing the words “verdict” and “sentence” instantly sent Orena spiralling into despair. She had been ready to accept it the moment she had stepped into the room, but hearing the Magister mention self-defence had given her hope, false hope, which had softened her mental defences before the blow, making it all the more painful.
As everyone was about to rise from their seats, the Magister interrupted their motions with a question.
“What verdict?”
“The ‘guilty’ verdict, obviously. Orena is guilty of the first degree assault on aspiring witches of the Vanguard Academy, just as stated in the Case. Or do you want to hear the announcement of the verdict with all the formalities?”
“What about the Statement of Innocence?”
“Have we not clarified this already? Your ward does not require one.”
“I am not talking about Aeri. I am talking about Orena. We haven’t heard her Statement of Innocence.”
As the Magister looked at the girl, he just now realized that there was even no one at her side.
“And whilst we are at it, where is a Magister from the Sorceress Academy who is supposed to represent her?”
Now Aeri also fixated on the Magister, confused by his attempt at defending Orena. Meanwhile, aide Eraban gave the Magister a subtle tug at his hand, drawing his attention and whispering silently.
“Magister, your ward is right there beside you.”
“I’m aware of that.”
After giving Eraban a short reply, he looked back at the fair-haired man in the anticipation of his response.
“Obviously, none is needed. And since there is no Statement of Innocence, it effectively means that the accused is guilty.”
The man then attempted to stand up again, as if ignoring the Magister’s concerns.
“No. What that means is that there is a violation of the Chapter II, Section 1, Article 2, Clause 1 of the Magistern Code of Conduct, which ties with it the invocation of the Chapter IV, Article 1.”
Tension continued building up in the room. Even the man in the shiny jacket whose eyes had been jumping between the lines of the book a moment ago now had them glued to the Magister, even if sceptically, not expecting him to go out of line. The fair-haired man, meanwhile, struggled to hide his irritation.
“Please remind me.”
“Chapter II, Section 1, Article 2 states: ‘A Magister is responsible for representing an aspiring witch from an academy of his assignment in case of her being accused of having an involvement in an inter-academy conflict of any scale.’
Clause 1 of the article states that regardless of the circumstances, a Magister must prepare a Statement of Innocence on behalf of an aspiring witch he represents. And if you are referring to the Article 1 of Chapter IV, it empowers me to file a complaint against another Magister in case of misconduct.”
Heaving heard this, the man only raised a brow. He then turned his head to his aide to the right.
Without a word spoken, the aide pulled up a bag and took out a thick book. After flipping over some pages, he gave the open book on the desk a push towards the disgruntled man, who had a quick look at a paragraph where the aide’s finger pointed.
“That is not what is says.”
“What?”
The Magister quickly reached into the bag on the floor beside him to pull out his Code. It was much slimmer than the counterpart, and respectively, it took him less time to find the lines in question.
Seeing the stark difference between the Magister’s reference material and his own prompted a comment from the fair-haired man.
“Obviously, you have been provided with an outdated copy of the Code.”
Having been given a signal from his superior, who tossed his head towards the Magister, the black-haired man walked up to him and handed the open book.
After examining the respective text, which covered a completely different topic, the Magister started meticulously looking through the other pages. To his surprise, the wording, the structure, and the content made it look like a completely different book. Something felt off. His search then shifted towards the first page of the book and then the last.
As his opponent observed the Magister, impatience found more cracks to seep through as indicated by his fingers tapping on the desk, each tap louder than the last, until he could take it no longer.
“Can we help you find what you are looking for?”
“Yes… if you could, please, point me to the page where I can find the seals of the covens, that would be much appreciated.”
“There are none.”
His reply came in a very matter-of-factly manner, as if it was something insignificant.
“Then it has no binding power upon any party. Not the Magistertum, nor the covens. In essence, it is worthless.”
As if subconsciously matching the tone of his counterpart, the Magister’s reply came just as dry.
“Watch your tongue, Magister. By saying the document which defines the essence of the Magistertum is worthless you are insulting the Magistertum itself.”
“I’m merely appealing to facts. The use of euphemisms won’t change the fact that without the seals this book’s value is equal to a set of recommendations.”
“This is ridiculous. I won’t sit here listening to a newcomer trample on the very foundation of the Magistertum. You presented your case, your role here is done. I am passing the decision to the covens.”
The other Magister next to him and three aides in the room could definitely understand what the two were on about. The same couldn’t be said for the girls, who were watching two adults pass a ball to each other, each throw becoming more forceful than the last, their eyes glued to the next player holding the ball.
“Do this, and it will be two complaints leaving my office. We’ll see if my copy of the Code is outdated!”
“The accusation is presented! The defence is absent! The verdict is made!”
“Then I overrule your ‘verdict’. Chapter IV, Article 2! I am taking Orena’s case into my personal care!”
By this point, neither was holding back any longer: they were just screaming at each other.
“You can’t do any of that and you would not dare!”
The fair-haired man slammed his hands on the desk as he shot upwards, tumbling over his chair, his face showing not only bright emotion but colour as well.
“Try me!”
The Magister rose from his chair in a similar manner. Both were frowning with intimidating look, their eyes interlocked. Everyone was speechless, except for the third Magister whose face was speaking for himself, shining bright red as he tried to contain the laughter. As for the girls, their widened eyes served as the best evidence of their astonishment. Even Aeri forgot about her animosity towards Orena for the time being.
“Everybody, please, calm down.”
Eraban stood up as well, trying to get attention, smiling as best as he could in such circumstances and stirring the air with his hands.
“There seems to be a terrible misunderstanding. I suggest we reschedule the hearing.”
The fair-haired man responded non-verbally, giving Eraban a frowned look as his eyes jumped to the Magister and back, with a nod given to him in response.
After everyone but the Magister and Eraban left, the Magister dropped, falling back into his chair, his arms hanging down to the sides. Despite the confidence he had demonstrated, that did put him through quite a stress. With his head thrown back, he let out a long exhausted breath.
“You definitely know how to make an unforgettable first impression, Magister.”
“You think?”
As Eraban got up and walked to the door, he stopped and turned his head back for a second.
“I must say, that was quite a display of professional diligence. I can only recall one other Magister who was just as diligent. From the Sorceress Academy, ironically. Too bad he is no longer… there.”
“Yeah, it’s a shame.”
Still recuperating mentally, the Magister responded reflexively, with the message Eraban was trying to convey going over his head.
It took several minutes after Eraban had left until the Magister finally came to his senses. As he got up and walked out of the room, an unexpected encounter occurred. Orena was standing there in a corridor, looking down, as if she was avoiding her eyes meet the Magister’s. She finally managed to overcome a feeling of embarrassment, just enough to look at him for a second and say one phrase.
“Thank you.”
Without waiting for a reply, she turned her eyes away from the Magister and passes him by.
After several seconds of contemplation, his reply came when she could no longer hear it.
“You’re… welcome.”
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