The day was coming to an end. For the students, at least, but not for the Magister. His desk was still visually skewed with much more documents on the left—the “in” side—than the finished stack on the opposite side.

After finishing another folder, he took his time pulling the next from the top, as if each word in it had been adding to the weight.

The door handles moved, and so did his eyes. They jumped to the doors just as Aeri stormed in. She slammed her hands onto the desk, her furious eyes conveying the message before she opened her mouth.

“What in the coven’s name do you think you’re doing?”

“Oh, my saviour!”

“W-what?”

“No, nothing.”

He cleared his throat, coughing a few times, and put one hand onto another, as if he had been trying to make some kind of impression.

“I am simply following standard procedures for a case like this. For a case like yours.”

“Do you have any idea what a letter from the coven means? Do you know what trouble it can get me into?”

“Very much so. Up to the point of expulsion in case of non-compliance. It wouldn’t be as effective without consequences.”

In the background, Hane came in, closing the doors. As she walked to her desk, the Magister looked at her, giving a nod.

“I don’t know what is it that you want with me. But you want to have a counselling session? Fine. I acknowledge my mistake. I was wrong. It will never happen again. There. Bye, old man.”

The Magister had barely enough time to inhale, ready to address her ‘confession’, yet the air left his lungs in a sigh, following a loud slam of the doors.

He closed his eyes, taking another deep breath.

“Hane, send the message to the coven, please. This time for real.”

He opened his eyes, seeing Aeri again, who appeared before him faster than the doors hit the walls.

“Are you serious?”

A silent gesture invited her to take a seat at the opposite side of the desk.

“Thank you. I’m fine.”

The words came through gritted teeth, her lips barely moving, as if had taken her both mental and physical effort to utter each word.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“Now then. Let’s start with your interpretation of the events that occurred that day.”

“She attacked us.”

“Correct. If I understand correctly, a sorceress attacked you when you and your friends, as any students after a day of studies, lost your way to the dorms of your academy and accidentally ended up on the Sorceress Academy grounds. Did I get that right?”

“I— It was— We were there for a reason.”

“The reason being…”

“We— That— We needed—”

“Uh-huh. Yes. I see. Please continue. I think I’m starting to see the picture.”

Aeri’s eye started visibly twitching.

“Fine, yes, you got me. I attacked her. But she provoked me, she was the one who started it all.”

“It looks like we’re making progress. So how exactly did she provoke you?”

This question made her frown. She got angrier, but not without reason, it seemed. It was like he hit a nerve or triggered unpleasant memories.

“She assaulted my friend, and she ended up in recovery. Harin is still unconscious.”

Recalling going through the kol’s folder earlier, it became apparent why the fourth member had not been at the site of the incident.

“Why? Did something happen between them?”

“I don’t know and I don’t care. You don’t ask why somebody hits you, you hit them back.”

“Do you at least have any ideas? Anything that could have led to this?”

“I have never seen her before. And I doubt Harin has. We have no business with Sorceress witches. Did not have. Until now.”

“So you don’t even know her? Then how do you know she was the one who attacked first?”

“Are you deaf? Were you even listening to what I was saying? My friend is in recovery and she is unharmed.”

“There could have been a misunderstanding.”

“Misunderstanding? What kind of misunderstanding leads to someone ending up in recovery?”

“For instance, one in which three witches assault a sorceress on an assumption that she assaulted their friend, which results in tragic consequences.”

Aeri hit the desk with her fist, sending a vibration across the wooden surface.

“Do you think this is funny? Can you even imagine what it is like to succumb to mortal wounds? All of my friends are in recovery and unconscious, and I don’t know when or—”

A word was on the tip of her tongue, one she was reluctant to utter, but it was apparent what kind of doubt was gnawing at her.

“…when they are going to wake up.”

“Under no circumstances would I ever consider something like this to be funny. And the only reason we are having this conversation is to prevent something like this from ever happening again.”

Hearing this cooled down her temper. Not because of what the Magister said, but rather how, simply changing his tone a bit. Up until now, she had been baring her fangs at him, believing he would not even snarl, but this was enough for her to catch a glimpse of his own teeth, and they were surely sharp.

“Take some time to think this over. We will continue this conversation another time.”

The opportunity was taken without hesitation with only wind left in the wake of the angry girl’s hasty parting.

The Magister’s gaze fell back to the desk, where a folder still hung from the top of a stack. He had expected this session to take some burden off this mind, not add to it.