Morning of the Parade
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Tansen was currently going over the orders for various goods in his windowless office, both to and from the academy. The bigger headache, sitting by itself off to the side of the pile, was a letter with complaints from the Rangers. They had been hounding him for a meeting since the raid and this was their latest demand.
His mind went back to the bandit raid after looking over their latest letter demanding they be allowed to investigate. Looking out over the atrocities and destruction had been infuriating. The time he had spent on the road had been defined by swift personal action, either to save fair maidens or in the split seconds of brawling street fights.
It was a heck of a lot more dangerous but damn if it wasn't more fun than having to be the academy head sitting in the back and giving orders. And it also came with the benefit of not having any reports or paperwork to fill out afterward.
His thoughts were interrupted by the opening of the door and Agatha coming through with a letter in her hand. The mid 30's blond with a black work dress came up to his desk.
"From home office," She said as she handed he letter to him.
Tansen looked over the letter and sighed.
"Again? How many times am I going to have to tell them the same thing? Men can put out a lot of children, but there comes a certain point where even scions will drift to other interests. Ryan getting into crafting and heroics more and Andrew training harder is slowing down their child making, but that always happens. What magic wand do they think I have to fix human nature?" He asked exasperatingly.
"They know that it's just that the natural curve of the decline happened far more quickly than most. Maybe it's something to do with those trials?" She asked innocently.
Tansen sighed as he leaned back in his chair.
"They could at least take a day off to celebrate their victory in congress," He said mopingly.
While it had no bearing on the average folk, the upper echelons of society were buzzing with the surprise passage of an amendment to the breeding mandate. The provision, to make casters breeding a matter of law, had been a matter of some contention for a while. Although they had to make some compromises along the way, the Front had managed to mandate that male casters must try for a child at least 3 times a week and female casters, if able, must produce at least 5 children by 30.
It may seem like a light requirement, but the mandate as a whole was considered to be made of two pieces: part push to increase mankind's magical potential and part protection of scion and caster mages against coercion from political, social, or military powers. This meant that every single word was gone over with a fine comb by legal experts of nearly every field and credential. Getting any sort of change done to it was considered a pipe dream by most but apparently the Front had managed to get the pull in the government needed to get it passed.
"It's not like it came freely. I heard we had to loan out a lot of mages to the government to make it happen," She said with surprising indifference.
Tansen raised an eyebrow at this and decided to press her on the specifics.
"Just why was handing over mages worth getting this in? Another thing, why did they go for casters and not scions?" He asked.
"They did, at first. But changing anything concerning scions is far, far harder than changing the sections with the casters. Besides, it would be pointless considering how much 'soft' pressure" Her hardened face and the sarcasm made it clear how hard this 'soft' power was.
"The government brings down on those scions who don't produce. So our job is already being seen to there, the casters were just being neglected in this area" She finished.
"Legislators, military professionals, mages, and teachers. You can change laws, petition a censor of people, and get a say in military operations. What the Front doesn't do would seem to be the more important question." Tansen said.
"Our bounds are wherever magic is found, from here to our main offices on the coast or central continent. As long as it involves magic, the Front will be involved with it." She said as she turned to go.
Tansen leaned back when the door closed.
He just sat there for a few minutes staring at the smooth soft white ceiling. There was something going on the past several days that nipped at him. It was like a fly that would faintly brush up against his skin but would be gone from sight when he went to swat it. Now that Agatha had mentioned the trials, Tansen felt like he was getting closer to the trail of this little irritant and it wasn't his grumbling about staying in the back of the fight either.
But it was getting close to midday and he had an appointment to keep. Coming out to the academy gate into the town there was the platform with the walking boulder Ryan, Agatha, and the confetti throwers. As Tansen came onto the platform one of the guards gave the thumb up. The gate opened and the crowd cheered their new savior. Some women blew kisses and shook themselves provocatively towards their new hero while the men fist-pumped and cheered Ryan on.
As he scanned over the crowd his eye eventually went over one couple in particular. A Kelton woman. human-shaped head with fur, pure white eyes, and ivory horns contrasted with a good red dress together with a man would be odd. A Kelton woman in a red dress with a man who had purple eyes, silver hair, and a chain mail veil was freakish. While he paid the two no more time than anyone else, that time contained more focus and attention than most of the people he had given the past several days combined.
When Tansen had heard that Ryan was going to be getting all the credit for the dock battle, he had been quite upset. As academy head, he had access to the only telescope currently on the academy grounds, another order of which had been added to the pile of requests. He hadn't seen all of it but the towering height of the walls had given him enough vision to see who had truly turned the tide before the garrison had even rallied.
That Eli hadn't even officially protested his lack of recognition had also been a matter of irritation for him. Was it cowardice or wisdom that stayed his tongue? When you're on the bottom of the pile the two are close blood brothers, so maybe it wasn't Tansen's place to judge him for it. But there was something more to it, that feeling of missing some piece to the puzzle stuck in the academy head's mind even as he gave his short speech to the crowd.
As Tansen came down with Ryan among the crowd of important onlookers, the various envoys and people of note from the coalitions magical and military institutions swarmed over the newest prize for their membership pools. As the back and forth went on one particular general, clad in military honors and the dark green armor, highly polished and richly inlaid with gold, reserved for those of high rank made himself known.
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His name was Marvin. A favored friend of the president, a veteran of many battles and the overseer of the operations against the orcs, when one thought 'set for life' they saw the man with a chiseled jaw to match his toned physique, greying black hair and dark green eyes that was him. Right now, Marvin was rubbing his clean-shaven face as he looked at Ryan and walked over to Tansen.
"Ah, Tansen. Good, Good. After getting a crafter", He stopped and lightly chuckled at the thought as Tansen grinned and bore it. "A crafter as a dual trial winner, there was chatter that the academy for the Coalitions top talent was losing its touch. But after this, it seems those concerns have been laid to rest." He said with mirth in his eyes.
"Lest you forget that crafter had his tools best Ryan." Tansen retorted.
Marvin waved his hands dismissively.
"Bah, bad timing and accidents can make any warrior stumble. No matter their power or their opponent." He said as he looked over the walking boulder currently shaking the hands of a female water mage.
Then the crowd of personages parted and a green-eyed elf with blond hair came through. Dior, the elf with almost human features, looked at the crowd dismissively as he came up to Tansen.
"The men haven't returned with any news. But we are also putting every available member of the guild to work as well." Tansen said quickly, remembering the etiquette advice Aki had told him about getting to the point immediately.
"Good. Father has come across some...information. We should focus our efforts more in the southern region." Dior replied before turning around to leave.
But as Dior turned to go, Marvin walked up to him.
"Hello, my name's Marvin. You may be-" He started but Dior just shoved past and moved down the road towards the bridge. Marvin looked bitterly at the increasingly distant figure as the swirl around Ryan resumed.
Tansen just looked over the crowd again, for what he did not know, but eventually, after mingling with the various peoples both important and common, the festivities came to an end late in the afternoon. As Tansen was walking back towards the academy gate he looked down the path towards the sacked section of the town. As he looked over the road he got the feeling that he now knew what it was that was bothering him.
During the procession of bandits immediately after the raid, He had moved near the lines of guards on the higher hill of the academy entrance. Of course, no one would even suggest a caster or scion be present lest they risk danger to themselves, but what was the point of having the power to take command in a fight if you can't even look at the defeated in contempt? While everyone was looking at Ryan, he was keeping a watch on Eli to see what his emotional state was in case he decided to make a scene.
Tansen was told Eli had killed two prisoners, one by the docks and one on this road which Tansen had borne witness too. He pondered on that scene again and again.
Tansen was thinking about it over and over even as he got into his office to finish up his paperwork. As he neared the door he saw it was slightly open between the two guards
"Sir," One of the guards said to him.
"Yes," he responded irritably.
"The head of the rangers is inside. She said she was expected." the guard.
Tansen growled and stormed through. Standing in front of his desk was a 5 '9 woman with graying black hair covered in a headdress and grey leather armor. Her tanned wrinkled face and soft blue eyes might seem kind but the color of her arraignment and big grey hood marked her as a member of the Rangers. And to Tansen's knowledge, she matched the description of their Leader, Freya.
Beside her was some man with a cut over his green eyes. He had the same attire but his hood was pulled down. His hair was black, cut short and he had a strong chin with a curved nose.
"Ah good to see you, I do hope you've made a full recovery from the bandit raid?" She said sweetly.
"Oh just fine. May I get you tea or maybe some wine from my personal larder or the favorite book from my collection? After all, you've made yourself so comfortable already" Tansen replied in as sweet a voice as he could manage as he walked past her.
"Nah just one crafter is all I need." She said.
Tansen raised an eyebrow to her as he took his seat at the desk.
"That seems like an odd dish, but I suppose the rangers have never been too picky," Tansen responded.
Freya got a light chuckle out of that.
"We need one. A particular one for a more.... judicial matter." She said, but her jovial tone didn't hide the murderous glint in her eyes.
"What crafter could help the Rangers? You lot don't even get along with other casters" Tansen asked absentmindedly as he shifted through the various reports on his desk.
"Not help, just rectify a misdeed against one or more of our members." She said.
"What misdeed could they help you correct if you can't get the perp yourselves?" Tansen asked as he leaned back into his chair, now actually intrigued by this conversation.
"They are the perp," Frey said with a wolfish grin.
"Who?" Tansen asked, his mind already weighing a rejection. As academy head any decision of moving the students from the academy had to be brought to him and only then would they be brought to the local authorities. There were only two exceptions to this rule:
Orc mating that is punished in an unsatisfactory manner and a national emergency declaration that goes uncontested.
"Eli" She said.
Well, that made the decision very easy.
"He's had a great performance in the trials but I don't see how he could have gotten the jump on some of the best casters of the coalition in a real-world scenario." Tansen deflected as he tried to come up with the most polite rejection.
"Not in a combat scenario, but in the middle of town being walked around like a dog. Joren was being walked through town like a common criminal and Eli cut him down like he was moving dirt off his shoe." The man said, his snarl grew and grew until any pretense of the cool collected bystander was gone.
"Ah, he speaks. What is your name?" Tansen said nonchalantly.
"Noah," He said blankly.
Freya shot him a severe look but Tansen noticed that the docile woman had now disappeared and what he now saw was a mother bear getting ready to tear into whatever poor soul had harmed one of her cubs.
"This Joren fellow brought it on himself, if he hadn't gotten mixed up in the bandits he would have been spared." Tansen retorted as he picked up the latest report on food deliveries.
"He didn't get involved with the bandits. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. And Eli cut him down for what? To take attention away from the hero of the battle. I'd say I'm doing you a favor getting such a bad seed out of your academy. We lost a good water caster for fucking nothing" She responded coldly.
"He didn't cut him down for nothing-" Tansen said as a revelation hit him like a physical blow. His gratitude to this report for covering his face was immeasurable at this moment.
"Joren started resisting and throwing a tantrum. Given the circumstances, I'd say Eli's response was warranted. It wasn't 'fair' but as a trained soldier he should have known to keep calm and wait to get to the judge." Tansen said.
Frey took in a deep breath and looked at Tansen like she would love to beat him into submission until she got what she wanted. The seasoned veteran bit her tongue though and promptly walked out the door without another word, her companion following suit after a hard glare.
Tansen's spine tingled as he ran over the scene of Eli cutting into Joren again. This time taking in the look on Joren's face, the swiftness of Eli's movements, and the soft glow of what he had thought was some kind of powder. The distance made it hard to see but Eli blocking some blue powder from being thrown at him seemed like the most likely solution.
But Joren seemed shocked. Like he wasn't expecting what had just happened before his head was removed. Maybe it was foolish arrogance but with him being a well-trained soldier and a water mage another possibility presented itself.
Eli saw his mana construct.
Tansen repeated the phrase to himself then huffed at his foolishness. When he said it to himself again and went over the scene in his mind's eye there was a feeling in his gut, some niggling bit of instinct telling him he was right. But there was the more practical side telling him that it was just nonsense and he would rightly reprimand any of his staff for wasting his time with such drivel.
Eventually, he reached a decision.
This line of thought was too absurd to look into officially. Mostly because it was probably nothing, and being the headmaster who thought a crafter was actually a secret caster is the sort of tale of incompetence that tends to outlive nations.
'But subtle off the books snooping was another matter' he thought as he started going over the people he knew could keep discretion in good faith.