The class reluctantly followed the guards secure in the knowledge their teacher would fight off any threat that could appear. It was as they made their way through the city streets they began to notice that people were making themselves scarce.
“Bit quiet today?” Alex observed aloud.
“Heh… indeed, the new commander of the city defence has instituted a curfew,” Gilbert explained.
“For early afternoon?”
“Heh heh…. Obviously not, my lord… it is just the people are getting practice in, I’m sure… heh…” his explanation felt as thin as the pretext he was leading them under. What was most irritating to the class as a whole was how grating his constant chuckling was.
“Can you tell me what happened to my family?” Daisy asked, only for her to feel her skin crawl as Gilbert looked her over with a gaze that’d make even slimes feel slimy.
“I could… heh…. But that is for Lady Lust to do. She has deigned to be the one to deliver the bad news…” he gave a crooked smile that only served to further tighten Daisy’s already taught neves.
“I would appreciate it if you would refrain from speaking.” Alex’s command surprised the class and all the guards accompanying them.
“My Lord?” Gilbert asked, baffled.
“Your voice is disgusting to me… say another word unprompted I will cut your tongue from your mouth and feed it to a hellhound… am I understood?” Gilbert opened his mouth to respond, only to stop when Alex raised a finger.
“I said I don’t want to hear your voice. Just nod to indicate you understand my command,” Gilbert nodded hastily, as did his guards, who were now no longer sneering.
Daisy could see why her teacher had done such a thing though she couldn’t say she thoroughly approved of him threatening them. Yes, they were clearly vile creatures, but they were assigned as capital city guards; it was a position of honour.
Moreover, she was more focused on dwelling on what could have happened to her parents. She was experiencing the overwhelming anxiety that came from someone saying they needed to talk about something but not elaborate at all. The only difference was she knew it wasn’t going to be positive.
Weaving through the main streets of Hades Seat, they came to the Sinful quarter, otherwise known as the palatial district. This district had one residence, as any other would be the utmost insult to the domain's ruler.
This itself was common as it was a rule followed by every region, from the domain of Sloth to the domain of Wrath. The rule was that the Sinful Lord's residence had to be kept isolated within their capital city. Wrath had a palace in one wall of Vulcans Forge; Sloth had his Academy on the topmost plateau even the Grand Granary was separated from the rest of the Golden Hill.
Arriving at the palace gate, the party was stopped by soldiers in lamellar armour woven from what looked to be ankylolupus fangs. The ankylolupus, otherwise known as the armoured wolf, was a mutant and rarer form of a Fenrir wolf. To equip an entire personal militia with such armour must’ve cost a considerable amount of money.
“Papers!” the soldier with a plume that looked to be the armoured wolf's tail ordered.
“Heh… don’t you recognise me, Dalton?”
“I do, Gilbert, that is why I am asking,” the chief soldier retorted, not budging an inch.
“This hear is the Haemont party,” Gilbert explained, gesturing to the class and their teacher.
“Papers,” Dalton repeated, being entirely unmoved by this fact.
“I AM THE NEW CAPTAIN!!!”
“And I will need to see papers of entry… You could be the Dark fucking lord for all I care. I would still need to see papers.”
The class were more than happy to stand by and watch as the man who had made them feel thoroughly uncomfortable was knocked down a few pegs and with such ease. It was almost pitiable how childish his tantrum was becoming.
“I will let Septus know of your grave insult!”
“Gilbert…. Wait…” Dalton’s tone changed at the mention of this Septus person. Gilbert looked thoroughly smug, sensing he had finally won.
“You haven’t died yet, so I can’t insult your grave. So take it as a personal insult.” Gilbert's demeanour collapsed as his face flushed a deeper shade of red than the band on his arm.
“DO YOU WISH TO CHALLENGE THE CITY GUARD?!!!”
“Gilbert... Gilbert…Gilbert…” Dolton began saying the words in a gentle way one would with a toddler. “The city guard isn’t a challenge in the first place… If I were to fight you lot, it would be a warm-up exercise for my morning workout… challenge gives your rabble too much credit.”
Gilbert's face began to contort in all manner of shapes as he was set to explode in a fit of rage. With a lightning-fast motion, he reached for the hilt of his sword only to freeze the second his hand touched it. His entire being suddenly broke out in a cold sweat as a few cronies collapsed on the floor unconscious.
“Now, now boys… I came here to do a parent-teacher conference… not to see a couple of boys have a dick measuring contest… let me clarify, there is one big dick here, and you are both baby carrots,” their teacher's confident tone broke both men's gazes from one another.
It was now; as they looked at their teacher, they began to feel it. He was carefully controlling it, but there was definitely an intense aura of bloodlust rolling off him. They could tell from the moment they arrived the guard captain had gotten on his bad side. But the breaking point had been the second he went to draw a weapon.
“Now Gilbert… I don't recall permitting you to use that tongue of yours.” the Guard captain hastily covered up his mouth as he gasped.
“And you, Dolton, you would do well not to bring dishonour to the lady your serve over such petty matters. If we must do this, I will insist on joining in, and I don’t play with kiddy gloves on,” both men nervously looked at the blithely smiling teacher and nodded.
“Good now, Gilbert, pick up your men and go away… Dolton, you know who I am… you know she is expecting us… don’t mess us around… my mood has been considerably worsened by certain individuals playing with people's emotions, and I can assure you I am looking for someone to vent my frustrations at… how good is your magical defence, by the way?”
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“My deepest apologies!!!” Dolton said, bowing at a straight ninety-degree angle.
“That is ok… shall we proceed in? I know the way, so I won’t require an escort,” Dolton nodded as he signalled to the guards to let the group through. As they made their way through the gardens, the class finally felt their ability to speak return.
“Was that necessary, sir?” Kline asked.
“The guard and the Militia of Lust have hated each other since their founding. Those two would’ve been at it all day, and I imagine Daisy wants to hear what happened sooner rather than later,” Alex replied casually, showing none of the authority he had radiated mere moments ago.
“That so?” Maxwell asked, interested to learn more about the politics of the capital.
“Oh yeah, those two groups have even had silent civil wars behind the scenes.”
“By the way, Daisy, do you know Lady Lust?”
“No… my parents worked for her, but I’ve never met her… I don’t know why we are being called to see her,” Daisy replied, her anxiety only continuing to grow.
“You clearly know her, sir. What is she like?” Bea asked, hoping to get the topic of conversation onto something that could help at least temporarily take Daisy’s mind off her worries.
“Well, she is an expert at collecting debts,” Alex began.
“Debts?” Tasha parroted.
“Like money, chief?”
“No, not monetary… more like favours. She does stuff for people and gets them to owe her one. It’s why she’s such an effective Lust. Half of nobility owe her some favour or another.”
“Sounds interesting,” Maxwell muttered, seemingly unconvinced.
“Kids, let me put it this way…. She is someone I owe a debt to… she is someone I very much avoid messing with.”
These words sent a stir through the class. They had seen their teacher outright show flippancy to the Dark Lady Crozonia, the highest power and authority on the continent. But Lady Lust commanded him in a way that was no doubt a feat in of itself. Before they could ask how she had achieved this godly feat, their teacher changed the subject.
“Do you know about the personality affinities theory?”
“Person-whats-its?” Tasha said, tilting her head in confusion.
“The idea is the magical affinities you have can decide your personality. Like projection mages tend to be more introverted while enhancers are more extroverted.”
The class looked at their own numbers and could see Tasha very much as extroverted as could be. At the same time, Kline was rather introverted and was a projection mage.
“There's also the eight categories and their personality traits. The four fundamental elements and the four secondary focuses.” The class were surprised by this idea. They knew that affinities could increase the potency of a mage's spells. While not having an affinity did not bar someone from using the spells, it always did help significantly.
“Like fire?” Bea asked.
“Yes, let’s start with fire. People with a high fire affinity are much like a campfire. They are warm and bright and prefer to be the centre of attention. You guys know two such people with strong affinities in fire.”
“You mean sir Hadean and Jack?” Maxwell asked.
“Exactly. They both are pure fire affinities.”
“Pure?” Tasha repeated.
“Meaning they don’t have any others. Me, I have Earth, Air, Illusion and Necromancy. Because I have many, it’s not pure.”
“Ok, so what does air mean then?” Daisy asked, hoping to take her mind off her worries as she walked. She half-heartedly wanted to even point out she had a good fire affinity herself.
“Air are free spirits drawn to adventure. Rosy is an excellent example of a pure affinity. It’s why she can get lost without an escort. She will just go where the wind takes her.”
“And water?” Gunter asked.
“Depends on the type. If they are a warm person, they will be very flexible and adaptable. But if they are cold, they will be inflexible to the point of breaking. Cyano is an example of that. She arrested you for a minor infraction anyone else would’ve let slip.” The class grimaced at their hard learnt lesson courtesy of Meso. Thinking of the bastard elf, they were left with his chief element.
“What about earth?” Kline asked.
“Earth affinities are people who strictly keep to rules and are stubborn and refuse to be moved without great effort.”
The class paused midstep to look at their teacher. They knew from Yuu that his greatest affinity was earth magic. But the idea that their teacher was very strict with following rules was laughable.
“I can tell what you are thinking. It doesn’t have to be the laws. It is a set of personal rules. Meso, for instance, he will make sure he has studied every angel to the point of obsession. For me, it is a hardline with letting people I care about be hurt.”
Hearing this explanation, the class nodded in understanding. This explained it better, and they had seen firsthand the lengths their teacher would go to keep his own set of morals fulfilled.
“What about the secondary affinities?” Daisy asked, not wanting the conversation to end as that would mean she would have to let the growing dread take hold once more.
“Yes, these are Illusion, Healing, Holy and Necromancy. Illusion mages are people who greatly enjoy pranks and trickery. They are the kind that lives for mischief.” The class once again paused their walking. The description matched their teacher. But they knew of someone who had an incredibly high affinity for illusion magic that it could not match the description.
“What about lord Sloth?” Bea asked, finally broaching the topic.
“Oh, him… well, I’m told by the old guard that I am very much like he was in his youth… and well, let me tell you, that man may be the laziest thing to magically float above this world, but he will put considerable effort into a prank… My entire time at the academy as a student was mired in struggles just for his amusement.”
“Sounds rough,” Maxwell replied, patting their teacher on the shoulder, feeling guilty as his late brother was partially the cause of that trouble.
“Next are healing affinities. They are people possessed by overwhelming empathy. They are the sort who would suffer in silence to not trouble anyone. The sort to be willing to accept another's burden. Martyrs essentially.” The class nodded to this explanation. The few healing specialists they had met had been overwhelmingly generous to a fault.
“Holy affinities are often occupied by god botherers—people who, while well-meaning, can overstep. Often though, their intentions are the best. The gods don’t bestow affinities to people who are going to be bad investments.”
“What about necromancy?” Daisy asked, causing the class to gulp. They couldn’t help but wonder what personality trait could be associated with an affinity for magic specialised in ending lives.
“Well, it should be obvious, kids,” their teacher replied with a bemused look as he arched an eyebrow.
“Necromancy affinities are people consumed with the need to know more.”
“Huh?” the class chorused as one.
“No, really, the majority of necromancers are just a bunch of curious dorks. Did you know like ninety percent of liches are just mages who wanted more time to research? Hell, I am making the preparations to become one myself.”
Now their teacher had mentioned it there was a disproportionate amount of liches within the research and development industry. They were people who would work day and night in pursuit of a single goal. Their school's headmaster being a prime example.
“So what is Lady Lust’s affinity?” Daisy asked just as they began to near the doors to the palace itself.
“Oh, she is a pure fire.”
“So she is showy?” Bea asked.
“Let me put it this way. Her last apprentice was Haddy.”
That put a very interesting image into their head that the master manipulator and debt collector of the dark continent was a very showy, attention-seeking being.
“And what debt do you owe her, if I may ask?” Maxwell asked.
“One that several lifetimes won’t be enough to repay,” Alex replied as he opened a locket around his neck to look at a portrait of Elissa.
“Marriage between two races of different origins and ranks is something challenging. I wouldn’t dare deprive Elissa of her family if we eloped… so I owe a debt that I will happily repay.”