We found our reluctant tour guides surrounded by half a dozen students, all huddled together like some curious, feathered flock in a silly cartoon.
"Listen here... Pelit! Hello?"
The man became functionally useless whenever a girl entered his field of vision.
Thankfully, Rimel was focused and willing to retrieve our wayward friend.
"Ouch! Why did you strike me!?"
His bewilderment lasted only until he met my less-than-pleasant stare.
"Ahem... my apologies. I am now fully present," he promised.
I assessed the crowd behind them. They noticed our presence and mostly dispersed, with the exception of a few brave souls who chose to remain near the Orlean siblings.
"Let's keep this brief. I am famished. And boys, low profiles—at least for the time being, agreed?"
They both offered me an encouraging thumbs-up, and we rejoined the others.
There were only three new faces, those who possessed the courage to remain. The others retreated to their own pursuits, though they maintained a watchful eye on us.
"Oh, h-hello again," a visibly shaky Milan stepped forward.
He nearly stumbled. Pelit attempted to laugh but managed to disguise it as a reasonably convincing cough. To be fair, Milan's nerves were clearly getting the better of him.
His sister's eyes remained fixed on me. They were so intensely narrowed I briefly thought she had closed them entirely.
I sighed and retrieved my backpack, which we had left near the door.
"By the way, these are our friends: Tommy, Leyla, and Irina," Lor introduced the students surrounding them.
The three acknowledged us with a polite nod. One of us, predictably, could not restrain himself.
"It's wonderful to meet you all. I'm Pelit. These two are my brothers, Ferith and Rimel. Ferith is the nephew of the—"
Rimel rapidly tapped his shoulder to silence him, while I welcomed the oncoming headache like an old friend.
"—umm... so, w-what... what do you all do in your free time?" he finished with palpable awkwardness.
To our collective surprise, the brunette named Leyla covered her mouth but failed to fully stifle her laughter.
Rimel and I shared a brief smile as we watched Pelit's starry-eyed gaze. As pleasant as this interlude was, I had obligations, so I stepped forward and gathered my friends.
"It has been a pleasure meeting all of you, but if you don't mind, we will postpone the rest of the tour. We have endured a protracted journey, and the residual magical pushback is quite tiresome. Furthermore, I am required to report to the Headmaster."
They each offered an understanding nod, and Milan looked genuinely relieved that we were departing.
His sister's sense of duty won out over her intense suspicion. "I will show you the dormitories."
We bid goodbye to the others and followed her.
She allowed me to precede her through the enchanted door, and her eyes visibly narrowed again at my wand-less passage.
The school was immense. Ancient, of course, and intrinsically cold, yet magic corrected all that. Since conventional electricity failed near concentrated magical cores, our society had to rely on other means for heating and illumination.
The layout was simple, thank Merleau.
My ancestors had the good sense not to overcomplicate things when it came to interior design. Two primary stairwells: one led toward the study halls, and the other ascended to the dormitories. Simple.
We were led up the stairs, passing a few early arrivals. Some even attempted a courteous greeting.
Poor Lor's previously bubbly personality was utterly gone, replaced by a solemn, brooding silence, punctuated by the occasional sigh.
All in all, I considered it a favorable trade.
"This is the room number you must memorize."
She abruptly stopped in front of a door: 420.
"You will share this room with others, but they will arrive sometime tomorrow. Once you have unpacked, please find me outside, and I will escort you to the Headmaster's office."
It took me a second to realize she expected me to acknowledge her statement, even though she had spent the last six minutes treating us like an unpleasant odor.
Instead, I simply opened the door and entered, leaving her standing there. I could still hear Rimel attempting to salvage the situation before the door closed.
"...Thanks for the... w-we will see you later."
The interior of the room was far larger than I had imagined. I had never seen these specific quarters before, so it was a surprise to me as well.
Five beds. This meant we would have to contend with two additional roommates starting tomorrow.
"That girl Lor is attractive, but in a peculiar way. That other girl, though... Leyla... she is absolutely breathtaking."
I was so mentally drained that his words barely registered. One thing was certain: adjusting to my friends' evolving hormonal landscape would be a significant challenge.
"Her name, I believe, was Leyla," Rimel confirmed, then turned to me. "Ferith, I will take the bed by the window."
"Yes, no problem. I will claim the one adjacent to it."
We instinctively chose beds identical to our setup back at The Taj.
We spent the next thirty minutes efficiently unpacking everything we had brought.
I then showed them the envelope the Captain had given me, which immediately made them emotional, and I saw the first undeniable signs of homesickness.
After counting the money, we agreed they had been far too generous.
"Hmm... all the boys must have chipped in, then?" I asked, feeling emotional myself.
Pelit was already blowing his nose, and Rimel stood gazing out the window, acting stoic but feeling the loss just as much as the rest of us.
Those ragtag castaways... they genuinely cared.
After sharing some dried food and dehydrated fruits that we had stored for literal emergencies, I was ready to leave.
"Alright. I am going to visit my uncle. Can the two of you stay put for an hour?" I asked, walking past them.
Their quick, compliant nodding gave me a nauseating feeling of being observed, but I pushed it down.
Closing the door behind me, I went straight for his office. I knew I had left our tour guide standing out there for a long time, but to be fair, I hadn't realized her sense of duty was so simple-minded at the time.
——
Inside his office, Marcus was hard at work on his promise to me. I appreciated the effort.
He was pacing over a large, detailed map of the globe, which was magically engraved into the floor. He held his wand in one hand and a faintly glowing purple crystal in the other—the very reason I had agreed to return home.
He looked up, acknowledged my presence, and maintained the spell's concentration.
Since he was clearly engaged in calibrating a complex spell matrix designed to cover the country, I decided to take a look around his office.
I had only been in here once before, just after my parents' funeral. Needless to say, I didn't possess fond memories of the space.
On his desk, which was large enough to sleep on, were various sealed letters, several glass figures depicting ancient races such as Dwarves and the fabled Elfin, and the most elusive of all, Fairies.
His chair? I sat down and tested it. It was remarkably comfortable.
I noticed the same photograph he had given me on his table. There were a few others: some with his colleagues, a few with his brother from childhood, and one from my parents' wedding.
And one of me.
I picked up the picture. It was from five years ago, taken just after we had finished constructing the gazebo. I even recalled the moment my father had asked us to make funny faces.
We, needless to say, had maintained our most stone-faced expressions.
The picture was one part of a gift, the second being the gazebo itself—a gift built specifically for my mother.
"Nostalgic?"
I hadn't noticed when he finished his work.
"A little," I replied, placing the picture back down and rising from his chair. "How did the spell work?"
He frowned, taking his own seat. "Of course, it was successful. My colleagues assisted."
That was a surprise. He was the one who always told me he had no friends.
"Times have certainly changed. So, when should we anticipate the first readings regarding the location of the other crystals?" I asked, pointing to the one he had held.
"A week. Two, perhaps. It depends, kid." He flipped his hand, and the crystal vanished. "Trust me when I say this: I will locate the rest."
His confidence was absolute.
"I trust you. You have already proven yourself by finding one of the three."
"Legends and myths are tricky things. What is outright fiction, and what possesses a kernel of truth?" He stood up and walked toward a large bookshelf. "It becomes even murkier when dealing with our diminutive friends."
He handed me a large, leather-bound book.
The Comprehensive History of the Fairy Kingdom and its Fall
Andrew A. Hublard
"If you were to ask me, Hublard had their direct assistance while writing this. But the man himself vanished centuries ago, so that route is long closed to us. Regardless, a little light reading, if you are inclined."
I flipped through it and immediately realized: Rimel would absolutely devour this.
"Ferith, regarding your condition... your being wand-less... it will cause you considerable trouble—"
"Are you about to offer me advice on how to handle adolescent children and their unwillingness to accept things they don't understand?" I asked, my expression stoic.
He looked briefly suspicious. "Perhaps."
I sighed dramatically and changed the subject.
"Is there a schedule or some document detailing classes and such? What about textbooks and everything else we might require?"
I decided to ask all the practical questions Rimel thought only an idiot would have failed to ask already, so I could report back to him later.
"I had rather hoped you would make use of your key to the vaults and... buy everything you need in the town," he answered, tapping his table. "What?"
He could have told us to arrive a day or two earlier to allow us sufficient time to purchase what we needed.
"Never mind. What is this 'key' business?" I asked.
He looked confused for a second, then quickly understood.
"For the Bank. You never knew? Dammit. How is it possible you never asked?"
"I earned my own money," I shrugged.
"But not initially, I imagine," he murmured to himself, likely feeling a fresh surge of guilt.
Apparently, he had assumed I was making regular withdrawals. Silly old man.
"Alright. Calm down. I am here, I am fine, and I never starved to death, alright? Now, what exactly do I require to access my money and the necessary supplies?"
"Lor or Milan will—"
"I will figure it out, thank you," I interjected, anticipating his next answer.
He smiled, got up, and put his hands around my shoulders.
"Have patience with the kids here. They have lived a far more sheltered and peaceful existence. Take it easy on them, okay?"
I rolled my eyes internally, thinking that if we didn't seriously injure any of these pampered children by Christmas, it would be a genuine miracle. But I did understand the underlying sentiment.
"Understood. Don't worry about me and the boys. We appreciate peace. We will manage."
I tucked the heavy book inside my jacket and walked toward the door when my uncle called after me.
"Ferith."
"Hmm?" I turned around.
He walked closer and hugged me tightly.
"I missed you, kid."
I embraced the man, almost automatically.
He had given me the chance to put everything right.
Whatever it takes.