The building was an architectural marvel, its interior a minimalist dream of polished chrome and reinforced glass. They passed through a bustling atrium filled with students, who, upon seeing Sophia, quickly parted ways, creating a clear path.
The place was intimidating.
Clean.
It was located at the top of the main academic building, offering a sprawling view of the academy below. The walls were covered in a dark, gleaming wood, intricate carvings depicting the seven Primordial Witches.
The room itself was dominated by a large, circular table made of some dark, mana-infused wood that absorbed and reflected light with an unsettling depth.
But no one sat in it.
One of them was sprawled out on the sofa, one hand on her revealed stomach, her cyan blue hair running down the arms rests, her eyes were in a middle ground of being awake and asleep.
Another was scrolling mindlessly on his phone, his eyes completely glued to the screen, he had headphones around his neck but he couldn't hear anything that was around him.
As Hoshimi and Kira entered, a hush fell over the room.
One of them walked over to Hoshimi, her long red hair was messy like she had just woken up, her shirt wasn't fully buttoned up, her knees were shaking. She got up close, to the point where the smell of her breath filled his nose.
Hoshimi flinched, moving away from her face.
[Alcohol?]
She ran her fingers across his chest, hiccuping before she could get a word out, her amber eyes narrowed like she was staring at a piece of meat ready to devour. "You're cute… lemme smash," her voice was sultry and slow, each word accentuated by her deep voice.
"Move." Sophia waved her hand off him, swiping the alcohol out of her hand and taking a chug of it herself.
"Aw, you're no fun prez."
A girl with eyes like chips of amber sat down next to the main seat, her silver hair pulled back into a severe bun. Her gaze was particularly intense, lingering on Hoshimi with an almost unnerving familiarity. She wore a uniform adorned with the emblem of the Smiths.
Kira hugged herself, trying to make herself smaller, to disappear. The air felt thick, heavy with unspoken expectations and raw mana.
Hoshimi met her gaze with his usual blank detachment. His violet eyes moved from face to face, registering their presence.
[They're all compressing the amount of mana they have, even while asleep.]
Sophia, already at the head of the table, gestured towards two empty chairs. "Sit."
"And let's make it quick." Sophia tapped her fingers on the wooden surface. "I have better things to do."
"Like eating snacks and gaming?"
"Exactly." Sophia crossed her arms. "You know me so well."
Kira stumbled slightly, her legs almost giving out as she navigated the polished floor. Hoshimi guided her to one of the chairs. Kira sat on the edge of her seat, hands clasped tightly in her lap. He sat down right beside her, slouched slightly, his hands still in his pockets.
"It's really nerveracking here." Kira whispered in his ear.
"They're just like you, witches who have gone through a lot." He smiled at her. "Relax."
"Okay."
"Auntie Reina tells me you managed to clean up the Mirlo mess rather spectacularly," Sophia began, dismissively looking away from him. "And all without breaking a sweat, it seems." Her gaze flickered to Kira, then back to Hoshimi, a ghost of a smile playing on her lips. "Quite the busy few weeks, wouldn't you say, Hoshimi?"
Hoshimi merely met her gaze and shrugged. "I mean, we didn't do much bodyguard work, we were more like entertainers rather than anything, and I didn't conclude anything anyways, it's more that I sped things up."
The silver-haired girl with amber eyes across the table scoffed softly, a barely audible sound that was quickly suppressed.
Sophia, however, seemed amused. "Hmm."
She leaned forward, her voice dropping slightly, a hint of steel in its tone. "You understand the implications of your findings, I trust? Elias Mirlo," Her finger ran across the edge of the table, collecting dust on her fingertip and blowing it. "A child, orchestrating a regicide, a father doing live human experiments to bring back his dead daughter. And Adrian, a human, driven to madness by witch influence, committing matricide. To be honest, that's way too much, don't you think?"
"What is that supposed to mean?" Hoshimi tilted his head in confusion. "Are you summarizing everything that happened to make yourself sound smart?"
"Shut up, I'm having my moment here!"
"Anyways." Sophia pretended to cough, as her gaze sharpened. "Auntie Reina, in her infinite wisdom, has prepared a... little something for you. Surely she has told you about it, but these include the finer details of your new task." She pushed a sleek, black folder across the table. It slid silently, coming to rest directly in front of Hoshimi.
It was sealed with the distinctive insignia of the Witch's Department – a stylized, three-eyed serpent coiled around a crystal ball. Sophia took out a piece of paper. "From Reina, smiley face, smiley face, hope you have a fun time solving this one."
"Of course she would write something like that."
"It's probably something important Hoshimi, she's that type of person. It'd probably need to be a world ending threat to take anything seriously and even that may be a stretch."
"Wow," Hoshimi replied, with a blank look on his face. "Rare of you to pick up on anything even slightly implicit.
"Are you calling me stupid?"
He shrugged. "Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. I'm just telling you the obvious."
"Bitch."
Hoshimi picked up the document. The paper felt heavy, important. He made no move to open it.
Next, Sophia slid a small, nondescript black box across the table. It was about the size of a cigarette pack, made of matte, smooth material, and completely featureless save for a tiny, almost invisible speaker grille on one side. "And this," Sophia said. "Is also from her. She wanted you to have this, even she hasn't touched this, one of the maids from the estate asked her to give this to you. Said it was… a farewell gift from Audrey."
Hoshimi's eyes, for the first time, flickered with a hint of curiosity. He reached out, his gloved fingers brushing against the cool, smooth surface of the black box. It felt strangely heavy, disproportionate to its size. Reminiscent of the black box that the patriarch used to relay messages.
Hoshimi nodded.
"Is that everything?" he asked. He made no move to inspect either item further, simply tucking them both inside his coat, the black box nestled against his chest, the document folded neatly into an inner pocket.
Sophia's eyes narrowed slightly. "Are you really expecting anything more? That was all she asked me to give you, be glad that I even acted as your stupid little delivery person," she added, her voice dropping, a subtle warning woven into her tone. "Don't do anything stupid, not that I would expect that sort of thing from you but she says that she expects you to not disappoint her."
"What's the reason for dragging her here as well, she's not very comfortable here y'know?" Hoshimi asked her, pointing over towards Kira.
"We're observing her, she's a really valuable asset to the Academy," Sophia paused. "The daughter of a lieutenant in the notorious Leviathans, Daniel Aamon. If we don't watch her closely, she could turn out like her father."
Kira started shaking, holding onto her forearms, she couldn't get a single word out and not a single thought went through her mind.
Hoshimi stared into her eyes. "You're treating her like she's an object, you're scaring her."
Sophia chuckled at his words, trying to stifle her laughter at the irony. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare her, it wasn't my words, it's the higher up's. So don't blame me for their words."
"I understand you working for Reina, but why would you even listen to the words of the higher ups? Didn't you want freedom in the first place? Isn't that why you escaped the Miller estate in the first place?"
"This and the situation between the other Millers are different, I'm only taking the higher ups' words here into consideration, I'm not following their orders."
"You're like nitpicking your freedom, or maybe you're too stupid and over your head to the point to realize that you're being used."
"Coming from you is kind of crazy." Sophia crossed her arms. "But make sure to keep Kira Aamon contained."
"She's not a monster."
"Debatable," Sophia's eyes narrowed. "Depending on whether or not you keep her under wraps."
Hoshimi hid Kira behind him. "I'm not arguing with you anymore."
Sophia sighed in annoyance. "Anyways, you're dismissed, leave already."
Hoshimi nodded, a dismissive jerk of his head. Hoshimi rose, pulling Kira up with him. Her legs still felt like jelly, her face pale. He turned and left the room, Kira scrambling to keep pace behind him. The silent gazes of the student council members lingered on them until they made it all the way out. He didn't say anything else, no parting words, nothing. He simply walked out, Kira still clinging to his arm, leaving behind the hushed tension of the room.