Boreas POV
I was given a lot of excused absences but I still joined the class normally the very next day, did some light exercises, and was allowed not to do all the hard work. At the very end of the day, after my checkup with Theo, I was called to the headmaster's office.
"Headmaster, why are you calling me here again today? I was supposed to talk with my girlfriend."
"Well, you can talk to your imaginary girlfriend later." the headmaster responded, "There happens to be a change of plans, and I will need you to get ready in 2 weeks. Your recovery is said to only be for one more week anyway."
"What for?"
"Remember the ball? Well, it seems that the host has changed the time and date, location, and everything entirely, he plans on now making it a gathering and celebration of his marriage with his 3rd wife, and on that date, it also happens to be the date of my awarding ceremony, where you'll also be coming along. They're right next to each other."
'Does this awarding thing mean I have to go meet the wit- I mean queen?"
"Did you just call the empress a witch?"
"I wouldn't call that bitch a witch."
'You know that the queen can imprison you for disrespecting her, right?"
"Just shows her true nature." I shrugged
"You'll need to get along with her if you're going to continue making achievements, having her reward you is very prestigious." the headmaster sighs.
"So how does this work?"
"Simple, we go get the award, and since the royal castle knows of our mission, they'll also provide some accommodations since the actual celebration of the host is taking place for 2 nights. Not only that, there's quite a lot of nobles who will question and try to incriminate you, you'll have to control yourself."
"What do you mean?"
"Even though the only punishment for doing a forbidden spell is fines, which we've covered, some nobles are still trying to get you jailed for damages to properties and disturbance of the peace." the headmaster explained, "We've already handled everything, but it's up to you to keep it that way, nobles are already envying your abilities and they're further infuriated after you rejected all their offers of arranged marriages or other possible means of chaining you down, so they will try to instigate you, Just keep calm, you can do that, right?"
"I can stay very calm, it's them that I worry about, besides...damage to properties? We can rebuild them within minutes and there were no casualties."
"Those are very defendable, but the fact that the demon knight...Kai, claiming to work for you is something that no one likes, and either way, the nobles do not like a rising commoner who can threaten their power, especially in an age where the necessity of nobles is decreasing, I can only help you so much, even the board of directors are mostly nobles or related to royalty...if it does comes down to it, they can remove me any time."
"Really? Can't the queen help?"
"She definitely can, but with her wanting to step down and with people wanting to hasten the crowning process of the emperor or empress...it won't be long till those nobles don't listen to her at all, they're already dissatisfied with her giving commoners and merchants more power."
"These cousins of hers...how are they?"
"They are said to be wise and intelligent, but they are also slightly leaning into the noble side of power since they want to maintain the status quo. But politics isn't my thing, so if you want to know more, you're going to have to ask someone else."
"Say...is there a chance that a noble will challenge me to a duel at the party?"
"Oh...hm...I didn't think of that."
"There might be." Mari agreed, "Like let's be honest, these annoying nobles are only the minority, but the problem is that these minorities usually occupy the top of the ladder, even among the nobility, they hold more power and can get away with many things, they also have resources to contribute to the empire and will continue to keep their title as long as they do the minimum required compensation compared to the rest, who's giving more in hopes of a promotion."
"I mean, winning isn't a problem, but I rather not see people cry, even I'd feel a bit bad laughing at their faces." Jett chimed in, "Even if they deserved it, there's going to be that one person who would try to guilt trip you for doing the right thing. Boreas would classify that latter phenomenon as Twitter."
KingSilver Are you trying to get us canceled?
Shut up, you're not famous enough to get canceled.
"Do I get anything out of weeding out demons? I know that I can sense them instinctually and all that, but the empire can just spend more money."
"The empire tried." the headmaster replied, "But demons have gotten way better at hiding themselves. Unless we get a proper blood test, there's no true way of finding out apart from a select few who can sense them. The queen tried to implement a yearly blood test, but most nobles opposed this as they said it was a violation of their privacy, so we'll just have to rely on a hero."
"Can I just have one request if it's successful?"
"If it's not too much, sure."
"I get to call you by your given name."
"...Are you insane?"
"Well, you clearly ignored my previous claim of joining the demon lord as his general, so I thought that this could be a start."
"A start to what? Your trip to the infirmary?"
"My truths, besides, I asked you to open your heart more before, might as well take the next step."
"...if you can somehow get through the 2-night celebration without going through a duel, no matter the insults are thrown at you, I'll let you do it for a week."
"A month." I countered
"At that point, it's going to become natural and this will be like your Theo situation. It'll be an unnecessary habit."
"Why not? Would you rather have me start fights and humiliate nobles? You're already choosing my outfit, can't I get something good in return? A privilege that no one else has."
"...Are you hitting on me?"
"Am I hitting on you? Well, that depends on your interpretation...after all, I am looking for rich and powerful women to divorce."
"If I were to marry you, do you seriously think I'll let you go and take advantage of me that easy?"
"Well, we'll see, Laurel."
Boreas POV
I was given a lot of excused absences but I still joined the class normally the very next day, did some light exercises, and was allowed not to do all the hard work. At the very end of the day, after my checkup with Theo, I was called to the headmaster's office.
"Headmaster, why are you calling me here again today? I was supposed to talk with my girlfriend."
"Well, you can talk to your imaginary girlfriend later." the headmaster responded, "There happens to be a change of plans, and I will need you to get ready in 2 weeks. Your recovery is said to only be for one more week anyway."
"What for?"
"Remember the ball? Well, it seems that the host has changed the time and date, location, and everything entirely, he plans on now making it a gathering and celebration of his marriage with his 3rd wife, and on that date, it also happens to be the date of my awarding ceremony, where you'll also be coming along. They're right next to each other."
'Does this awarding thing mean I have to go meet the wit- I mean queen?"
"Did you just call the empress a witch?"
"I wouldn't call that bitch a witch."
'You know that the queen can imprison you for disrespecting her, right?"
"Just shows her true nature." I shrugged
"You'll need to get along with her if you're going to continue making achievements, having her reward you is very prestigious." the headmaster sighs.
"So how does this work?"
"Simple, we go get the award, and since the royal castle knows of our mission, they'll also provide some accommodations since the actual celebration of the host is taking place for 2 nights. Not only that, there's quite a lot of nobles who will question and try to incriminate you, you'll have to control yourself."
"What do you mean?"
"Even though the only punishment for doing a forbidden spell is fines, which we've covered, some nobles are still trying to get you jailed for damages to properties and disturbance of the peace." the headmaster explained, "We've already handled everything, but it's up to you to keep it that way, nobles are already envying your abilities and they're further infuriated after you rejected all their offers of arranged marriages or other possible means of chaining you down, so they will try to instigate you, Just keep calm, you can do that, right?"
"I can stay very calm, it's them that I worry about, besides...damage to properties? We can rebuild them within minutes and there were no casualties."
"Those are very defendable, but the fact that the demon knight...Kai, claiming to work for you is something that no one likes, and either way, the nobles do not like a rising commoner who can threaten their power, especially in an age where the necessity of nobles is decreasing, I can only help you so much, even the board of directors are mostly nobles or related to royalty...if it does comes down to it, they can remove me any time."
"Really? Can't the queen help?"
"She definitely can, but with her wanting to step down and with people wanting to hasten the crowning process of the emperor or empress...it won't be long till those nobles don't listen to her at all, they're already dissatisfied with her giving commoners and merchants more power."
"These cousins of hers...how are they?"
"They are said to be wise and intelligent, but they are also slightly leaning into the noble side of power since they want to maintain the status quo. But politics isn't my thing, so if you want to know more, you're going to have to ask someone else."
"Say...is there a chance that a noble will challenge me to a duel at the party?"
"Oh...hm...I didn't think of that."
"There might be." Mari agreed, "Like let's be honest, these annoying nobles are only the minority, but the problem is that these minorities usually occupy the top of the ladder, even among the nobility, they hold more power and can get away with many things, they also have resources to contribute to the empire and will continue to keep their title as long as they do the minimum required compensation compared to the rest, who's giving more in hopes of a promotion."
"I mean, winning isn't a problem, but I rather not see people cry, even I'd feel a bit bad laughing at their faces." Jett chimed in, "Even if they deserved it, there's going to be that one person who would try to guilt trip you for doing the right thing. Boreas would classify that latter phenomenon as Twitter."
KingSilver Are you trying to get us canceled?
Shut up, you're not famous enough to get canceled.
"Do I get anything out of weeding out demons? I know that I can sense them instinctually and all that, but the empire can just spend more money."
"The empire tried." the headmaster replied, "But demons have gotten way better at hiding themselves. Unless we get a proper blood test, there's no true way of finding out apart from a select few who can sense them. The queen tried to implement a yearly blood test, but most nobles opposed this as they said it was a violation of their privacy, so we'll just have to rely on a hero."
"Can I just have one request if it's successful?"
"If it's not too much, sure."
"I get to call you by your given name."
"...Are you insane?"
"Well, you clearly ignored my previous claim of joining the demon lord as his general, so I thought that this could be a start."
"A start to what? Your trip to the infirmary?"
"My truths, besides, I asked you to open your heart more before, might as well take the next step."
"...if you can somehow get through the 2-night celebration without going through a duel, no matter the insults are thrown at you, I'll let you do it for a week."
"A month." I countered
"At that point, it's going to become natural and this will be like your Theo situation. It'll be an unnecessary habit."
"Why not? Would you rather have me start fights and humiliate nobles? You're already choosing my outfit, can't I get something good in return? A privilege that no one else has."
"...Are you hitting on me?"
"Am I hitting on you? Well, that depends on your interpretation...after all, I am looking for rich and powerful women to divorce."
"If I were to marry you, do you seriously think I'll let you go and take advantage of me that easy?"
"Well, we'll see, Laurel."
