小嫂子的味道

On the second floor of the Harts, was a room. Its interior was well managed, the floor covered with an elegant green carpet with golden borders, near the wall which had a big window with stained glass was a long, rectangular wooden table made of dark oak. There was a glass sheet covering the top of the table and there were a few things resting on the table such as a pen holder, a paperweight, and some hardcover books.

Prior to the table was a chair with cotton padding on its seat and back it looked more like a small sofa—there were two more chairs resting on the opposite side and were built with the same mastery and quality.

Except for the window that was just behind the table, all the others were closed with long and sleek curtains which were red in color. There were a few more things in the room: a small and round wooden table that was placed in the corner with four seats around it, two long sofas that were face to face with a stand between them, and lastly, a slim wardrobe with a big cloak mounted on its face.

There was a man standing behind the table, the man to whom this room belonged to. With his hands folded behind he was looking out through the window. He was dressed in an expensive gray suit, beautiful leather boots, and a pair of rectangular glasses before his eyes.

He wasn't chubby but not muscular either, somewhere in the middle. His hair had dyed out and was matching with the color of his suit, and so was his mustache. There was an air of elegance and power around him, it gave off the feeling that this was not a normal man.

A part of it was probably due to the large portrait with his picture that was painted on the left wall.

This was the cabin room of the director of the Zaforth's magic academy, and the man standing there was Elnaril Winterblood, the director of this academy.

As he stood there glaring out at the academy campus which was now shone golden with the light of the evening sun, the door to the room opened with a clicking sound and a man walked in.

"You are late," said Elnaril.

"I'm sorry. A few things came up and I forgot" the man replied as he came and stood before the main table.

"You forgot, huh? …Well, you're probably the only person who can give such an excuse, in front of me no less," Elnaril stated and turned to face the man.

Before the table who stood was Ryfin. With a couple of papers in his hand, he looked as if he came running here. Maybe forgetting the meeting wasn't really an excuse.

He greeted the director with a smile and put the stack of papers on the table.

"That's his statement," he pointed.

Elnaril got down on his sofa and reached out a hand to grab the papers, he then slid them near himself and began to skim through them. After a minute or so when he was done roughly reading them, he pushed them back toward Ryfin and looked at him.

"Do you believe in this?" he asked.

Ryfin glanced down at the papers for a while before shifting his gaze back to the director.

"Challes kidnapped him because he defeated and humiliated his son in front of the whole academy during the interclass training session. After the explosion that was witnessed by Leon Void, Anya Blanks, and Ellyn Rosenberg, Challes and he—Zero Blanks, was thought to be dead while in reality Challes still had life left in him.

"When everyone was gone he dragged Zero out of there and into an unknown building. He was held captive there for a week until one day when Challes finally died due to all the injuries he had gained and the lack of mana in his body. He sought the opportunity and used this chance to escape back to the academy," Ryfin paused and glanced at the director.

"Or so he says," he added. "It certainly is believable, especially since there is a lack of details. You can't go on to pick the loopholes because there isn't much information to begin with. You can't blame him for this too as you would literally be asking a boy who was kidnapped, injured, and half dead for the details of how it happened."

The director let out a light sigh as he interlocked his fingers and rested his elbows on the table.

"That's not what I'm asking, is it?" he said. "Do YOU believe it or not?"

Ryfin looked thoughtful for a moment as he went on about something in his mind, then as if deciding on the answer he said, "I do."

"Fine then. That's all I wanted to know," Elnarial picked one out of many pens which were standing in a wooden holder. Opened the tip, flipped to the last page and signed at the bottom right corner.

Ryfin watched from the side during all this. He was still, however, his behavior was not like other people when they met the director. Most of them were intimated, scared, or overwhelmed by his presence but Ryfin was none of this.

He was calm and composed. And along with Ryfin, Elnarial's way to react toward him also varied. It was if both of them were childhood friends, which was not possible since Elnarial was almost double in age if compared with Ryfin.

Nonetheless, there's no denying that there was no formal air between the two figures.

"What'll happen to his boy?" Ryfin asked, he was referring to Challes's son.

"He is above the age of fifteen and has no mother. He'll probably inherit all the wealth and property, what he does with it is not the academy's business."

"Will he be expelled?"

Elnarial glared up at Ryfin. "...Just asking."

"I see no reason to expel the boy. He broke no rule, all the deeds were done by his father. As long as he can pay the tuition there won't be no need to force him out," Elnarial stated.

"We need to tell him a convincing cover story too. Telling him the truth might not be a good idea. If the kid was consumed by his emotions and let them take the better of him and told others about what really happened, it can cause a leak of information. The whole reason to keep this incident a secret will be ruined then."

Ryfin was mostly mumbling to himself but he was loud enough that Elnarial heard what he said and responded with a glare.

"Oh? Of course, I can handle that myself. I can't go around troubling you for small matters such as these," he clarified.

"That's what you always say, yet you end up getting me involved in your mess. I hope it will be otherwise this time."

Ryfin did not reply and nodded elegantly before he took the paper Elnarial had signed and left the room. Closing the door back.

Elnarial stared at the table for a while, in his head maybe he was thinking something but wasn't quite able to come to terms with it. Perhaps it was about the incident regarding Challes, or maybe it was something else.

For a minute or so the only sound remaining in the room was the ticking of the clock as its needles moved. Then he rose to his feet, slid open one of the drawers under the table, and picked a cigar out of many which were in it.

Taking out a pack of matchsticks from his pocket he lit the cigar and smoked as he turned toward the window behind him. He opened one of the panes and let the smoke fly out into the open air.

He looked down at the academy he'd been held responsible for. He looked down at the Mains, he looked down at the coliseum, he looked down at the Instrs which was a bit far away, and lastly, he looked down at the grounds and the students walking on it.

This was the academy he had inherited along with his father's name. Along with it came responsibilities, and to accompany them came secrets. Secrets that no one knew about. Secrets that no one wanted to know about.

After all, you would probably have a better time sleeping if you were not aware of the fact that there was a world out there, bustling with demons who could interfere and attack at any time.

However, there were some people who had to live with these secrets—not one but many secrets—so that the rest of the world could sleep a carefree night. Elnarial was one of them.