A Tale of One Deviant (Book 2) (Technically Hiatus, but kind of not)

Chapter 209: Since They Love Me

"Oh, stars..."

     I didn't dare go back. Not after the scolding Magaris gave me, I didn't dare to.

     But I also told my folks that I wouldn't be going back until at least the next night, and there was always business to take care of. That kind of stuff just never went away.

     Standing atop Leonera, I tried my hardest to find something to do that didn't involve busting nobles for the stuff they were doing or the Church standing in the background behind me. No doubt, it needed some exorcizing, but was I willing to get down and dirty with them when they were still feeling the effects of the nightmares I gave them? No. They still needed to suffer more. It hadn't been even a month, and it was nowhere near enough. Listening to word on the streets while ignoring the wind in my ears, in the furthest back corners of pubs, in the darkest chambers of hidden meeting rooms, they were talking.

     The Church has been cursed.

     The gods have abandoned them.

     The war will start again!

     What will happen to us then?

     "..."

     It was not yet time. So I instead turned to the west, across the city, to where a much simpler, but still grand building still rose up from the ground and lay in wait behind gray stone walls with almost no one inside.

     Why, one might ask?

     Well.

     Because it was winter break.

     The White Iris Academy.

     Almost no one inside, again, but that didn't mean absolutely no one.

     You.

     My eyes narrowed at the single person at the very top of the tallest point of the academy, where only a glass bell resided just inside of the white stone house it had. The sounds of chimes caught my ears, and I looked down to the inside of the tower where many glass tubes hung strung within like someone's patio had been wrapped up and shoved straight down inside. It was honestly beautiful, since they were such clear white that when Hencia caught them, they looked like they had rainbows down every surface of their many-surfaced long, thin bodies. With enough open parts of the tower to let all of that light in, every surface of the inside was bright with color.

     Imagine being in there when you're drunk.

     Someone must've done it. It must've been a trip.

     "And what do you think of this night, hm?"

     No. Uh-uh. I'm controlling this conversation.

     "It's pretty poor for me after meeting you."

     The Elf standing there, arms clasped behind her back, only looked over at me with the broadest smile. Having been staring straight forward with only a placid look, I frowned heavily when she looked me up and down and smiled...then began to laugh.

     "What?" I frowned harder, shaking my head. Normally, immortals were pretty cautious around me. They sensed a greater source of mana right in front of them and got pretty demure. "What are you laughing at? You're in trouble, you know? It's really not possible to stir such trouble up in my name and just get away with it."

     But she just kept laughing.

     At first, it started off as just a giggle. Quiet, covered with a hand. Trying to keep the composure that came with being a headmaster of a great school that people came across the world to attend. The robes, the accessories, though simple and plain, commanded great presence. She tried her best to maintain it.