The Exchange Teacher - Welcome to Dyntril Academy

Chairs scraped across the floor as teachers left to teach their classes. Basque sat at his desk, not yet getting up. He sat with his elbows on his desk and his head in his hands. It was all that he could do to keep his leg from bouncing.

Now that the time was upon him and Reianna, his nerves were ratcheting up. There was nothing to worry about; she'd shown him her interface, but ever since Basque had arrived in this accursed country, nothing had gone smoothly.

He wanted to get his anxiety under control in the teachers' room, out of sight from Reianna, as he didn't want his nervousness to rub off on her. He needed to show her absolute confidence.

A hand rubbed across his shoulder, and Basque's head shot up. Natt smiled down at him, and he smiled back at her. She squeezed his shoulders. "It'll be okay."

"Get a room."

Basque and Natt looked over at Julvie, who was shooting them death glares. When they looked at her, she twisted her head away from them, flipped her hair over her shoulder, and stalked out of the room.

Looking at Natt, Basque grabbed her hand and squeezed it. "I know, but I can't help it. I have to get it out now."

"Is there anything special you'd like me to do today?"

Basque shook his head. "Whatever you feel they need. I've already told them you're taking over today and that they'd be doing dance."

"I'm sure they were thrilled."

"Ecstatic."

"Ahem."

Turning to the sound, Krill stood next to them. "Cormick, nice to see you sober for once."

Natt's face darkened.

"Thanks, Natt. I'll see you later today," Basque told her. She nodded, glared once more at Krill, then left the room.

Krill watched her go, then shook his head. "Is it just you, or do all Hianbruns have bad taste in women?"

Leave it to Krill to finally say my country's name right in an insult.

"Considering she was single, I'm suspecting it's you guys with the bad taste in women."

Krill's lips curled in a sneer until he calmed himself and his expression turned neutral again. "Go get the girl. Meet at the main entrance in ten minutes."

Spinning on his heels, Krill left through the side door that led to the Headmaster's room.

Basque's chair scraped across the floor, making a sound that echoed in the now-empty room. After pushing it in, Basque gripped the back of it and took a few more calming, deep breaths.

With a calm mask on his face, Basque left the teachers' room and went back to the dorms. He knocked on Reianna's door, and she opened it as if she'd been standing right behind it, waiting for him.

"Ready to go," Basque asked.

She nodded and closed the door behind her.

"Oh!" Yesenia jumped back as she stepped out of Basque's room. "Master Gerenet, sir. I didn't…" She noticed Reianna in her normal school attire, and her eyes went wide. "Is it now?"

Basque nodded. "Yes."

Worry spread across Yesenia's face.

Reaching out with one of her hands, Reianna placed it on top of Yesenia's, whose hands were clasped together in front of her. "Don't worry, Sena, I'll be home before it's time for your lessons."

"Oh…uhh…no…I mean, thank you, Miss Reianna." Yesenia bowed. "Please don't let me keep you."

Reianna took her hand back, and Basque led her out of the dorm hall.

"What are you teaching her?"

"How to read."

They headed down the stairs.

"Are you sure you're not taking too much on by yourself?"

"I can handle it."

"I don't want you burning yourself out, Reia. You're still young, which means two things. The first is that you've got the energy to do it now, but as you get older and there are more demands on you, you won't.

"The other is that because you are still young, now is the best time to get used to delegating responsibility. Find those around you whom you can trust."

She nodded. "Understood, Gerenet-Shr."

They reached the bottom of the stairs, and Basque led them to the main entrance. The grand doors were closed, so they used the slightly-larger-than-normal-sized door that was built inside one of the grand doors.

When they got outside, Reianna stopped in her tracks and took a step back. Krill was waiting for them with a horse-drawn carriage. Two horses stood in front of it, flicking their ears and tails.

"Come, child. I've personally inspected the animals. There's nothing to be afraid of." He held out his hand for her.

Reianna looked at his hand as if it would turn into a Yani at any second. She wrapped her arm through Basque's, and they descended the front stairs down to the carriage.

Lowering his hand, Krill watched them pass, but said nothing. A footman opened the door for them and extended his hand. Reianna took his hand and used it to pull herself up into the carriage. Basque followed her, sans help from the footman, and once Krill was in with them, the footman closed the door.

The carriage rattled one last time as the footman took his place next to the driver, and the carriage lurched forward. Basque sat next to Reianna, facing the front of the carriage, and Krill sat across from them. The deputy headmaster angled himself so that his back was more in the corner than on the seat back, making his legs come out at an angle, assuring that his and Basque's legs didn't have a chance to bump during the ride.

The carriage windows were open, and, turning her body to face the window, Reianna put her hands on the sill. She leaned out and watched the wheels spin.

"Come back in, child," Krill scolded.

After a second, Reianna did as she was told, but Basque could tell it was because she was done looking rather than following Krill's order. "I've never been in a carriage before."

"Obviously."

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Basque glared at Krill.

"I've also never seen a horse before either."

Basque shot Krill a glare before the man could say anything. "You know, back home, I have a horse."

"You do?!" Reianna's eyes were wide.

"Yeah. Her name is Mao. As far as animals go, horses are an interesting one."

"Because they look so cool?"

Basque laughed. "Well, there is that. No, what I mean is fewer horses turn in comparison to other animals."

Reianna furrowed her brow. "Then why don't we use them more?"

Krill scoffed.

"Because even though they don't turn as often, when they do turn, they're usually incredibly powerful, with a good number of them being mage Yani."

"What makes a Yani a mage?"

Basque tapped his chin. "Well, like human mages, it's rare to see two with the same powers. There are some that cast fire and ice spells. I fought one who could control gravity."

Krill's eyes went wide at that comment.

"I've heard of others who could raise the bodies of their dead Yani troops." Pausing to look Krill in the eye, Basque stared at the man. "The worst I've personally fought, though, was one who could turn humans it had injured into Yani."

Krill's face paled. "Lies."

"I wouldn't have believed it, either, if I hadn't fought it myself."

Putting his elbow on the windowsill, Krill rested his chin on his hand, twisting his upper body away from Basque and staring out the window. Reianna also continued her child-like amusement of watching the buildings pass. The carriage was silent.

The conversation, having fallen off, left Basque to ruminate on that Yani nightmare. Some nights, he could still hear the screams and looks of horror that Serika and Ralik gave him as they transformed and lost all traces of their humanity—Serika's beautiful face melting off, and Ralik tearing at his skin, ripping it off to reveal the Yani beneath it.

Trapped in his memory, the fight played out in front of him again—

Ahmera torn to shreds by her spouse as she tried to talk Ralik back into being human.

Basque terrified of attacking the thing that used to be Serika, because what if the transformation could be reversed?

Serika joining in devouring Ahmera's body.

The horror of discovering that both his former comrades were also mage Yani, one controlling wind, the other fire.

The only thing Basque couldn't remember was how he had won. He returned home with Ahmera's half-eaten, mangled body, three priceless mage Yani stones, and the loss of all will to fight anymore. Much to the Tiger Chair's disappointment, Basque had retired to become a teacher.

A small hand squeezed his knee, lifting the fog of horror from his mind. He looked down at the hand, then over to its owner. He'd never seen such a look of concern on the normally stoic girl's face.

Basque smiled at Reianna, and his sadness was replaced with joy at the thought of his students. Hianbrun, Kruamian, he loved them all. Giving her shoulder a rub to let her know he was okay, Basque leaned his head back and closed his eyes. He was done talking for now.

The carriage stopped and started several times as it made its way through the walled city-state, and Basque sat there, head back and eyes closed throughout the journey. It wasn't until Krill said, "We're here," that Basque opened his eyes and sat up.

Looking at the Arches' Chambers as he got out, Basque was taken aback by the strange architecture. It looked like four buildings combined into one. Instead of walls, the front and center building had massive round columns that supported a triangular roof. The buildings to the left and right were shorter and less decorative, with mostly square columns that turned into cylinders at the edges.

The most impressive was the giant main building, which stretched across from end to end behind the three front buildings. The main building's style mimicked that of the smaller buildings in front—enormous round columns almost doubling the height of the center building, then square columns behind the two side buildings.

"Pretty amazing, isn't it?" Krill said and beamed a smile at the building. His pride dripped in his voice. "We've preserved it since before the system."

"It's very impressive."

"I bet you don't have anything like it in Habubu."

Basque shook his head. "All of our buildings are post-crash."

Reianna scanned the building as if she were used to seeing it every day. The only thing that belied her nervousness was when she reached out and took Basque's hand.

"Come on, let's go," Krill said and walked off toward the center building. After walking up a small flight of stairs, they entered the building. The inside was empty, just a giant foyer. Basque understood where the academy designers had gotten the inspiration for the Grand Entrance Hall.

"Earl Krill!" A faded-purple-haired man called out and walked over to the group.

Krill and the man clasped hands. "Marquess Philer! How's the Marchioness?"

"She's doing wonderfully, thank you! My eighth still sings praises about his excursion with you and those deadly blades of yours."

"Viscount Skilip is too kind."

"Count Skilip."

"Count?! Already?"

"Yup. In his last mission, he netted his 356th kill. It's official."

Krill shook the man's hand again. "Congratulations, sir! You must be proud."

Clasping Krill on the back, Philer looked at Basque. "I owe it all to this man here, outwaller! You won't find a better educator in the world! Six of my eight kids lived to graduation thanks to his tutelage, and now all of them are at least a count! My first daughter could be a marchioness on her own if there was an opening."

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't your ninth and tenth entering the academy next year?"

Philer laughed and slapped Krill's back. "Such a good memory for an insignificant marquess such as myself."

"Marquess Philer, you humble yourself too much. All of your children were outstanding pupils, and I speak for all of the staff at Dyntril when I say we are excited to welcome the twins."

Philer's face darkened slightly. "Don't expect too much from Vichel. Her mom's just a maid. You can stick her in C. No need to worry about my feelings."

The smile never left Krill's face. "I'm sure you under-sell her since you are humble to a fault."

Philer grunted in response. "I'm sure if anyone can make something out of her, it's you. Shame there's no openings in the higher rankings. You don't deserve to be stuck as an earl."

Krill laughed through his nose and smiled.

Turning his gaze to Reianna, Philer stared at her, looking her up and down. "So, is this the little commoner-mage Duke Jorellan keeps ranting about?" The marquess licked his lips.

Basque took half a step forward, putting himself between the old man and his student.

Krill laughed. "Oh, if only. You know I would love to get my hands on a commoner mage for more research. We were so close last time."

"That Cormick," Philer's face darkened. "Can you imagine the damage she could have done had she not fallen?"

"Yes, well, she's almost drunk her way out of the academy now."

"Good."

"Anyway, Duke Jorellan is gravely mistaken about this child. She just grew up in a street gang in a noble-less district. Extremely skilled in hand-to-hand combat."

Taking a step back from Reianna, Philer's expression turned from an unseemly desire to disgust. He wiped his hands on his pants, like just being in Reianna's presence had dirtied them.

"If what you say is true, it could be a big blow to the Duke's support."

Shaking his head, Krill took a deep breath. "I tried to warn him, but he couldn't accept that his precious Banca could lose to a gutter kid."

Philer harumphed. "Can't blame him. She might as well be from one of the wall camps. I'd have difficulty accepting it as well."

"Yes, Marquess Dunizo is the only parent who isn't making the claim."

"Ha! Probably because he's too busy impregnating another maid. But wait, does that mean…"

Krill nodded. "Yes, Earl-ess Wendina will be making the claim as well."

"And you swear it's a false one?"

Giving Basque a quick glance that promised pain if Reianna was a mage, he said, "Our esteemed outwaller guest and the child herself assure me that she is not."

Philer looked at Basque. "Savages probably don't know what a mage is. Well, Norlivia will be thrilled if Wendina gets caught up in a false mage claim. Thanks for the heads up, Earl Krill."

After giving a bow, Krill said, "Always a pleasure, your excellency."

Philer headed for the exit, and Krill led Basque and Reianna further into the building. "Vile man and his psychotic children. If only they weren't so useful," Krill said more to himself than to Basque.

Though Basque had to agree that the man was vile, unlike Krill, Basque didn't stop with just the one man and used the term for the majority of the country.

Other people nodded to Krill as he passed, but no one else came over to talk to him. The most unusual thing was the number of servants walking through the corridor. It was easily triple the number of servants compared to Dyntril.

Coming from further down the hall, Nival's eyes went wide when he saw Basque. The Hianbrun took a step towards Basque, but the yellow-haired Kruamian walking with Nival grabbed the hem of Nival's sleeve, stopping him. They exchanged some words, and Nival gave Basque a worried look.

"We're here," Krill said and opened a door.

Basque looked at Reianna, and she gave him a firm nod. Then, they walked through the door together.