The Exchange Teacher - Welcome to Dyntril Academy

Basque paused as he stepped into the room. It was just an empty room like his audience chamber back at Dyntril. Two sofas faced each other with a small table between them. A tea station was set up in a corner. The lower half of the walls was paneled with wood, and the top half was painted a deep blue, giving the room a dark, but fashionable aura.

Noticing Basque stopped, Krill spun around. "What is it?"

"I just…I thought we would be going to the test."

Krill snorted. "The archdukes and archdutches do not wait for us. We arrive and wait for them."

"For how long?"

Smoothing his coat as he sat, Krill glared at Basque. "As long as it takes. Now come in. I want some tea."

Basque furrowed his brow. How did Krill know Basque made tea? The man wasn't telling Basque to make him tea, was he?

"Well, move! Get out of her way."

Turning, Basque jumped when he saw the mint-haired woman in servants' garb standing behind him. Where did she come from? Doing as he was told, Basque walked further into the room, and Reianna followed. The servant woman slipped past him and went to the tea station.

Basque and Reianna sat together on the sofa across the table from Krill. The deputy headmaster leaned back against the sofa with a slight slouch so he could rest his head on the sofa's back. The three of them sat in silence, and Basque realized he couldn't hear a sound coming from the tea station.

Glancing over, he watched the woman work with such grace that everything flowed without a noise—no rattle from the cups on their saucers, no gurgle of water as she poured the tea. Basque was captivated.

The woman silently placed the filled cups and a fresh pot of tea on a serving tray and carried them over to the small table. First, she placed Basque and Reianna's tea in front of them with no click or clunk as the saucer touched down. She didn't make an obvious extra effort or movements to keep everything silent.

When she set Krill's tea down, there was a single clack that didn't echo or repeat. Krill's eyes shot open, and he sat up straight. The woman had made the noise on purpose to let Krill know the tea was there.

What amazing skill! She's probably a phenomenal hunter. The fresh teapot and tray also silently went down, and then the woman bowed once, before slipping out of the door, opening and closing it without a click or a clack.

"What are you gawking at?"

"That maid. Her skills were incredible."

Krill raised an eyebrow. "I didn't notice anything."

"Exactly! How easily she must hunt Yani."

Krill laughed. "A servant hunt Yani? Don't be ridiculous."

Basque sighed. Of course, it wouldn't be Kruami without classism. What a waste. Taking a sip of tea, Basque made a pleased noise; it was good.

Krill put his teacup back down, then nestled himself in the corner of the couch, rolling his head back and closing his eyes.

"How long do you think it will be?"

Without moving from his position, Krill answered, "Could be twenty minutes. Could be five hours. They'll call when they call."

Basque looked at Reianna. "Wanna play some cards?"

"Cards? Like the slap game you taught us?" Her eyes went wide, and she sat up straighter.

"Kind of." Basque pulled a deck of cards out of his inventory and taught Reianna how to play Rummy.

"Yani, that was fun!" Reianna said after they finished the first hand. Krill cracked an eye and glared at her for her language. Ignoring him, she asked Basque, "Can we teach the others?"

"Sure. You'll have to play outside of class and training time."

"Oh, no, that's fine. We still love playing slaps, but having something new would be nice."

"There are all sorts of games you can play with cards."

"Will you teach us?"

"Of course!"

For the next two hours, Basque and Reianna played games while Krill slept or rested. At one point, the mint maid drifted in with a plate of confectionery, again, only making a noise to notify Krill that something had been placed on the table.

The confectionery was sweet and tart; Basque only ate half of his and left the rest. Reianna ate all of hers and looked like she wanted to ask Krill if she could eat the one he had left and ignored.

Eventually, there was a knock at the door, and a male servant came in. "They will see you now."

Standing, Krill once again straightened his suit and looked at his empty teacup. Basque and Reianna stood as well, and the three of them followed the servant out of the room. Basque knew the mint-haired maid had been waiting outside the door while they waited, just in case one of them wanted something, but she was gone.

While he knew it was just a pipedream, he'd wanted to ask the woman to come back with him to the academy so that he could give her formal Yani-fighting lessons. Her potential was being wasted putting cups in front of nobles.

Disappointment notwithstanding, Basque followed the new servant through the building. He led them to a room with double doors, where two city guards stood outside. As the servant stepped aside, the guards opened the doors for Basque, Reianna, and Krill.

The room was already filled with people. To the left and right of the doors were ten or so rows of pews, and all of them packed with people in fancy Kruamian clothing and an assortment of vibrant hair colors. Up in the front pew on the right-hand side, Basque saw a head of short black hair. He sighed, and his head drooped. Of course.

Krill led them down the aisle between the pews and through a small gate into an open area with two tables in it. Each table had three large plush chairs at them. Banca, her father, and another woman sat at the table on the left. That meant they had to sit at the table on the right, right in front of Eder. Basque sighed again.

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Eder's eyes followed Basque, and when Basque sat down, Eder leaned forward. "Of course, why am I not surprised to find you at the center of this. Just how much did you have your mom beg to get you on this mission?"

"My mother had nothing to do with my selection."

"You just keep telling yourself that." Eder sat back, and Basque turned forward.

To keep Eder from getting under his skin, Basque surveyed the room. At the back of the room was a large dais. The front of it was raised to make a wall to hide the legs of whoever sat on the dias. All of it was made out of a deep red cherrywood. Two chairs were behind the wooden wall, with two more chairs on a slightly lower level to the left and right.

In front of the back dais was another walled dais; this one just barely raised off the floor. Behind that wall were three chairs. To Basque's right, running perpendicular to the daises in the front, was a handrail that separated five chairs from the open area where he sat.

Like the waiting room they had been in for two hours, the lower half of the walls were paneled in that dark red cherrywood, but instead of a dark blue, the top walls here were a dark gray.

From a door to Basque's right, two women and two men, one of them Headmaster Yasher, walked out and sat in the chairs. The second chair from the left was left empty for some reason. As those four sat, the background buzz of the people talking in the gallery died down.

From yet another door, this one in the far back on the left-hand side of the room, a city guard entered. "Presenting today, Archduke Willmas, Archduchess Emolie, and Archduke Benry. All rise."

Everyone in the room stood, and the three "arches" entered. Without looking at the gathered crowd, the woman and two men walked in from the same door the guard had come from and walked to stand behind the three chairs of the lower and closer walled dais.

Instead of suits and a dress, the three arches wore baggy gowns that resembled ruffled sheets with a hole cut in the center. None of them made to sit; they just stood behind the chairs, facing the crowd.

The guards still by the door spoke again, "By special request of the accused, presenting Royal Mage Billaim."

A flamboyant man wearing a suit made in an explosion of color stalked out of the door. He wore a small pink top hat with a white feather sticking out of it on his light lavender hair. The hat had to have been pinned on as it sat catty-cornered to the side.

His hair was fashioned into concentric curling waves that arched towards the back of his head and then curved to the front again. What looked like progressively larger light lavender Cs were pressed to the side of his head, only they had volume to them.

Around his heterochromatic pink and lavender eyes, he wore dark, thick eyeliner and mascara, matching the color of the eye it surrounded. His face was clean-shaven, and he wore a slight smirk that made Basque like him almost immediately.

The rest of the mage's outfit was as loud and wild as his hairdo: a lavender jacket with pink trim and lavender pants with a pink satin braid down the outseam, finished off with tan shoes and pink shoelaces.

Catching Basque's eye, the man waved his fingers in a wave, then puckered his lips. Krill glanced at Basque, and Basque shrugged. The mage went to the higher back dais, looked at the first chair, then walked behind the two higher chairs before sitting down across from Basque's group.

The mage was the only person in the room sitting. Basque figured there had to be a table top behind the wall because the mage put his elbows on it, then put his chin on his hands. He batted his long eyelashes at Basque.

"All in attendance!" cried the guard.

Everyone else sat down, and the guard left the room.

Archduchess Emolie looked down at something on the table in front of her and read, "Today we begin the proceedings of Duke Jorellan versus Reianna Santi and Dyntril Academy for fraud and failure to report a mage."

Duke Jorellan stood. "Thank you, Archduchess. As you can see, my daughter has sustained serious injuries as she was unable to properly prepare for her battle with Miss Santi, who, along with the academy, her teacher, and Deputy Headmaster Krill, hid the fact that she is a mage."

As the duke spoke, Basque looked over at Banca. The girl wasn't sitting in one of the room's chairs; rather, she sat in a wheelchair. The duke had carried through with his promise not to heal her.

The last time Basque had seen the girl, he'd been unaware of the torture she was committing on Reianna. Banca didn't look around; she just stared ahead. It didn't look like she was playing for sympathy, rather more like a spark had been stolen from her.

Archduke Willmas cleared his throat. "Save the speeches, Duke Jorellan. This is a simple matter. The esteemed Royal Mage Billiam will show us whether or not the girl is a mage. Earl-ess Wendina, you are making the same claims, correct?"

Jorellan sat, and Wendina stood. "Yes, Archduke. Miss Banca should have been the only one who should have been capable of defeating my Sanya."

Willmas rolled his hand as she talked. "I don't feel like being here all day, but the importance of the possibility of another commoner mage overrides my other plans. Let's keep the extra blabber to a minimum."

Krill stood up. "In that case, Archduke, may we ask for Royal Mage Billiam to begin his inspections?"

Turning to look at the mage, who was still staring at Basque, Willmas asked, "Royal Mage, would you give us the honor?"

Finally pulling his eyes away from Basque, Billiam looked at Willmas. "Fine." Where most people simply stand up, Billiam held a performance. While still sitting in the chair, one leg popped out from behind the dais, and he slid over to it as he rose out of the chair.

He sauntered down from the top dais to the lower one, then finally down to the open floor in the middle. Walking over to Basque's table, he sat on it with one leg dangling off it.

"Hi," he said to Basque.

"Hello."

Billiam smiled. "Why did they have to stick the best-looking one of y'all way out in the academy?"

"I'm a teacher."

Billiam chortled. "'I'm a teacher!' How rich! Can I take you to lunch after?"

Archduke Willmas cleared his throat. "Royal Mage, if you would please?"

"Ugh, some people have no patience." He rolled his eyes at Basque. Hopping off the table, Billiam crossed around to where Reianna sat. Whereas with Basque, his tone was light and flirty, he spoke gently to Reianna.

"Hi, Miss Reianna. I'm Billiam, but you can call me Liam if you want." His gaze shifted to Basque, and he winked as he whispered, "You, too, sexy."

"Hi, Liam," Reianna said.

"I love your braid."

Reianna ran it through her hand. "Thanks, Miss Loushee did it for me."

Billiam tilted his head. "Did she, now? How interesting. If you ever need fashion help, be sure to ask Miss Loushee. She's the best."

Reianna nodded.

Squatting down and putting his hands on the armrests of Reianna's chair, Billiam smiled again. "Now, Miss Reianna, I'm going to access your interface. This will feel weird, like there's a worm or a slug wiggling around in your head, but it's perfectly okay, alright?"

"Will it hurt?"

"No, sweetie, it won't. But it's not going to feel nice, either. Are you ready?"

Again, Reianna nodded her response. She hugged her arms to her chest, making her look even tinier in the chair. Billiam stared into her eyes, and she started to squirm. She tried to look away, but one of his hands shot out and held her head still.

As a lilac-colored interface popped to life, the strength fell out of Reianna, and she went still. Billiam patted her head. "You did wonderfully."

Standing up straight, Billiam pranced to the center of the open area, "dragging" the interface with him. As interface projections have no substance, he couldn't actually pull it with him, but he still gripped it, and it followed along with him.

Once he reached the middle of the room, he spun around. "Ooh, look at all the voyeurs today! Are so many of you that eager to see a little girl's private stuff?"

The pews behind Basque squeaked as several people shifted in their seats.

"Well, here we are!" Billiam said. He spread his hands apart, and Reianna's interface blew up so that it was easy for everyone in the room to see.

"Such a pretty color you've chosen, Miss Reianna. Don't you think so too, Miss Banca?"

Banca raised her head and looked at the interface. "I didn't know you could change the color."

Billiam pressed the tips of his fingers to his mouth. "Oh my. Maybe next term, then?"

Standing up, Jorellan waved his hands. "Your excellency, my daughter's knowledge of the interface isn't what's being brought into question here. Is that girl a mage?"

The smile fell off Billiam's face. "Maybe it's your knowledge of interfaces that should be brought into question, Duke Jorellan."

The lilac-colored man looked at Reianna's interface, which was on full display to everyone. His mouth fell open. "What the Yani is that?"