The Exchange Teacher - Welcome to Dyntril Academy

As they ate, Basque looked at the company around him and stabbed a piece of chicken. There was no way he could survive five years if he didn't trust anyone. The paranoia would drive him insane. He trusted his students without question, but his problems weren't their problems. They had their own, and it was his job to help them with theirs, not to burden them with his.

He looked at Natt. She smiled at him. Did he trust her? Could he trust her? If she was an elaborate plant, she had to be the most elaborate plant ever created.

No, he wanted to like these people. If they were going to lead him down the river, then he'd gamble on there not being any falls at the end. At last, he put the chicken in his mouth and chewed.

"What are you so deep in thought about?" Natt asked.

"About how much I can trust you."

His hosts and Natt paused their eating. She put her fork down. "Trust me as far as you need to, Basque. I know it's hard in your position. I know any insurance I give you would be meaningless, but honestly, I don't care about your country. I would say I don't care about politics, only I do, as I want to change things so that children no longer need to fear death while learning."

Basque nodded. "Yeah, I'm not here to play revolutionary. I can't save everyone, but I will do my best to save those in front of me."

She put her hand on his knee. "I know. It's up to us to take what you teach and catch more fish."

Basque frowned. "I don't get that one."

The Tinkerer shook his head. "Broken line. Ahab in the making."

"What?!" Basque was even more confused.

"Tink!" Symantha scolded.

Natt glowered at him. "Ignore the buffoon. It means that it's our responsibility to use the education you give us to grow or something like that. Tink was only saying gibberish, adding references to idioms."

"Oh, okay."

The Tinkerer pointed his fork at Basque. "I'll tell you how much you can trust me. Twenty-seven meters."

"Okay, that's another one I don't get."

"I figure that's about as far as you can throw me!"

Basque shook his head.

Symantha slapped her husband, but had a huge grin. "Stop making things needlessly complicated. Tink's saying you can trust him—us. We're pretty much politics-free, but we do side with Natt. And as she said, we won't press you into doing anything you feel uncomfortable with."

The Tinkerer leaned forward and laid his arm across the edge of the table. "All I want is to make new doodads."

Symantha looked at Tinkerer. "You know, that's one of the things I was talking about. He's probably not free to tell us about any more doodads."

"I'm sure he'll need something new in the future. But whatever, he's funny and Natt likes him, so he can keep bumming around here even if he doesn't."

Basque snorted a laugh. "Thanks, Tinkerer. Anyway, I've decided my life would be too lonely without anyone, so I'm putting myself in your boat."

The three of them looked at each other. "What?" the Tinkerer asked.

"I think he means his life is in our hands," Natt said.

"I'm saying I'll trust you, and if you betray me, you betray me."

"That's not going to happen," the Tinkerer said.

"Okay, now that we've got our trust established, I have a question about my maid."

The clinking of silverware on plates continued, but the three Kruamians looked at each other.

"What?" Basque asked. Then he remembered what the Tinkerer said about Natt eating with them because of her. He dropped his fork.

Natt wiped her mouth with her napkin. "You know she's the headmaid, right?"

Basque shook his head. "What does that even mean?"

"In a normal noble's household, she'd be in charge of the female staff, second in command after the butler," Natt explained.

"I still don't understand."

"A headmaid is in charge of job assignments, discipline, anything and everything regarding the female staff of a household.

"Okay."

"Nothing, and I mean nothing, goes on without the headmaid's knowledge. And, as I said before, normally, only the butler has more power among the staff, but there is no butler at Dyntril."

It took him a second to register what that meant, but when he understood, Basque's eyes went wide.

"Why…why is such an important person my maid?"

First glancing at the Tinkerers, then back to Basque, Natt answered, "We…don't know."

The Tinkerer put his fork down and clasped his hands together, resting his wrists on the table's edge. "Technically, me and the wife are second-class since a fight between us and a Yani would be the Yani getting dinner. But, like most nurses and doctors, I'm not considered 'normal' staff."

"In reality, we're closer to third," Symantha added.

The Tinkerer nodded. "Yeah, the job here lifts us up."

"So, you report to Sophia?" Basque asked.

The fiery hair on the Tinkerer's head danced as he shook his head. "That's what I'm getting at. We're in no-man's land out here. All I do is submit a monthly repair and expense report. We don't talk to no one else."

Leaning back in his chair, Basque crossed his arms and closed his eyes. What did it all mean? Why, at times, would she pretend that someone was listening? Who would dare eavesdrop on their boss? He shook his head. He needed more information.

Sitting up, he asked Natt, "So, why do you have to eat out here?"

"She hates me."

Basque pulled his head back. "She always speaks highly of you to me."

Natt's eyes went wide. "Really?!"

He nodded. "Why do you think that she hates you?"

"If I eat at the sup-teach dorm, there's cauliflower in everything. I hate cauliflower."

Symantha nodded solemnly. "Natt can't eat a lick of it. They said it's on Headmaid Sophia's orders."

"Ha!" Basque laughed.

"What's so funny? I really do hate it."

He shook his head. He didn't want to share his sugar-tea story with them. It seemed like Sophia had an MO, though. Her petty food-revenge aside, there was one question that Basque needed an answer to: "Is she trustworthy?"

His three dinner companions looked at each other. The Tinkerer shrugged, Symantha held her hands up, and Natt shook her head and said, "We don't know."

The Tinkerer cleared his throat. "Most two-sies keep to themselves. You can never tell who's polishing knobs."

"I'm sorry, what?" Basque asked.

In response, the Tinkerer held his fist in a circle and jerked it back and forth from his mouth while poking his cheek with his tongue. Symantha hit his hand away from his face. "Tink!"

"What? It's true! I'd never trust that Sophia, though. She's gotta be the hell of a knob polisher to get that gig."

"Oh Tink!" Symantha admonished again. "Don't listen to his foul language, Biscuit. What he's so crudely saying is someone who works with the nobles."

"More than work if you ask me," the Tinkerer interrupted.

Symantha slapped his shoulder several times. "Get! Get, you gutter-head!"

The Tinkerer shied away from his wife, stood up, and ran from the room while chanting, "O-kay! O-kay! O-kay! O-kay-o!"

Shaking her head, Symantha turned back to Basque. "He doesn't know, Biscuit. Neither do I. We've not had a proper conversation with her. Natt would know best."

With her fork, Natt pushed the remains of her food around as she stared at her plate, like she was divining the answer to Basque's question.

"Well, considering until tonight I've always thought she hated me, I figured her to be in cahoots with Yasher and Krill."

"Hmm," Basque said. "I don't know how much is true, but she has explicitly told me that she hates Class E; not because they're commoners, but because of the unfairness of it all."

Natt put her fork down on her plate. "She could just hate commoners."

"She told Reianna I would protect them."

It was Natt's turn to let out a questioning, "Hmm. But hasn't that also put you in a bind with your mission?"

Basque sighed. They could make a list for both trust and don't trust, and they would probably end up with the same number of reasons.

Symantha stood and took her plates to the sink. "One thing we've not mentioned yet is, she can't be removed from being the headmaid until she dies, quits, or is convicted of treason. So, it's not like she has a reason to be beholden to Yasher and Krill."

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Following the example, Basque grabbed his dishes and walked them halfway there until Symantha took them from him. "So, in other words—"

"We have no idea where she stands."

Basque thanked Symantha for the food. Natt said she was going to help with the dishes, so Basque headed back to the main campus alone. He paused in the Tinkerer's workshop to thank him for the meal.

"No, thank you, Basque."

"For what?"

"What you've done for Natt." The Tinkerer was rubbing a part with a cloth so oily that Basque couldn't tell if he was wiping the part off or applying oil to it.

"I've not done—"

"Hogwash. Been weeks since I've seen her pass out on my table. You've brought life back to her."

Basque's heart raced. "No, I…yeah, I…umm, night Tinkerer."

Heading through the academy grounds, thoughts of Sophia fell from his mind as he passed through a field. Was it here or over there, where he'd spent the magical day with Natt? Her gentle laugh echoed in his ears. Her smile as she looked down on him, tucking a strand of that lily-white hair, floated across his mind. How could someone be so…wonderful? So perfect?

So wrapped up in thoughts of her, he didn't realize he'd made it back to his room until the bath water hit his naked body. As he bathed off the dirt and grass from his body, he remembered her touch, her feel, her lips, her scent. The soft bed and warm sheets he crawled into after his bath were lacking the comfort his body now craved.

Rolling over in his needlessly large bed, the image of Natt being there with him popped into his mind. "Argh!" he screamed and sat up in bed.

He slammed his body back onto his pillow, then slammed his head several more times. Throwing his arm over his eyes, he bit his sleeve. He spit it out then muttered, "What am I doing? I can't fall in love."

How many times had he repeated the line? No Kruamian would be allowed to return with the delegation. Any relationship he established here had a shelf life of five years. There was no reason to torture himself.

Keeping his arm draped over his face and dreaming of a life he knew couldn't come to fruition, Basque fell asleep.

The next morning, he woke up in an uncomfortable position; he'd dreamt about Natt all night. Hopping out of bed, he put on some training clothes and headed to the training grounds. He needed to move, to do something besides obsess over Natt.

He was mid-warmup stretch when his class came up behind him.

"Good morning, Gerenet-Shr," they said.

Basque straightened himself. "What are you guys doing here?"

They looked at each other, then back at him. Emilisa raised her hand. "Training?" she asked without waiting for him to call her.

"Didn't I tell you guys you are off until after the tournament?"

"But you're out here," Jardan said while scratching his bedhead, butterscotch hair.

Emilisa raised her hand.

"Yes, Emilisa?"

"You told us, quote, 'You're off during the time off.' Those three days are up."

"So, I did." Basque tossed his hands in the air. "Alright, let's get to it, then."

He led them through their stretches, then they went out for their run. Reianna fell into her new, customary spot behind Basque. That awkward "I've never run before" movement of her gait was gone. Her motions were smooth and fluid. It was that same liquid grace that Natt ran with.

"What sort of training did you do with Miss Cormick?" he asked her over his shoulder.

"This and that. Pretty much what I do with you." Her answer was smooth and even, like she wasn't running at all.

"Why are you pushing yourself so hard?"

She didn't answer.

While she denied it, everything she'd ever asked him came down to protecting her classmates. "It's honorable that you want to protect your friends and classmates, but please be sure that you learn the difference between protection, sacrifice, and martyrdom."

"What's martyrdom?"

"Dying for a cause. No dying here."

Reianna laughed. "I don't plan on being the one who dies."

The bitterness of her voice. The very un-Reianna-like expression. All of it hit him wrong. Basque slowed to be next to her and put his hand on her shoulder. "Jardan, keep pace!" he shouted.

"Yes, Gerenet-Shr!"

Stopping Reianna, he let the class run by them. She looked up at him with her expressionless face. If he didn't know better, he would think that she was incapable of emotions when she looked at him like that.

"Reianna, we're not killing, either."

"What?"

"Enough people die to Yani. We don't need to help them by killing each other."

Reianna looked at the ground.

"Do you think if you kill one of the nobles, then Class E could roam around freely like all the other classes?"

"Yes."

Basque shook his head. "No, no, it won't. Just like you want to get revenge on them for doing what they did to Malcalm and the first day in the cafeteria, they'll want to get revenge on you. If you stoop to their level, not only do you dirty yourself, but you give them a reason to stoop even lower."

"I'll be following their rules, though."

"Reianna! It doesn't matter! Do you think they'll care?"

"Then what can I do?!"

"What we're already doing. I'm focusing on defense first because if they see the futility in trying to attack you, they'll give up on their own. Put yourself on an untouchable island! If you never attack them—if you never start—then you also don't have to stop."

Reianna clenched her fists and gritted her teeth. "I can't agree with you."

Basque knelt so that he was at eye level with her and put his hands on the outsides of her shoulders. "You have to trust me on this, Reianna."

She looked away and didn't say anything.

He wasn't getting through to her. He tried one last time. "The only way to prevent escalation is to not escalate. Just dodge. Avoid. Make their efforts worthless."

She was still silent.

"If you escalate it, nothing good will come from it."

"Understood, Gerenet-Shr."

He nodded and stood up. "Come on, I know you hold back for the class. Let's just see if you can keep up with me." Basque took off at a sprint, and Reianna joined him.

Despite how fast she was, her legs were still just too short; she was too young, and Basque had to slow his pace to hers, but it didn't take long for them to catch up to the rest of the class. Reianna and Basque took their positions in the lead, but Basque felt the air between them was strained.

It didn't improve the rest of the morning. Basque did his best to hide it from the other students, but Reianna made no effort to do so, and the awkward air spread to the rest of the class.

"Alright, that's the morning. Eat and shower. We've only got one class today; it will be in the classroom, not out here."

"Understood, Gerenet-Shr."

Leaving the students first, Basque rushed to his room and the bath. His conversation with Reianna still troubled him, but he'd already submitted the student list. All he could do was trust her.

Half an hour later, when he got to the teachers' room for the morning staff meeting, solutions on how to guide Reianna continued to pop into his mind, and then successively get rejected. He wanted to consult Natt about her, but when he got to the teacher's room, she wasn't there, but Harnel was.

The large man greeted him heartily when Basque sat down.

"When did you get back?" Basque asked.

"Last night with everyone else. Just before lights out."

"Things okay back on the barony?"

"All good! All good! Did you keep everything on campus tied down? Nothing floated off, did it? Bahaha!"

Basque squinted. "No, nothing started flying."

"Bahahahaha!" Basque's confusion sent Harnel's laugh into a frenzy, and the man slapped his knee.

Just then, Natt walked in, and Basque's heart skipped a beat. Harnel turned to see what caught Basque's attention and saw her as well. He turned back to Basque and gave him a knowing smile.

Holding up a finger, Basque said, "Don't say anything."

"I didn't! I didn't! I just told you—"

"Eh!" Basque pinched his fingers together.

"Morning, guys," Natt said as she sat down.

Swiveling forward and putting his elbows on his desk, Harnel put his chin on the back of his hands, batted his eyes several times, then said, "Sooo, Natt—"

"Harnel! Shut it!" Basque shoved the giant man hard enough that he banged into Tann on the other side of him. The kiwi-haired child-murderer sneered at them.

Natt rolled her eyes. "Guys can't keep a secret worth Yani shit."

"Keep what a secret?" Julvie asked as she sat down. Her tone was as dark as her glower.

"Nothing that concerns her pinkiness," Natt answered.

"One of these days, I'm going to take that other eye, you drunk."

"Okay, people! Let's get the morning meeting underway," Krill said from the front of the room. Headmaster Yasher came in, and everyone stood.

"Be seated, all."

They took their seats again. "Let's get down to business. Master Jael, please."

Jael, the head teacher for the fifth-years stood. "Thank you, Deputy Headmaster Krill. Reviewing the records of the participating students and from the draw, I've calculated a 31.3% chance of a student death. I know it's a bit over the line, but with thirty seconds outside of the shield, that's as low as I could get it."

"Very well. We're not going to decrease the time."

Jael sat down. Natt was looking at Basque's face for a reaction, but they'd been spouting those made-up numbers for four weeks now. It rang empty in his ears, like psychotic babble, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

"Next, Madam Saera."

The large kiwi-haired fourth-year head teacher stood. "15.7%." She sat down.

The other teachers oohed.

"Madam Saera, isn't that a bit low? You did account for the twenty-five seconds of unshielded combat?"

The large kiwi-haired fourth-year head teacher stood once again. "15.7%." She sat down again.

"Madam Sarea. We require more details."

Slowly, deliberately, she rose again. "Master Caerson made bad choices. I fixed them. 15.7%."

Saera made to sit again. "Madam Saera," Krill said in a sharp voice.

Standing straight, she sighed. "Please don't think that it will detract from the matches. All of the top students will be participating. I guarantee you that even though year four does not have a mage, our students will put on as exciting a show as years three and five. 15.7%." She sat.

"Outstanding, Madam Saera. We'll look forward to the matches. Next, Madam Aevangelina."

Once again, Basque got an uncanny sense of familiarity with the third-years' head teacher. She looked like Saevi all grown up, but he'd not asked either of them if there was a relationship between them.

"No matter how I asked, Mister Daymein has declared that he will kill his opponent in the final. SDR is 100%."

Daymein was the mage. Natt's face clouded over after Aevangelina made her statement, and Basque bit down on his anger. A child was declaring that he would kill another child, and these "adults" were going to do nothing to stop it?! Forbid his participation! Basque raged in his mind.

"Well, what Daymein wants, he gets. Thank you, Madam Aevangelina. Master Kohner, please."

Harnel put a beefy hand on Basque's shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze. It didn't help calm his blood.

The coral-red-haired Kohner stood up. "Unfortunately, we do not have a mage either, so we will not be able to perform as grandly as our third-year and fifth-year counterparts. The students are still rather fresh as well, so I don't expect a lot. I put our SD chance at 25%."

"Thank you, Master Kohner. Last, Master Ashkar."

"Thank you, Deputy Headmaster. As the only grade with a full complement of elevators, and this being their first tournament, the SD rate is 100%. I'm assuming that there will be two, possibly three deaths. Ten seconds is a long time, and elevators are untrained for the most part. Plus, the elevators this year have…not behaved properly. I feel the frustrations from the other students."

"Understood, Master Ashkar. It's been a miracle one hasn't died thus far, either that or malpractice."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Basque asked without standing. His voice was cold and hard, lacking in any sort of intonation. He couldn't bear to have his teaching methods questioned by these psychopaths.

"It means that you've not had the students attend their proper courses, and the way they stay huddled in their dorm hall, I'm worried that you're vastly stunting their education."

Basque stayed seated. "Only one hit. SD 0%."

"What's that?" Krill asked

"That will be the result of the four matches my students will be in."

A good number of the teachers started laughing. Natt smiled at him and nodded. Harnel also wore a smile similar to Natt's. Julvie rolled her eyes, and Ashkar sighed.

"Basque," Krill said. "Don't make such outlandish claims. It's making your country look even worse."

Basque stared Krill in the eyes. "Wanna bet?"

Yasher slammed his hand on his desk. The room jumped as the stoic man roared, "Ambassador Basque, there is a limit to how much RUDENESS I will tolerate."

"Okay, I'll tell you what. If any of my students take more than one hit, my class will attend the supplementary teacher's lessons without fail. But! If it goes how I say, then I get to teach my lessons without Master Ashkar's interference."

Krill stood and slammed both palms on his desk. "Why, you cocky little—"

Yasher put his arm out in front of Krill. "Let's make it this, then, Master Basque. If it doesn't go as you say, you will spend a day with our Kruamian Intelligence Bureau answering any question they might have in the fullest detail."

Basque didn't pause as he said, "Deal."