Troubled, Crowley hummed to himself before opening his mouth, "Though it is in the best interest to send her elsewhere, it is unfortunate that I am in capable of doing so."
"Yes." Pepikran shook her head in disappointment, "Someone from Briar Valley requested the school board to keep an eye on her here."
"Someone from Briar Valley?" Crewel looked to them in surprise.
As they know it, that country is home to mostly fae folks. Many possess a lot of pride in their lineage and abilities while some have become more open minded to being around other species. Though not many, some humans have already called the country their home and have settled down there. However, this was not so in the past. In fact, it was due to the discrimination between humans and faes in the past that led to one of the most bloodiest wars which lasted for a long time. Those years was not very long to the faes, who live long lives. So, after the peace treaty was officially set into stone, steps were taken to amend and bridge a stronger relation. Yet, some never did forget their past and still held some discrimination which is still partially evident in the speech of the current generation of faes and half faes. As for their ruler, she never did forget the past and even bore some scars which never fully healed. So, it was quite strange why they of all people would request their keep a close eye on a human.
"Yes." Crowley nodded, "Apparently, someone reported this incident to them and so they strongly requested we keep her here until further notice."
"Someone?" Crewel hesitated.
"Let's not speculate further into this matter." Crowley sighed not wanting to bring up more trouble, "Thankfully, the board of education sent someone capable of being her case carrier."
"Me? You're making me blush. Though this is the first type of special case I've taken on, I do have some experience in aiding students somewhat similar to her circumstances. Amnesia, personality disorders, depressions, to name to few…" Pepikran smiled.
"That's… Not a just a few…" Crewel muttered nervously.
"Anyway, cases of amnesia usually require a memory jolt to get them started sometimes. Sometimes they never return at all. However, it is better that they don't push themselves and let their memories come back to them slowly over time. We don't want them to end up in a hospital outside of the school, after all. I'm more so curious on how she first got here."
"The last mistake was around a hundred years ago." Crowley shook his head, "The carriage brought someone who cannot use magic at all. Ever since then, there has not been a single mistake."
"Very well." Trein shook his head as Lucius meowed, "We should first notify the students' dorm leaders for… misappropriation. As for the punishment..."
"I think Vargas will be able to take care of that." Crewel suggested, "This happened during his lecture period after all. He'll know what to do. Be careful. Rumors have already begun that Hoshi is a girl. According to my sources, someone made that assumption after hearing her voice. We can't let anybody discover the truth."
As the others nodded, Crowley concluded, "I see we are in agreement, then I will notify Coach Vargas and the student's respective dorm leaders."
Crowley huffed in dismay, "They should be grateful we did not decide to share this incident with their families."
Hearing this, Abi nodded her head hesitantly at the sight of the pile of students. Though she had heard about it, she didn't think the students of this school was so full of themselves to such an extent. Looks like seeing is believing...
…..
Once on the field, a tall and buff man in a red coat and a bright smile beemed while introducing himself, "I'm Coach Vargas, and physically educating your feeble little bodies is my responsibility. Great sorcery begins with a great physique!"
As he said this, he began flexing his muscles, "Behold the muscles you can build with a diet of raw eggs! A great mage needs a great physical constitution! So gimme twenty laps, and a hundred push-ups!"
Hoshi raised a brow in awe. What another odd individual! Moreover, the assignment seemed interesting as well!
There was some despair as the others began their jog. Ace grumbled, "Bleah. The forced exercise is bad enough, but meatheads like this guy drive me nuts."
"Finally! A subject I'm good at!" Deuce cheered as he eagerly began running with Grim lagging behind on all fours.
"Explain to me the appeal of runnin' around in circles! Do I look like a hamster?" Grim complained.
Unsure, Hoshi followed them at a steady pace. After nineteen laps, Ace and Grim began to lag behind with the other guys as Grim grumbled out of breath, "N-N-No way... How could they... still run?"
Deuce smiled wide as Hoshi remained quietly behind him and a few other students. She wasn't so tired that she can't run another couple more laps, but she held back after noticing Ace's fatigued figure with worry across her face.
Even when it came to push-ups, she managed to finish a hundred after finally breaking a sweat. As she did so, others watched in disbelief as she left to check on Grim and the others.
Grim was already too tired to move and lay sprawled on the ground while Ace struggled to lay on his back with the large collar around his neck.
"Are you guys okay?" She asked hesitantly.
Only a groan of pain was given in reply. She looked around and found a batch of freshman still running laps while the others were finishing up their push-ups. She became confused upon seeing the group as she seem to recall them being the bunch who nearly got in trouble in Professor Trein's class. Why are they still not done with their laps?
Before she could ask Ace, Deuce called out to her, "Hey, Hoshi! We're leaving!"
She turned around, "Coming!"
…..
Back in the hallway lit by candle lights and torches, Deuce was looking at their schedule of classes, "Let's see, our next class is..."
"This so-called magic academy feels a lot like a lame, ordinary school." Ace complained aloud.
"An ordinary school?" Hoshi hummed with contemplation. For some reason, it hardly felt bad to hear them compare this place to an ordinary school. Infact, she could feel her heart pumping faster and a sense of excitement welled up quietly.
"It's not exactly what I expected, but at least this collar won't be much of a problem after all. You with me on that, Grim? ...Hm?"
Hearing his reply, Hoshi paused in her step and looked around, "Huh? Where'd Grim go? …Oh no. I have a bad feeling about this..."
As she looked around frantically, Deuce shouted from the windows, "Hey! Look out the window! I just saw a ball of fur running across the yard!"
Hoshi rushed to the window and was appalled from what she was seeing. There was Grim running down the corridor and into the courtyard! Grim shouted in declaration upon seeing the group look out the window, "No way am I puttin' up with this boring routine day in and day out. I'm Grim, Sorcerer Prodigy, and I don't need no one to teach me how to blow stuff up!"
"He's cutting class on the first day?!" Hoshi groaned in despair, "The Headmage is going to be furious... Break is going to be over soon!"
"Boy, that guy is not a fast learner." Deuce sighed in dismay.
"Not a good look to lose your only student on your first day as prefect. Want help catching him?" Ace sneered mischeviously.
Knowing he had something in mind, she still nodded in defeat, "Please, Ace! Please, Deuce!"
"I do love the chocolate croissants at the co-op." Ace hinted with a smirk.
"I'd do it for an iced latte at the cafeteria." Deuce added with a similar smile.
She recalled the price being slightly higher than her current budget grumbled as she cursed at Grim in her head, "Grrrr...Fine!"
Seeing her hesitation, Ace urged her with a teasing smirk, "Grim's getting away~! Do we have a deal, or what?"
"Done and done!" She nodded in defeat, "I'm counting on you!"
"Pleasure doing business. Now, Deuce, shall we clean up the mess made by the worst prefect to ever set foot on campus?" Ace suggested as he hurried down the corridor.
"I can already taste that latte, Ace." Deuce wore a big sneer and ran down the hall after him.
As Hoshi hurried after the two, she paused in confusion and turned around. For a second, she was certain that someone was watching them, but, having looked behind her, she found that nobody was there. She hesitated before deciding to follow after the two in a hurry. Perhaps it was just her imagination after all.
As soon as she went down the stairs, a figure peeked out from the corner as he grumbled, "Bowing her head to other students, she's nothing but a weak human."
.....
After running around for a while, Ace and Deuce finally cornered Grim against the wall of the school building. Taking this chance, Hoshi leapt out of the window and grasped him by the scruff as she sighed in relief, "Finally!"
"Mrrah!" He hissed angrily, "I've had it with these boring classes!"
"Then you'll never become a great mage!" She scolded him before tucking him tightly under her arm, "Now, be quiet. You're making a scene!"
"UGH! When did you get all bossy?" Grim groaned in defeat as he was carried away like some boxed package under her arm.
Ace muttered to Deuce in bewilderment, "Dude! Did you see him jump out of that window?!"
"Yeah..." Deuce whispered in surprise, "Even I wouldn't do something so reckless."
"For a gir- Ahem, guy, you'd think he'd have some reservations about it." Ace grumbled nervously, "He doesn't seem to act like one at all."
"Really? I have a younger sister and she is always very active." Deuce whispered seemingly unconvinced.
Horrified, Ace looked back at him eyes wide, "Dude, shut up! Also, am I the only normal one here?!"