We stepped into the chamber where the administrators were gathered, and the atmosphere immediately felt thick. Not physically thick, of course, but the kind of heavy silence that sits in the air the moment people know something unpleasant is about to happen. There were nine of them seated around the long table. Ten, technically, if you counted Gaspard, though the man himself was nowhere to be seen at the moment.
The room itself had that old, overly dignified look to it. Tall windows. Heavy wooden furniture. The sort of place that tried very hard to look important. And sitting in the middle of it all were the people responsible for maintaining that image.
Most of them were old. Very old.
