Return of the Runebound Professor

Noah didn’t wait for Contessa to reach the camp. He strode over to Moxie’s tent, rapping several times on the stone. As soon as he heard her shift, he turned and headed toward Contessa.

I don’t know what Contessa is doing here, but I want Moxie and Lee awake before she arrives. There could be someone else traveling with her.

Noah stepped onto his flying sword, ripping into the air and closing the distance between Contessa and the camp in seconds. He jumped off, driving his heels into the ground and sending up a spray of gray dirt as he arrived.

The flying sword embedded itself in the ground right between Contessa’s feet with a thud, vibrating from the force of its impact. Contessa stared at Noah with flat, exhausted eyes. Her hair was frizzy stuck out in every direction, and her clothes were covered with dirt and cuts.

As much as Noah disliked her, the woman was in a sorry state. She looked like she was a strong breeze away from falling over. That wasn’t to say that Noah was particularly bothered by her wellbeing, though.

Contessa swallowed. She opened her mouth, then coughed into a fist. Noah’s brow furrowed and he pulled out his water skin, throwing it to her. Contessa grabbed it, not even stopping to check what was inside the skin before twisting the top off and drinking greedily from it.

She drained the entire thing within a few seconds, not even stopping to breath. Letting out a relieved gasp, Contessa lowered it from her lips and put the top back on. She swallowed, then handed it back to Noah.

“Thank you.”

Noah grunted. “It wasn’t a favor. When I told you to report to me, I didn’t mean to track me down in the middle of while I was doing something. You could have waited at Arbitage.”

“You aren’t the only one I report to,” Contessa said, fear flickering in her eyes. “Evergreen can kill me just as well as you can.”

Noah inclined his head. “Fair enough. Then you’re here because of Evergreen?”

Contessa gave Noah a jerky nod. “I – I need to speak with Moxie. I have orders for her.”

“Which you’ll be sharing with me, I trust?” A cold smile passed over Noah’s features. Contessa shuddered and nodded.

“Evergreen has ordered Moxie to be prepared for interference during the survival exam. She suspects that the Linwick family will attempt to kill or kidnap Emily before the survival exam.”

Noah tilted his head to the side. Father hadn’t shown even the slightest amount of interest in the Torrins when they’d spoke. It was entirely possible that Father had simply hidden his plans, but Noah could have sworn that Father’s goals were entirely in getting his family into the main branch.

Another Linwick, then? Or maybe the main branch of the family themselves?

“So what are her orders?” Noah asked.

Contessa swallowed. “To discreetly eliminate any people that the Linwicks may use to access Emily before the Exam. Her performance as a teacher will also be evaluated during the survival exam. If Emily fails to reach expectations, she will be replaced.”

Noah didn’t let any of his emotions show on his face. Something told him that getting replaced by the Torrin family didn’t mean a severance package. It probably meant getting taken out to the shed.

And that first part – Evergreen is referring to me, Isabel, and Todd. There’s absolutely no reason for her to believe we’re trying to kill Emily. This isn’t the Linwicks pulling anything at all, is it? Evergreen is trying to test Moxie’s loyalty.

“There’s also another Torrin family member with me,” Contessa said. She wrung her hands together nervously. “A student at Arbitage that I’ve never met. Her name is Bria. She’s strong. Way stronger than a student should be. She has silver hair and eyes, so she’s main branch. She’s on the shorter side, but a little taller than Emily. She’s defeated multiple monsters just using a plain steel sword. I don’t know where she’s from or who her teacher is.”

That’s certainly a lot of information. More than I’d expect from someone who was only sharing information reluctantly. Something tells me that Contessa really, really doesn’t like Bria.

“And where is she?” Noah asked.

Contessa’s face darkened. “At Aribtage. She’s been using the transport cannon to pop in and check on me every day, but she only stays for an hour or two before getting pulled back. She just tells me what direction to go in and calculates how far I’ll get. She should be showing up in the general area pretty soon.”

Ah. That explains a lot, then. She’s been showing up, nice and refreshed, while making Contessa trudge around like a slave. Hah. Serves her right. Another Torrin family member, though… that’s probably not good. None of this is good.

“I see,” Noah said. “Does Bria know anything about me?”

“Nothing important.”

“Good,” Noah said, pulling his flying sword from the ground and stepping on. He paused before sending any magic into it. “Keep it that way. Is Bria likely to attack on sight? Is she supposed to be helping Moxie on this assignment?”

Contessa shook her head. “I have no idea. I don’t know anything about her or what she actually wants, but she’s definitely a threat.”

“Then I suppose we’ll find out,” Noah said. He activated his flying sword and shot off, leaving Contessa to finish walking to the camp. He landed beside Moxie and Lee, who had emerged from their tent and were watching them.

“Is that Contessa?” Moxie asked with a terse frown. “What’s going on? Why is she here?”

“Orders from Evergreen.” Noah scowled, then relayed what Contessa had told him. Moxie’s expression darkened.

“That bitch. She’s testing to see just how far I’ll go on her orders.” Moxie’s hands clenched at her sides. “She must suspect that I’m trying to act for myself.”

“What do we do?” Lee asked. “They want you to kill Isabel and Todd?”

“Technically, the orders were to take out anyone that Moxie suspected the Linwicks would use to target Emily.” Noah crossed his arms. “But that very strongly implies me, Isabel, and Todd. Maybe even you, Lee. Evergreen left it fairly open ended, though. Technically, you could just say you don’t think we’re threats.”

“I could,” Moxie agreed. “But Evergreen said she’d replace me if Emily didn’t meet expectations during the exam. I’d be willing to bet that she was including my judgment in that assessment.”

“So what do we do?” Lee rubbed her chin. “Somehow prove that we aren’t a threat to Emily?”

“I’m not sure if there’s a point of that,” Moxie said with a sigh. “There should already be considerable proof. Evergreen knows all of you have been around Emily for some time now. There’s been ample time for any of you to act if you were planning on it.”

“Then what’s the point of this?” Noah asked. “She already knows the answer, doesn’t she?”

“I don’t know.” Moxie shook her head. “But I’ll need to figure something out before the exam. If I don’t have a good answer for Evergreen when she comes knocking…”

Moxie didn’t need to finish the sentence. They all knew what that meant.

“Do you know about the new lady?” Lee asked after a moment. “Bria. Is she going to be an ally?”

“Almost certainly not,” Moxie replied. “I’ve never heard of her, but silver hair and eyes means she’s part of the main branch. I don’t know what she’d possibly be doing here. It makes no sense.”

“Well, I think we’ll get to find out soon.” Noah looked over his shoulder at Contessa, who was starting to grow closer to the camp. No matter how bedraggled Contessa looked, the only thing Noah could remember whenever he looked at her face was the sound of her slapping Moxie.

His fingers twitched at his side and a flicker of anger passed through his features.

“Noah?” Lee asked.

Noah blinked and glanced down at her. “Sorry. Lost in thought. What is it?”

“Nothing,” Lee replied after a moment. “Never mind. I was just wondering if you had any ideas on what we should do.”

“Well, start by warning the kids,” Noah said. “They need to know that there’s a potential threat.”

“Moxie is already doing that.”

Noah blinked, realizing that Moxie wasn’t standing next to them anymore. He shook his head and scrunched his nose. It felt like a minute had just up and vanished.

“Maybe I’m not getting enough sleep,” Noah said through a frown. “Well, that’s good. Keep an eye out for Bria. Make sure she doesn’t find out anything about you, okay?”

“I will,” Lee promised. She opened her mouth, then paused as Contessa finally reached the edge of camp. She stood awkwardly at the implied border – there wasn’t actually an actual line marking where the camp ended.

“What’s she doing?” Noah muttered.

“I’m pretty sure she’s scared of you, judging by the looks she’s sending,” Lee replied. “What did you do to her?”

“Not much,” Noah replied. “Just threatened to kill her.”

“That’s your definition of not much?”

“What? It’s only death.”

Lee shook her head. “Your views on that haven’t changed much, have they?”

“I guess it’s different for people I actually care about. I don’t want any of you to die. But other people?” Noah scratched his cheek, then shrugged. “They’ll live. Well, they won’t. You know what I mean.”

“No, I really don’t,” Lee muttered. “But it’s okay. I don’t need to.”

Her hand shot into Noah’s travel bag, snagging a piece of jerky. Lee darted off before Noah could grab it back, running to join Moxie and the students where they’d gathered by Isabel’s tent.

Noah shook his head, then beckoned for Contessa to walk into the camp. If Bria showed up while Contessa was terrified, she’d realize something was wrong.

“Act normally,” Noah instructed when Contessa reached him. “You can treat me the way you’d normally treat a random weak Linwick. I don’t need to set her guard on edge.”

“Okay.” Contessa nodded nervously, then tried to mold her face into a cold mask.

Damn, she’s shit at this. I’m pretty sure she’d faint if I yelled boo at her. She’s almost as bad at acting as Brayden is.

Huh. Brayden. I wonder how he’s doing. I hope he’s alright.

Noah shook his head and headed over to join the others. He didn’t have the luxury to let his mind drift right now. Contessa wasn’t a threat, but Bria certainly could be.

“…so, what are we supposed to do?” Todd finished asking Moxie. “Just pretend like we have no idea who she is?”

“Exactly,” Moxie said with a nod. “You’ve never heard of her before today, so that shouldn’t be too hard to keep up. Just be very cautious. Until we know more about what’s going on, assume she may be actively looking to kill you.”

“If she attacks, can we fight with lethal force?” Isabel asked.

Emily shot her a wide-eyed look. “Isabel! She’s a main branch member! We can’t–”

“If she tries to kill me, I’m not going to spare her because her mom is rich,” Isabel said flatly. “It’s not like the noble families could care any less about me and Todd. We’re already Blacklisted, remember?”

Emily swallowed, pulling back slightly before nodding. “I – yeah. Sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”

“It’s fine.” Todd flicked Isabel on the shoulder. “Don’t be so melodramatic. I’m sure it won’t come down to anything that bad. She’s a student as well. Maybe we can make friends with her.”

“Okay, now you might be getting a bit optimistic,” Emily muttered.

Is that jealousy? Cute.

Todd caught sight of Noah and Contessa approaching them. He nodded in greeting.

“Yo, Teacherman.”

“Very eloquent, Todd,” Noah said. “We won’t be changing any of our current objectives, but you should probably keep your Runes ready, if you catch my drift.”

Todd nodded his understanding. With how short his Runes could function at a time, it would be bad if Bria decided to attack after Todd had spent all the energy he had.

They all set about their normal routine, preparing for the day. Contessa stood awkwardly to the side, and Moxie made absolutely no move to include her. Lee tossed her a strip of jerky, but that was the extent of the interaction that any of them had with her.

The sun continued to rise through the sky. A little over an hour had passed, and Noah continued to keep watch over the surroundings of the camp while Moxie got started on the day’s training – even though it was clear that nobody was actually fully into it.

As the time ticked by, Noah pondered on his thoughts. With the direction things were going, there was a good chance that he’d come into direct conflict with the Torrin family – starting with Bria.

She was supposedly just a student. Someone no older than Isabel or Todd. She might not have a choice in the matter, or she could have been tricked into her position. Noah didn’t know, but he likely wouldn’t get the chance to properly find everything out about her.

A flash of silver caught Noah’s eye. He turned, looking to one of the protruding hills as a woman popped out above it, landing on top of the hill gracefully. She turned and, even though she was still too far for Noah to make out her expression, he could tell that their eyes had locked.

And, in that moment, Noah made his decision.

I don’t care who she is or what the circumstances are. She’s no different than an Inquisitor. If someone tries to hurt my students – I’ll kill them.

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