It was evening, the sky an inky sea dotted with stars. Kana stood next to Suri just outside the boarding house where very few people come around, the grass beneath their feet rustling gently with the breeze. Suri, as usual, couldn’t stand still—her eyes were locked onto the sky with giddy anticipation.
A flutter of wings caught their attention. They could see it flapping its wings but there was no sound..
Descending from the sky was a bird—black as pitch, smaller than a crow, but sharper in shape. Its talons clutched a tightly rolled scroll. It landed effortlessly on Suri’s forearm, then, just as suddenly, dissolved into wisps of mana and light, vanishing as though it had never been there.
“I got it!” Suri raised the scroll triumphantly. “A letter from the village!”
Kana’s head snapped toward her. “Let me see. What’s it say?”
Suri squinted at the parchment, then broke into a grin. “Looks like your mother wrote most of it. Beautiful handwriting. You must have got it from her.”
She cleared her throat and read aloud:
Saltrain is doing fine.
To Suri: We miss you. Especially the little boys here. Even the ones from the towns keep asking. Quite the heartbreaker, huh? Don’t go crushing hearts in the city too.
To Kana: It’s so peaceful here without you. Don’t go picking fights with the boys over there. For God’s sake.
To Boris: The ring is strange. If you fail, don’t come home. Just serve Kana and Suri as their personal guard.
They both burst into laughter at the last line, Suri doubling over with a snort.
“I want to write one too,” Kana said, reaching out. “Let me add something.”
“Nope.” Suri spun away, holding the scroll to her chest like it was a sacred treasure. “Delivering village news is my noble duty, Lady Kana.”
“You stingy witch,” Kana muttered, arms crossed but lips curling in amusement.
Suri grinned. “I already told them about us making it into copper class. Next letter l have the juicy stuff—student council news, Boris’s new muscle friend, and oh…” she wagged her brows, “that noble Andel. Handsome.. All that.”
Kana groaned. “If they start teasing us about nobles next time, I’m blaming you. Anyway, warn them about the ring, it might be cursed. We still don’t know. Is it possible to have your illusion deliver it?”
“Good idea!” Suri suggested, “But if some animal or monster attacks my illusion.. It might be good as gone. How about I tell them to deliver it here?”
…….
Suri squinted down the hallway as they passed the central corridor. Most students barely acknowledged them—heads down, steps in fast pace, minds clearly elsewhere.
She tilted her head and muttered just loud enough for a few to hear, “What’s up with these arrogant pricks today?”
One boy glanced their way, frowned, and kept walking without a word. Unbothered.
Kana raised an eyebrow. “They’re prepping last-minute. Major classes begin next week.”
Suri blinked. “We’re lucky, aren’t we? Why would anyone work so hard just to study?”
Kana sighed, rubbing her temples. “I’m pretty sure we’re the odd ones here. Why are we so relaxed?”
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
When they entered the classroom, only a few of their classmates were around—Roy hunched over some notes, Adam cleaning his gauntlets with a grim sort of reverence, and Boris leaning against the wall..
Kana gave Boris a quick signal. He pushed off the wall and followed them to the far corner. Their voices dropped.
“I didn’t find anything useful in the library,” Kana said, tone curt. “No unguarded dungeons, no forgotten ruins. Looks like we’ll have to go with the last option.”
Boris frowned. “The risky one?”
Kana nodded. “Yes. But we don’t have enough coins right now. Barely enough for a single bribe.”
“We mess this up and someone mistakes us for them…” Boris paused, his voice low and grim. “Forget the academy—we’d land in prison.”
“We’re not rushing in blind.” Kana’s voice was firm. “We listen first. We decide after.”
Suri leaned forward, eyes glinting with that dangerous playfulness she always wore before things got interesting. “We’re going to raid the thieves’ base—the one we ran into before. I’ve been keeping tabs on them. They’re involved in trafficking and some drug smuggling. The group we saw is just a branch, though. The whole organization is bigger.”
She tapped her fingers, “We’re not touching the main group. Just this branch. They have human prisoners—illegal stuff. If we free them as a distraction and clean out their stash, we’ll call it justice.” She grinned. “With a little bonus.”
Kana folded her arms, thinking.
Suri nodded. “Still risky. I’m tracking their movements. We don’t act until I find a good opportunity.”
Boris hesitated, looking between the two of them. His jaw clenched. “We do this clean, right? No mess..”
“Yes,” Kana said, eyes gleaming. “We only go if Suri finds a good opportunity or we wait for our monthly allowances.”
Their hushed planning was cut short by a knock—not loud, but deliberate—on the open door of the classroom.
Kana turned her head and immediately recognized the figure standing just outside: Jorge, one of the council aides, his posture straight as a sword and expression unreadable.
He glanced into the room, found her, and spoke with clipped efficiency. “Kana. Head to the Student Council room. Student President Elle will give you instructions shortly.”
Kana gave a small nod, already rising from her seat.
Jorge didn’t wait for acknowledgement. He pivoted and strode off, his cloak swaying behind him, clearly already burdened with other tasks.
Boris leaned closer as Kana stood. “What does she want with you now?”
“Probably about our duties. Anyway, I better be early, don’t wanna see some of the members there.”
….
Kana entered the student council room to find it unusually quiet. No chatter, no rustling papers, no footsteps—only Elle, seated at the far desk, head bent over a stack of documents. Her brow was furrowed in concentration, the soft scratching of her pen the only sound in the room.
Elle looked up as Kana approached. Her expression softened into a polite smile as she gestured toward the chair across from her.
“Have a seat.”
Without breaking stride, she reached for a small coin purse already prepared on the table and slid it across to Kana.
“Eighty-five silver coins,” Elle said. “This month’s budget for the children in the slums. Use it to buy food—Rayfin Inn is your best option. They’ve handled this sort of distribution before. Usually they’ll set up a small stall and the children come to them, you need to hand over the food to them personally. Word spreads quickly when someone from the Academy shows up.”
Kana accepted the purse with a nod. Elle had already turned back to her documents when she paused, looking up again.
“Oh—and get an official receipt from the Inn. It's for the Academy’s audit records. They'll know what to do.”
Kana tilted her head. “Why does it feel like no one wants this task? It sounds simple enough. And it’s only once a month.”
Elle’s smile returned, but it held something different this time. Wistful? Tired? Perhaps a little too knowing.
“You’ll understand when you get there. Some things can’t be explained—only felt.”
Kana didn’t reply right away.
“You don’t need to worry,” Elle added, her voice gentler now. “This is the only task that rotates among us. I wish you luck.”
Kana had been to the slum district before—once, at night, when the only way out of the capital had been through the underground passages hidden beneath it. The memory lingered: the stink of rot and damp stone, the narrow alleys choked with shadows, the eyes that watched from behind broken shutters. Even then, she'd noticed the poverty—but from the safety of darkness, it had felt distant, like passing through a bad dream.
She wondered now, Is it different during the day? Did the sun make it better—or worse?
The student council task couldn’t wait. If she wanted to keep her monthly allowance, she had to finish as early as she could and there was no better than tomorrow. More than that, she couldn’t afford to draw unwanted attention. Their raid on the thug branch might happen any day now.
