The monthly student council meeting took place in the early evening.

  The sun had long since dipped, leaving the sky awash in deep purple. Faint golden light from the lamps powered by magical leaves illuminating the long table, shadows pooling at the corners of the council room.

  Elle York sat at the head of the table, her presence commanding. Her folded hands rested atop a neat stack of papers. When she spoke, her voice carried clear and sharp, echoing against the paneled walls.

  “There will be changes.”

  A few murmured. Every council member’s eyes locked on her.

  “First, we will review Kana’s project—the orphanage.” Her gaze slid briefly to Kana, pinning her in place. “Food distribution for little ones in the slum district has caused too much chaos on the streets for the past few years. In order to prevent that and effective immediately, charity allocated funds will be directly allocated to the orphanage instead.”

  Kana sat straighter, blinking in surprise. That… was not what she had expected.

  “Furthermore,” Elle continued, tone steady, “Kana will not only manage the orphanage, but must actively seek children who need guardianship. She will be responsible for bringing them under the orphanage’s care.”

  The lamplight glinted faintly across Elle’s eyes as she paused, letting the weight of the responsibility settle.

  “Now, since Kana is retaining her role,” Elle said, “the council—with Principal Light’s approval—has determined that rotations will no longer occur monthly.”

  A soft murmur rippled around the table, like restless air stirring a flame.

  “They will occur yearly.”

  Kana’s pulse quickened. Yearly. Across the table, several members visibly tensed, others exchanged sharp looks. Resentment curled through the chamber, but no one dared speak against Elle outright.

  “We will continue with our current duties until the end of the year.”

  The glow of the lamps caught the unease on their faces, and in the silence that followed, the room seemed to darken further.

  Elle’s voice cut through again, harder this time. “The second announcement.”

  “Because of the recent kidnapping attempt, complacency cannot be allowed. Additional professors will be assigned to the night patrols.”

  Kana’s chest tightened. Night. Of course.

  “They will not patrol alone,” Elle continued. Her hand lifted a parchment, her eyes sweeping the room. “Selected students will accompany them.”

  A beat of silence, broken only by the faint hiss of the lamp.

  “Second year, Pan of Silver Class. Mica, fourth year, Silver Class. Loize Galley, first year, Gold Class.”

  Elle’s eyes flicked up at the last name, holding the moment deliberately. “And Suri, first year, Copper Class.”

  The atmosphere was silent for a moment.

  “These students were handpicked by the professors and Principal Light himself as this year’s most capable scouts,” Elle said, her voice a final, ringing verdict. “Additional benefits will be discussed personally by the principal.”

  The parchment closed with a soft thump.

  Kana inhaled, imagining the way Suri would react when told. Suri didn’t like to take orders, especially when her sleeping hours were on the line.

  Kana waited until the last of the meeting’s chatter had died down. Parchment shuffled, chairs scraped, and one by one the council members filed out. She stayed behind, eyes fixed on Elle York at the head of the long table.

  “I have to ask something,” Kana said quietly and eyes glanced around, “Privately.”

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  Elle nodded, then flicked her fingers. The few lingering students paused, then obediently left the chamber. The heavy door closed behind them, muffling the distant sounds of the academy.

  Elle leaned back in her chair, her expression curious. “Yes? You have my attention.”

  “Do you know of a student here with an ability… similar to summoning?”

  That earned a slow smile from Elle, the kind that always seemed half a secret. “I do. But you’ll have to tell me why, Kana. You know how I am.”

  Kana hesitated, silence stretching. Finally she exhaled. “Someone attacked us last night. We thought it might be a student. It… summoned something that wasn’t alive.”

  Elle’s smile vanished. Her posture straightened, “Then this is no ordinary matter. We need to inform Principal Light. I don’t believe it’s a student.” She paused. “Balt is still not found, the Smiling Man.”

  Kana frowned. She had thought that Royal knights were so capable, an injured man shouldn’t be hard to capture. Were the tales about them wrong?

  “There are only two students with summoning-type abilities currently enrolled here,” Elle continued. “One is Mica, a fourth-year silver class. The other is your friend, Suri, who we both know deals in illusions rather than true summons.”

  Her eyes narrowed slightly. “And Mica… no. You’ll see for yourself. Her skills are nothing like what you described.”

  Kana nodded, though the unease didn’t leave her. She wouldn’t take anyone’s word for it. If Mica was capable of masking her real strength like them, then only a direct confrontation—or Suri’s keen mana senses—would confirm the truth.

  She clenched her fists at her side. She had trusted the academy to keep danger out, but after last night… complacency was a luxury she could no longer afford.

  …

  It was a tiring first day of the week, and Kana never thought that such a simple meeting could drain her energy this much. Words, decisions, and politics—somehow they could leave her feeling more battered than a day of training.

  She pushed open the door to their dorm room, the hinges creaking softly in the quiet. Inside, the room was dim, lit only by a faint glow from the moon through the window.

  Suri sat on her bed in lotus position, the [Blue Eye Staff] balanced carefully across her lap. Its crystal pulsed faintly, like a sleeping eye opening and closing, the light brushing across her face with each glow. Her hands rested lightly on her knees, her back straight, her eyes closed. To an untrained eye, she might have looked serene, but Kana knew her well enough—the silence and the posture were too focused. She was tracking. Still following the faint, elusive trail of the scarecrow summoner or the group of students who wanted them gone.

  Kana lingered for a breath, then said, “I have something to tell you.”

  Suri’s eyes opened, pale blue in the dim light, the glow of her staff dancing in them. “Me too.”

  She didn’t give Kana time to answer before continuing. “I got a response from the Duke. He has a condition.”

  Kana sat down with a dull thump. “What is it?”

  “One adult will accompany us when we raid. He’ll be there to observe—and to intervene if things get too dangerous.”

  The words dropped like stones between them. Kana frowned, pressing her palms into the desk. An escort. No—an observer. A leash in disguise.

  She hesitated, thinking. They needed to level quickly. The unknown enemy seemed growing and pressed closer every day. Kana couldn’t ignore the truth: their enemies were hunting them more openly now. Suri needed to reach level 20.

  Kana exhaled. “Alright. Tell him we agree.”

  Suri gave a small nod, as if she had expected Kana’s answer, and her hands returned to resting lightly on her knees. The faint pulse of the staff dimmed, steadying. Then her gaze flicked back up. “And you? What did you want to tell me? I didn’t follow you to the meeting.”

  Kana bet she simply was not interested.

  Kana sighed, sinking onto the edge of her bed. “You got selected as one of the night patrol students.”

  The answer came instantly, sharp as steel. “I refuse.”

  Kana had expected it. She knew Suri’s reaction before Elle even spoke her name in the council chamber.

  “Well, I heard there's a benefit. You sure you don’t want to?” Kana asked.

  “I don’t think they can give me something equivalent as important as my sleep.” Suri’s tone was calm, but her staff vibrated faintly on her lap, as though echoing her annoyance. “Those patrols are wasting time from half ceremony then half doing lazy patrols. If it were once a week, I might consider it. But every night? That destroys my rest. That destroys our scouting. And if I’m half-dead from exhaustion, my beautiful perfectly sculpted face might be.. ..”

  Kana’s fingers curled around her blanket, steadying herself and cutting in before Suri finished her sentence,“Tell that to Principal Light. It’s out of my hands.”

  For a moment, silence stretched. Only the staff’s crystal glowed.

  Suri’s gaze drifted toward the window, where the night pressed its weight against the blurry glass. Her voice was quieter this time, almost to herself. “Then I’ll just have to find another way.”

  Sleep claimed Kana fast after a day like this—harder than most of her battles.

  “Oh, it’s not like I need to be awake when I’m on scouting duty…” Suri muttered, half to herself. She stretched, her voice carrying that lazy mischief she always wore.