Chapter 68: Chapter 63 – Political Fallout

"One accident is luck. Two accidents is a coincidence. Three? Then you start checking which of your enemies might be responsible for them." - Anonymous saying.

 

In the end, the Institute's tournament for this semester ended up being a showcase for Cal's students. Leila was knocked out of the running in the quarterfinals by a clever ice mage who kept his distance at all costs, while Giselle was disqualified due to her use of "excessive and malicious violence" in her match with the prince. Willa ended up the champion of the tournament however, with Ognar in second place.

 

To be completely fair, to have Willa fight against most any other student and even many teachers in the institute would have just been a completely lopsided match at the time, as the half-therian girl's suit of armor - which Cal commissioned at a rather steep price - just gave her a thoroughly unfair advantage.

 

But then again, life was not fair. Cal was definitely not against driving that particular lesson home to the other students either.

 

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A couple hours after the tournament ended, Cal had gathered all her students - along with Leila - in a side room near the balcony. Several representatives from nations in the union had attempted to poach them before Cal came over and fetched them, but were thoroughly stymied when they learned that the students in question had been trained by Paradise bigshots. Vark had accompanied Cal and congratulated his daughter, whereas Aideen and the rest went with Garth for some more serious talks with representatives of the various nations.

 

"Good news first, students." Cal said as she loudly clapped her hands to get their attention. "You all did well, so go home and pack up for that promised vacation. We can depart as early as tomorrow."

 

The students perked up at her words, and even Giselle's conflicted face lightened up at the mention. The young human girl had never actually hurt someone else with malicious intent before today, and her own actions had thrown her into self-doubt and some confusion.

 

"Now for the things you should have done better." Cal added, which elicited groans from her students.

 

"Willa. You need to vary your approaches more. Charging in directly is indeed very effective, but if that is all you do, someone will get smart and counter it one day. Also, do not grow too reliant on your armor. It is but a tool in the end."

 

"Ognar." Cal said as her gaze shifted to the young half-orc. "You on the other hand need to be more confident in yourself. Many times, you erred on the side of caution when there was no need to. Strive to find a proper balance in the future."

 

"Leila? You will need to train your physique more. I think today made it clear that pure reliance on magic might be exploited far more easily by a resourceful opponent."

 

"And as for you…" She said as she turned to Giselle, who swallowed nervously under her gaze. "You did well, all considered. Do not feel bad about what you did to the scumbag. If anything I'd say you let him off too lightly."

 

"What?" Stammered the nervous girl in surprise.

 

"I'd have fed him his own dick and testicles in your stead, but that's just me speaking." Giselle blushed at Cal's vulgar description, while the woman in question had not even noticed it. "Never been good at holding back on those types."

 

"Uhh… would I be in trouble? I mean… he is a prince and I assaulted him in public and-"

 

"Your other tutors and the dean are in talks to make that a moot point." Cal stated bluntly. "We kinda found where his guards went during the show. Naughty boys were playing with explosives under the balconies."

 

"They what!?" Exclaimed Leila in surprise.

 

"Set up things that would go boom right under where we sat. Also had a kidnapped girl with them, one of your classmates, that badger therian with the bronze-gold fur."

 

"They had Adena with them? But why would they kidnap her?" Willa asked, as she was familiar with the student in question. "That girl's the child of a royal bastard, but pretty sure her family has no political pull whatsoever."

 

"We're not sure either to be honest. I imagine Aideen might be able to get to speak better than I could, so we'll see."

 

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On the other side of the stadium, within a sequestered meeting room, the representatives of the various nations in the unions were understandably quite surprised and enraged when Garth brought them the news and evidence. The Iznuguod ambassador had at first strolled into the meeting confidently and intended to complain at the assault on their prince, but sweated profusely the moment Garth brought his news.

 

He was quite easily apprehended when he tried to bolt away from the room.

 

His reaction more than sold the idea to the other representatives that the Iznuguod side might have had a hand on the matter, and they agreed to Aideen's suggestion to interrogate the captives, as well as to keep the prince in house arrest for the time being. The representative from Boroes, a distant uncle to the kidnapped student, was especially adamant on enforcing a strict guard to prevent any possible escapes.

 

Fibuela was the one actually responsible for the interrogation in question, and she did it with Aideen's magical aid. Representatives from the various nations, as well as Cal, watched the old dwarven matron as she coaxed and comforted one of the captive men. After one session, she would replace the man while Aideen kept the other three men in a state of suspended animation where they felt as if time passed faster.

 

After a mere two days - though for the captives they felt as if they had passed months in limbo - Cal watched flabbergasted as one of the captive cried his heart out on Fibuela's shoulder while she comforted him like a mother would to a child.

 

The other three men broke down similarly the next day, and the information they confessed to were cross-checked and correlated for discrepancies. Their confessions pointed to a plot done in tandem with the Theodinaz cult currently active and rebelling in Ezram, of which the men were all a part of.

 

Descendants of nobility from the dead kingdom the cultists named themselves for, the Iznuguod royal family saw the uprising in Ezram as a chance to increase their status, and had supported the cultists covertly. Their plan was for a mass bombing of today's tournament, which they would have framed on Boroes separatists, hence the kidnapped girl. They would have even "sacrificed" some of their men in an attempt to "heroically" stop the girl from her vile plot.

 

The prince was apparently part of the setup, with him and the ambassador to throw their political weight to direct the attention at Boroes should the plot succeed. The captives had admitted as well that should the plot have failed, they would have used the prince as a scapegoat and made it so it looked like he did it on his own initiative, while the rest of the family was innocent. A second plan the prince in question was left unawares of.

 

And a plan that had been rendered pointless with the dowager queen's capture in Ezram the year prior, news of which had apparently been kept secret due to the still ongoing negotiations between Iznuguod and Ezram.

 

News that Aideen shared freely with the gathered representatives, to rather explosive effects. By the time she had left them to their own deliberations the representative from Boroes loudly called for war already.

 

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"That was quite an eye-opening method of interrogation." Cal admitted to Fibuela as they sat down for some tea that evening. "I doubt I could do something like that, however."

 

"Aye, lass. I've not been the chief interrogator of Göttmøræghthœthangmär for three centuries without some tricks in me." Said the dwarven matron calmly as she sipped her tea. She eyed Aideen meaningfully as she said her next words. "Would've taken a lot longer without her help though."

 

"I ain't a soul weaver." Aideen said with a shrug. "But a millennia is a long time, and some of their useful tricks, I found pretty replicable even as a fleshweaver."

 

"So what's it gonna be for you next, lass? Taking the kids to a holiday like you promised?"

 

"In a sense." Cal said. "Xain's wedding is in a week and a half, I figure I'd take them vacationing to my homeland while I'm at it."

 

"Oooh. I wanna come with." Said Aideen cheerfully.

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