Chapter 86: ~Chapter 29~ Part 1

In the end, I was right. I know that doesn't really narrow things down, as I am right about a lot of things, but this time in particular I was extra right about how our breakfast would turn out to be our lunch in the end. Furthermore, what started out to be just another stunt by my girlfriends sneakily escalated into The Calamity Lunch Version 2.0: Electric Boogaloo.

Well, fine, I might be slightly overly dramatic here. It wasn't as disastrous as the last time, but it was still a pain in the neck. As they say, too many cooks spoil the broth, and that idiom has rarely been as fitting as in this case. For some unexplainable reason Angie, Snowy, and even Josh followed after my girlfriends, ostensibly to help with their impromptu competition, yet their meddling somehow resulted in full course meal that got finished way outside of the time frame of 'breakfast', and consisted of a bunch of heavy dishes that did not complement each other the slightest. At this point I could go into the extravagant nature of those dishes and even ponder where their exotic ingredients came from, but I would rather not go down that rabbit hole right now.

At the end of the meal, which may or may not have concluded with a swift and merciless scolding, Judy and Elly solemnly declared that the results were a draw, then they promised to me that they wouldn't get carried away like that in the future.

"It's decided then! We are going on a group date on Sunday!" Elly declared with a fist pump while obviously getting carried away.

"You are making a scene," I chided her, prompting her to glance back at me over her shoulder with an apologetic smile, so I hastily added, "Pay attention while walking."

She blinked at me in surprise, but then she obediently turned back and continued whatever dastardly date plans she was in the process of hatching with the help of my dearest assistant while we walked. Wait, does this require some context? I suppose it does.

So, after we had our fill with our over-the-top lunch and shared some more much-needed exposition with Josh, I finally decided to stop delaying the inevitable, and so our little fellowship set out on a decidedly less-than-epic journey to meet the fabled arch-wizard of Blue Cherry High. Damn, my life is weird…

Anyways, in a great display of self-organizing chaos, our group naturally formed into three lines. On the forefront were Snowy and Angie, with Josh pushing his moped between the two of them as they shared even more vital information about the terrible dangers of the world of the supernatural masquerade, interspersed with random arguments about Trucy the Werewolf Huntress and some other shows I knew little about. In other words, business as usual.

Right behind them walked my two girlfriends, their discussion filled with a weird mixture of secretive harmony and sudden competitive outbursts. Also business as usual.

By process of elimination, that left me trailing behind them all with an especially sullen class rep at my side. Also, while I know the rule of three kind of demands it, but no, that wasn't business as usual, so I am not even going to pretend so. That said, this configuration meant that we have pretty much occupied the whole sidewalk, which actually made me acutely aware of something quite unusual… or rather, it was very normal, but because it was, it was not.

Okay, I stop beating around the bush: it was the placeholder population. When I told Elly to keep it down because she was drawing attention, I actually meant it. For maybe the first time since I could remember, the placeholders actually seemed to pay attention to us. No, before even that: they were actually on the street! I mean, I think I have already noted that the number of placeholders walking around and doing their business was increasing over time, but this early afternoon I felt like we crossed some kind of threshold; now the actual streets felt lived in. There was still not a speck of dust on the road or a stray piece of candy wrapper on the grass, so it still wasn't super authentic, but it was definitely more so than just a week or so before.

I couldn't help but wonder; was this supposed to be the natural progression of this world? We actually discussed this with Judy in the past, and she even had a theory about how maybe the world was a kind of simulation where it was supposed to run for a while for the placeholders to gather 'character' before the actual action or game or experiment or whatever this world was designed for was started. It was a somewhat elegant explanation of the rudimentary behavior patterns of the placeholders and their slow yet steady improvement on that front, but it still presupposed that the world was designed, or at the very least had some intent behind it, something of which I still wasn't one hundred percent certain.

As I was having these thoughts, I couldn't help but shake my head in irritation. There was still so little I knew about this world or dream or simulation or something, and unfortunately, it seemed like any earnest research would have to be put on hold once again, at least until I could make sure our lives and well-being weren't threatened by the plot. Speaking of which, I also reminded myself for the umpteenth time to pay attention to my own thought processes to catch any signs of some kind of narrative meddling in action. Regrettably, knowing that my own thoughts can be sneakily tweaked by an unseen force was not particularly comforting, and paying attention to every stray brainwave only made the stress worse.

"Haaahhh…"

And then the girl with the glasses by my side started letting out dramatic sighs like that! For a while, I actually hesitated whether or not I should ask or play dumb and avoid a potential landmine, but by this point I had a feeling she was doing it just to get me to ask, so I let out a shallow breath of my own and decided to bite it.

"Why the long face?" I asked tentatively, only for her to immediately turn towards me with a frown.

"I still don't understand how you figured it all out!" Ammy complained, earning a confused look from me.

"You mean, about Josh? Didn't I already tell you?"

"But it still makes no sense," she grumbled as she put her hands into her coat pockets. "If these prophecies were secret, then how do you know about them? Don't tell me it's 'I'm an information broken' again…"

"Nah, I just asked." She didn't seem convinced, so I explained, "Elly told me about the prophecy on her own. Then when I talked with Angie, we talked about their hallowed leader and their prophecy came up during that, and then I asked Snowy if they had something similar the next time we talked."

"Yeah, I wanted to ask about that too!" she interjected while her brows somehow descended even further. "How did you even know Angeline was a Celestial? And for how long?"

I couldn't give an immediate answer this time, as it involved some meta-logic, so after a few seconds I shrugged and deflected with a non-committal, "It was fairly obvious."

"What do you mean 'fairly obvious'?" Ammy practically hissed at me. "I've known her since middle school, and I never even suspected her!"

At this point the words 'She is called ANGELine!' were on the tip of my tongue, but I managed to swallow them back with inhuman effort, and instead I told her, "That just shows that I'm exceptionally good when it comes to deduction."

"Sure, just dodge the question," Ammy grumbled and rolled her eyes at me. "You are being 'exceptionally good' at that too. In fact, you are being too exceptional at too many things."

"Am I?" I asked back just a little uncertainly, which earned me a sudden, but by no means unexpected, harrumph.

"Do I have to spell it out?" I immediately nodded, so she explained to me in a weary voice. "Just to list the most glaring ones: you fought a Faun General and won. You fought a Chimera and killed it. You faced a Lord of the Abyss and you lived to tell the tale. On top of that you have money, the looks, your background is simultaneously too normal and yet mysterious, and while you are dangerously knowledgeable about all the Old Blooded, you do not belong to any of them."

"W-Well," I stammered for a moment, "To be fair, I can't really do anything about the looks department, but thanks for the compliment."

"And there you are, grabbing onto the most insignificant thing to change the direction of the conversation. I'm not even mad at this point, only disappointed."

"Ouch, class rep. That hurt. Mentally. Also, you are waaay more grouchy than usual."

"I think I said this before, but just to reiterate: Whose fault do you think that is?" She paused for a long moment, apparently waiting for me to say something, but since I remained silent she simply shook her head and said, "Let me stress this one more time: You killed a Chimera. Those are supposed to be so rare they are more or less legendary at this point, and even grandfather would've had a tough time facing one. Do you have any idea how much effort it took me to sort that mess out?"

"Hey, I didn't do it to cause you trouble!" I defended myself. "Also, it was a team effort. I can distinctly remember a certain girl's golem thingie contributing quite a bit. Not to mention, I wasn't the one who brought the bloody thing over. If you want to blame someone for all that happened, blame Crowey, not me. "

"Fine, you are right," she admitted with a voice that said she was still quite cranky. "But you being right doesn't change the fact that I still have mountains of paperwork to deal with when I go home today, and about half of it is because you—"

"Okay, time out!" I cut her short while signaling the same thing with my hands. "You keep saying that, but why are you doing paperwork in the first place?" Instead of answering me, she gave me one of those classic uncomprehending looks you would show when someone asked you which cereal flavor was your favorite mode of transportation, so I quickly reiterated, "I mean, why are you, in particular, doing paperwork? You are what? Sixteen?"

"So are you," she retorted with another frown, but I dismissed her with a wave of my hand.

"Seventeen on paper, but it doesn't matter. We are talking about you. I'm sure you have other people at the School who could deal with paperwork, so why are you doing it?"

This time the look she gave me was a bit more pensive, even hesitant, but after a quick glance at the front of our little procession, she seemed to finally reach a decision and gestured for me to come closer.

"Before I tell you the details, I have a quick question for you. Do you know what happened at Cardiff?"

"Cardiff?" I repeated after her. I naturally knew what she was talking about, as it was the notorious 'Cardhouse incident' that was, among other things, my primary cover as Admin over at the Celestial Hub. "Well, unless this is a trick question, the main thing that comes to mind is the incident when the Celestials tried to infiltrate a School and got caught red-handed. It was about three or so months ago, right?"

Amelia's face momentarily slackened in surprise, apparently not expecting me to actually answer her question, but then her expression quickly switched again as she nodded.

"Correct," she stated, then after a second or so she added, "I'll be damned. Maybe you are an informant after all…"

"That's neither here nor there," I spoke dismissively. "But back to the original question: what does what happened at Cardiff have to do with paperwork?"

"More or less everything," she told me accompanied by a tired groan. "Before Cardiff, a lot of the more mundane operations of the Schools were done by normal humans. The Celestials used this hole in our security to plant spies in our administration. Not only that, they have been doing it for at least two generations."

"Yeah, they are sly like that. Almost disturbingly so," I spoke carelessly, earning me an approving grunt from Ammy.

"They are," she said while making another sneak peek at a certain overly enthusiastic girl in the front, who was in the process of trying to convince Snowy to read some romance book about a friendly wight or something, like she didn't have a care in the world. Anyways, Ammy soon turned back to me and said, "So, as per the usual habit of the Assembly, they quickly threw the baby out with the bathwater and created a new law so that sensitive documents can only be handled by Magi directly related to the leadership of the School in question."

"And that's you," I guessed.

"Indeed," she answered with a mixture of exhaustion and indignation. "Since I'm grandfather's only blood relative, I have to do literally all the important accounting in the School, which includes things such as, let's say, someone killing a Chimera on School grounds."

"I get it, geez," I rolled my eyes at her barbed words, "Would you have preferred if I let it eat someone?"

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"No," she denied immediately, but then she added, "Do you have any idea how much paperwork would that have caused!?"

I blinked at her response, unable to decide whether she was serious or not, but since her expression didn't lighten even after a couple of seconds, I lightly cleared my throat and cautiously told her, "… Class rep, I think you really need to take a break. I can't help but feel that doing all that accounting might've ever so slightly maybe partially mostly or at the very least totally consumed your entire thought process."

"And whose fault do you think—?"

"Yes, yes, it's my fault," I hastily admitted lest she would go on another tirade. Ammy only huffed, and I was afraid she would continue to complain if not for the fact that we were just a stone's throw away from the school's main gates. Seeing that, she only gave me a flat glance, and then she began jogging to get to the front of the group, leaving me all alone at the back. Not for long though, as after a few seconds my two girlfriends decelerated and fell in line on my two sides.

"We are going on a date this Sunday," Judy immediately informed me.

"Just the two of you? Oh well, have fun."

"Of course not," Elly countered with a small frown. "It's all three of us."

"I know, I was kidding," I stressed before rolling my eyes. "However, could we discuss this after we talked with the Magi? You know, just in case things get messy and there would be no time for any dates at all?"

"True," Judy spoke up with a decidedly disapproving tone. "You have already tempted fate, so it's far from impossible."

"Oh, please. Don't tell me you actually believe in superstition like that?"

"It's not about superstition, Chief," my dear assistant explained. "As far as we know, tempting fate like that could be very real. I believe you even mentioned that you already considered that things like 'rules of comedic and dramatic timing' were actual, tangible things.

"Well, I suppose I did…" I spoke carefully while thinking hard about how to explain myself. "However, you see, Josh had already done it, right? Therefore, if jinxing is a thing and something bad happens because of it, it will be his fault, and me following his example would have little significance. However, if jinxing is not a thing, then it doesn't matter if I did it as well, as nothing would happen either way. See, it's quite logical."

"That sounds like ad-hoc rationalization to me," Judy grumbled flatly

"Rubbish! I am always the model of a rational mind," I scoffed in return.

"Is it a scale model?"

"Of course. If it wasn't, it wouldn't fit into my head."

"I see. I learn something new every day."

"What are you talking about?" Elly interjected with a confused expression.

"Nothing serious," I reassured her while I simultaneously glanced up the hill towards the school gates, and after a short while my brows involuntarily furrowed. "Jokes and jinxes aside, what should I be expecting once we are in the School? What's Ammy's grandpa like?"

"I don't think I ever met him," Judy stated after quickly returning to her usual expression. "I think he might've given a speech at the opening ceremony, but my memories from back then are a little vague."

"Wait, hold on," I spoke up in a hurry. "So he is actually the headmaster of the school as well? I mean, I knew he was the head of the School, but not the school."

"That was confusing," Elly said while grimacing, and I couldn't help but agree with her. Just whose bright idea was to call the hub of a magical secret society operating under a school a 'School'?

"Anyways, I didn't even go to the opening ceremony, so I don't think I've ever seen the guy."

"You have seriously never met Lord Endymonion before?" Elly asked in a somewhat baffled voice, but she wasn't nearly as surprised as I was.

"Lord Endymonion? Really?"

"Yes, that's his name," she told me like it was really obvious. "I've known him since I was a kid. Our family had to pay him a visit every time we came to Critias."

"Figures. But why 'Lord'?"

"All the Arch-mages of the Assembly are called lords," Judy answered my question immediately while giving me a look saying 'That's common knowledge, didn't you read any of the reports I gave you?!'

"Oh, right," I spoke while scratching my chin, "It totally slipped my mind for a moment."

It was at this very moment when we reached the gates, which then promptly opened, cutting our already less than fruitful discussion short. At first I thought it was automatic, but then from behind the gap, my eyes met with those of Armband Guy.

He looked exactly the same as usual; his black hair cropped short, his small, round glasses sitting high on his hawkish nose, his cheeks sullen and giving him a gaunt appearance, and he was wearing his uniform as impeccably as ever, with a bright red band on his right arm. He looked over us before his eyes landed and stayed on Ammy.

"Hello Pascal," she greeted him, and the guy returned it with a small nod. "Please inform grandfather we are going to visit him."

"I see you found the Abyssal," he stated with a disinterested voice. "I suppose you want to talk with him about her."

"Yes, among other things," Ammy nodded, at which point Armband Guy gestured for us to come through the gates before he hastily closed them behind us.

After doing so, he faced our group again and simply said, "You know the way."

"Yes," the class rep nodded, at which point he returned to his duty of… standing by the gates. Weird.

Anyways, we waited for Josh to park his moped under the roof of the bicycle storage area, then once he was back, Ammy gestured for us to follow her. After a few steps, I carefully sidled up next to her and asked, "What's that guy's deal?"

"Pascal's?" she asked back, and I gave her a nod. "What do you mean? He was the same as usual."

"I get it, but… Is he actually a student? I mean, classes are still in, and he is just standing out there like that?"

"He takes his Student Council duties very seriously."

"That wasn't what I was…" I began, but then I shook my head. "You know what? Never mind."

Ammy looked at me funny, but before she could ask, I pulled the breaks so that I ended up next to Judy again and I told her in a whisper, "Raise Armband Guy from placeholder to a possible side character."

"Way ahead of you," she answered while showing me her phone.

"Good," I told her with a nod, then I followed after Ammy towards our destination, which seemed to be the entrance of the basement of the school.

"This way," she told us as she stopped right in front of the fairly mundane metal doors. "The staff might be a little jumpy after what happened on Sunday, so don't touch anything, don't be too loud, and don't bother anyone we meet. Are we clear on that, everyone? Leo?"

"Hey!" I raised my voice in indignation. "Why am I singled out?"

"You know why," the class rep told me while doing that thing where she adjusted her glasses for emphasis, but before I could argue with her, she turned around and opened the door with a metallic clank, and since no one else spoke up for me, I had no choice but to silently swallow the injustice as I followed behind the others into the secret base of the local supernatural superpower.

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