Principal Alessandra sighed dramatically and tapped her finger against the table as she worked through what the implications were in her mind.
"This is very troublesome," she said after a while. "Whoever did this somehow tapped into your armor from miles away, or spread it from within the Royal Palace. At best we have a criminal, at worst we have a traitor."
She stowed the ball back on the shelf and produced a ring from her sleeves, sliding it across the table to Fate.
"Within this ring is your payment. It can only hold properly minted currency and your sword, so don't try to shove a couch in there. Once you send some Mana into it, only you will be able to use it. Now go, and consider your detention over. Just don't get into any more fights without issuing a challenge for a duel, okay? I need to call the Empress."
"Let me know if there is anything I can do to help," Fate offered as he stood. He sent a tendril of Mana into the ring, marveling at the pile of coins within.
"I doubt there is anything. If you somehow come across information that can help, please let me know. Also, nearly every student at this Academy has seen your… performance, so they may treat you differently."
"Heh. They already gave me a wide berth." Fate smiled cynically. "Not much will change."
"Then I suggest you make some friends, young man. Too much distraction is bad, but so is studying day in and day out. You'll exhaust yourself fast."
"I'll try," Fate told her. He was careful not to make any promises.
"Uh-huh." She leveled a stare at him. He could tell she didn't buy it, but luckily for him, she had other things to worry about. "Hurry along. Remember, classes are canceled today," she said dismissively, reaching for the crystal ball they had used to contact the Empress.
Fate bowed and hurried out of the room, lest she decide his social life was more important than a traitor. She may harp him about it later, but for now, he was safe.
He strolled down the empty halls, unperturbed by the silence and emptiness around him. The halls he went through led only to classrooms and staff offices, neither of which would see much traffic with classes canceled. All of the students would be in their rooms or in the lounges, and the professors would be hard at work in their offices or not present at all.
With nothing better to do – he still couldn't read, and he didn't have any friends at the moment – he decided to head into town and buy some essentials he'd been sorely lacking on account of his strained finances. Storing his new sword in his equally new ring, he exited the Royal Mage Academy.
When he did so, the clothes under his armor rippled in the slight breeze that was present. 'Oh, right. The armor. I should probably return this…'
Ignoring the stares of the few students still gathered around the entrance, he made his way to the Guard barracks on campus. After knocking on the door, he entered, finding Lieutenant Freyn, Madds, and Richard within. The latter two were seated in front of a desk that Freyn sat behind, and all three turned to him as he entered.
"Yes, Fate?" Freyn asked.
"I thought I'd return this armor, and the clothes. My robes are in here somewhere, too."
Freyn's eyes flicked to Richard. "They were my brother's clothes?"
"Yes, sir," Richard said respectfully.
"Keep them, then. No use in them wasting away in some closet. The armor isn't mine to give, however, so you'll have to leave it here."
Fate nodded, moving to a corner and stripping his mismatched armor off until he was only clad in his boots, brown pants, and a brown shirt. Finding his white robes in an otherwise empty locker, he carefully folded them and tucked the bundle under his arm. As he went to leave, Freyn stopped him.
"And Fate?"
"Yes, sir?" Fate asked, hand still on the doorknob.
"If you ever want to learn how to use that sword of yours, come to my family's estate. Anyone that would stare in the face of death with my brother deserves to know how to defend himself."
"Thank you, sir," Fate responded, dipping his head. "Although I'm afraid I don't know where that is."
"Your Academy-issued map should tell you. Just ask it for the Grevenich estate, and it will lead you there."
Fate nodded and left the building. 'I wonder what they were doing in there. A debriefing? But the armor records everything. Oh, well. None of my business.'
He pulled his map out of the robe bundle under his arm and sent some Mana into it. The hologram of his current location appeared, with a little green dot to show his current location.
'Show me the cheapest clothing store in the city.'
The hologram zoomed out, moving from his location to center on a particular building before zooming in again. Above the map appeared another hologram, this one with the name of the store and several reviews from people on the Magiweb.
'Dreyden's Devilish Deals, huh? Only a few miles away from the Academy. It's…' He looked at the clock tower that jutted from the east side of the Academy. There was one in each cardinal direction, but this one was the one he needed.
'…Twelve-fifteen, so I have more than enough time. I'll just drop my robes off at my room and… What now?'
He groaned inwardly as his path was blocked by a group of students. There were three girls and a guy, the former in white robes and the latter in brown. All three of the girls looked exactly the same, from their short-cropped brown hair and short stature to their blue eyes and pretty faces.
'Triplets,' Fate realized. The guy shared the same color palate but didn't resemble his companions as strongly. He was also quite tall, a full head taller than Fate.
Fate grabbed the robe under his arm and got ready to toss it out of the way if they started something, his eyes narrowing as he stared them down.
"There a problem?" he asked them.
He met the gazes of the four students, his eyes conveying his willingness to tear these people a new one if they tried something. But to his complete and utter bafflement, as he did so, the girls…
Blushed.