Emmia nearly shed a tear while she wrote down the topics in her sketchbook. Her sacred sketchbook. And she was violating it with academic topics.
'I mean I like some of these...but I still don't like this,' Emmia sobbed dramatically.
'Arrrghh. How the hell did I forget my notebooks at home!' Emmia cried internally.
"Alright, thanks Luna," Emmia thanked Luna in a subdued voice. After seeing the number of topics that she had to make up, Emmia nearly cried for real.
"...no problem," Luna tried to comfort Emmia after seeing her state. Emmia had become stock still, her eyes staring at the list of topics that took up the page.
'Should I say something? I mean that workload *is* a lot....'
In the end, Luna just patted Emmia's shoulder in an attempt to comfort Emmia.
Waking up from her depression, Emmia nodded bravely.
"Yeah, I can't get depressed here. I'll finish this work as soon as I can!" Emmia exclaimed, trying to set her mind.
"...good luck," Luna encouraged.
"Thanks!"
"Alright class, settle down," Gavin called out from the front, a chill swept through the classroom silencing all idle chatter.
"As you know, your first major test is coming up in the next two weeks. It's a written plus practical so I recommend focussing in classes and sharpening your fighting skills."
Sefir raised his hand, prompting Gavin to ask, "Yes Rint?"
"What is the topic?" Sefir asked politely.
"It'll be revealed before the exam. So make sure to brush up on all your classwork before it. And that's all, homeroom dismissed."
Finishing up his announcement, Gavin got up and left to go take his class elsewhere.
Or at least that's what Emmia and the rest assumed.
---------------------
Walking into the academic building, Gavin created a small stir between the employees there.
Ignoring them all, Gavin headed to the nursing room.
Entering the nursing room, Gavin laid his eyes on a figure that should have become a corpse by this point. But against all odds, he was still breathing.
This was, of course, the officer that had found against No 3 and had nearly died along with his fellow officers.
His body which was in a terrible state after the battle had only recovered enough to stop using life support systems on him.
But after a few days of monitoring, it didn't look like the situation would get better for him.
'The reports said that he stopped recovering a few days ago...It looks more like his situation is deteriorating now.' Gavin observed the labored breathing of the sleeping man.
Wordlessly, Gavin left the room after he was done with his observations. Ducking into a doctor's room, Gavin saw Sophia sitting in front of a table, papers strewn across it.
Looking up, Sophia's face turned grim as she asked, "Did you figure out what's wrong with him?"
She was referring to the half-alive officer hanging on to dear life in the nursing room.
"He's deteriorating, I don't think he has long to live," Gavin said curtly.
"Maybe 2 or 3 days," he added, and then Sophia's expression deflated.
"What's wrong with him?" Sophia repeated her initial question.
"Bell's hellfire is not easy to recover from," Gavin said with a stoney face.
"If one is not strong enough, then no amount of healing can save them."
"I see...." Sophia sighed.
"Is there no way to save him?" Sophia ventured. Although she already knew the answer, it was her duty as a doctor to ask, to just try.
Gavin gazed at Sophia through the white bangs that swept down his forehead.
"...unless we find Bell and kill her there is no other solution."
With that said Gavin stood up to leave.
"Just do the needful. No need to let him suffer," Gavin told- no ordered Sophia and left the room.
In his silence, Sophia felt the deep urge to scream to scatter the suffocating silence, at least just for a moment.
-----------------------
On the way out of the nursing area, Gavin locked onto one of the attendants.
"You, have Hallen report to my office in ten minutes," Gavin ordered. The attendant nodded jerkily and hurried away to find wherever Hallen was.
Continuing on his way to his office, Gavin entered a long corridor of sorts.
Passing by other similar offices, Gavin gazed at their name plates with a detached look.
[Melvin Homes]
[Einter Gienan]
[Jasmine Menor]
[Lunid Koned]
.....
.....
[Gavin Ruth]
Entering his office, he found Hallen already there waiting for him.
"Sit," Gavin gestured to the only visitor seat in his empty office.
"Yes sir," Hallen took up his gesture with the utmost respect. After all, this was Gavin Ruth, the rumored direct apprentice to the Supreme.
Not many people knew that; Gavin wasn't one to boast, but those who knew, needed to know. How did Hallen know? A lot of eavesdropping in the corridors of the headquarters.
"I visited your last officer," Gavin started out as he took his own seat. For a moment, his eyes wandered to his empty room. Devoid of any decoration save a painting of the Supreme hanging behind his seat. In the bland and empty room, his desk, two chairs, and said painting looked very out of place. But it was Gavin's choice to keep it like this.
Refoccussing on Hallen, Gavin found him fidgeting torn on whether to speak out of turn or not.
'I need to know whether Otto can be saved,' Hallen grit his teeth after making up his mind.
"Sir, may I please know his condition?" Hallen ventured bravely tensed for any reprimand coming his way.
Gavin didn't speak immediately.
After a few moments of observing Hallen, Gavin finally said, "he is beyond saving. I've already passed the order to have him put out of his misery."
Gavin's cold and apathetic answer doused the tiny flame of hope that Hallen had been harboring. After all, he had petitioned for a higher-up to have a look at Otto after he wasn't showing any signs of recovering.
"I understand," Hallen said with some difficulty. A dreadful weight settled on his shoulders. His squad was dead. Before he had a hope that at least one of them survived, and now? His sworn brothers and sisters were dead.
'Enough.' Hallen thought, shelving his grief for a more...private time. Raising his gaze, he found Gavin looking in his direction. Or at least that's what he thought. It was very hard to tell with Gavin's hair getting in the way.
Giving a small nod of appreciation Gavin said, "I called you here to tell you that you will be assigned a new squad to handle."
Shocked, Hallen was at a loss for words until they gushed out of him.
"Sir, but I've failed. I've failed my brothers and sisters. I should have been out there with them, helping them. I'm not fit to lead a squad," Hallen's grief reappeared for a moment but he managed to push it back. In its place, it was just an overwhelming self-loathing. His squad had died and he wasn't even there to witness it.
He was safe and sound in headquarters while his brothers and sisters had lept into the jaws of death.
"I should have been there too," Hallen repeated softly.
"And you would have died too," Gavin pointed out.
To that, Hallen didn't say anything.
'Of course, I know that,' Hallen thought bitterly. When his connection with his squad was cut a searing pain had traveled across the connection and hit him. Just this sort of attack had severely injured him, enough to put him out of commission for a whole week.
"I know, I'm too weak sir," Hallen agreed after the brief silence that had settled in between them.
"Get stronger," Gavin said. "Your squad will be waiting for you by tomorrow evening."
"Train them well," Gavin added.
Seeing Gavin repeat himself, Hallen was stunned once more.
But this time Hallen managed to say, "I will do my best sir!"
"You can go."
Watching Hallen leave, Gavin fell back into thought of his appraisal of the man.
'So he's not some idiot.'
Initially, Gavin had thought that it was an idiot who had sent his squad mates to death when confronting Bell.
But after talking with Hallen, Gavin knew that the man had just gotten unlucky that his men had run into the maniac Bell.
Gavin offered the man another chance after seeing his remorse.
'I hope you deserve that chance,' Gavin thought flexing his fingers as the temperature in the room plummeted. Another reason that Gavin didn't keep furniture. It was prone to freezing over more often than not.
'Bell,' Gavin thought a cold wave pulsed through him and layered the room with frost.
Unknown thoughts swept through Gavin as he felt himself spiraling back into his memories, a call of the past that he wasn't able to refuse.