Chương 35: Tournament Ruined

Ch 35: Tournament Ruined Even though our best strategy to deal with the fallout of Zorik's attempt to auction Sahirah had been distancing ourselves from the school, our avoidance still came to an end after my daily visit to Elitha's tower. And since we were both tired after a day of hiking and straining our minds with experimental translation, our first stop had been our room.

But imagine our surprise when we found our door ajar, with every single one of our belongings scattered on the floor as if someone had rudely rummaged through all of our things.

"Zorik!" Sahirah had already determined the culprit as she gathered her spare clothes from the floor. And judging solely by the aggressive way she was collecting the once clean garments that now were sullied with black footprints, she was utterly pissed.

"What the fuck?" My own anger only reached a level similar to Sahirah's when I noticed my spell drafts torn to pieces over the writing desk, where even the Fire Moon book lay open. It had been tossed aside in such a way that the poor pages were folded wrong, mistreated like no book should be. Had our day off hiking pissed the principal off this much? An exchanged look was all it took, and Sahirah and I decided to check the gambling ring and ask our friends how the second day of the tournament had gone without us.

We moved through the school corridors with the Presence Erasure spell active, avoiding as best we could the spaces where the security globe might detect us. I only allowed myself a breath of relief when we stood in front of the illusion door without being intercepted, happy to see the illusion was still active, which meant this place had likely never been raided and the Mimic detection spheres I had made for the mayor were safe inside it.

Still, I was anxious as we walked through the wall and the illusion dissolved around us, and I didn't even get a single moment to adjust to this disorienting change of environment when Niko's voice reached my ears.

"The two of you smell of leaves and sweat. Where have you been, my friend?" To my surprise, Niko wasn't alone and the whole crew was here. Zira sat at the table keeping the books. Kip and Kap stood at their posts as bouncers with their backs straight to the wall. And of course, Lili and Niko stood in front of us, blocking our way. They were surveying us with curious eyes, which was understandable since Zira had been the only one we'd had time to share our plans of giving up the tournament with.

"We were testing a translation spell," I said, avoiding the details.

"What happened to the tournament with both of us missing?" I felt the very air getting denser at my question. Kip and Kap flinched. Zira's gaze moved toward us. And Niko and Lili exchanged a long knowing look. Sahirah got impatient and urged them to spill the beans.

"Speak up! We don't have all night."

"The tournament is no more." Lili crossed her arms, her pointy ears rigid as she explained what happened.

"Most nobles and merchants lost interest in the event when Zorik apologized for the complete lack of rare species.

"And even the ones who remained left right after, threatening to sue the school because they had been pickpocketed and lost their credits." Complete lack of rare species? But what about the Maltronian? He was still participating, wasn't he? And nobles being pickpocketed? Something was not making sense here. Sahirah noticed this too.

"A girl is confused," she said.

"What are you not telling us?" The whole crew exchanged glances. Then, instead of explaining, Niko and Lili simply stepped aside. And, believe me, the sight that awaited me was not something I was prepared to watch. The Maltronian was hovering in the air right next to the most distant Slot Machine spell. And the most surprising of all was not the single red eye, or the hovering tentacles hanging below his waist, but the objects flying around him, suspended in the air by telekinesis. Dozens of credit crystals.

"Could it be that..." Sahirah was so shocked that she didn't manage to complete her sentence, forcing me to finish it for her.

"The Maltronian got addicted to the slot machines and quit the tournament to gamble." The worst part was that the Maltronian was not even gambling with his own credits. He had been the one responsible for the pickpocketing. He had used his telekinesis to steal money from those nobles and now he was burning it in my gambling ring... Sahirah seemed as shocked as I was, and she simply locked eyes with me and shook her head, saying without words that this just couldn't be happening.

I raised both hands and rubbed my eyes, but the sight remained the same. That weird alien creature was still hovering in the air next to my Slot Machine spell, pulling the illusory lever again and again with the kind of wildness that only someone who wasn't losing their own credits could have. Noticing how both Sahirah and I became speechless, the crew finally felt pressured to offer an explanation. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

"Zira isss the one to blame," said Kip.

"Sssshe invited the Maltronian here," added Kap.

"And we had been forced to deal with him the whole day becaussse of her," finished Kip. Zira's eyes widened in disbelief at the accusation.

"It's not my fault, I swear!" Our golden goose of an elf suddenly stood from her chair.

"I couldn't have known he would take this too seriously and would steal from the guests to keep playing. Tell them I'm telling the truth, Lili." The older Driari sighed.

"The two of you are the bosses here, I know," said Lili.

"But we all did our best without you here to guide us. Niko even tried to use the second illusion spell you prepared, but the Maltronian kept seeing through the illusion and he always found this room again when we kicked him out." They all just waited for our opinion, but what should we even say? I had walked into this room with a burning desire for revenge against Principal Dickhead, but it seemed we'd already gotten him good and we had utterly ruined his fundraising tournament... By accident...

And we'd certainly gotten a lot of dirty credits as a direct consequence... I took a deep breath, and I finally managed to say something.

"What's happening outside?" I asked.

"I would guess the teachers must be searching for us like maniacs since all their rare species disappeared for a whole day." The whole team exchanged a look. Eventually Niko took the lead and answered my question.

"The Grey teachers and the principals of the other schools are blaming Zorik for the way the three of you just vanished." My furry friend got near and placed a hand over my shoulder.

"Zorik is being scrutinized in the main hall. Everyone thinks he's the one who scared the rare species away with his disguised public auction." Sahirah understood the implications faster than I did.

"Zorik acted alone." She took a few steps ahead, her gaze landing on the Maltronian.

"The other schools were caught by surprise as much as I was. And now that things blew out of proportion and he can't control the narrative, he's getting what he deserves for trying to sell me." When Sahirah mentioned being sold, the whole place went silent, the crew each looking at her in their own way, with complex expressions on their faces. I managed to assimilate the insane situation around that time.

The collateral effects of this Maltronian getting addicted to my gambling ring got mixed up with Zorik's attempt to auction Sahirah, and now Principal Dickhead was getting all the blame for how things turned out. Did that mean the whole situation with Sahirah being sold had been solved and we didn't have to worry about it anymore? No. It was too soon to tell. What we desperately needed now was information.

Well, that and a way to get this Maltronian out of the gambling ring, though most likely he would leave on his own as long as he didn't have anyone to steal from. Still, it was probably for the best that I checked on him. Under the scrutiny of everyone, I walked ahead and approached the Maltronian. When I got in range of the Slot Machine spell, I got a close look at the glowing spinning wheels and the being enjoying them.

It was quite a sight all things considered, a bit scary that even a creature this strange was susceptible to getting addicted to gambling.

"Are you having fun, buddy?" Every eye in the room landed on me the moment I asked that simple question. The Maltronian's attention slowly shifted from the illusion to me, and that single red eye read my features.

"Are you the creator of such an amazing contraption?" Before I could reply, he reached his own conclusion, "You must be. The Greys are all primitive in their creative thinking, they wouldn't invent something this entertaining. The Driari are less capable than they think they are. And all the others are marginally more civilized than animals." I smiled awkwardly. That was quite a strong opinion for someone who had just spent the whole day losing credits to an illusion.

"So... don't you think you already had enough fun for a day?"

"Fun? It was slightly entertaining at best." Slightly entertaining and he had committed theft to continue playing? Yeah buddy, whatever helped you sleep at night. Before I could say that out loud, he kept going.

"But entertainment aside, I've been trying to figure out how this illusion works all day to create my own version of it in my school. Yet, I'm afraid you're competent enough to protect your spell even from someone with a mana sense as refined as mine." I heard several gasps of surprise behind me, and only now this whole thing made sense to me. This Maltronian wasn't just a lost cause to addiction, but he saw some potential in my idea.

"You keep playing with the illusion for now, buddy." I said.

"I'll make you a good offer for the blueprint of the spell later." When I turned around, the whole crew was staring at me in disbelief, and even Sahirah seemed surprised for once. I returned to her side and grabbed her hand.

"Now, we abuse the Presence Erasure spell again and check what's going on with the principal." I smiled.

"Business comes later."

As we cautiously approached the main hall, we caught sight of a gathering of Greys in different styles of scholar robes. And all of them were watching as the three principals argued on the stage, Zorik being the common source of their heated words.

"You have destroyed the trust rare species individuals have in our schools." The principal of the Eastern Riftschool was slightly taller than Zorik, his features showing age beyond the other two.

"Even my seniors are restless, asking if I'm going to sell them to the nobles at the first opportunity I get. Do you have any idea of how much trouble your actions have caused me, Zorik?" From a safe distance behind the crowd, Sahirah and I observed Zorik, who showed no reaction to the accusation. The Principal of the Western Riftschool, a young Grey with a lean body, offered his own accusation at Zorik's silence.

"The trust of rare species individuals can be repaired." He was pacing from side to side on the stage.

"But what about the trust the nobles, merchants, and researchers have in our annual event? How do you repair that? They came here to watch a tournament where the main attraction was gone, and in the end they got robbed of their credits. Have you ever considered the consequences of your actions for the rest of us, Zorik?"

Dozens of teachers from all three schools spoke up, accusing Zorik of things that ranged from harming the previously good reputation of the Riftschools, to taking part in barbaric traditions from the time where Riftstorm arrivals were either enslaved or killed on sight. Principal Dickhead remained standing like a living statue, stoic and utterly unbothered by all the criticism. Only when the wave of criticism wore off did he defend himself.

"You blame me for treating the mana freak girl as a slave, but you have no idea how far from the truth your accusations are." He walked to the edge of the stage, where he was closest to the teachers.

"Do any of you know that the oldest son of Lord Krosak had been killed in this city by a powerful Mimic a few days ago?" As confused as the crowd, Sahirah and I exchanged a puzzled look. What the hell did the unfortunate death of some noble heir have to do with Sahirah's situation? Some of the faculty members asked the same question, and Zorik waited until the last of the loud voices went silent before he replied.

"I ask you, is there anything more progressive than adopting a rare species individual as a member of your family to replace the unfortunate loss of your firstborn?" Sahirah grabbed my hand and squeezed it firmly, understanding what Principal Dickhead was getting at before he had even finished his argument. He continued, "I'm asking you that because I just signed the papers transferring the responsibility of caring for the troublesome Nadiri girl to the Krosak family.

They have promised to raise her like a daughter and provide her with the best education credits can offer.

"By all standards that matter, her life will be infinitely better than that of any Riftstorm arrival in this school. How can anyone here be against this?" Sahirah suddenly pulled my hand, taking me behind a wall at the hall's exit before I could even see the expression on her face. We couldn't see the stage from there, but we still could hear what was being spoken. I only understood the reason for the sudden move when I noticed the corners of her eyes were watery. My own blood boiled.

And before I could even consider how much our new roles as city officers could be used to protect her, a few comments of the faculty members reached us.

"That Krosak family?"

"They don't play by the rules."

"But it's true she'll have a better life than us..." There were also several comments criticizing the principal, but those three were the ones that stuck with me. And the last one made me think. Would Sahirah have a better life with them than with me? Well, maybe she would right now. But so what? A devious smile covered my face.

"I'm sorry, but I'm a greedy man. I'm keeping all the dirty money of the gambling ring." I grabbed both her hands.

"And I'm keeping you too, and we'll be richer and more powerful than the Krosak family one day, you can be sure of it." This wasn't the honorable behavior my father would have expected from me. I also knew it was the complete opposite of the "if you love somebody set them free" mentality society taught me as a kid. But it got me what I wanted. The glistening of her teeth-filled smile overcame the glistening of her tears.

"A girl expects no less from you, human." With that, we reached a conclusion. We would seek Mayor Fernik in the morning to check how much our city officers role could protect her against forced adoption. And noble families and evil principals aside, we would be the ones deciding our future.