The draftees were escorted back to their rooms to pack by Coven workers, who Wolfe strongly suspected were social workers, assigned to make sure the Witches didn’t try to flee or self-harm.
“You were prepared to be drafted?” The Woman asked when they reached the dorm, and she saw the packs sitting on the floor.
“We were picked up by Coven Security and brought back from a wilderness trip last night, so we didn’t unpack. We also restocked the bags this morning, so once we add a few extra uniforms, we are set.” Ella informed her.
“No need. You will be assigned new uniforms and weapons on arrival. But you are free to pack whatever you like.” She told them with a smile.
They didn’t have much anyhow since they couldn’t bring luggage to the school this year. That probably wasn’t a coincidence, but it was convenient.
“Can you page Professor Ashcroft for me? I would love for her to take care of my houseplant while we are gone.” Wolfe requested, drawing the worker’s attention to the Spirit Grass.
“You’re not going to pick and dry it?” She asked, confused.
“Not all of it. It’s better to have fresh Spirit Grass available, so this bit is for the Professor.” Wolfe explained.
Their escort had a radio, and the Professor was at their door in seconds, clearly not happy to be losing most of her best students.
“You got it to put down roots? Brilliant. I can assure you it will be alive and thriving when you come back for it.” The bubbly, heavy-set Witch assured him.
“That’s all I can ask.”
Reiko and Mary both added a few items when they stopped by their dorms, including a letter to Reiko from Curtis, who had already left. She didn’t read it right away but stored it in her pack instead of leaving it behind.
Mary filled half her pack with treats for Pup, as well as a stuffed rabbit, then looked ruefully at all the fluffy things that she couldn’t bring.
“Let’s go before I cause an incident.” She sighed, leading the way out of her room.
“Good call. Self-restraint is important. You wouldn’t want to endanger your future in the city.” Their escort agreed.
“She doesn’t know, does she?” Wolfe asked with a smile.
“Definitely not.” Mary agreed.
ƥαṇdα- ηθνε|·ƈθm
“Know what?”
“I’ve been banned from the city for being a Demon. Unless they break our bond, none of us can return, so our reputation really doesn’t matter as long as we don’t make ourselves wanted criminals.” Wolfe explained.
“How did I get the one group that can’t return to the city after their tour of duty? I’m supposed to spend the rest of our time extolling the city’s virtue to encourage you to do your best.” The guide explained.
“You could sell us on a nice rural life? You know, to make sure we come back instead of staying wherever you dropped us or joining another Coven’s army.”
The worker flinched at that. “Don’t even joke about that. Poaching Witches is a very real issue, and both the other Witch Nations and the minor Covens have been known to play dirty to get them.”
“I shouldn’t have said that. That’s confidential. Please forget it.”
All the Witches laughed at their flustered guide as they followed her to the bus, drawing strange looks from the terrified Witches they passed.
Parkers Imp was waiting by the bus and silently stuffed a parchment in Wolfe’s hand as he passed, then vanished back into the crowd. They were first on, so they took the whole back two rows, giving the extra two seats to Pup and Flame.
That put them right next to the emergency exit of the lightly Armored vehicle and as far as possible from the lavatory positioned behind the driver. Why it was there, Wolfe didn’t know, but it was likely due to the armour design.
Seven teams in total entered the bus, filling all the seats from the back first, and annoying the guards who entered to find the last two seats were right behind the toilet and occupied by a hamster and a badger, sprawled out in the extra space.
“All small pets are to be stored in the safety cage below your seats.” The Witch ordered, not amused by the situation.
The recruits moved their Familiars into the safety of the padded boxes, and a group of female guards came in, filling the empty seats and looking enviously at the remaining Familiars.
None of them had one with them, at least not that Wolfe saw anyhow, so they likely didn’t survive that long. Either that or the risk was too high, and they took the loss of half their mana flow so that they could leave them somewhere safe.
The bus left as soon as it was full and seemed intent on setting a new land speed record over the crumbling wilderness road, bumping along at breakneck speed toward wherever the front lines of the battle were.
The map they had for deployments was very detailed but local, and it didn’t extend to any landmarks that Wolfe recognized.
Mid-afternoon brought a round of military ration packs with water-activated heaters and detailed instructions printed on the label.
“Beth, pass me yours, and I’ll prep it if you want.” Wolfe offered.
“That’s fine, Mister Wolfe. I’ve used these before.” She smiled, referring to the contraband supplies that the market sold.
“You’re Mister Wolfe? Dude, you’re a legend on the lower levels. We heard that you made Coven Security chase you for thirty levels and use magic to take you down because they couldn’t corner you.” An infantryman in front of them said, then turned in his seat to shake Wolfe’s hand.
“Did they tell you why?” A Security officer asked with disdain.
“Yeah, this here is Mister Wolfe, Slum Demon and bike courier extraordinaire.” The man replied.
“Now I really want to know what they’re saying about me.” Wolfe laughed.
“Coven Security News broadcast the chase through the lower levels before they realized it was a Coven vehicle belonging to the academy.
They said that a male magic user was at large and extremely dangerous, but we all recognized your courier uniform, and your boss confirmed that you were captured and presumed dead.
But you know how the slums are. Nobody believes you were really dead. Looks like we were right. Here you are.”
“Trust the lower levels to idolize the Demon instead of turning him in.” The guard muttered as she realized the draftees were ignoring her.
“Did you know that old lady Noxus broke the curse on herself? She’s officially a Commoner Witch now. Of course, if the rumours are true, Wolfe did that as well.” The younger Noxus Elder called from further up the bus.
“Grandma can use magic?” Cassie asked.
“Yeah. It was a big spectacle when she put up a barrier around the Family home. It’s just a shame your sister is so useless. Even her arranged marriage fell through after her fiance met her.” The Elder laughed.
“You’re in public. Quit talking about the Family business.” Wolfe heard Roger chastise the other Elder, and the bus fell into an uncomfortable silence.