“I think I know how we can reach the second-year power standards now, as long as you two let us borrow Wolfe for a while every day, and we can only hope that we catch up on the rest of the requirements,” Reiko whispered after a moment’s hesitation.
Looking up at the clock on the wall snapped her out of that train of thought. “We’ve got to get to class, it’s our last review session, and Professor Ashcroft said we could go over any potion we wanted as long as the lab had the materials.”
The girls ran off, leaving Wolfe and Stephanie with Pup and a very confused Flame, who was in the middle of licking a plate clean and didn’t typically get left behind anywhere.
“Finish your breakfast, and we will go to my room for a nap. I need to fill mana stones today, and then I’m off punishment detail.” Wolfe informed the Familiars.
Flame climbed down off the table to wrap his long toes in Pup’s fur, intending to ride the large dog all the way across campus. Pup had over ideas about that and licked the lizard’s face clean, sending it scurrying toward Wolfe to escape.
The halls seemed to be busier than usual today, and Wolfe found a large group of young men, along with one older woman loitering outside when he arrived back at his dorm room with the Familiars.
“Can I help you with anything?” Wolfe asked, looking at the blocked doorway where they had all gathered with angry looks on their faces.
“Do you know this filthy creature?” The muscular, exceedingly hairy man closest to Wolfe’s door asked, holding up the battered and unconscious form of Christa Abilene’s Goblin Familiar.
The unfortunate creature was no longer in its butler uniform and was wearing only one sock, which was drenched in its own green blood.
“That Familiar belongs to Christa Abilene, the Coven Minister’s daughter. I wouldn’t kill it. The academy takes that very seriously.” Wolfe informed them.
“Tell us now, what other heinous crimes have you been conspiring to commit, Demon?” The lone woman in the group demanded.
“Other crimes? I haven’t committed a first one yet for there to be others. Do you have a point here, or are you just out to harass Demonic Familiars for sport while their Witches are in a class?”
“Grab him. The Headmistress won’t accept our evidence without a confession.” The Woman announced, and the others charged at Wolfe.
Stephanie bristled, and Pup growled at the attackers, but Wolfe activated Lightning Armor as a barrier across the hallway, stopping the charge a meter away from their group.
The sight enraged the woman. “You can’t hide in your bubble forever. We have evidence that the demons have been turning Familiars against their Witches. We caught this one red-handed.”
“There is a dorm phone right here. Why don’t I call the Headmistress, and you can present your evidence? Demons can’t lie, it’s part of our curse, so surely she will see the reality of the situation.” Wolfe taunted, then walked back down the corridor to where the phone was placed on a small table.
“Your petty tricks won’t work on us. She won’t waste her time talking to some pathetic Familiar.” One of the men sneered, and Wolfe noticed that the woman with them was subtly trying to break his armour spell that was blocking the hallway.
They could go around and come at him from both sides if they wanted, and if there were more of them that he hadn’t seen, they likely were. But the main group seemed content to wait him out.
Wolfe picked up the phone and dialled 0 for the front office just as the very battered form of Luke Abilene, Christa’s brother and designated Guardian, came running toward him.
“Don’t bother. The staff doesn’t get involved in disputes between students unless they take it too far or school property is at risk.
As much as I despise working with Commoners, if we attack together, we should be able to break her barrier.” The High Noble explained, wiping blood from his face with one hand and drawing a practice sword with the other.
“Explain clearly what happened. That is my barrier, not theirs.” Wolfe replied, and the Noble son glared at him.
“They attacked as we were leaving our room, saying something about demons turning Familiars against their Witches. Christa is in the infirmary, and I need your help to get her Goblin back alive. Now are you going to help, or don’t Commoners even have that much honour?”
Wolfe frowned at the man’s attitude and sighed. “You know, you really are an asshole, right? But they’re blocking my room and spouting nonsense, so I will help. I just have to do it without damaging school property, right?”
“Yes, no matter the fault, whoever damages school property gets punished.” Luke agreed.
“Then leave this to me.”
Wolfe didn’t wait any longer to attack with [Chain Lightning], the advanced Lightning spell that the Witches had all been learning for their exam. The arcs of electricity stunned everyone in the hall for a moment while he ran up and grabbed the Goblin from the limp hands of its captor.
An underhand throw carried it back to Luke, who Pup and Flame were reluctantly guarding. Wolfe was about to teach the brats in the hallway a lesson when more footfalls echoed down the hall, and most of the seniors from the High Noble group came running into sight.
“Did you rescue it?” A tall blonde Witch asked.
“The Commoner’s Demon Familiar did. They were coming for him next, but you know how humanoid Familiars are. One Witch from the slums wasn’t enough to take on a freshly Cursed Demon.” Luke explained.
Wolfe was getting more than a little annoyed with being insulted, but he was learning a lot about the school politics that he had managed to ignore so far.
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Whichever faction the group he had knocked out was from, they weren’t on good terms with the High Nobles, and they had a hatred for Demons, while the High Nobles viewed everyone as beneath them but seemed willing to work with others if it served their purposes.
The athletic group mostly kept to themselves but had good relations with everyone else’s Assistants. They were mostly regulars in the gym and pool, so the two groups spent a fair amount of time together.
The Library Faction, as Wolfe liked to call them, seemed to be mostly ignored, but he would not be surprised if a lot of their helpfulness were a form of protection payment to keep from being bullied any worse than they were. Mary had mentioned a few times that the Library crew had it hard at the Academy unless they were strong.
“So, what do we do with them? They’re in the way.” Wolfe asked while the Nobles checked on Luke and fed him a healing potion.
“Just let them leave. If you hurt them too badly, you’ll be punished, and the teachers will blame us. The Witch has a decent body, though. You can have her until lunch begins if you want.” The leader of the High Nobles group replied in a casual tone, then turned and walked away, helping Luke keep up.
Wolfe noticed that the Goblin didn’t get any such consideration, but at least they weren’t dragging him and had wrapped the more serious wounds, leaving the small creature to try to keep up, limping heavily as he waved goodbye and thanks to Wolfe.