Chapter 29: Chapter XXIX - The Penalty Pt. III
We spent a good half an hour lugging out all the sports equipment and everything besides things on the shelves, from the soccer balls, kendo swords, to a ridiculous amount of boxes containing refined packaged salt.
"Wow, who knew the Headmaster had a whole stock of salt hidden in his storehouse," Skylar commented, her tone sarcastic as she brings the last box outside, "Was he planning for us to ward off the evil spirits by arming us with loads of salt?"
Reo smirks in amusement, dusting the salt off her clothes, "If the Corrupted had a secret weakness to salt, I surely have not been taught of it in training. If they did, it would make for good, a-salt."
"...Of course you were the one to make a pun," Skylar said, rolling her eyes, but her mouth quirks in a smile, "I guess then it should be part of our doomsday arsenal for all those monsters afraid of a little table salt."
Reo laughs, "Haha well, that's certainly not completely off the 'table'..."
"..."
I quietly sweep out the dust from the storage room, listening to their light-hearted banter. Glancing at the sun, I sigh softly, then look back at the broom in my hands.
I wonder if I can get out of here in time. There are more than a few hours to spare, so it should be fine...At least, hopefully...
"-How about you Uishi?" Reo asked.
I look up in surprise, startled out of my thoughts by her sudden question," About...what?"
"We were talking about how we ended up at the academy," Reo said, offering me a look of empathy, before smiling, "The Headmaster had offered me a scholarship himself, in archery. I couldn't refuse a chance to study in one of the continent's most prestigious school after all."
"I am just an exchange student..."Skylar said, her eyes darting to the side as she plays with the hem of her skirt idly, "...Probably only got in here with my family's name."
I can sense there's more to the story than that, but Skylar doesn't elaborate further.
"I almost forgot you were an exchange student too! Foreigners are usually rare around here, I feel like Uishi here is one as well," Reo tilts her head at me, "Am I right?"
I shift uneasily, before slowly nodding, "You could...you could say that." It would be awkward to say that I actually never stepped outside the country and that one of my parents actually crossed the border illegally to smuggle illegal goods and had to live in hiding after starting a family for decades? Yeah no.
Reo doesn't seem to pick up on my unease, cheerily continuing with another question, "So, where-"
Skylar scoffs softly, rising onto her feet from her seat on the boxes, "Well that's enough chitchat for now. As much I wouldn't like to. I think we should follow the new student's example and get back to cleaning."
Reo scratches her cheek, sheepish, "Ah, I suppose so. Well, we can get to know you another time Uishi! We want you to feel like you can be as comfortable as you'd like with us, if you need any help, feel free."
I breathe out my nose, mostly relieved."I will keep it in mind," I said.
She pats my shoulder fondly, "I guess I should start working on the other storage room now, I will leave the reorganizing in here to you two!" Reo walks out of the storehouse, leaving me with Skylar.
A moment of quiet passes as the main conversationist between us leaves, leaving a beat of almost too dead silence.
Skylar coughs. "I suppose...we should get back to it?" She says, glancing at the stacks of boxes of salt that need to be put back, "Time to organize Headmaster's hidden salt depository."
I crack a smile this time, despite myself, "Certainly not to be..salty."
"Oh my god, not you too!" She shakes her head, mocking exasperation, "I swear this is my true punishment, enduring these puns."
We both share a small laugh among ourselves, continuing with the cleaning in easy reticence, save for the occasional clanging of metal coming from somewhere, and the sound of shifting around wooden swords and cardboard boxes into place.
"Seems like the weaponsmith majors are doing some outdoor forging again.." Skylar said, "Oh, I was wondering. How did you get yourself into doing cleaning duty? Hope the reason wasn't as stupid as mine...who knew you couldn't make fun of one of the past headmaster's portraits?" She huffs exaggeratedly, "I for one, still think the hat was ridiculous."
"You would be surprised by how touchy some people are about their forebearer figures," I said, smirking, then my smirk recedes into a hard line, "To answer your question...I punched a guy for being a jerk."
"Oh, you got guts. Everyone knows you can't mess with the wealthy and influential when you can't exert the same power over them," Skylar gives me an approving look, "I will give you points for the audacity. No one is that bold to even lift a finger against a big bully with money on his side."
Lily said I had guts too. I'm really not sure to be flattered or worried that I made a grave mistake. I frown slightly, "Somebody said something awfully similar to me too...in my defense, somebody had to do it. And he was really-"
"A pain in the ass?" Skylar suggests.
"I was going to say unbearable," I give her a small smile, "but that works."
"Well, there will always be some people like that, no matter where." She dusts off her hands, glancing around the now cleaned and completely organized storage room, "And I think we're done with this one! The supervisor can't yell at us now, and you can actually find stuff in here- besides piles of salt."
I glance outside the small window, seeing the sun nearing its peak in the sky, "It's almost noon now..."
"Yeah...?", Skylar watches me curiously, her eyes flicking towards the window to follow my gaze, "...I noticed you keep checking the time, do you need to be somewhere?"
I look to the side, grumbling, "Yeah...but it's fine. I'm sure we can finish in time."
Skylar...can definitely pick on the small things, I wonder if I should be more cautious around her. I can be sure she's not your average student around here, something about her just rings a distant bell. And most of those bells aren't of the good kind.
"Hey! If you two are done, help me with this whole suit of armor...!" called Reo's voice.
Skylar chuckles, "I suppose we should help her then. So we can all be finished with our cleaning duties for the day."
There was a loud bang! of metal clattering to the floor, and a yelp of surprise.
I forget my train of thought, following Skylar out to find Reo picking up a knight's helmet from the ground, speckled head to toe with what looked like white paint.
"Did something happen?" Skylar asked.
"No, just someone's idea of a prank." She holds up a tube of paint and the helmet in her hands, "Went off as I picked up the helmet. I got to say it was clever though."
Skylar sighs, shaking her head, "Let's just hope we don't come across anymore. There's more than enough to clean already..."
"Let's start with the rest of this suit of armor...it's stuck between the shelves."
The three of us set to get out the clad of armor shoved into the space of the shelves first, after some minimal effort, we managed to pry it out after finally dislodging one of the spiny bits from the wood of the shelf.
"I wonder who decided to stuff this under there..."Skylar mutters, "Guess they realized the halls didn't need so many suits of armor like this?
"Who knows, but we have to find out how to stand this up so it doesn't look like it's sleepwalking...nothing unrespectable," Reo said.
"What, you worried I'm going to have it bear the middle finger at everyone and anyone that walks in here?"
"As much as I'd admit that would be interesting to see...I still have a scholarship to keep!"
While Skylar and Reo discussed which pauldron belonged to which shoulder and what position that the armor's gauntlets should be in, I step out for a moment to take a breath of fresh air.
"Hah..." I lean against the back of the wood making up the storehouse, looking up at the cloudless blue sky.
Hopefully, this finishes before the meeting, but if they keep fussing over that suit of armor...would the informant be willing to reschedule? No, Kane specifically said to meet with them today. And we can't miss them...
I let my worries circle in my thoughts. After I took the moment to enjoy the pristine outside air, I was just about to head back in when-
"Ow..!" I rub the back of my head with my hand, looking around for the projectile that hit me. In the grass behind my feet, the bright red color of paper catches my eye. I pick up the paper airplane into my hand, the pointy part of its nose flattened from impact. A faint glow flickers around it, giving off a vague trace of ozone before it completely blinks out.
"...North's signature." I look around the campus, not seeing the flash of white hair under the sun. Unfolding the piece of paper, it revealed a message written out in pen.
'The eagle has landed. Must move now. Go straight to where the three blades meet.'
I glance over my shoulder at the door of the storehouse, then back at the paper in my hand. I set my jaw in resolve, making up my mind.
"...Sorry Reo and Skylar, but duty calls."
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