It's a Scam!

"Captain! I can't take it anymore! She's evil! E.V.I.L., I tell you! I never want to hear about 'worker's comp' or 'disability payout' ever again! I swear she's faking it, but no one believes me except you!"

Aayla laid face down on the couch. Aubrey shot Kaeso a frosty glare while she gently patted Aayla's back. Aayla shivered and mumbled that she was okay. They couldn't see her face, but they could hear the hiccups and see the edges turning red.

"There, there. Just take deep breaths and relax. Don't worry, you're not a part of our team, but I won't let anyone bully you! You are still a Nafriton student, after all."

Cisseus massaged his aching temples amidst Kaeso's wails. Where did things go wrong? Almost an entire week had gone by, yet Tigurum was way behind their predicted score. The largest reason was because of Kaeso's lagging score.

Just after receiving the reigns from Aayla, Kaeso went out to search while Aayla went back to the Nafriton camp. How hard could it be to find a temporary mount suitable for day trips? No one could have known that would be the start of their worries.

Kaeso couldn't find her original horse, so he spent hours searching for a replacement. Aayla kept dragging out the time by nitpicking. She planned to accept the first animal that he brought back that morning, a lovely deer, just before the sun set.

However, that idiot brought back a wolf for the last animal! A wild, crazily angry wolf! He even let it go once he brought it to her camp just expecting her to magically tame it in an instant. Aayla scampered up a nearby tree as fast as she could. Her snow cave was destroyed. Again.

Furious, Aayla decided to extend her little punishment. She secretly released all of the caught animals back into the wilderness then demanded the original deer. Kaeso spent the entire night looking for that deer.

When he finally brought it back, Aayla felt like he had learned his lesson. On her first ride, the deer suddenly spooked after he smacked it to make it run. Who knew that Aayla didn't have a good grip on the reigns and would fall off?

While the snow drifts were fluffy and soft, Aayla had to get medical treatment again. The students weren't happy. The professors were very unhappy. Aubrey had a strange skip in her step despite her fury. She practically forced Kaeso to give Aayla back massages every afternoon since to 'relieve' Aayla's back pain.

Aubrey may or may not have tried to sabotage Kaeso's training efforts. Similarly, Aayla may or may not have put on an act after the first day. Two accidents could be a pattern, but Aayla didn't want to risk a third to prove it.

"She's being bullied?! I'm the one who's being bullied! She totally fell off of that deer on purpose. I haven't been able to get points the past few days. 'Oh no, my back hurts again, give me another massage' she says. Tch. Just tough it out! I said that I was sorry alright."

A heavy pressure descended in the room. Even with healing magic, some injuries wouldn't necessarily heal right, especially spine and head injuries. Everyone in the room knew that Aayla already had another medical condition. Who's to say that it didn't cause any complications?

"Oh? My junior should just tough it out, you say? That's easy for you to say. You weren't the one 'accidentally' getting hurt after someone else screws up."

"I'm telling you, she's acting! I'm being framed! Ms. Glowery isn't actually hurt. At least not as badly as she's portraying her injuries to be."

"Well, then how about you just tough it out talking with the professors, hmm? I'm sure that they would love to hear about how you keep 'accidentally' hurting Ms. Glowery. Let's just go straight to Deputy Heston. She has a wonderful sense of humor when it comes to her goddaughter."

The Tigurum team shivered. Somehow, these incidents were kept out of Deputy Heston's ears. Even the Nafriton professors feared her wrath. Things would get messy if Deputy Heston learned of these incidents before they left the country.

Several odd gazes turned Kaeso's way. Why did so many accidents keep happening? He couldn't be harming her on purpose, right? A fourth-year male competitor bullying a first-year female noncombatant from a different university, that just didn't look good no matter who saw it.

"She's lying! Look, she's not in pain! Those are giggles! That little witch is laughing!"

Of course, Aayla was acting. To be fair, she only had a bit of soreness after the healing magic did its work. Fake injury scams were in the news all the time back on Terra. There were plenty of cases to inspire her. At first, she only wanted to give him a bit of trouble, but after the wolf and deer incidents Aayla decided to go a bit further.

Aayla nearly choked on her pillow. Seeing Kaeso in such a rage was hilarious. She could barely breath from laughing so hard. Her muffled laughter was mistaken for sobs.

"Watch your mouth Kaeso Arius! Someone get that jerk out of here! He keeps aggravating my junior's emotions!"

A pair of Tigurum students dragged him outside. They couldn't stand watching this farce much longer. They had to stop the situation from escalating before Deputy Heston got involved. His furious yells subsided as he was dragged farther away.

"Once again, my apologies for Mr. Arius's behavior. I and the Tigurum team will set his mess straight."

"Hmph. You'd better. This is very upsetting for me, the Nafriton team and Ms. Glowery."

Aubrey would have been much more convincing without the obvious glee in her eyes.

"How about this? We'll double the compensation originally offered."

"You mean that you'll triple it, right?"

"Fine. We'll triple it."

**********

Back in the remote Chinebarian village, the head professors of each team gathered around a large map. There were several red marks all over the map, forming a circle around the testing area. Ramona placed another mark on the map.

"Are we absolutely sure that the glacier's collapse was natural? True Order agents have been spotted crawling around the testing area."

"Yes. Previous bad weather plus the storm and the sudden temperature drop that night caused a part of a nearby glacier to collapse. Part of the collapsed section was diverted towards the Nafriton camp."

"I agree. They've been focusing mostly on the Tigurum and Olafssey students as they explore for points."

"If we didn't move the camps closer together, then those pests might have made a larger move by now."

A grim silence fell over the room. After their activity on the first day, the True Order had been strangely quiet. The sudden movement of the camps allowed for security to be concentrated on two main areas. This probably threw off the True Order's plans.

Unknown to the students, several magical beasts mysteriously appeared inside the borders of the training area. These beasts were too much for any student to handle. Ramona tapped on one part of the map.

"Speaking of pests, we've found the last magical beast still roaming around, right?"

One of the professors awkwardly laughed.

"We thought that we cornered it with some True Order agents, but it suddenly disappeared. Even the agents were surprised."

Ramona pinched the bridge of her nose. This magical beast was giving her a headache. How could they have lost it? It was an aquatic magical beast. It could only travel in two directions along the Havrevel. Without the abilities to fly or walk on land, there was only so many places for it to hide.

"Then fall back and just make sure that its not in the training area. It's a bit too tricky for the students to handle right now. How are they doing right now?"

The professors silently exchanged glances. They had to keep certain happenings a secret from the deputy headmaster. However, no one wanted to be pinned for the crime of keeping that secret quiet. Eventually, they gritted their teeth to reply.

"The beginning was a bit rough, but they've settled in nicely."

"There's more inter-team conflicts this year, but its nothing that they can't handle."

"Right! Oh, your goddaughter's doing quite well. She's been busy all day keeping track of points. Her help is greatly appreciated. You should bring her along next year."

'Ugh. What a kiss up.' Ran through the heads of the other professors. Ramona happily chuckled as she kept studying the map. They glared at him to stop since the situation could become dire if Deputy Heston started to dig into things.

The professors talked late into the night. With several True Order agents loose and their departure looming, they had to revise their safety measures. Recently, the True Order has favored surprise attacks. The best time for an ambush would be on the carriage ride back to civilization, or on the train back to Forest Waypoint.