Return

My last two weeks at Basilisk were spent in my bed with Misa and Sophie as my only company.

Although I didn't regret my decision to go all out to save Sophie, it still hurt thinking about all the time I could have used to train.

Thankfully it seemed like my body made more or less a full recovery, with me now being able to move without any problems.

I could probably have gotten up and about a lot sooner, but the girls forced me to stay in bed up until the final day, just two days before the new semester would start.

Now we were standing in front of a portal, my hands cuffed, albeit mostly for looks. It was still important that it looked like I was a hostage and not a willing candidate.

Sophie stood in front of me, and Hugo and Marlene were at my sides.

"Are you ready to go back?" Sophie asked with a bit of a wavering voice.

'Seems like she is also a bit nervous...'

"I'm ready."

Sadly I would have to go alone, without Misa, as she was required to stay for a bit longer to make sure everything went according to the plan.

"Then let's go."

We stepped through the portal and arrived just outside of what I could only assume to be a house of parliaments or the likes.

In front of us stood a crowd of people, with the old dragon and some other older man first. The other man had similarly white hair as the principal but his face was a lot harder. His flaming red eyes made him seem pretty dangerous for someone his age.

Sophie took a step forward and initiated the conversation.

"Here he is. We will release him as soon as you sign the legislation. And do be sure to bind it with your mana as well Mr.Garb."

Binding a political document with your mana made sure that the man would accept it, as it otherwise would have detrimental effects on his mana quality. I didn't quite get how it worked but it appeared to be quite impactful.

Without hesitating for even a second the man brought out a bundle of papers and started to imbue his mana into it.

"There, it is done. The legislation calling for adventuring rights of mana-less is officially signed."

And with that, the negotiations were done.

Sophie walked back to us and took off my cuffs, showing the world that the hostage was finally freed.

As discussed before, I calmly walked over to the group of people on the other side where the principal instantly took my hand and started to channel his mana.

Before he could teleport us away I managed to turn my head to Sophie and mouth the words '-See you later.'

****

It happened so very fast. No discussions took place and there seemed to have been no complications. In my head, it was going to be much grander than it had been.

The mana-less people of the world would now get the chance to become adventurous if they so sought to be, at least in District 5. Although it would have been nice for the legislation to reach every single district, that was an impossibility. It was only active for the residents of District 5.

The principal had teleported us right into his cabin at the academy. Although I felt a bit dizzy from all the warps, I held myself together.

"Please sit down, let's have some tea and talk for a bit."

His butler came right as he gestured toward the familiar sofas next to the fire and placed a tray of tea and biscuits on the table.

Afterward, he sank into the shadows again, as to let me and the principal talk in private.

As I sat down, he started the conversation,

"So, little hare, how has your trip been?"

'Ah, I'm back all right...'

It had been so long since I heard that stupid nickname that I had almost forgotten about it. But this time, I didn't get riled up by it. Instead, my focus was on the second part of what he said.

'Is this the reaction of someone who just got their student back after getting abducted?'

Something was weird. Even if the old dragon seemed to be an inherently calm individual, calling this even a "trip" was too much.

"You knew about this, didn't you? That's why you disappeared from the party because you knew they would come.

He didn't even blink at my words, even though I was accusing him of betraying his District.

"That is so. I knew that they would come, and I also knew about Sophie's plan."

We both sat for a while, just sipping on the butler's homemade tea in silence.

It was a weird situation. On one hand, he had betrayed my trust. One of the few people I still felt comfortable with and could rely on had knowingly let me get abducted by Basilisk. On the other, maybe he knew that it would be quite a good experience for me and that what they wanted was, at least in my eyes, inherently good.

He was also the one who had forced me to attend the academy, creating a situation where I had to continuously improve myself to not be thrown away. He was the one ultimately responsible for James turning his back on me, the reason why I had to learn to kill and why my mind had started to numb.

Before I could finish collecting my thoughts, the old man broke the silence. Wearing a warm smile he told me some simple words that I needed to hear.

"I'm happy you are back."

Looking at the old man smiling, my previously hateful thoughts quickly went away and instead got replaced with relief. It had been hard to accept that I was going back to the academy, where I knew I would have to stand against all of my classmates, even James. It felt like there was no one to come back to, even more so when Misa wasn't here.

But now, there was at least one. The friendly neighborhood grandpa who had led me to this path from the very beginning. I should hate him, but I couldn't. Even if it had been tough, even if I had felt pain that had made me want to die multiple times, I was still grateful.

Grateful for a life where I could find someone to love and embrace, for gaining power and seeing the beauty of magic but most of all for a life where I felt like I was living and not just staying alive.

I could feel tears starting to form, slowly making their way down my cheeks. This life was hard, terrifyingly so, but it was a life worth living and I would continue to do so to the utmost of my abilities. And I now knew that when all else fails, at least this old dragon would be with me.

"You are one crazy old man, you know that right? Who in their right mind would send their student as a hostage even if you knew it was safe?"

He just kept his warm look on his face and looked at me, not needing to say another word as we were already in complete understanding of one another.

I finally repaid him with a slight smile of my own, moving the conversation to a more casual, but still important subject,

"I guess I have a lot of work to do if I want to catch up to my classmates. I guess they have progressed a lot during the time I was gone."

His smile changed a bit, from warm to more mischievous, "I wouldn't be so sure about that. From looking at you I think you have made quite a bit of progress yourself. Then again, that is to be expected from our number one student!"

"Shut up! You stupid geezer..."

And like this, we continued having a sort of, normal conversation while drinking the delicious tea made by the enigma of a butler.