[10.4] It Takes a Village

...Later that day….

The Headmaster sat in front of me rubbing his temples. "How…. How did you get sent here 6 times already and the day isn't even over..."

I shrugged, "Teachers here are far too weak. They will just send a student to the office for any stupid reason."

"Oh really?" He pulled out a paper and began to read from it, "Incident number one: student disrespected the teacher. Incident number two: student not only used magic but also insulted the teacher. Incident number three: the student secretly summoned an ice tac and placed it on the teacher's seat who then sat on it."

I chuckled, "That one was funny. She jumped so high."

He continued ignoring me, "Incident number four: Student attempted to skip class and was caught raiding the school cafeteria fridge."

I pouted, "I was hungry."

"Incident number five: Student turned a feather into steel and threw it at the teacher."

I smiled, "He wanted me to make the feather fly, so I made it fly at him. I was just following directions."

His sharp cold eyes bore into me, "Incident number six: Student used magic to pull the teacher's pants down in front of everyone."

My smile twitched, "I just wanted to make friends by giving my peers a good laugh?"

"The first issue is that mouth of yours." He waved his wand and my lips were clamped closed. It was the silence spell I had used on Zephyr before. I struggled to speak, but it was impossible. He continued, "The second issue is that you won't follow directions. If you insist on this behavior, then you will remain voiceless."

I narrowed my eyes spitefully. You really think that will work? As if!

I waved my wand undoing the spell. I stuck out my tongue, "You'll have to try harder than that."

His eyes widened in surprise before he returned to his cold stare. He waved his wand, "Fine."

Those same vines wrapped around me, causing me to drop the wand. Now that I couldn't move, he put the silence spell back on me. I glared at him. Not even this will stop me! I channeled my mana in my body and undid the spell.

I cackled, "Hah! Try again!"

His eyes widened, "Y-You! How did you do that without a wand?!"

I snickered, "Why are you acting so surprised?"

"It's the very definition of surprising."

I bit down on the vine holding me while he was distracted. He jumped as if he was the one being bit. Suddenly, I was hung upside down.

He shouted in irritation, "Would you stop that?!"

I shouted back, "Make me!"

We argued back and forth for a while before he suddenly no longer looked like that quiet headmaster with a frosty exterior. He shouted in anger, "Why aren't you listening to me?!"

I laughed, "Because I don't want to."

He tapped his desk in irritation, "I don't know what to do here… I will make him help me."

I raised an eyebrow, "Him?"

He sent off a letter and not too long after, a magic portal appeared and Chief Gonza came running out. He shouted, "What's the emergency!?"

He froze when he noticed I was hanging upside down from blue vines and the clearly angered Headmaster staring back at him. His face twitched, "Um?"

The Headmaster spoke quickly, "I need your help with her. She won't listen to me."

"Is this really an emergency?"

"It is. She won't behave in class and she keeps undoing the silence spells I put on her as punishment!"

The Chief sighed, "Aldrich… You can't be this rough with children. You have to speak gently to them and lower yourself to their level."

He dares treat me like a child?!

"Now just release her and watch how I do it."

The Headmaster did as the Chief asked.

The Chief then strolled to me and took a knee. His voice was so soft I immediately wanted to punch his face. "Reika, can you tell us how you are feeling right now?"

I sneered, "I feel like you are an eyesore."

"Huh?" Before I could explain, I headbutted him in a fit of anger. He pulled back rubbing his forehead, "She headbutted me!!!"

The Headmaster snickered, "I guess we should avoid her level then."

The Chief glared at me, "Don't you realize who I am?!"

I sniggered, "Yeah. You're the man who took me to an orphanage where I was sold to child traffickers."

"Erm…" He shifted uncomfortably knowing he had no retort. The Chief felt like crying as he turned to the Headmaster, "No one has ever treated me like this! Not even you!"

The Headmaster nodded, "Now you know how I feel."

I laughed with an ominous smile, "Do you regret adopting me yet? Are you going to send me back to an orphanage?"

The Headmaster's eyes narrowed, "I never quit. If I said I was going to raise you, then that means I am going to raise you."

My eyes widened in surprise.

Wait… Was I touched just now?

He leaned back with a sigh, "...Or so I say, but I have no idea how I am supposed to do that. I have never been disrespected this much before."

The Chief spoke, "Maybe we should call Captain Lou? He may know."

I picked up my head, "Haah?! Why are you calling him?! I hate that a**hole and he hates me!"

The Headmaster shrugged while ignoring me, "It's worth a try."

The Captain appeared from a magic portal not too long after. He rushed over, "What's the emergency?!"

He stopped when he noticed the three of us all staring at him.

He accidentally let out an irritated sigh, "Whatever this is, I don't want to know."

The Chief spoke with a gentle smile, "We need your help with little Reika…"

The Captain shouted indignantly, "Why are you asking me!? I hate that little sinner!"

I shouted, "See! I told you!"

The Headmaster glared at the Captain, causing him to shut his mouth immediately.

The Chief explained, "You take care of your little brothers and baby sisters, right?"

The Captain nodded, "I do…"

"Perfect! Then you can help us with our issue."

"Ugh. Fine. What's the problem?"

The Headmaster spoke, "She won't go to class and she won't behave. We have tried everything. I have used all the spells I could think of, but she keeps undoing them."

The Captain spoke, "Have you tried speaking to her?"

"I tried. I got down to her level and spoke gently." The Chief pouted, "Then she headbutted me."

The Captain pinched the space between his brows, "Idiots…"

They both glared at him, "What was that?"

"Nothing." He quickly walked over to me and glared at me hatefully, "Oi. Brat. Why are you causing problems?"

I stuck out my tongue, "I don't want to go to class."

"And why not?"

"It's stupid and boring! I'm in a class with toddlers who can't even add!"

The Captain turned to the other two, "There you have it. Now fix it."

The Headmaster frowned, "How?"

"How should I know? Aren't you two the geniuses of your generation?!"

The two brothers both looked at each other before quickly looking away. The Headmaster beckoned me over and I walked to him still frowning.

He slapped down a test and pen, "I already know your magical abilities so I can see why those classes are a bit slow for you. However, I don't know the extent of your regular schooling. Just fill out this test so I can properly place you."

I did as he asked and took the placement test obediently. I was never really good at school, but surely my knowledge goes further here.

After I finished, the three looked at my score with wide eyes. The Chief spoke, "Do commoners usually have this much knowledge?"

The Captain shook his head, "No way."

The Headmaster gave a nod, "With a score like this, you can be placed in the advanced classes. Most of those students are around 14 years old. This is really impressive."

...My pride has taken critical damage. Why is the amount of my knowledge in the 14-year-old age range?! Shouldn't it be higher!?

The Headmaster continued, "That solves that. However, the problem is with the magical courses. You need a tutor since the classes are too easy. I will have to find someone suitable."

The Chief sighed, "That's not the real issue. The issue is: how will we get her to go to class?"

All three turned to me and I quickly plastered on a fake smile.

Yeah, there's no way you can force me to class. I will just skip.

"I have an idea." The Headmaster wrote on a piece of paper and transported it with a spell, "I will just assign her another student who is also on her level and can hold her accountable."

I slapped my knee, "Pfft! Yeah right! There's no such person."

The Headmaster smirked, "I wouldn't be too sure."

What is he planning?

After a few moments, a timid knock sounded at the door. The Headmaster spoke, "Come in."

A small girl only a few years older than my current body walked in. Her silky blonde hair was pulled back neatly by a blue ribbon. Her sparkling blue eyes gave her an air of superiority that was unbecoming of a child.

Suddenly, I felt like squeezing her cheeks because she looked like a doll.

The girl spoke with a confused look, "Headmaster. Did you call for me?"

The Headmaster nodded, "I did. Surely you remember Reika?"

The little girl turned to me in confusion. However, once she saw me, her eyes glistened and she grinned ear to ear. She ran over to me quickly and grabbed onto my shoulders, "It's you!"

I raised my eyebrow, "It's me?"

"I've been looking for you ever since you saved me!"

"Eh? I saved you?"

I don't recognize her at all!

I shook my head and pushed her off, "Terribly sorry little girl, but I think you have me confused with someone else. I would have surely remembered saving an adorable girl like you."

At first, the girl blushed when she heard adorable. But when she heard "girl", her eyes turned furious, "Who are you calling a little girl!?"

The Headmaster cleared his throat, "This is Prince Cyrus… The boy whose life you saved from the kidnappers."