[8.3] Great. Just Great.

That moment, the Captain and the Headmaster walked back to me. The Captain clicked his tongue, "We've called the Chief. He should be here soon to figure out what to do with you."

The Chief of the Magic Investigation Bureau suddenly appeared from a magic circle and rushed out quickly. He was panting wildly as he looked around in a panic, "What is it!?"

"Calm down." The headmaster's cold voice interrupted him.

He flinched and slowly turned towards his voice. His expression turned stiff, "Headmaster Aldrich…"

He nodded back, "Chief Gonza."

I looked between the two in confusion. What is wrong with this tense atmosphere?

As the Chief and the Headmaster engaged in an epic staredown, another soldier walked over, "Oi! Look! It's the two Marlow brothers!"

The Captain kicked the man in the stomach, sending him flying. He hissed, "Don't make this worse!"

I blurted out, "Brothers?!"

The Headmaster turned to me with a cold expression, "Yes. Can't you tell?"

I looked between the two. One was warm and the other one was a glacier.

My mouth twitched, "...No."

The Chief ignored his brother and grinned at me. He bent down to my level, "Reika! Do you remember me?"

I raised an eyebrow.

How could I forget?

You almost sent me to jail.

I smiled back at him, "I remember you! You're the uncle who didn't want to adopt me. You placed me in this orphanage which is why I was kidnapped and almost died."

"..." He cleared his throat awkwardly, "Ah… Yes. That was me."

Zephyr snickered maliciously as he watched wagging his tail.

I spoke, "So what does Uncle want? To send me to another orphanage so I can be kidnapped again?"

"Yes… No… I mean…" He sighed, "I didn't know Miss Dean was that kind of person. She was a very reputable individual who acted upright and righteous."

The Captain snarled, "Whoever behind her is truly ruthless. He left no one alive."

My eyes widened, "No one?"

The Chief's voice was icy, a tone similar to his brother's, "Captain Lou. Do I need to remind you that there is a child right in front of you?"

Under the Chief's glare, the Captain shut his mouth immediately. He looked away with a twinge of guilt but still maintained his indignant frown.

I turned to look at the orphanage and noticed men bringing out stretchers with a blanket covering the individual. Before I could see more, someone suddenly stood in front of me, blocking my sight. I looked up to see the Headmaster's icy face.

He grabbed my cheeks and forced me to look at the Chief.

Everyone: "..."

The Headmaster spoke in a cold tone, "...No looking. It's dirty."

The Chief was speechless, "This… I-"

I furrowed my brow.

Why is he forcing me not to look? I've already seen it.

The Chief finally pulled his eyes away from the Headmaster and cleared his throat awkwardly. He turned back at me, "I was called because I need to bring you to a new home."

I snickered and responded sarcastically, "Right. Because you are obviously the best person for the job."

His face twitched, "...Right. Well… I will take you to a new place. I promise you won't encounter the same fate there as you did here. I will personally check in on you to make sure."

I rolled my eyes. Great. Another orphanage. I should have just stayed in those woods.

"I will adopt her."

"..."

Our heads all simultaneously turned to the Headmaster who repeated himself. "I will adopt her."

The Chief blinked in disbelief, "You-You…"

He repeated again, "I will adopt her."

The Captain's voice cracked, "Why will you adopt her?! She's a sinner!! She suffered a backlash from trying to revive the dead!! She even tortured those men with ice!"

The Headmaster tossed him a sharp glance, "Which is also why I want to adopt her. Her mana is immeasurable and she's too powerful to leave her all alone. If she lives with me, I can properly teach her."

The Captain stuttered, "B-But…"

The Chief shook his head quickly, "I don't think that's a good idea knowing your personality."

The Headmaster didn't seem to care, "It will be fine."

The Chief's eyes narrowed critically, "Have you ever taken care of a child before?"

"No."

"Have you ever taken care of anything that was alive?"

"Yes."

"Oh. That's good. For a moment I was worried-"

Before he could finish his sentence, the Headmaster interrupted him. "I've taken care of a plant before."

The Chief's expression stiffened, "A… Plant?"

"Yes."

The Chief gulped from an ominous feeling, "What happened to the plant?"

"...It died."

Both the Chief's and the Captain's expressions grew taut. The Captain asked slowly, "How did it die?"

"It was a natural death."

The Chief let out the breath he had been holding, "Oh… It was natural…"

The Headmaster nodded, "One day it caught on fire."

Everyone: "..."

Zephyr snickered, "How natural."

The Headmaster turned to me, "In the end, it's your decision to make… Would you rather go to an orphanage or come live with me?"

For some reason, his voice wasn't as confident as it was before.

I looked at him carefully.

I have two options.

One: Go to an orphanage and hate every minute.

Two: Go with this man that I barely know.

Why do I feel like I am playing a video game? I've always been terrible at making these kinds of decisions.

The Headmaster's eyes seemed to tremble slightly at my hesitance. I recalled his lonely aura and let out a sigh.

I gave a nod, "I will live with you."

"Great." The Headmaster straightened his back, "I will teach you everything I know."

I nodded, "As long as you don't set me on fire."

He frowned, "...No promises."

"..."

The Chief shook his head, "To think this day has finally come. I thought I would be dead before you had a child."

The Headmaster walked past him with an icy expression, "The day isn't over yet."

His ears perked up at this, "H-Hey! Did you just threaten me?!"

I picked up Zephyr by the scruff and followed after the Headmaster. I looked at the Chief and snickered, "That's what you get for trying to send me to an orphanage."

He hung his head in shame as I skipped away. I looked up at the Headmaster, "So where are we going?"

"The Academy."

"School?"

"No. I live there."

"Ooh."

He looked at me with eyes devoid of emotion, "Carriage or teleportation?"

"Carriage!" I shouted quickly.

I can't stomach another teleportation.

He waved his wand, and suddenly a carriage appeared with two large horses pulling it. I stared at it in awe. He held the door open for me, "Ready?"

I went to take a step in but hesitated. I turned back to the orphanage that was now cleaned up. I had mixed emotions as I stared at the place I hated and despised.

I spoke to the Headmaster, "Can I say goodbye first?"

He looked at the orphanage and nodded, "Go on."

I left his side and went to the tree where I heard Bea cry for the first time. I put Zephyr down and looked at the tree somberly. I clapped my hands together and closed my eyes.

I spoke aloud to no one, "Hey Bea. It's me. I'm sorry I kind of bullied you and ended up disfiguring you. That was a bit rude of me and I see that now. You didn't deserve that. You didn't deserve any of this… Although I guess that doesn't matter now. But, I just wanted to let you know that the Headmaster was going to offer you a job. You wouldn't have had to live on the streets…"

I let out a heavy sigh, "I really am sorry…"

An ethereal voice whispered out, "Thank you…"

My eyes snapped open and I looked ahead to see a strange fog take the shape of Bea.

My face turned pale as I froze in place.

She smiled at me before dropping something on the ground and fading away.

I still didn't move.

Zephyr shouted, "No way! You actually just solved a ghost's resentment!"

My mouth didn't move.

He nudged me, "Oi. You okay? You look like you are going to faint."

"WHAT WAS THAT!?"

My sudden scream made him flinch. He frowned at me, "How many times do I have to say it? Ghost! G-H-O-S-T! Are you stupid or something!?"

I held my head, "I think I'm going to faint…"

"Don't faint here, idiot. I won't carry you."

I crouched as I held myself shivering. He jumped over and looked at something on the ground, "Oi. She dropped something."

I looked up curiously and picked it up. My eyes widened as I recognized the smooth wooden stick.

My wand?!

He nodded as if impressed, "Wow. If she can hold onto objects then she was a poltergeist. Good thing you solved her resentment. If you hadn't, she probably would have killed a bunch of people."

I wiped the cold sweat off my brow, "...Wonderful. That's really comforting to hear. Thank you so much."

He didn't catch my sarcasm and nodded proudly, "You're welcome."

I stood back up holding my wand. "So I managed to get the ghost inside of me out? That's a relief."

"Huh? Oh, no. That wasn't the ghost that's stuck in your body. No. She's still there inside you."

My face twitched, "Greaaat."