Blunders

"Thank you for taking the time to talk with me, James."

The woman sitting at her desk had for some reason stopped addressing me as Mr. Jackson, now choosing to use my first name instead. As this was an even week, with our schedules being changed from odd to even, I had already met her once today during the elemental manipulation class, but she had professionally ignored my presence.

Ms. Turner's office was pretty much just an exact copy of Mr. Brown's, except she had some flowers planted throughout the room and it smelled a bit like roses.

My former teacher was as gorgeous as ever, her curves threatening to burst out from her white shirt and her mature face sending shivers down my spine. Even though my mind had acclimated to being a 17-year-old again to some extent, it hadn't at all changed my preference for women. Not that I actually had the chance to experience one on Earth...

Gesturing with her hand, she urged me to take a seat in the chair in front of her desk, "Please, do sit down. Coffee or tea?"

"Coffee, please."

As she stood up and made her way to the coffee dispenser standing next to the wall, I started to prepare my head for the long conversation that we would be having, as it wouldn't have made sense for her to offer me a beverage otherwise.

"Here you go. Be careful, it's pretty hot."

"Thank you."

As I wasn't a fire-eater, like a certain pink-haired woman, I just gently blew on the liquid to make it cool down a bit faster, waiting for Ms. Turner to let me know the matter at hand. Before she started to speak, she showed some signs of nervousness as she took a deep breath to ready herself.

"Fuuu... James. I want you to know that I know about your secret. Or.. at least I think I do."

*Don!*

Suddenly she gently slammed her hands on the desk, making a bit of her coffee escape her mug.

"James! I need you to tell me if you are in danger. I can help you! Stop being so proud, there is no reason for you to have to deal with this on your own. I don't know what they made you do during your absence from the academy, but please, believe in me."

Having just gotten served a pretty huge lump of information, I tried as quickly as possible to decipher her words.

Thankfully, there was another person who also suspected me of being from some hidden house, so it didn't take all that long to figure out that that was what her 'they' was probably pointing to.

'Interesting... It seems like it's not uncommon for the people of Tella to assume that if something is inexplicable or someone is not aligned with the norms, it is probably related to a hidden family. I guess I should count myself lucky to not be regarded as a demon at least.'

This could still be a problem for me though. Assuming she was thinking I was from one of those strange families, why did she think so? Was it just based on the fact that I had used a teleportation skill or my element?

I could only blame myself for the aloof and half-assed way I conducted the conversation I had with her to make her tell me if I would get promoted to A-class.

If my mind had been clearer, I would have made sure not to induce such uncontrollable thoughts, but the matter of maybe having to duel the other students had clouded my judgment.

Thus, I had no other choice but to try my best and at least try to bring some calm to her mind, hoping she wouldn't interpret it as my trying to act strong.

So, with the most genuine smile, I could fake, I dove in, "Ms. Turner, there is no need to disguise your words. I'm guessing you are thinking I'm from some hidden family. Is that right?"

Nodding her head in confirmation, she signaled for me to continue on. "I can tell you right here and now, that I'm not from a hidden family. I indeed carry some secrets, but none of these are things I need help with. The guidance I get from the classes is more than enough."

Her face did seem to relax a bit, although there were clear signs of hesitation still apparent.

"Let's assume I believe you, that you are not an heir to a hidden family, even going as far as to believe you have no ties to one at all. Why were you absent for almost a whole week then? Where did you go?"

As usual, I didn't think of straight-up lying as a good way of hiding things. Therefore, I gave her some glimpses of what I had been going through, without telling her I had slaughtered over a hundred kobolds.

"Haaa... Fine. I'll tell you a bit of what I was doing, but I assume that you understand that you aren't in a position to expect me to tell you everything?"

Once again, she nodded, this time with her eyes shining with intent to not miss a single word I was about to say.

Crossing my arms, I told her the half-truth, "I went to Essen, there were some problems with the Bat guild, but I managed to resolve it peacefully with no one getting hurt. There, happy?"

It took her a second to process what I had just told her, but in the end, her strict face finally melted and a beautiful smile took its place.

"Thank you for telling me. There is no way that I won't worry about you in the future, but at least it seemed you told me about your problems. Now, would you mind telling me a bit about your unique element?"

Though our coffee had already cooled down long ago, her redirecting our little verbal war into something more lighthearted, finally gave me an opportunity to take a sip of the room-temperature brew.

*****

[Adriana's Pov]

"And you believed him?"

"Yes, I did. And you would too if you were in the room. Trust me, he didn't lie to me."

After concluding our dinner at the academy steakhouse, I said my goodbyes to the ones I was using to gather information and made my way to Ms. Turner's office to talk about James.

What she had just told me was just unbelievable. James had somehow managed to make her change her mind, that all of a sudden he wasn't an heir to a hidden family. In fact, she now seemed to truly believe he had no ties to one at all.

'Bullshit! There is no way!'

Still, I hadn't managed to gather any information that could say otherwise either. All I had gotten from Sophie's group was that no one knew him before he arrived at the academy.

This did make my assumption a bit more realistic, but it wasn't as if it was rare for an orphan to be unknown. There were records of him going to some no-name school during his younger days, but I was pretty sure they were forged.

My reach in Mensch wasn't enough for me to seek information without raising suspicion, so there was no way for me to confirm it either.

I kept my polite appearance up, as it would be unbecoming for royalty to act like a fool. In that regard, I was way beyond the human princess I had been around who seemed to lose herself every time James was mentioned.

"Alright, I understand. That means our deal is now no longer relevant, I assume?"

"That is so, Ms. Aldon. I apologize for suddenly calling it off, but there is no longer something to gain as I do not believe him to be from a hidden house. That means we are back to strictly being a teacher and a student. It would be in your best interest to remember this."

Smiling innocently, I just reaffirmed her words as I took a stand to leave her office, "Of course, Ms. Turner. Although it was a bit too short of an arrangement for my taste, I am glad that we had smooth cooperation. Have a nice evening."

Walking as fast as I could, I finally arrived at my haven. Looking around at all the stuffed animals I had collected during my visit to the city, I felt myself calming down.

"I'm home guys. I need a hug."

And so I dove into the sea of stuffed animals on my bed, I allowed my brain to relax a bit after a long day of hard work.

****

[James's Pov]

"Are you serious?! You did a dungeon without inviting me?! What the fuck man!"

Sophie's reaction had not been what I expected. Instead of getting angry at me for doing something stupid, she got mad because I didn't bring her with me.

'She is way too fast at getting used to this life... I guess she did begin to fight as soon as she got here, maybe she was some kind of martial artist on Earth?'

Taking a sip of my tea, I knew I didn't have to hold back anymore, after all, she wouldn't beat me up just because I didn't bring her with me, right?

"I'm sorry. I should have known that the battle maniac would want to come. That's my bad."

*Bam!*

"Ouch!" I had made a tactical mistake, not realizing her long arms could easily punch me from her side of the small table.