Chapter IV.XXII (4.22) - Tutor Bargain

  Kizu was surprised by how quickly Anata adapted to school life. When the issue had first been pressed, he’d worried about her attending since she’d never shown any interest in playing with other kids her age besides Mae. But even without the Kitsune girl attending alongside her yet, Anata still already made a friend.

  The boy, Rui, was scrappy and always covered in a bit of dirt. Kizu’s first impression of him was concerning. The boy had charged into Taroe’s home with a smoked-out wasp nest on a stick, excited to show it off to Anata. But after some vetting from Taroe, Kizu was decently reassured that the boy, while a bit recklessly adventurous, wasn’t a real threat to his niece. More of a trouble finder than a troublemaker. Of course, Kizu preferred to have zero troubles. But he’d take what he could get.

  The boy had an unabashed charismatic genuineness that broke through even the thick shell of Kon’s personality. Kizu had spotted the Kitsune actually chatting with the boy. His sentences even increased from simple all the way to compound. And sometimes they hit double digits in word count.

  Still, even if the kid was friendly, Kizu made a note to get Mort to tag along on their adventures through the town. His familiar had been spending more time solo exploring since Taroe took over custody of Anata. And while Kizu had been hospitalized, Mort had only checked in on her irregularly.

  Kizu made a point of trying to be present more often as well, inviting the children along on errands in town and other accessible activities. Anata and the Kitsune spent a lot of time on Owl’s Respite with him while he studied. The girls had begged him to allow Rui access to the ship as well, but Kizu wasn’t about to let the boy onboard after only knowing him a couple days. The last thing he needed was Rui causing trouble with Aoi’s necromancer lab.

  Kizu was on deck, practicing an elemental spell that levitated and warped stretches of stone when Mae poked her head up from the crew quarters below.

  “Kizu, you got a visitor at the house!”

  Before he’d even responded, the girl scampered off, now in her fox form.

  He let the stone slab fall to the deck, currently in the shape of a crescent moon.

  Hopping down to the crew quarters, Kizu entered through his portal bookshelf. He liked to leave it constantly running rather than needing to shut it on and off every time. While it required more blood to maintain the enchantments every day, it also let the children come and go without needing him to activate the portal. That being said, he ended the spell as he exited into Taroe’s home. He only left it open when he was on the other side. With a wave of a hand, the portal warped and transformed back into a mundane shelf of books.

  Kizu looked at his three books lying on a single shelf. He really needed to increase his library. Maybe there was a bookshop in town? A task for another day.

  Once downstairs, Kizu was surprised to see a familiar spectacled gnome standing in the doorway.

  “Faible? What are you doing here?”

  “I’m here to strike that deal with you. May I come in?”

  “Of course.” Kizu ushered him in and over to the newly furnished sitting room.

  As the gnome took a seat, fear suddenly swept over Kizu. Was this about Ione? A repeat from last semester with Ulric? Faible had taken Ione to the school dance at the end of last semester. Had he gotten wind of Kizu’s upcoming date with her?

  Kizu managed to mumble about getting refreshments and then retreated to the kitchen. Once there, he took a moment to get a hold of himself. Faible wasn’t Ulric. In fact, it was hard to think of a pair of people who acted more as opposites as those two. And Faible had already explained he was there to make a deal with him. Kizu had no reason to suspect anything else from the gnome. Unless…the deal had to do with Ione. Kizu tried to shake the ridiculous idea.

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  He poured green tea from a teapot enchanted to keep the liquid inside warm. Then he brought two cups back out to the sitting room.

  “Thanks.” Faible accepted the drink and sipped it. “You have a second familiar now?”

  “What?”

  “The fox with the scarf I just saw. Is that yours? I didn’t know it was possible to bond more than once.”

  “Oh. That’s a different person’s familiar,” he lied. “Not mine.”

  “Interesting. Familiars aren’t very common. There’s what, like three in the entire academy?”

  “At least one other. Someone with a bird.”

  “You know, I believe Professor Arclight actually used to have a bird familiar as well. I met with her and Oasaji years ago. Those two were both in a specialized vanguard meant to confront the Oozes. She used to have a parrot familiar always on her shoulder. It stuck in my mind as a kid because I thought it was odd that she was surrounded by birds. Between the familiar and her husband.”

  “Oasaji was a turkey back then too?” The mystery of their turkey professor continued to baffle Kizu.

  “As long as I’ve known him.” Faible took another sip of his tea. “Anyway. To the subject on hand. You want a history tutor. I want something in return. I think we can do an exchange of services.”

  Oh. History tutoring. That was right. Of course Faible was visiting to discuss tutoring session payments.

  “What sort of services?” Kizu tried to keep the suspicion out of his voice. As long as the gnome didn’t ask for anything involving Ione.

  “Took some time sort out. But I spoke to several professors and finally finagled the proper permissions.” Faible pushed up his glasses, looking pleased with himself. “I have officially founded Shinzou Academy’s Drama Club.”

  “A drama…club.” Kizu blinked.

  “You didn’t already join a club, did you?”

  “No….”

  “Excellent. Join the club and I’ll begin tutoring you. We can have our first session tonight if you want.”

  “Faible…my schedule is already really full.”

  “Trust me. If you want a higher history score, not only will my tutoring shoot your rank up, but the actual practice of the club will help as well. Gnomish drama is all about the stories of the past. Putting the past onto the stage. Reenacting the greatest moments in history. You’ll come out of this experience with a better understanding of history than 99 percent of your peers here at the academy. There’s a reason I’m the highest ranked student.”

  Kizu used his drink as a delaying tactic as he tried to sort through his thoughts. Alas. The green tea disappeared down his throat far too quickly and he was left staring at the residuals at the bottom of the tea cup.

  “Okay. I’ll do it.” He decided.

  “Perfect!” Faible’s face split into a massive smile.

  “Who else is joining?”

  “You’re the first. I was hoping to use your influence as a means of attracting others.”

  “I don’t have any influence.”

  “Kizu. I’m not blind. You clearly have pull with powerful people in Hon since coming back from spring break. The first years at the academy practically worship the ground you step on. And they’re exactly my target, since they’re the ones most likely to not be committed to another club.”

  “What about Ione?” Kizu said the words without thinking. He immediately wished he could pull them back. The less of Faible and Ione interacted, the better. At least for now.

  “If you think you can pull her in! Her summons would be absolutely invaluable. But I think the Combat Club is already petitioning for her after the changes to the combat ranking contests. Do you have anyone else in mind?”

  This time, Kizu actually let himself think before blurting out words. Basil was an absolute perfect fit for the club. A shapeshifter who also loved sewing? It was hard to think of a better combo. Except for the small fact that he played a major role in the genocide of the club leader’s species.

  Aoi might be won over if Kizu offered her something in exchange. He might be able to guilt her into it at the moment. But did he really want to do that? It seemed a bit cheap to force her into a club.

  Of the first years he knew, Harvey undoubtedly would join the Combat Club. Harumi might be convinced pretty easily though. And he could ask Evie as well. Though he seriously doubted the quiet, nervous girl would have any interest.

  “I’ll spread the word that I’ve joined. But seriously don’t count on me to be a reason why anyone else wants to join.”

  “That’s all I can ask for!” Faible beamed at him. “You ready to start studying some history? I know an amazing story about a knight from Edgeland slaying his king. Lots of fun twists with that one.”

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