It was with a flare of triumph that Jeviel burst open the doors of Chancellor Lumin’s office, entering with Jassiel and Michelle behind him on either side. Even if he wore a face of fury, that sense bore through in his smile.
"You’ve made quite the mistake, moria."
"And what mistake is that?" Lumin asked, sitting back from the work in front of her and bridging her fingers over her stomach. "And my last na is not moria. It’s Smith."
"There’s no sha in admitting defeat," Jeviel stood taller. "I know that you know full well what Kiryu Nasumi has done."
"I take it you an that flashy departure from the Glideway tower? I noticed it but had assud perhaps it was so neophyte pilot showing off..."
Jeviel wanted to plant his hands on Lumin’s desk, to loom in her face until his spittle forced her to blink with every word... But he held back. In this ga of chess, her knight had taken itself off the board, and he would not be rash...
"Nasumi has fled the city... by all accounts with a set of demons and spies."
"Oh dear..." Lumin looked at her butler.
I have you now!
"... Terry, do tell Professor Nasumi to co to my office imdiately."
What?!
The birdkin bowed and left.
Lumin leaned forward, planting her elbows on her desk and nesting her hands in front of her. "I’m sure there’s been so sort of mistake. Professor Nasumi has been in the library since this morning; after he paid a visit to the Steel Mill, of course."
It wasn’t long until Terry returned, towing a rather exhausted-looking Professor Nasumi.
"What trickery is this?" Michelle hissed as soon as she saw the wolfkin.
"Silence," Jeviel snapped.
"Am I interrupting sothing?" the Professor smirked as he ca to rest behind Lumin in the corner, while Terry returned to his post. "Oh, but then I wouldn’t have been summoned."
Jeviel bit back his fury until he reached a place where he could project calm. "My nephew and the Inspector inford that this morning Professor Nasumi... prevented the dispensation of justice upon a pair of demons who infiltrated the city.
"Infiltrated? In broad daylight?" Lumin asked. "I assu this has sothing to do with the group of slaves who arrived on the teleporter? An unprecedented happening by the by..."
"Those slaves are the property of Montmorency, a gift from Heaven to further their works on our behalf, and it would behoove you to return them-"
"By Norneau law, I cannot. And besides, by tomorrow they will have all been processed and released. And it behooves not to interfere with the workings of the city when it is what the people have decided upon. Surely you understand my position," Lumin was grim-faced, but there was a slight upward twitch to the corners of her mouth.
"You know full well you can change your ’position’ whenever you like," Jeviel glowered. "Regardless, I will be taking Professor Nasumi into custody unless you can prove he was indeed where you say he was."
"You won’t take my word for it?" Lumin asked. "Fine, Terry, please fetch Mrs. Gale-"
"I’m sorry I’m late, I was just putting so books away," a woman said, entering the room from behind. Jeviel turned to find a rather plain, brown-haired human who seed a bit wan and out of breath.
"Emissary Jeviel, et Brigit Gale. I recently poached her for a visiting professorship."
"Is this the woman you saw with Nasumi this morning?" Jeviel confird with Michelle.
"No, angel, that one was a blonde elf..." Michelle answered, clearly wanting to say more but biting her tongue.
"What is your relationship to Professor Nasumi?" the Emissary asked the newcor.
"Recent acquaintances. Colleagues, I hope. And the first mage I’ve t from Retha." She cleared her throat. "We’ve spent the last five or six hours conversing since he brought into the city."
"More like ten hours," Lumin sniped. "The sun is setting."
Suddenly Professor Nasumi clapped his hands together lightly. "Cha-ven musuka yi ten lo nyet." He spoke in Rethan High-Elvish. "We got off on the wrong foot, your eminence. But I have a theory that might explain things. One that Michelle here should be familiar with, considering how much help I gave her investigating the man."
As soon as he gestured at her, Michelle sneered.
"Go on," the Emissary said, crossing his arms. "I am not unreasonable..."
Professor Nasumi smiled. "I’ve heard a lot about Ghostheart lately, and given he hasn’t been spotted in a while, perhaps this was his way of infiltrating the city, by impersonating soone who, as a key holder, would be allowed almost anywhere. Since so demons are capable of shapeshifting, we could assu therefore that he is of that stock. A succubus or incubus, for example. Which ans a new ans of potentially hunting him down, if one were to look at places such demons might frequent."
"That doesn’t explain the other demons," Jeviel countered. "They could still be in the city, since we don’t know who left on the Glideway. Or for that matter, how he managed it if the form of travel is as secure as I was led to believe."
"Perhaps, if we assu the imposter was Ghostheart, he has recruited other demons to his cause? That wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility, would it?" Sothing about Professor Nasumi’s leading statent felt... off. Was he speaking in a more feminine manner? Jeviel would never understand beastkin, much less one as... eccentric as Kiryu Nasumi.
"If he fled, it is likely because he has already declared victory in Norneau. An overt visitation would undermine his claim," Lumin added. "As to the how of his escape... he likely got away using one of the training cubes, and boosting it with raw mana," Lumin said. "But those won’t go more than a few grand asures, so he could still be in the area."
"Or they’re hiding here," Jassiel spoke out of turn.
"Well they certainly aren’t on Academy grounds," Lumin snapped back. "Otherwise they’d set off all sorts of alarms. If you want I can take you to verify that the alarms are on, if you are willing to wait a couple of hours."
Jeviel was silent. On the one hand, Lumin was being cooperative with the usual undercurrent of hostility, rather than anything out of the norm. On the other hand...
Jeviel closed his eyes, calling up mana into them to see the magic in the room. He had a good mory for people’s mana, and what he saw from everyone in the room was...
Nothing. Nothing was out of the normal, except for slight hints of magical burnout on the human. Even Professor Nasumi’s mana was as it was the first ti they t...
"Am I still under arrest?" the Professor asked.
"No..." Jeviel said. He was so certain... even the city Watch had corroborated Michelle’s tale. But then there was the report from the Elevated he’d sent to the tower. They’d been attacked by demons, according to the one man who’d spotted the female demon - the supposed Valrian knight - before being knocked out. "We will speak again soon..."
With what they were claiming, perhaps Jeviel’s efforts would be better spent deploying the Elevated to search the area. The detectors had co up with nothing but the odd demonkin civilian... not that it had stopped them from seizing every single one the could and taking them to the embassy...
"Next month, at your regular luncheon?" Lumin asked. "I look forward to verifying the release of any citizens caught in your... search."
"Perhaps," he said. "But to be sure of your... demon-free claims, I will be doubling the number of inspectors for this Academy for the foreseeable future."
Jeviel turned on his heel and marched out of the room, his fists tightening as he left.
Michelle and Jassiel were not far behind.
*
As soon as the door closed behind the Ambassador, Lumin cast a soundproofing spell on the room before sweeping for any of Heaven’s monitoring devices. A second was all it took for the latter, before she opened her eyes and looked at "Professor Nasumi".
"A passable performance. You know your son well, although he has tended to be more hostile than cocky, when it cos to the Emissary."
"He definitely got his smirk from you," Brigit comnted as Darlae removed the ring from her finger and placed it on the desk.
"I thought for sure he’d notice the tail wasn’t moving. Why do you have multiples of this thing?"
"When activated, they have tended to explode after three months or so, regardless of how often they’re charged. Your son has yet to co up with a workaround that would fit on sothing this size."
"That still doesn’t answer her question," Brigit noted.
Lumin sighed. "Your son has been enough of a thorn in my side to where I have learned to plan contingencies around his behavior... It’s easier than trying to control him. Just like with you," she looked at Darlae, "if a bit more... unconventional."
Scratching the back of her head, Darlae switched the topic awkwardly. "So... Those manga things really helped with sounding like I knew what that Ghostheart guy was."
"They’re quite popular with the commoners. And seeing how Ghostheart is your son, it shows a remarkable... appreciation for how to convey information to people; even if the art style is horrendous," Lumin replied.
"It is pretty ugly..." Brigit said. "The eyes are so big and the mouths are so small."
"I kindof like it," Darlae said.
"So. Now that you’re all caught up on the situation, have you made a choice on how to proceed?"
"We’re going to wait for our son to return and decide from there," Brigit said.
"Excellent." Lumin clapped her hands together and leaned on her desk in Brigit’s direction. "How do you feel about being substitute teachers for your son’s classes?"
"I still can’t believe Kir’s already a professor," Darlae muttered.
"I could use your help with Andatory Arcanics," Lumin told Darlae. "Considering you have so prior experience there, it should be easy for you, no?"
Darlae grimaced, "Alright. That sounds fair."
"What has my son been teaching people?" Brigit asked.
Lumin smirked.
"Science." Turning, she looked out the window, at the darkened glideway tower. "Tell ... do you think your son knows what he is doing?"
Brigit opened and closed her mouth, unsure of what to say, but it was Darlae who spoke.
"I think he knows what is right. We’ve shown him that the best we can."
"Hm." Lumin looked down at the city. Her city. She’d learned long ago that what was right often needed to give way to what was practical. But that logic just didn’t apply to Kir. "Let’s hope he does right by all of us then, or the ti we’ve bought him will be for nothing."
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