59 A not so Friendly Punishmen

"… And that's pretty much it, I couldn't do anything at all before she got hit by the fireball. Maybe if I hadn't underestimat…"

"That was enough Leon, you did the best you could. I won't blame you for that unfortunate accident, just take it as a friendly play between two children. Now go."

The normally lazy magician tried to argue with Arthar, but seeing the closed face of Alexander Arastil looking at him, he decided to keep his mouth shut. Even after he told the entire thing, over and over again, he never saw the two men reacting weirdly or with an important concern about the princess Istuienn. Leon wasn't necessarily the sharpest, but he was not dumb either. Keeping his feelings for himself, he left the room but not without looking one last time at the two little girls near him.

It had been several dozens of minutes already, but the scared princess was still with her arms around her legs, curled into a small ball. Her little toes were barely hanging in the air, the rest of her feet deeply rooted on the edge of the chair. The contrast with her neighbor was plainly obvious. Leilade had her back straight, looking fearlessly at the adults like she did nothing wrong. And now that the only foreigner was out, Alexander and Arthar finally sighed of relief.

The first thought that traversed the mind of the father of Leodagan, when he heard that Istuienn was injured, that Leilade probably did it. And it was entirely true, even when the old man tried his best to convince otherwise. But when they both saw Leon taking extra measures just to hide the state of the princess, they were both equally shocked. And now, they had to deal with this. A very uncomfortable silence was present for the next minutes because no one spoke. Leilade couldn't justify herself in front of her, supposedly, victim.

"Oh my poor little girl, tell to your big sister Sarah what happened?" The voluptuous principal of the academy opened the door and immediately hugged Istuienn, nearly suffocating the poor soul. But that touch of affection provoked another river of tears and cry, making the two males rolling their eyes. The worst part was the fact that she was virtually untouchable and even her father, that was one of the strictest warriors of the country, didn't train her at all.

"Come on, take my hand, I will take you to a warmer place …" Sarah threw a dark stare at Alexander. Because they were in his office, the room was abnormally cold and it was only at this moment that he realized he didn't cancel the spell. "… and you will have some cookies and a hot chocolate. This one is from Durtang, the best in the world."

She managed to grab the hand of the princess and led her away. Just before finally getting out of sight, the gorgeous woman stopped for a second, before turning her head toward Leilade. Staring into the eyes of the peculiar kid, she saw nothing unusual but something still bothered her mind. Shrugged it off, she concentrated her effort on the mentally injured one.

Now, the three responsible for this total fiasco was finally alone in a room and the moment they double checked it was totally safe to speak, reproaches flew.

"Damn it, Arthar, I repeatedly told you to watch your words with her. She is dangerous, like really dangerous for a kid. If there is a single loophole, she will exploit it. The last time I left her alone with a kid, she was choking him and he was turning blue!"

The old man was also trying to blame Alexander, but when he heard what the latter said, he was shocked. He never heard of this before, he was not even supposed to be part of that plan originally. If not that extraordinary event that disturbed the very balance of the world, they wouldn't even have this conversation. But Arthar was no pushover either, and certainly not in front of the young magus.

"What was I supposed to do? I don't have so much free time that I can leisurely stay in my office all day! I have projects to supervise, designs to approve and many magicians often asked for my advice. Leon maybe has a very hard time managing his sleep, but he is very good with kids, or at least that's what I heard. And you couldn't have told me that she was capable of accurately aiming with a [Fireball]? That's a 2nd Circle spell that even some 2nd years still have a hard time mastering perfectly. She nailed it, twice in a row!"

To that Alexander had no answer. He knew that she formed a [Fireball] even before arriving at the Academy since Oscar Moo explained that to him. He used that fact to prove that Leilade was far more talented than he officially announced, but the thing he described was just the bare minimum for a fireball. Not something as big as a head and thrown at such a speed that even a true magician didn't manage to catch the spell before it hit.

"Ok, fine, we were both wrong. But now that you are his official teacher, please, be more careful with your words. What did you say that made her do such a thing?"

"Nothing at all, just the origin…" The two looked at each other with weird expressions. They realized now what could have been misunderstood as motivation. Arthar shook his head while Alexander facepalmed his.

"Of course, I get it now. We wanted her to motivate the princess. And what better motivation that nearly killing her and transforms into a nightmare for her existence. That was a touch of sarcasm." Alexander had to justify with the last sentence. By now, he had a good grasp of how Leilade was capable of exacting extreme actions when pressured. Finally looking at the very culprit of this, he saw nothing but a clear conscience. And because they both knew what was her past, they couldn't even really judge her at all. She was already robbed of her childhood once, and because of them, she couldn't even regain it.

"Leilade, do you know what you did wrong?" The venerable elder inquired about what was bothering his mind. Whether she was aware of her actions or not. But for the disguised human, it was just a calm and refreshing holiday, waiting for her subordinates to slowly change the world.

"No, I did nothing wrong. The spell of Leon should have been able to protect Istuienn from any of my attacks. I planned to restlessly launch fireballs after fireballs, until she fought back. But I was shocked to see that she was more harmless than a bunny, I only thought that as the daughter of the Sword Saint, she should at least keep her composure."

Everything she said was totally logic, from a certain point of view, but for the two adults, it was fatally flawed. The two humans looked at each other and both shook their head, signaling to the other that he didn't warn Leilade about it. To explain to someone that survived tortures and experiments from the evil hands of the Church of Torment that the princess should be handled with tact was pure nonsense.

"Yes, you did nothing wrong. You tried something but that failed, it is normal. No one is perfect and can do everything at their first try. So, for now, you will not do anything, and I meant it, DON'T DO ANYTHING TO ISTUIENN! For our sake."

If someone heard the one in charge of punishing, hunting and capturing rogue magicians nearly begging a mere child, that person would be shocked. But as much as Alexander was inflexible with adults, he had a hard time dealing with children. As for Arthar, he was only nodding in accordance, because his inner feelings were the same. But before talking about anything else, the Head Researcher still wanted to see what was the [Fireball] Leilade created.

Taking barely a second to cast it, a relatively big fireball appeared in the hand of Leilade. Under their wishes, she repeatedly created it and then canceled it. She used her right hand, then her left hand and her right hand again. The more she kept doing everything that smoothly, the more the smile blossomed on the faces of the two men. For them, it was the truth that she was really worth protecting and could maybe even protect Massalia in the future. But after the sun, rain and storm always come.

"The problem we have now is the fact that you still harm another student. Because it was in that area, it shouldn't have been a problem, but everyone normally informs my department of their intention of dueling. That way, only injuries provoked in a real and properly acknowledged duel can be void of any sanctions. As for bullying and fights outside of the rules, those are severely reprimanded. And you, unfortunately, belong to the latter part. If it was a normal student, I could have convinced him or her to not make it public, but it was Istuienn. So, I will have to punish you."

The entire time, Alexander acted as a true magus with a calm and authoritative voice. It was visible that he truly cared about his functions and didn't even allow favoritism. But at the same time, it was still very hypocritical to do that, especially because it was partially because of Arthar that she faced Istuienn in a duel. And it was also her that started it, but nothing was pronounced against the precious princess.

"Fine, you already told me to cause some ruckus to have a personal lesson with you. When do we start?" The surprisingly joyous tone Leilade employed took everyone by surprise, especially with the content of her speech. Feeling the ardent stare of Arthar in his neck, Alexander couldn't help but chuckle a bit, feeling that the girl was punishing him more than he did. It was rare that this situation happened to him, but to be played by a child was shamefully funny.

"Cough, you didn't have to say that loudly. Also, it was before, when you could only receive general guidance from old man Moo, I mean teacher Oscar. Now, normally, you don't have to do anything, no better. Don't break any rules, even the most insignificant. Don't do it. It is useless now, but for this first time, I will oblige and do my part. I mean, since a certain someone is too busy to even do his work, I guess that …"

"Hey, I don't allow that last sentence to be pronounced. But now, I understand everything. I guess that Sarah will have a long discussion with you, especially to know everything that you kept hidden about that fascinating little girl. I guess that to have Istuienn a little bit traumatized is a low price if it is to have such a genius taught by you."

The two kept bickering about everything they could until they realized that a long time already passed. Arthar rapidly left, pretending that he had a very important experiment that was happening right now and that it was very dangerous. Right after Alexander joked about it, they heard the sound of a resonating explosion, coming from above. Raising his eyebrows in a mocking way, Arthar finally left, letting Leilade with her newly found tutor.

Thinking that nothing could make the situation more troublesome, Alexander was ready to accompany her to a more secluded area. However, the moment he let Leilade pass first the door, he saw her stop in her tracks because someone was blocking her way. Recognizing the obstacle immediately, he truly wondered why he never appreciated how calm the Academy was previously.

"Why is she here father? And why did I just saw Istuienn in the office of Sarah, visibly perturbed?"