Finally, the weight on John's shoulders eased. Out of all the headaches the Headmaster brought him, there was still one shining spot: his reaction to signing the magical contract.
John provided the contract since he returned from the city. Despite his age and wisdom, the Headmaster's reaction to the contract had been almost comical.
As he watched the small golden scroll ignite and dissolve into specks of glittering dust, the most powerful man in the academy looked less like a seasoned warrior and more like a wide-eyed child witnessing his first magic trick.
John's final, and perhaps most agonising, source of worry was Cissel. While the students' attention shifted away from him, forgetting the rumours as any typical short-memory youths would, and the Headmaster's interrogations stopped, her recovery was the only thing that truly mattered.
