As they walked closer to the dining hall, the voices coming from it grew louder. Not unpleasantly so, just enough to give the impression of a full restaurant on a busy evening.
Stepping inside, the smell hit first. Roasted meat, fresh bread, potatoes. The kind of warmth you felt in your bones.
They moved through the buffet-style spread, grabbing a sorted mix of whatever looked good, then found a table toward the back of the room.
Arthur sat across from Amy while Mira took her place a few feet behind him, hands clasped, watching. Servants weren't permitted to eat in the dining hall, that was simply the rules.
"So, Mr. Rumble." Amy stabbed a potato with her fork. "I've heard your family's manor sits on the border. Is that true?"
"It is," Arthur said, ignoring her teasing. "Grew up there with the sight of fighting being a constant sight. Though it isn't quite the hell people tend to imagine. The border functions more like a grindstone than a warzone. Both sides use it for practical experience."
"There are even times when the Abyssarans will raise a watchtower well within our territory and we don't even move to stop them. We use it as live training for our men. It stays professional. Transactional, even."
Amy lowered her fork slightly. "I always pictured it as... I don't know. A warzone." She was somewhat surprised by his answer.
"It can be." Arthur leaned back, a faint smile crossing his face. "There was a time my father killed an up-and-coming captain of the Veilhounds. In response, they sent men after my oldest brother." He paused.
"That whole fiasco didn't go as planned as my brother just used the assassination as experience making him an even stronger threat. That and the whole exchange cost them more lives than it was worth. So in the end, they had to cede more of the border to us." Arthur chuckled quietly, thinking of his brother bedridden for a month, insulting their tactics from his bed..
Amy looks at Arthur as if he was a crazy person for smiling so much at the talk of his brother being targeted.
"That's..." Her mouth stayed open for a moment, searching for the right word. "I don't even know what to do with any of that."
"Most people can't," Arthur said, without judgment. He took another bite, minding his manners the way his mother had drilled into all of them. "Don't trouble yourself over it. I only act this way because I grew up with it. I'm sure growing up in the inter-cities you only heard stories and never the full truth."
"Well now I know that." Amy says, picking at her food.
"Well a lot of those stories aren't fully far from the truth, I just know more of the nuance. Well that and that were always looking for help. So if you're ever in need of a job know you got one at the border." Arthur says taking a big bite.
"I'll keep that in mind after I graduate." Amy says having finished over half her food. With Arthur already done with his first plate
"Don't think too hard about it, we've got another six years here first. Now if you'll excuse me, I think I need a second plate." Arthur says as he stands, heading back to the buffet.
Looking over the food Arthur can't help but debate what to grab.
'Hmm..Salty or sweet. So many choices.' He scanned the desserts, his tongue rolling in appreciation at the spread. 'Though if I get something too sweet now it might ruin the real treat tonight.'
He was still deciding when he glanced back toward Mira.
What he saw wasn't something he'd expected to deal with this early.
Mira stood with her hands clasped in front of her, maid's posture perfect, while two boys worked at wearing her down. She hadn't moved an inch.
"Come on, I just want to talk. Alone. It's not like your master's watching right now." The broad-shouldered one had dark hair and the easy confidence of someone used to getting his way through sheer presence.
"Yeah, come on." The shorter one looked her up and down, tongue swiping his bottom lip. "It's not like you ain't used to spreading them to have a conversation."
"I'm on duty," Mira said. Flat. Final. "And I don't indulge others."
The broad one turned to his friend with an expression of theatrical disbelief. "Did she just tell me to leave her alone?"
"Listen here bitch My name is Harold Gemist and this is Tommy Gemist and we're the twin brothers that run this joint." Harold stepped closer, dropping his voice trying to sound more imitating.
"We know you're the Webb whore's maid, so why don't you stop playing hard to get and let us have a little fun. Yeah?" His hand reached out, almost making contact —
Another hand caught his wrist first.
"That's enough." The newcomer was tall, as his sandy hair fell across his forehead as he looked down at the broad one. "She said no."
"And who are you to stop me?" Harold looked up, unbothered by the height difference. Two against one, he liked those odds.
"Just a concerned classmate," the sandy-haired one said evenly, "I just think you shouldn't be forcing yourself on someone who's made herself perfectly clear."
Mira hearing her prince charming declaring his willingness to save her she can't help but smile at the sight of it. Though the smiling seem to only add to her charm making the two boys even more furious that they've been stopped.
Bam.
Harold swung without warning, catching the sandy-haired man square in the chest and sending him stumbling back with a sharp grunt of pain.
"Get him!" Harold threw himself forward, his voice carrying across the hall as his lackeys peeled away from a nearby table and joined the fray.
'Damn brats.' Arthur was already moving. He stepped in front of the three incoming lackeys, planting himself between them and the fight.
"Now, now." His voice was calm. Almost pleasant. "It isn't exactly fair to jump one man, is it? How about you three take a seat and let your boss finish what he started like a real man."
"Back up. You don't want to get caught in this." They tried to push past him but Arthur didn't move an inch.
"If you're trying to help the boys harassing my maid then yes, I think we do have a problem." He pushed them back without effort.
"Don't say we didn't warn you." The biggest one stepped forward and threw a fist.
Arthur stepped inside it, letting it sail past his ear, and drove his knee hard into the boy's gut.
"Puhh!" The air left him in one ugly sound as he folded forward.
Arthur caught the second one's wrist mid-swing, twisted, and used his own momentum to send him stumbling sideways into a nearby table. Plates clattered.
"AHHHHH!" The third screams as he charges, throwing himself forward like the war cry alone would make the difference. His first swing goes wide.
Arthur sidesteps it without effort, letting the boy's own momentum carry him half a step past before Arthur steps in and lands one clean shot square against his temple.
He drops.
"Pathetic," Arthur mutters, turning back around looking for Mira who is watching the fights making sure to stay out of the way.
Her savior, the sandy-haired man, is getting doubled up on and unlike the three he'd just dealt with, the twin brothers actually knew how to fight. Where the lackeys had swung wild and sloppy, Harold and Tommy moved with real coordination.
With Harold pressuring from the front keeping his guard busy, and Tommy timing his shots around the edges, working the body.
Together the two look like train fighters nothing like the wannabe bullies from before.
However instead of jumping in and helping him he wants to see what his maid's prince charming has in store.
The sandy hair man while getting constantly hit doesn't look to be too beat up, clearly his defense is rather strong.
'And the way he moves his fists — it looks like he wants to use earth spells, but he keeps holding himself back so he doesn't get in trouble.' Arthur smiled, watching the man make sure not to break the rules of the academy. No fighting with spells unless you're in the coliseum.
"Looks like you're all bark and no bite!" Harold said, wailing on the man and pushing his advantage.
Tommy moved to join his brother, striking from the side, but it was all a ruse.
The sandy-haired man had prepared a trap. Letting Tommy get in close, he waited for him to swing, and when he did—
BAM!
An uppercut to the chin. Tommy's teeth clattered together, his eyes rolling back.
Standing over Harold's brother, the sandy-haired man looked up at Harold. "Your turn now."
Harold's face contorts in anger. "You Bitch!" losing all sense of control he holds his palm out.
"FIREBOLT!" Breaking the unwritten rule he unleashes a bolt of flame that flies through the air striking the sandy man in the forearm.
The students in the dining hall gasp out loud all not expecting the fight to escalate.
'Shit!' dashing forward Arthur runs at Harold no longer set on watching.
As he closed in, someone else beat him to the punch.
"ENOUGH!" Holding Harold's hand, a man of average height announces his authority.
Wearing a uniform similar to the workers at the receptionist hall, he bends Harold's wrist back at an angle that ends any further argument.
"Harold Gemist, for use of an offensive spell outside of sanctioned combat, one hundred points are to be deducted from your individual rank score. Ten points will be deducted from House Watchers on the Celestial Scales, effective immediately."
The hall went quiet.
Then the murmuring started.
Points were the lifeblood of Aurelius. Your individual score determined your placement on the Ledger board, and your placement determined what the academy gave you access to. Lose enough and doors start closing.
But house points were something else entirely. The Celestial Scales decided each house's yearly budget. Repairs, club funding, training resources, facility access, all of it tied to where your house stood on that board.
'And he made us lose it.' Arthur clenches his fist knowing that if he is to complete that ritual he needs those resources.
"I'll be taking you back to my office, Harold, where we will have a stern talk. And you, Mister Garrett, need to head down to the infirmary."
His eyes scan the room making sure all are watching him. "And let it be known to all who are here, should I catch any of you causing trouble again, do not think I will be as lenient in my punishment as I am today."
Walking off, the man drags Harold across the dining hall towards his office.
For a beat, the whole hall stayed frozen.
Then it broke all at once. Chairs scraped, voices rose, and the dining hall erupted into the kind of chatter that only follows something worth talking about for the next week.
Eyes moved between the doors Harold had been marched through, to Tommy still dazed on the floor, to the three lackeys Arthur had put down without breaking a sweat.
Arthur walked over to where Mira stood beside Garrett, who was already being looked over by Amy. He crouched down, watching as she worked.
"Now hold still. I'm not a doctor or a nurse, so give me a little patience." She held her palms out facing the burned forearm. A green aura formed around her hands as they slowly enveloped the man's arm, his skin healing in real time, mending itself back together.
Amy's breathing quickened with the effort as she poured her mana into the wound.
Then, with a long exhale, she stopped. The green aura faded. "Alright, Garrett, you should still head to the infirmary for professional help, but it shouldn't bleed on you while you make your way there."
"And thank you for stepping in for me." Mira rose, leaning in close, her chest near his face.
"Oh — yeah, I, um —" He turned his head, ears red. "Anyone would have helped in that situation."
Mira smiled at his reaction.
"Well, let me walk you to the infirmary. It's the least I can do. And besides, I'm sure my master would want me to." She glanced back at Arthur. "Wouldn't you, master?"
"Of course." Arthur followed her lead without missing a beat. "I wouldn't want the person who stood up for my maid to make that walk alone. Mira, see that Garrett gets the help he needs."
At his word she slipped herself under his arm, helping him to his feet.
"Wait — I can manage on my own." Garrett tried to protest, but Mira was surprisingly strong for her size.
"Nonsense." Arthur waved him off. "Mira, take this man to the infirmary at once."
And with that she guided him forward, and as they walked she shifted Garrett's hand to rest at her waist.
"Wait — ma'am, yo-you shouldn't put my hand th-there." Garrett stammers as his face turns bright red.
"Patients should always be kept in the most comfortable position possible. Do not resist." Mira says, shuffling her body closer to him, adding more warmth between them.
As they walked out of the dining hall, those around them watched, confused by what they saw.
"Um." Amy watched them go. "Was that... intentional?"
"Don't trouble yourself over it." Arthur kept his eyes on the room around them before turning back to her. "Mira is simply doing something I need for my bloodline."
He left it at that.
"Though I'll admit —" His expression shifted to something genuinely curious. "I didn't know you had a healing bloodline. Those are rare."
Amy shrugged, looking away. "Don't get your hopes up. It's only a Silver-ranked Nature bloodline. I can manage first aid at best. I'm mostly just a support mage who specializes in nature magic."
"Still, the ability to provide aid is a valued skill." Arthur reached down and grabbed one of the boys he had thrown into the table. "Get up. I know you're not knocked out."
He set the man upright and looked at him.
The sight of Arthur sparked fear in the boy's eyes.
He scrambled back, hauling his friends up off the floor and from against the tables as they scurried away, not wasting another second on Arthur or on Tommy.
"Whatever." Arthur watched them go. "I'm sure someone will deal with this mess. It isn't the first time something like this has happened here." He turned back to Amy. "Do you want to head back to my room and continue our chat?"
"Back to your room?!" Amy blinked, caught off guard by the sudden invitation to a boy's room. "Um — sure, I don't see an issue with that."
Author Note: Patreon.com/Lord_Cuckles for Advance Chapters