“Damn, maybe Caushmar had the right idea; this shit is slow as fuck.” Said Ember as the ptform finally approached the floor of the council offices. “My bad.”

  “It’s okay; maybe she just couldn’t turn it on?” Luca’s theory was met with a short giggle from Ember.

  “The ptform is turned on with magic, and Caushmar is one of the best at it in the city.”

  “Oh.” It made sense she was very adept in magic; is that why the captain was so worried? Because she was powerful? Luca couldn’t understand it yet.

  “Anyway, we are close, so how about you tell me what you did for real?”

  “Huh?”

  “Why did Kreaspell invite you?” Did she not believe him?

  “I told you! The bull attacked them-”

  “Yeah, and they let you deal with it right?” She scoffed at the idea. “C’mon man, you were honest about your feelings; why not this?”

  “B-But I am telling the truth!”

  “Then why did you deal with the bull and not the guards that were there escorting Kreaspell?”

  “I don’t know?! They were too busy filing their arms around to scare the bull or something.”

  “What? That’s worse, that’ll make it angrier.”

  “THAT’S WHAT I THOUGHT TOO!!!” Ember ughed at Luca’s desperation to defend his truth; after a second, Luca started ughing as well.

  “Alright, alright. So what’d ya do to drive it off?” She said as she sighed after ughing, calming down.

  “Well, the memories are kinda fuzzy; it all happened fast.” Luca revived the moments in his head, looking up as he did. “I provoked it and ran away towards a small patch of trees nearby.”

  “How’d you provoke it?” She asked curiously.

  “Threw a rock at his nuts.” Ember did one loud ugh before nodding and signaling for him to continue. "I, uh, stood in the small forest a bit, but seeing it was wrecking it-”

  “Holy shit, how big was this bull?” Luca raised his hand above his head, reaching her own height. “Heh, horns?”

  “Torso.” Ember’s eyes opened wide as she finally began to more or less understand.

  “Got it, go on.”

  “Uuh, I didn’t want it to break the forest, since I pyed in it with my family when I was a kid.” The Zenith member’s face softened into a smile when she heard that part. “So I ran again, and I... It gets kind of dizzy here, but I ran towards a ditch next to the cart they were all at. I jumped it but tripped a bit; it tripped as well, and in that moment of confusion I saw a bck iron ball, picked it up, and then I threw the heavy thing on it’s leg and broke it, so it just kinda… gave up and left hurting. Yeah, I think that’s what happened.” Luca kept looking up, not noticing the shocked expression of Ember.

  “... So you used a cannonball?”

  “Yeah, the cart had a-”

  “I know, I know, yeah.” Her tone was now less pyful; Luca assumed she was finally taking him seriously. “So they shot it before you got there?”

  “Yeah. Why?”

  “W-Why was it still fighting?!”

  “I mean, they probably missed, right?” Luca didn’t quite understand her confusion. “Anyway, we are here already.”

  The ptform embedded itself in pce where the previous floor used to be; apparently, that floor had become the new roof, and Luca wondered as he walked towards the director’s door if perhaps there was another ptform on top and where that would go. Luca’s shoulder was pulled, and he was forced by Ember to turn around and face her suddenly.

  “To be clear.” She sounded serious. “You saw a huge bull attacking an armored carriage, carrying members of Zenith, including a council member. The guards weren’t attacking it but trying to... anger it?”

  “Some of them, yeah. I-I think they were trying to make themselves look bigger... you know, like for a bear." Luca got slightly flustered by the sudden closeness.

  “Okay… so they were probably scared, maybe desperate.” She seemed to be pcing all the pieces of a puzzle in their pce inside her head. “And then, you got there, threw a rock at its nuts.” Luca held his ugh; in hindsight, it was sort of funny. "THEN you outran it towards a small forest that was, how far?”

  “Oh! Uh, forty? Forty-five feet away?”

  “You held it there, caught your breath a bit?” Luca just nodded. “Then you outran it again, jumped a ditch, made it fall, and before it could get up, you picked up a thirty-twoish pound cannonball and broke its leg with it; am I right?” Luca nodded again; she let go of his shoulder. In doing so, Luca noticed how tight she had been gripping it. “And the guards did nothing during this?” Luca shrugged.

  "Well, they shot at it, but, yeah, I guess they wanted to save themselves the trouble.”

  “A Zenith guard shot at it and... missed?” She seemed to be deep in thought as she looked at the ground thinking.

  “W-Well anyway, I-I should get going; if you want another perspective, the captain was there so-”

  “Really?” She answered very fast. “Of course! I’ll do that; good idea, yeah.” Ember shook her head and got out of her trance, smiling confidently again. “But yeah, I should go; I’ve got a celebratory dinner, which I am not paying for.” She stated proudly. Luca giggled.

  “Thanks for accompanying me for some reason. Oh, and congrats on the delve.”

  “You are welcome, aaaand thank you!” She winked at him again. Ember then got on one knee again and activated the ptform once more, making it descend slowly. “I’ll see you around rookie, hopefully sooner than ter.”

  “S-Same, see ya.” She finger-gunned him again as she descended, and Luca simply walked to the door of the director. The way Ember made him feel was like when the strong kid spped him in the back for doing a good job in a sport in school, while at the same time it felt like he was talking with a popur girl when they went to the city. But it was time to forget about that, Luca took a deep breath and knocked on the door. He had to focus on the director.

  “Who is it?” The voice of director Caushmar was as dry as yesterday, as it was heard from beyond the door.

  “I-It’s me, director. Luca. Luca from Cuartel?”

  “Come in.” Luca sighed in relief and turned the doorknob to enter the familiar sight of the director’s office. “You are te.”

  “O-Oh, sorry.” A hum of disapproval was all that Luca got as a response; he forgot how much he didn’t like the director’s attitude.

  “Don’t let it happen again.” She was standing overlooking the city from her massive window, sitting on her big chair behind her expensive-looking desk. “Approach Luca.” The rookie did as he was told, once more gncing around the room, noticing everything he already saw yesterday, all illuminated by the candebra on the top of the room, whose candles shined slightly less than yesterday's, plus the fact that above the door he entered from were rows and rows of portraits of different people; the sight of Caushmar's portrait among them crified that they were all previous directors. Luca saw the one to the left of hers and noticed an adult man with brown hair and kind eyes; age did a number on Mr.Kreaspell apparently. “Eyes forward, Mr. Luca.” Her voice drew him back from the trance; she had turned her chair around and was now looking at him, her elbows on the desk; she was wearing the same dress she had when he saw her in the cafeteria.

  “Director Caushmar.” The appropriate thing to do was to address her. She nodded and returned to her stoic face. Luca didn’t know why she wanted him here nor how to talk to her so she didn’t dislike him, but it was a bit te to back down, so he just looked at her quietly until she spoke.

  “So,” she said after a minute of agonizing silence. “Tell me, Mr. Luca, are you thriving yet? Should I worry about a Zenith without me?” Luca cursed his past self for being so smug and cleared his throat.

  “K-Kinda?” He shrugged; the ck of reaction from the director didn’t feel like a good sign. “I-I’m still here, and I’m more determined than before to stay... Those are two good steps, I reckon.”

  “And are you doing well?”

  “We- I mean, I’m not doing bad.”

  “Are you not?” She then opened a drawer and took out a clipboard. She leaned back in her chair and, looking at Luca from above (due to the room’s yout and her literally looking over the clipboard), began reading it. “Good results on the doctor’s visit, not bad grades health-wise, and very good physical notes; overall a prime candidate physically.” That part wasn’t bad; maybe this wasn’t going to go wrong. “Captain Fontenot said you wanted to skip the physical training and agreed because you seemed in good physical form. Good. Then you did moderately well in the training of your role, according to the guild leader.” So good so far. Luca was hopeful for the rest until he remembered what happened. “However, after lunch you provoked a Council Member, stained the fortress’s floor with your urine, and then ran away.” She raised her eyes from the clipboard and looked at Luca. “Is that correct?”

  “... Y-Yes, ma’am.”

  “And then you skipped the css?”

  "Yes, ma’am.”

  “Hm.” She then gazed at the clipboard as if reading it, but Luca noticed she was just looking at it, not focusing; instead, she ser-focused on him after pretending to read it. “Then after nothing for a few hours, we were informed that you needed personal training by the captain, and while training, proved very poor results.” She dropped the clipboard and looked at Luca very firmly. “So, Mr. Luca, did you forget your pledge to thrive over lunch?”

  Luca didn’t say anything; instead, he just looked at the ground ashamed. He wasn’t really ashamed of having stood up for Alyska or for having lived a peaceful, fightless life before Zenith, but rather, he was regretful of the events of the day having transpired in such a way.

  “No… No, I have not.” He answered. The director stood up from her desk and started walking, the sound of her high heels echoing through the big room as she made her way towards Luca, walking to be to his side, facing the opposite direction.

  “I wish I could say I’m surprised.” She side-eyed him. “I wish I could. But it was to be expected; after all, your little speech about achieving greatness was, evidently, nothing but a tantrum, not unlike one the children throw.” Luca wasn’t a child; he knew now that feeling overwhelmed and defeated wasn’t childish. “I can only imagine what you thought you could achieve; survive the dungeon? Amass a fortune? Reign over the city?” He just wanted to help his family; he hadn’t done anything wrong. ”Clearly, the ex-director was in a worse state than he let on at the time; death comes for us all, and it seems his good ideas died before him.” Luca’s fist was balled up; he didn’t know why, but thought he could take a few insults. The director’s mocking of his efforts and her assumptions of his intentions angered him beyond what he could take. He frowned and prepared himself to say something, but before doing so, he realized he did the exact same thing yesterday, and that ended up how? Here and now being berated by the same woman, so instead he took a deep breath while she remained silent and tried to calm himself.

  “Congratutions for deducing correctly, director.” Luca unclenched his jaw and stopped balling up his fist. “You must be over the moon.”

  “Wrong again, Mr.Luca.” She walked to be behind him, which made him direct his attention to her; she turned her head slightly. “You assume I want you to fail.” The director then gazed up at the wall above the door, where every portrait of the previous director’s stood. Luca’s gaze followed; she spoke again after another moment of silence. “You know what makes those men and women more apt for the job of director than me, Mr.Luca?”

  “... no.”

  “Absolutely nothing.” Luca would have rolled his eyes if he wasn’t scared of her seeing him do it. “I am smarter, more powerful, and better at teaching and managing than any single person in that wall, no exception. Of course one could attribute this to the fact that education has come a long way since the prototype of it that my predecessors had, but even then I would’ve surpassed them.”

  “Right.” What was he supposed to do if not agree? “Well, clearly you have the confidence for it.”

  “Oh, it’s not confidence, Mr.Luca.” She turned to face him. “It’s a fact. Since I was a mere child, I’ve proven time and time again that there is no limit to what I can achieve; from magic to teaching, I have learned, improved, and perfected everything I've put my mind to.” She turned to look at the wall once more, but only turning her head and focusing only on her own portrait and the one beside it. “And yet, why? Why do you think, Mr.Luca, that I had to wait until the beginning of this very month to achieve the position I was so clearly owed?”

  The answer seemed obvious—because Kreaspell didn’t retire. Was she mad at Kreaspell? Did she do something? Why was she talking about this with Luca?? What was her deal!? Luca was tired mentally, so finally he decided to stop trying so hard to be calm.

  “Because Kreaspell-”

  "Wrong. Ex-director Kreaspells’s decision to stay as director until he died had nothing to do with it.” She faced him again, with her burrow frowning. “It was me, Mr.Luca. I was apparently the problem.” The rookie found himself surprised for a second; it was probably the first time he had seen her angry, despite the fact that every word she had said up to this point also seemed angry; her face hadn’t shown it until now. “After the first year under Kreaspells’s wing as his personal assistant, I already made clear that I had full intention of becoming the next director, as soon as he retired.” She took a step forward, closing the already small distance between the two. “You see, Mr.Luca, the council has the choice to, once a director isn’t deemed the most appropriate to keep leading the university, vote to repce him with the best candidate avaible; the three other members would vote, and finally I’d reach the charge I deserved.”

  "But... they didn’t vote.” Said Luca. Her expression twitched.

  “No, no they did not. I found it understandable that, for the first ten years, they’d be reluctant; I was prepared to take the role once I entered my thirties, but no.” She took a moment to calm her nerves; Luca’s blood had frozen over, and the director’s presence had gained something that unnerved him greatly. “Forty years, Mr.Luca. Forty years as an assistant. For forty years, I’ve had to wait for the council to deem me worthy and finally acknowledge that I, Delih Caushmar, can be a better director than any other that came before me.” Her anger had begun seeping through her face, spilling over in short outbursts of her voice being raised or her calm front twisting in fury. “I sat in council meetings; I assisted in Kreaspell’s stead when he couldn’t due to his RIDICULOUSLY old age. I’ve directed that very school for over thirty years!” She said as she pointed past Luca towards the west, where the university sat. “And yet, they only hung my picture thirty days ago! They only allowed me to sit in that chair after FORTY BLOODY YEARS; THEY ONLY ALLOWED ME TO SIT ON IT 30.DAYS.AGO!!!!!”

  Luca leaned back as the director directed all her rage onto the expnation. Her frustration was clear, not only on her face but on her voice; the same monotonous voice he had heard calmly expining how to send mail or remind him of this very meeting had turned sour, screech-like, and full of hate. For a few seconds she panted, her lungs regaining the air they had lost after the yelling, and after a deep breath, she regained her usual calm demeanor, her perfect posture, and her serene expression; Luca, however, couldn’t shake the feeling of his innards shaking, as if a cold had arrived at his very bones.

  “...” He wanted to say something, but nothing came, neither to mind nor out of his lips.

  “Do you know, Mr.Luca, why they didn’t deem me worthy after forty years of esentially repcing Director Kreaspell?” The silence after the question was what let Luca know that his breath had gotten louder, which alerted him of the very fact that he was so shook.

  “No.” She snickered at Luca’s answer, her expression almost pleased.

  “They didn’t think people would like me more than him.” Before Luca could even try to process what that meant, the director’s hand was on his arm and guided him, gently, to stand beside her, looking at the door. “Do you know what all those directors had in common?” Luca went to answer, but before he did. “Shush, it was rhetorical. There is a... non-written tradition to the role of director, the one of having a partner.”

  “A pa-partner?”

  “Oh, yes. A partner, Mr.Luca, a person that a director can trust, respect, teach, learn from—anything. Just as long as the two are together, they will be adorned with said title. It began when the first ever director of the university took upon his first assistant, and then the second one took a liking to an older dy he considered his mentor, all the way up to our beloved Kreaspell and the little captain Fontenot.”

  “They were close, right?” That much he had been able to surmise.

  “You can’t even imagine; Kreaspell never had any children, and the captain has had a tragic family history, you see. So, they were indeed very close.”

  “... That's sweet.”

  “It’s impossible.” Luca looked confused at the director, whose hand was now resting upon his shoulder. “How am I supposed to meet someone like that? You want to know why everyone loved Kreaspell, Mr.Luca? Because he was soft, they saw him as a ‘cute grandpa’, up until the day he died. But just because I know what it takes to make a university right, and I’m not fond of most people’s touch, suddenly I’m not a prime candidate...”

  “...” Again, Luca didn’t know exactly what to say, but he got an idea. He had learned something from his mother; well, he had learned a lot, but something specific: was that the best way to get a rambling frustrated person to stop their rambling was to repeat what they said in your own words. “... You did deserve to take the role earlier; how charming people find you shouldn’t have affected the decision if you could bring good results.” The director stopped gazing at the pictures to focus on Luca. “As long as you proved yourself with the meetings you mentioned, you shouldn’t have to follow some tradition right away or have to be liked in the same way as your predese-predecessor.” Luca was seeing a lot of new things today, but director Caushmar’s proud smile wasn’t one of the expected ones; but then again, neither was the vampire nor the minotaur.

  “And yet here we are... You know I’d probably have found some partner or sidekick if I had started earlier; but now it’s not a problem.”

  “It’s not?”

  "No, Mr.Luca, because you are here.” Finally, Luca started understanding why he was there; he just didn’t like it. “Kreaspells’s st gift, to me.” She took a step forward, keeping her hand on his shoulder and raising her other hand to rest upon the other. The director was a bit taller than Luca (much taller when one counted her hairstyle), so he looked up as she focused on his eyes. “I can’t deny that I aren’t exactly ‘loved’ by the students of the university; the city and the families of the students are fine; they only see results, and the other learning institutes are taken care of; again, results can do a lot. But the students?” She scoffed to the side. “As long as you aren’t a bottle of liquor or a cheat sheet, they won’t look at you. But a young farm boy from the country? An innocent young man with a heart of gold who was ready to defend their beloved previous director’s life at the risk of his own life? That they’d love.” The room fell silent, and Luca’s mind went bnk. In the back of it, the urge to sm his head against a wall appeared, but then a feeling he had felt for over two months that he now thought was solved came back—why did Kreaspell invite him? He had reached his conclusion, but clearly other people had another one.

  “... D-Director I… I didn’t do it for Mr. Kreaspell; I didn’t even see him when I attacked the bull, and like you said, any of the guards could have taken care of the animal in case I didn’t intervene.” Luca confessed, but his honesty was met with a chuckle.

  “Don’t presume I don’t know that, Mr.Luca. But if this strategy is going to work, I need all the help I can muster, and you do too. It’s no secret more popur members of the guild are not only regarded in a higher esteem but also get treated to 'gifts'.”

  “Gifts?”

  “Oh yes, the more powerful members of the city will want to reward you with various gifts, like money for your little town.” Though he didn’t realize it, Caushmar’s comments did warm him up to the proposal.

  “R-reward me for what? What would I even have to do?”

  “Be nice, Mr.Luca. Be likable; in other words, be what the world thinks a member of Zenith is like.” She leaned back to give Luca some space. “So what do you say, Mr.Luca, will you become my protegé? I just need you to use that charm I know you can have to make people warm up to you, and I’ll do the rest. Oh, and you’ll have to drop the stuttering, of course; it doesn’t help with the charisma.”

  “D-Director Caushmar…” Luca sighed; he got more tired by the minute, barely able to stand. “I-I don’t think there really is a shortcut to make people like you. And I certainly don’t think I’m that shortcut.” The director’s confident face fell, but a second ter it rose again. After that, her hands slid from his shoulders to the back of them, inevitably pulling herself closer.

  “I insist you reconsider the offer, Mr.Luca; it really is quite the deal when you really think about it.” The director’s bosom bumped against Luca’s chest, who’s innate reaction was to look down, but luckily he was able to keep looking at her face, which didn’t help since the sultry expression she had gained was also quite exhirating.

  “D-Direc-”

  “Don’t you want to be liked, Mr.Luca? Wouldn’t it be nice if the biggest city in the world treated you like a hero, and for just being yourself no less; you could even avoid delving if we py our cards right!” The director’s perfume was a powerful scent that made its way up Luca’s nostrils, mildly fogging his mind. “And you know? A director’s partner is someone very close to them, closer than a student, closer than a teacher.” She got even closer, and Luca froze up even more, the feeling of her body on his and her warm breath on his ear beating an already exhausted man into submission. “Closer than most need to know.” She whispered directly into his ear. “So what do you say, Luca? Will you be my ticket to the respect I deserve? In return, I’ll grant you everything you wished for and more.” Suddenly she took her hand off his back and slowly slid it from the top of his shoulder downward, slowly caressing his chest as it lowered. “So much more.”

  Luca’s mind couldn’t take much more; every red fg he had noticed up to that point reted to the director was gone; the only things remaining were the promise of getting everything he needed for his people and the feeling of the director’s touch.

  “I-I…” He was breathing heavily again, the day weighed on his back, and now the director’s body was pressing onto it, and as soon as her hand went past his chest and towards his pants, Luca’s mind was made up.

  But as he closed his eyes and determined himself to enjoy the relief he so desperately needed, he inhaled, and her smell entered his nostrils once more. She smells nice, he thought. … Aly smells better though. The image of Alyska appeared in his mind for but a fsh, and in that moment he remembered the conversation they had on the train about letting your fears and your weaknesses determine what you achieve.

  “Hm?” The director’s seductive demeanor was suddenly stopped when Luca’s hand reached and grabbed the wrist of her lowering hand, just as it reached his pants waist. As much as Luca wanted to just let it happen (because despite her age he couldn’t deny the director was attractive), somehow, someway the bad feeling he had inside him still didn’t like the idea. Would obeying the director really help him achieve what he needed? Probably. But did he feel okay getting everything he swore to get by being used? And did it matter as long as he could get it?

  “C-Can I…” Luca swallowed saliva. “Could I think about it?” The director peered into his eyes with a cold gaze just before stepping back and giving him space to breathe again.

  “Fine, I’ve waited forty years; I can wait a bit more for you to warm up to the idea.” She walked past him back to her desk, leaving him standing and catching his breath. “However, there is still one more thing we have to address.”

  “Ah?” He said, with his hands on his knees, facing away from her.

  “Well, your education. How versed are you in the topic of the dungeon, or magic, or monsters, or the anatomy of the different races?” Luca turned his head and looked at her; without saying a word, she understood. “I feared so, very well.” She pced her hands behind her back and took a deep breath. “Starting tomorrow, from 6 and 10 pm to 7 pm, you will be coming here, and I will teach everything that your current guild-assigned csses will take for granted, agreed?”

  “Everything? Isn’t that…” Luca shrugged. “Too much?” His questions were faced with the same stoic expression he had seen her wear until now, with the few exceptions.

  “... Yes. But if there is anyone who is able to teach you, it’s me.” She walked around her desk and sat on her chair once more. “That is all I needed to discuss with you, Mr.Luca; please close your door on your way out.” And with that, she turned to face the windowed wall once more.

  Luca was, fairly, a bit perplexed. He had been surprised by the sudden changes in emotions from the captain, but those weren’t intentional, or at least that’s what he liked to believe. Was he really that easy to manipute? He remembered entering the room without wanting anything to do with the director, and now he was seriously considering becoming nothing but an image for her—a little p dog she could show around to make people like her—a mascot.

  With his head full and his spirits almost drained, Luca shook his head and turned to leave. When he opened the door, however.

  "Oh, and Mr.Luca?” He turned his head to look over his shoulder. The director, still sitting, was running a finger along the cleavage of her dress, and looking at him, the ck of light from the window and the poor illumination of the candebra, making the shadows dance about her image ever so gently. “Do consider my proposal carefully; I would hate for both of us to miss its... multiple benefits.”

  Luca nodded and exited the room, closing the door behind him as he was tasked with doing. He considered using the ptform to save himself the effort of walking down the stairs, but of course he didn’t have any magic. So as the tired novice made his way down the stairs, after finishing the st big task of the day, having only the meager sending of a letter left in his task-list, Luca said to himself under his breath.

  “Why can't she just say bye?! Why do I always walk out of there with a boner, for fu-goodness sake?”

  Time: LATE