[Quest] Magician Raising Project 2

[Spartacus]

Changing my vote to 2d since it is literally the same but better

[Bird of Hermes]

2d: Gather the problem students, promising them free dorm space for those who enroll.
Hmm, High-Risk-High-Reward here. Took HBM's suggestion.

+1 here

[zikari8]

★ ★ ★

You’ve decided. Even though it’s risky, your only chance now is to try and get problem students that no other classroom would want. Plus, to sweeten the offer, the least you can do is offer them dorm space. Hopefully, with these two factors, you’ll actually be able to find students willing to enter your classroom.

Jumping straight to action, you steadily compile a list of potential students who have some sort of problem. Whether it’s students with poor academic performance, delinquents who’ve gotten into some sort of disciplinary trouble, or just those who are looked poorly upon by the rest of the institution, you do your best to find as many as you can. At your current level of status, you can’t get your hands-on classified materials like full transcripts or probationary records, but just by asking magi hanging around the museum, you manage to glean a few names and soon enough you have a list.

It’s summer right now, so a lot of the international students aren’t in-town, but you manage to contact them with letter. It seems that there’s some sort of magical postal office inside Clock Tower that uses some sort of mystical fax-like mechanism to transport written messages to places far away, so that’s a big help contacting the students abroad. For each one, you send a formal letter of request, stating your offer and asking them to enroll in your classroom. You’ll just have to wait for them to get back to you.

As for the local students, though, you figure that it’d be best to visit them in person and give your appeal face-to-face. So for the next week or so, you find yourself making home-visits to convince the troublesome magi to join your class.

★ ★ ★

“Hmm… it should be around here…”

Clutching an oversized map in your hands, you find yourself here in the suburbs of North London in front of an inconspicuous looking two-story house. On the surface, it seems just like any other humble abode belonging to an upper-middle class family, but you know that it is actually the base of a magus. From the information you’ve gathered, one of the students you’re looking for should live here. No matter how innocent it seems, there is no doubt that dark mysteries are hidden within. Images of a witch’s lair paint your expectations and you approach the building cautiously.

Hoping you don’t have the wrong house by mistake, you press the doorbell and nervously await a response. Within a few moments, it’s opened, and you’re greeted by a gentle and cheerful-looking middle-aged woman with blond hair, taking you by surprise.

“Hello, there. May I help you?”

The woman gives off a sense of politeness as she addresses you. Taken aback slightly from the discrepancy from your expectations, you stumble a little with your words.

“U-um… I’m looking for Damian. Is he here?”

“Oh, of course. I’ll get him, right away.”

She replies smiling, before turning back into the house to shout loudly.

“Damian! Your friend is here to see you.”

“Coming.”

Another shout comes from the upper floor followed by hurried footsteps. You’re a little shocked by how normal the exchange is. Meanwhile, the woman turns back and addresses you once again with a maternal grin.

“I don’t think we’ve met before. I’m Damian’s mother, Glenda.”

“Oh. I’m Frederica Eru. It’s my pleasure.”

“No, no, the pleasure it mine. You must be one of Damian’s classmates, yes? Thank you for being friends with my son.”

“O-oh no, that’s not it. I’m not really…”

“Wait, who the hell are you?”

The awkwardly pleasant conversation is interrupted with a harsh voice. You look up to see a rough-looking young man in a red hoodie and sweats. He has dark black hair and sharp eyes in contrast to his mother’s gentle appearance. Though it’s hard to see from afar, his neck seems to be covered in bandages. No doubt, this must be the person you came here for: Damian Albright.

“I’ve never seen your mug before. Why are you here?”

His tone is gruff and curt. From his voice alone, you feel a sense of hostility.

“Well, actually, I’m here to talk with you. I’m from the Clock Tower Faculty of Astronomy and-”

“!!”

The moment you mention the Clock Tower, the air in the house suddenly tenses. The mother, Glenda, gasps while Damian’s glare worsens. You get the feeling that maybe you shouldn’t have opened with that.

“Oh dear. Is everything alright? Nothing bad happened, did it? Damian’s not in trouble, is he? Did he get into another fight?”

Suddenly, the woman presses closer to you and bombards you with a series of rapid-fire concerns. You can see panicked worry in her eyes as she frets endlessly. Without giving you a chance to try and calm her, her frenzy continues.

“I’m really, really sorry for my son’s behavior. Please forgive him. He’s actually a really good boy. He doesn’t mean to hurt people. He’s just having a hard time at school. Please don’t kick him out.”

“N-no, madam. That’s not what I’m here for. I-”

“Oi.”

You attempt to explain yourself is brusquely cut off by Damian. Even his mother stops speaking when she hears her son’s short but strong yell.

“Come upstairs. We can talk in my room. In private.”

He motions for you to follow and you feel obliged to listen. Leaving behind his worried mother, you head up the stairs to properly discuss your business.

★ ★ ★

You find yourself in a neat and organized bedroom on the second-floor. It’s a moderately-sized room without much furniture besides a bed and desk. There’s a small telescope by the window and an armillary sphere on the desk, the tools of any astrologist. You also notice a unique smell in the room, different from the rest of the house. Is it… coffee? The scent’s oddly strong, so you figure he must drink a lot.

As you casually look around, you realize that it’s not only your first time in a magus’s house, but that it’s also your first time in a boy’s room. That thought unnerves you a little, so you awkwardly try to look away. As you do so, though, your gaze falls on a curious sight on the back wall. There are two framed pictures on it.

The first looks like a family photo with him and his parents. The two adults are smiling at the camera but a young Damian, looking around the age of 12, is frowning. The second picture seems to be a crayon drawing, the kind of thing you’d expect a little child to make at kindergarten. It was a little amateurish doodle of two stick people smiling, with their outstretched hands overlapping. One of them was colored red and the other was green. Above the two people, though, was something you couldn’t describe. It looked like a swirling ball of black with wild tendrils sticking out of it. The end result is something you’d expect to get if you just took a black crayon and swung it around randomly. Even so, when you first looked it, it almost looked like-

“So. What do you want?”

Abruptly, your observations are cut short. Snapped back to reality by Damian’s voice, you re-focus your attention to the matter at hand. The man in question was leaning on the desk with a clearly antagonist posture. He seemed ready to defend himself at any moment.

Seeming to notice your hesitation, he speaks first.

“What? Have you guys finally decided to kick me out?”

His tone is clearly accusatory. You get the feeling that he sees you as an enemy. Is this what they call shooting the messenger? But he has the wrong idea. You don’t know what his status with the Association is like, but you have nothing to do with it. So, you frantically try to shake off his hostility.

“N-no, not at all. Actually, it’s the opposite. I’m here to recruit you. Would you be interested in an apprenticeship with my classroom?”

“…”

“…”

A short but intense pause follows. Damian seems to process your request for a few seconds and-

“… wait, you serious?

For the first time, his intense glare breaks and some surprise shows on his face. You get the sense that he can’t seem to believe his own ears. Seeing that, you feel a little more comfortable.

“Yes, that’s right. You just graduated from General Fundamentals, but haven’t been received a specific offer of enrollment yet, right? So, I’d be delighted if you’d consider enrolling with us.”

Perhaps stunned, Damian doesn’t say anything in response. On the other hand, he’s not glaring at you anymore either, so that’s a good sign.

“Here’s some information on the classroom specs. Please look them over at your leisure.”

You hand him a folder from your bag which he receives silently.

“Right now, we’re a somewhat small classroom, but that means you can expect more hands-on teaching than other larger classrooms.”

“…”

“Also, as a special offer, I’d like to offer room and board at the classroom’s associated dormitory. I know you’re a local student, but the dorms are really close so it should make your commute a lot easier.”

“…”

“Well? What do you think? Would you be interested?”

“…”

You’re starting to get worried. Damian remains silent, as if deep in thought. As he shifts through the folder you gave him without responding, an uneasy expression grows on his face.

“What was your name again?”

“Oh, um, I’m Frederica Eru.”

“I see… Miss Eru, may I ask a question?”

“G-go ahead.”

He’s suddenly speaking slowly and politely, in sharp contrast to his earlier antagonism, which makes you worried. Yet, his eyes haven’t grown any softer; his sharp gaze pierces you as he asks,

“What’s the catch?”

“Eh?”

With a vigorous expression, Damian shuts the folder violently.

“Frankly speaking, this sounds great. I’m absolutely elated. Which is why I don’t get why you’re offering this to me. Surely you know what kind of student I am? I know that I don’t deserve this kind of offer. Enrollment is one thing, but room and board? There has to be something else to this.”

“W-well…”

His intensity pushes you back. You wonder how to respond, but he doesn’t give you time to think.

“Well, what? Is there some special condition to my enrollment? Or some other reason why you’d want me in particular? Just tell me straight.”

You don’t know how to respond. Should you come out and tell him straight your reason for choosing him? But there’s a chance that might hurt his feelings, or make the classroom seem less attractive. So then, should you lie? What kind of excuse could you even give?

His enrollment depends on your answer.

---

How will you respond to Damian’s suspicions?

1. Admit the state of your classroom and your desperation for students, regardless of quality.
2. Say that you believe in Damian’s hidden potential and would like to foster it.
3. Come up with a random condition for Damian’s enrollment to quell his suspicions. [Write-in if you’d like]
4. Refuse to answer
5. Write-In

Note: Damian is pressuring you for an answer and not giving you time to think! Voting Period for this choice will be only 24 hours!

References

Reference Image - Damian Albright

Source: Touken Ranbu

Reference Info - Student Profile

[Spartacus]

5. Admit we are desperate of students, but tell him with his current reputation he will be hard to enroll in most classes. If he is able to have a good behavior after enrolling in our class, his bad reputation will be overwritten too, and he may have a chance to jump into better classes if he wishes as a result.


(Not to mention if we can remedy a problem student, our reputation will rise too. Don't tell him this.)

Holy shit this is exactly like supervising subordinates.

[Half-Blood Master]

I'm not so sure about keeping to ourselves the part where our reputation and standing in the clock tower benefits from managing problem students. I mean, it think *that* would be the actual "catch" Damien is asking about.

Regarding him specifically, I see that he was in a 3v1 fight where he remained unharmed, so there's some kind of potential there, specially taking into account his relatively "low" spells official level. Even if he had a physical advantage over all of them, with magecraft in the table he must be either more talented at it than his academic performance has shown, or be more resourceful and clever than his five years at standard basics imply (after all, Flat has plagued Waver for years now and we know he's HAX AF); and both are good traits for a potential student in an unorthodox teaching environment.

That said, I have not made up my mind yet about which road to take. There's too many factors to take into account and my people reading skills (fictional or otherwise) are too slow to make a quick decision. Also is RL voting day today reeee

Feel free to ignore my ramblings and make crazy options like proposing or something

[Spartacus]

The catch for him is we admitted that we are desperate for students, he has one, he doesn't need to get two 'catch.'

admittedly I mixed a fictional scenario where people is generally more rational with my experience that people will less likely to help if you showed 'trying to use people' for your goal, regardless they actually have demerit or have benefit on them or not.

[King Prussia]

5. Sparta's write-in.

Honesty is a great policy when facing a suspicious person, especially since we don't really gain anything by lying. He will see by himself soon enough that our class isn't really popular.

[Half-Blood Master]

But wouldn't telling him we are desperate for students make him feel diminished? Like, we are seeking him not because of his value but because no one else wants him. Wouldn't that make him hostile towards us? After all, people are also averse to the idea of being chosen for something not because of their own talents but due to being rejected by everything else and therefore having no competition.

[Spartacus]

He has been diminished in the first place by others. I see it more as giving him a chance to prove himself, struggling together kind of thing. He need to reclaim his value he already lost.

[zikari8]

★ ★ ★

“Well, the truth is…”

You decide to be honest and admit the state of your classroom. Very briefly, you inform Damian of the class’s unpopularity, your desperation for students of any quality, and how that led you to finding him. At the same time, though, you try to sound optimistic and promise him that if he shows good results in your classroom, he’ll have a chance to transfer to other, better classes. Damian listens to your explanation intensely. As you continue, his expression seems to get grimmer and, by the end, he’s frowning completely, even though you tried to finish on an optimistic mood.

For a moment, the problem student goes completely silent and closes his eyes, clearly contemplating something. With great difficulty, he takes a deep breath and-

“Alright, fine. I’ll accept your offer.”

“Eh?”

-he makes his decision.

“R-really? You mean it?”

Your eyes widen with excitement. Damian, though, seemed irritated by your surprise.

“What? You didn’t want me to say yes?”

“No, no, it’s just that… you answered so quickly. I thought that maybe you’d need more time to think.”

“Hmph. Well, it’s not like I really have a choice. This is just my best and only option.”

He crosses his arms in defiance and looks away. You can’t tell if he’s embarrassed or just doesn’t want to look at you. Either way, you’re glad to have your first student confirmed.

“Then it’s settled. Welcome aboard, Damian!”

“… yea, sure.”

You stick out your arm for a handshake cheerfully and the brooding boy begrudgingly accepts. As the two of you grasp hands, you feel a little bit closer to this student who was intimidating you not too long ago.

With everything settled, you say a few final words, promise to send over the necessary paperwork, and leave the Albright household for now. Your spirits are at a high now that you’ve gotten your first official student. Full with motivation, you continue on your quest to recruit more candidates for you classroom!

★ ★ ★

Central London. The bustling inner city that serves as the heart of the country. This is where your journey takes you next. According to your info, the next student on your list can be found somewhere around here.

Under the summer sun, you walk up and down the streets, weaving in and out of alleyways, and running yourself ragged. Everywhere you look there are a number of relaxing tourists and busy locals, but not the person you’re looking for. From what you’ve gathered, all you know is that she should be around this part of town at this time of day, but you have no idea what her specific location is. If only you knew her address…

“!”

Just as you’re about to give up, a figure catches your eye. There, on the corner of a busy street is a funny-looking merchant stall. It was dressed in black cloth, covering the inside, and gave off an ominous impression in comparison to the other colorful stalls in the area. On it, the words “Fortuneteller Wendy” are written in large pink font on the front curtain. In addition, a small sign was placed out front with the message “Fortunes, Horoscopes, and Karma Readings! Come in for a free consultation!”. Once you confirm what it is, your spirits are lifted, and you approach it.

“Hello?”

“… Welcome.”

Pushing back the curtain, you are greeted by a woman within the makeshift tent, seated behind a table with a crystal ball on it. She was a young woman with long white hair and dead eyes. You couldn’t tell her height since she was sitting, but you felt like she was rather tall. Most of all, though, she was rather a large pointed hat and black robes: the stereotypical outfit of a witch. Under the dark interior of the stall, she gave off an intensely gloomy impression. This was the next student you’ve come to recruit, Wendy Allan.

“… Have you come to have your fortune told?”

She speaks to you slowly and deliberately, as if using each word to measure your response. You notice behind her a sign hanging on the wall, listing her fortune-telling prices in cutesy font. Yet, the woman herself seems to possess no sense of retail hospitality. Her off-putting performance sends a chill down your spine, but you persevere anyways.

“No, I’m not a customer. I’m from the Clock Tower and I just came to talk to you. Do you have the time?”

“… Yes. Sit down.”

She motions towards the seat across from her at the table and you oblige, coming face-to-face with the witch. The moment you’re seated, Wendy places her hand on the crystal ball and shifts it slightly. Immediately, you feel a shift in the air. You aren’t really sure why, but it feels like the atmosphere in the stall has changed. And, though you have no basis for the feeling, you sense that you won’t be able to leave this place by your own will anymore.

“Um… so I guess this is where you work, huh? Do you run this place by yourself?”

Only slightly intimidated, you try to get a conversation going to hopefully lighten the ominous mood.

“… Yes.”

“Oh, wow. That’s amazing. It must be hard to run your business and go to school at the same time.”

“… Not really.”

“O-oh, is that so. B-but you must really like fortunetelling to make it your job.”

“… Yes.”

“That’s great, having your passion be your job. Is there anything else you like to do?”

“… Not really.”

“O-oh, I see…”

“…Yes.”

“…”

Not good. You’re having a hard time trying to get a conversation going. You get the feeling that she’s even harder to talk to than Damian. The more you get a feel for her, the more you sense that you won’t be able to unravel the mystery of her character.

Wendy Allan, the delinquent fortune teller. From what you’ve heard of her, she’s a troublesome case even among your list of problem students. In terms of grades and actual magecraft ability, she shouldn’t have any problems; it is her behavior that poses a dilemma. To briefly summarize the situation as you heard of it:

Wendy is essentially a criminal. She had been a student at Clock Tower for several years, having completed her general studies and was part way through her apprenticeship in the Astronomy Faculty. One day, however, it was discovered that she had been secretly running a fortune-telling business on the side. Worse, she was using actual magecraft to make her fortunes in front of normal people. Due to her near 100% accurate predictions, she became somewhat popular with the locals and made a pretty sum of cash. This, of course, violated the Association’s rules regarding the concealment of mystery and she was severely punished. Including a heavy fine that took away almost all of her earnings, she was also shunned by the rest of the Association and her former mentor essentially disowned her. Luckily, she was caught before her business had grown too big, so the punishments stopped there and her life was spared, but her reputation hit rock bottom. She was allowed to keep running her business, but only under incredibly strict guidelines with the foremost being an utter ban on ever again using magecraft in front of a normal person. That is the story and scandal of Fortuneteller Wendy.

Now that you’re face-to-face with her, you can sense that she’s difficult to deal with in more ways than one. So… how should you handle this enigmatic woman?

---

What will you do with Wendy?

1. Get to know her first
a) Ask her what her goals/dreams are
b) Ask her about what she likes
c) Just ask her why she did it
d) Write-In

2. Cut to the chase and invite her to your classroom

3. While you’re here, get your fortune told
a) General Fortune
b) Luck Reading
c) Love Fortune

References

Reference Image - Wendy Allan

Source

Reference Info - Student Profile

[Half-Blood Master]

1d: Get to know her in the biblical sense

[SleepMode]

3a

Mainly interested to see if the fortune also ties in with Wendy's fate.

[Faux]

3a
The girl lives for fortune telling, let's try to speak her language

[Spartacus]

1d: Get to know her in the biblical sense

+1 kek

[Wizard]

3a
Doesn't seem like the type to open up easy, so letting her do her job should help.

[King Prussia]

+1 HBM. It's audacious, innovative and custom-made for the current market.

Also I'm incredibly weak to Discord meme so sorry not sorry.

[Ayr]

3a

[zikari8]

★ ★ ★

“Um… I’d love to see your fortune-telling in action. Could you try telling my fortune?”

You decide to change the subject since you’re not getting anywhere. Since she seems so attached to fortune-telling, perhaps letting her into her own field will help her open up more.

“…ok.”

Wendy nods every so slightly and points upwards. Following her finger, you see her sign of prices. Oh, so you have to pay first… And wait, it’s expensive! No wonder she made bank off this job.

“Um… I’ll have the general fortune, then.”

“… is crystallomancy okay?”

“Yea, sure.”

With the parameters set, Wendy began working like a machine. She pulled several cards from under the table and laid them in a pattern on top for some thaumaturgical meaning that you couldn’t fathom. Once she was finished, she centered her crystal ball onto the pattern and closed her eyes to focus.

“… pretty…”

You couldn’t help but quietly exclaim as you see the crystal ball light up. A brilliant blue color emanated from the orb, brightening the once dim tent interior. When you look up at the roof of the tent, you realize that the spotted light has caused the roof to look like a starry sky.

Quietly, Wendy begins to mutter words beneath her breath and the intensity of the orb’s light grows. After maybe a minute of concentration, she at last opens her eyes and peers deeply into the crystal ball.

She begins to tell your fortune with a clear and distinct voice you hadn’t expected from her.

“I see your future…
There is a lighthouse. It was not built by you, but now you live in it…
By its shore, there are many ships waiting to set sail…
A blessed warship hiding gold within…
A pirate ship chasing the stars…
A yacht struck by lightning…
A steamboat both new and outdated…
A galleon without a compass…
A sailboat without a wheel…
And two more that have yet to dock...
However, your house lacks a keeper to guide its light…
Go forth. The God of Liberation awaits you…
Beneath the roof of heaven, the final key shall sprout from his head…
Ask unto him your greatest desire…
And it shall surely come true…”

At last, she stops. Once the last sentence exits her lips, the light suddenly vanishes from the tent. Within an instant, everything seems to return to normal and Wendy is back to sitting there with her usual dead expression. You too sit rather blankly, stunned by the preceding events. Only after a while do you regain your wits.

“Um… thank you, but… what does that mean?”

You’re confused by Wendy’s fortune. You were sort of expecting something along the lines of “Your lucky item for today is a scarf” or that kind of deal, but this has just made you more confused. You can’t tell if what you just heard was a fortune, a prophecy, or a riddle.

“…that is for you to discover.”

“Oh, ok. I guess that’s how it works.”

You decide to give up on figuring out your fortune for now. If you ask too many questions, you might reveal that you know nothing about true fortune-telling and turn off Wendy. But, now what? You had hoped that telling your fortune would make Wendy open up more, but she still seems as distant as ever…

Just as you’re thinking what to say next, though,

“…however.”

“Hm?”

Wendy suddenly speaks up. Is it the first time she’s said something without being prompted?

“…I can tell one thing. I am likely the pirate ship in your fortune…”

You blink twice in surprise. For a moment, you wonder if you heard wrong, but no, she most certainly gave her interpretation of your fortune. Wait, but then does that mean that…

“…it would seem that it is my destiny to join your side… therefore, I will accept your offer. I will enroll in your classroom…”

Your jaw nearly drops at her sudden statement. It was like a bomb was dropped in the middle of the tent, completely blowing away your expectations.

“Huh? What? B-but how did you-”

You scramble mentally and vocally, trying your best to wrap your head around the situation. You’re pretty sure you hadn’t said anything about the classroom yet, so-

“… I already saw that you would come here to recruit me today.”

“O-oh, is that so… Great.”

No good. This witch woman might be even more troublesome than you initially thought. You clearly underestimated the reach of her abilities. Are all magi like this? The mere thought chills your core.

“Um… okay, then. Welcome aboard.”

All you can do is meekly try and sound cheerful. Wendy makes no proper response and merely nods slightly. You sense that this might be the start of a strange relationship.

Well, one way or another, it seems that everything maybe worked out. Student no. 2 obtained!

★ ★ ★

A couple of days pass after your meetings with Damian and Wendy.

Since then, you’ve continued your information gathering and search for students. You’ve met with other local students and the international students who you messaged earlier have gotten back to you. As expected, many of them rejected you, refusing to associate with your classroom, but some of the letters returned with a positive result. Finally, you have some students to fill your classroom and things are looking up.

Today, though, you’ve taken a break from your student witch hunt to do something else. Taking a cab out of the city, you take a day trip to pay a visit to someone else. After a short drive, you arrive at a nice, large mansion with a circular roof on a spacious estate. This is the home of a certain magus family that you’ve come to see.

The circumstances that have led to this visit are thus: While you were looking for a lecturer for your classroom, you had hunted down almost every prospective graduated magus in the Department of Astronomy and been promptly rejected by every single one of them. Because of this, you had basically given up hope on recruiting anyone, but it turns out there had been a blind spot in your logic, someone that your search had overlooked entirely. That person is the one whom you’ve come to visit, the head of this mansion: Mary Lil Fargo.

As it turns out, Miss Fargo had graduated from the Department of Modern Magecraft Theories, which is why you had missed her on your initial search as you had focused solely on the Department of Astronomy. The Fargo family, however, is supposedly a branch of the Animusphere, the Lords of Astronomy, and the young head is said to also be very skilled at celestial magecraft. Therefore, though she may not belong to the Faculty of Astronomy, Miss Fargo is well qualified to be an Astrologist. Furthermore, after some more digging, you discovered that your grandfather had been a close acquaintance to the Fargo family. Thus, this visit is a big chance for you. Heck, it may even be your last, so you can’t screw this up!

Since you had called beforehand, you are immediately greeted at the door by a maid. She brings you into the mansion and leads you to the waiting room. After a few minutes of waiting, the door opens and a pretty young woman with blonde hair steps into the room. When she sees you, the young lady smiles softly and immediately walks up to you.

“Good afternoon, Miss Frederica. It is a pleasure to meet you at last.”

From the way she walks and speaks, you can tell that she is a proper young heiress with the appropriate mannerisms. Though you realized it before, magi really do belong to high society…

Not wanting to seem weird, you get up and try to mimic her bow. Visions of princesses shown on your childhood television screen come to mind, and you pretend as if you were one of them.

“No, it is my pleasure, Miss Fargo. I apologize for visiting on such short notice.”

“Nonsense,” Mary giggles lightly at your apology. “Your family is always welcome in this house. Please, sit down and let us have some tea.”

Following her lead, you sit back onto the expensive sofa. Mary gracefully seats herself across from you and the maid swiftly pours out two cups of tea. You watch as the young lady picks up the cup and brings it to her lips with posh, polished motions. It seems as if each of her motions have been refined through years of experience.

No good. Now that you’re sitting across from the real deal, your true nature as a phony heiress is being brought to light!

Trying your damnedest to appear just as refined, you take a few sloppy sips of your tea. It has a mellow, silky taste that goes down your throat without resistance. It’s good. Your palate is horribly unrefined, but even you can tell that it’s pretty good tea and it helps you calm down a little. Right, this isn’t the time to be intimidated. Gotta be a fancy girl!

“A-ahem, I must apologize for not visiting sooner, Miss Fargo. I’ve been awfully occupied as of late.”

You speak in your utmost princess-like voice. With your limited knowledge, you can’t tell if you succeeded or just sound like a kid acting cool, though you highly suspect the latter.

“There is no need for apologies, Miss Frederica. I understand how hectic it is to abruptly inherit the family title.”

Mary replies with an answer that surprises you a little.

“You do?”

“Yes…” She answers with a sudden downcast look. “You may not know this, but my predecessor, my father, passed away last year. I have been the new family head since.”

Mary’s expression becomes slightly grimmer as she speaks of her father’s death. Through the corner of your eye, you notice that even the maid twitches a little. Though you don’t know the circumstances, you sense that it is a sensitive subject for the household.

“Oh. I’m… sorry to hear that. You have my condolences.”

You feel bad for bringing down the mood and touching upon a sensitive matter, but Mary doesn’t mope for long. Setting down her cup, she straightens her already great posture and states in a strong, authoritative voice,

“It is nothing to be sorry about, Miss Frederica. It was bound to happen eventually. After all, nothing is eternal.”

Her voice is full of conviction. You get the sense that there is a lot of resolve behind her as the new head of the family. Certainly, it is an attitude that you might want to emulate as a new head yourself.

“I see... Well, then, as the new generation, I hope that we can continue the friendship that our predecessors held.”

“Yes, it would be a pleasure.”

With smiles, the two of you shake hands. As you do, you sense that the potential of a friendship has been born.

Afterwards, the two of you peacefully chatted for a while in between cups of tea and snacks that the maid brought out. For the most part, the two of you just got to know each other and slowly you felt more comfortable as you got to know Mary.

Sometime after your 5^th cup of tea, Mary set hers down and suddenly asks you,

“By the way, was there anything specific you wished to ask me, today?”

The question snaps you back to focus. That’s right, you came here today with a specific mission. This is your chance, so you can’t falter here.

So, why did you come visit Mary Lil Fargo?

---

What will you ask Mary?

1) Ask Mary to be the lecturer for your classroom
2) Ask Mary to recommend you other magi who could teach your classroom
3) Ask Mary to recommend students who might be interested in your classroom
4) Just came for a friendly chat
5) Write-In

[SleepMode]

2

[Spartacus]

know her in bibli-

I mean, 1. The narrative says she is our only hope and I believe in it.