The Invitation to Vergara

"Desperatio? That name's a bit of a mouthful. What's it mean?"

"No idea. Sounds like an ancient language."

"Desperatio, God of Despair... Hmm. I'll have to keep a close eye on him from now on."

"Des? What was that? Who's that? Who could possibly warrant the second son of House Leonett keeping a close eye on them?"

With the screech of an empty chair scraping across the floor, an uninvited guest appeared beside Aidan. It was the freckled boy who never failed to show up wherever trouble was brewing — Schubik.

"You want to know who Des is?"

"Oh! I didn't expect you to just tell me straight away like that! So who is he?"

Delighted by Aidan's uncharacteristic generosity, Schubik beamed and sidled closer. Aidan grinned, leaned in, and whispered into the boy's ear. Well — whispered was generous. He shouted.

"You want to know who Des is? He's the servant working at Bayul's place! The one who hauled all our stuff around at the night market, did a bang-up job of it too!"

"Gah! Warn a guy, would you? Why are you yelling right into my ear?"

"And who was it, exactly, that was rudely eavesdropping on other people's conversations?"

"I wasn't eavesdropping, it just happened to reach my ears! If it's a secret, go talk somewhere nobody's around!"

"We were about to head over anyway. As soon as Bayul finishes eating."

"Wow! I come all the way here, out of the goodness of my heart, to share piping-hot fresh news, and this is how you treat me? Fine, go! Go! I'm not telling you anything, you cheapskates!"

"What's the piping-hot news?"

"So you are curious."

The moment Aidan showed interest, Schubik spun around in high spirits, forgetting all about his refusal.

"Big news, or extra big news? Which do you want first?"

"Big news."

Schubik smirked as if he'd expected exactly that choice, then opened his mouth wide and enunciated each syllable.

"Jared von Hector."

"...What about him?"

"What do you mean, 'what about him'? Nothing comes to mind when you hear Jared's name?"

"Don't tell me — the disciplinary committee's verdict came out?"

"Ding ding ding! Correct!"

Bayul had guessed right. Schubik gave him a thumbs-up and relayed the verdict he'd so diligently picked up with his own ears mere moments ago.

"Jared and six of his lackeys. All sentenced to a ten-day suspension. Bam bam bam!"

"Seriously? Ten measly days for what he pulled?"

Given whose son the man was, some leniency had been expected — but this was too much. Setting aside the frame-up ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of Aidan as a thief, Jared had habitually gambled and drunk as a student, things he should never have been doing in the first place. A boy like that deserved expulsion, not a ten-day suspension.

"Whoa, whoa — I'm not done yet."

When Aidan looked ready to storm off to the committee chamber on the spot, Schubik held him back and told him to calm down.

"Seems Duke Hector pulled every string he had right up until the end. Did he slip them a fat purse or something?"

At Eli's needling, Schubik shrugged.

"Couldn't tell you about that part. But get this — the community service order is a full hundred days. Starting tomorrow, he's doing grunt work alongside the Academy's laborers for a hundred days straight. Isn't that amazing?"

"Is Jared actually going to do it? You can bet he'll just skip out."

"Ah-ah, how little faith you have! I heard it with my own two ears: 'If he does not apply himself diligently to his community service, he will be expelled immediately, and so he would do well to consider his position carefully.' Pwahaha, so satisfying, right? How's a guy with that much pride going to handle menial labor? I prophesy this: he'll withdraw from the Academy before he gets expelled!"

Jared had lived his entire life ordering other people around. For someone whose nature demanded he stand above others even if it meant grinding them into the dirt, a community service order might as well have been written on sand.

"Well, you never know when nobody's watching. But when people are watching, he'll at least put on a show of it."

"Logan, how would you know that?"

Everyone turned puzzled looks on Logan, who had been listening silently, and he simply added:

"Everyone has at least one person they're afraid of."

"His father, then."

The corner of Quinn's mouth curled up in amusement.

"By imperial convention, a nobleman's son must have an Academy diploma. All the more so if he's the heir set to inherit the family."

"Now that you mention it, I keep forgetting that that degenerate is the next Duke Hector. Unbelievable. Just unbelievable."

"That's why Duke Hector threw his weight around at the disciplinary hearing. If a diploma is necessary anyway, he must have decided this Academy — recognized in every nation on the continent — was the better pick."

"So he swallowed the hundred days of community service to get it? Huh, put that way, it actually makes sense."

"If any of us catches him doing his grunt work, what should we say to him? We'd better start brainstorming now if we want to really rub it in."

"Aidan, let's hear the other news first. You still have one more, don't you?"

There was nothing to gain from dwelling on Jared. Bayul swept the remaining bread into his mouth in one bite and changed the subject, and Schubik's eyes sparkled bright again.

"Ta-da! Guess what this is?"

The boy fished a crumpled wad of paper from inside his coat and smoothed it out flat.

"Is that a test paper?"

"Hand it over, then. Let me read it."

"No way! There's no chance I'm handing a major announcement like this over to you lot. I'll do the reading, so listen up and listen well. Ahem, ahem!"

Schubik's voice swelled. He meant to command the attention of not just their group but everyone in the dining hall — and indeed, students who had been craning their necks wondering what the fuss was soon crowded around the table in droves.

Schubik hopped up onto his chair.

"The Official Cooperation Letter!"

Glancing around at the gathering crowd, he announced it in a solemn, measured tone.

Schubik's voice trailed off. No — more precisely, it could no longer be heard. The hall had grown restlessly noisy the moment the Crown ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Prince's name came up, but the instant the word Vergara left his lips, screams and cheers flooded the dining hall.

A formal opportunity to have an audience with the Crown Prince himself.

A once-in-a-lifetime chance to walk, in person, through the imperial palace of Vergara — hailed as the most beautiful building in the entire Empire.

It would hardly be teenage behavior not to go wild over a dream like that. But not everyone shared the same reaction.

"What's with your faces? What's with these reactions?"

As Schubik watched the students bounce around in excitement, something odd caught his eye. The place was practically vibrating with joy, so why did the five of them look like they were at a funeral? And all with the exact same dead expression, as if they'd rehearsed it.

"You guys aren't happy? Not excited? You get to go to Vergara!"

"Not particularly curious about it."

It was a bit absurd, but understandable enough. Quinn wasn't human, after all.

"Aidan, what about you? Why are you so lukewarm?"

"I've already been."

"What! You've been? For real?"

"Yep."

The imperial palace was certainly beautiful, he thought — but it hadn't been to his taste, and he saw no need to say so. The truth was, that place held some rather sour memories for him.

"No way... Logan, don't tell me — you too? You've been as well?"

A nod.

Tearing his gaze from Logan, who bobbed his head up and down as if it went without saying, Schubik staked his last hope on one final guess.

"Bayul goes without saying... So, Eli, you haven't been, right? Right?"

"Why am I the only one getting interrogated here?"

"Well, you're..."

"A lowly gypsy, you mean?"

"More like... you're not a noble."

As Schubik averted his eyes awkwardly, Eli let out a short laugh and answered belatedly.

"Yes, I've never even come close to the imperial city. Satisfied?"

"I knew it! I haven't been either! But then why the sour face? Not interested in places like that? I thought you liked flashy things?"

"I'm interested, sure. But come on — do you honestly think I'd get picked for the delegation? Who's going to let a gypsy into the imperial palace? I never expected anything in the first place."

"What are you talking about! If the top student of the Magic Department isn't going, who is?"

"You're one to talk. Top student of the Magic Department? What?"

Not just Eli — the whole group was baffled by Schubik's sudden claim. And no wonder: the exam results hadn't even been announced yet. As much of an information broker as the boy was, there was no way he could have gotten his hands on the grades in advance.

"I saw it. Eli, your name written down as the top student of the Magic Department."

"...You're serious?"

"That's what I'm telling you. I snuck in to copy that very letter, and I spotted it plain as day. Congratulations, you jerk! Must be nice!"

"What about mine? Did you see mine?"

For Aidan, this was a matter of his scholarship. As he pressed close with desperate, pleading eyes, Schubik hesitated a moment before nodding. Truthfully, he'd considered playing a little prank — but somehow he'd feared the consequences and given up on the spot.

"Aidan, congratulations to you too! I expected it, but that's genuinely impressive. So jealous, really!"

"Wha — whoa! I'm top student? I actually got first?"

"Yep. But you're not the only one — there are two more. Over there."

Joy curdled into fury in an instant. There was no need to look where Schubik was pointing. Logan was sure to be there.

"Damn it all!"

And the other would be Lanasa, no doubt.

"What's so special about being co-valedictorian? I was sweating bullets thinking I might have come in dead last."

"Looks like nobody saw your grades, then?"

"There was only a list of top students by department and year. Just so you know in case you're curious — Bayul, Quinn, your names weren't on it. Might want to study a bit harder, hmm? Kuk kuk!"

"Nobody asked, you little punk! And even at our worst, we still scored better than you, so don't you worry about us. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Got it?"

When Schubik started teasing Bayul and Quinn for no reason, Aidan rose to mete out justice. He hooked his elbow around the boy's neck and gave it a good shake.

"Ow-ow-ow! That hurts, let go!"

"Swear you'll never talk nonsense again and I might."

"What nonsense did I even say!"

"Was that nonsense, you say?"

At Schubik's defiance, Aidan arched ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a brow and tightened his grip. The resistance didn't last long.

"I swear! I swear! Fully, completely swear!"

"Should have done that from the start."

The moment Aidan let go, Schubik wheezed and gulped down air. Naturally, his eyes were shooting sparks.

"I will have my revenge."

"Any time, any day."

"You'd best prepare yourself for a sudden ambush."

As if to say I'm watching you, Schubik held up two fingers and pointed them alternately at his own eyes and Aidan's in warning. It was banter, but a fair amount of genuine resolve was mixed in.

"Hey, everyone! Want to hear one more fun story?"

Sticking his tongue out at Aidan, Schubik zipped off into the crowd of students eager to welcome him. Even amid the roar of chattering voices, his carried above it all. Today, of all days, was the day the charm of Schubik — information broker and master storyteller — burst forth in full bloom.