Argumentation

“Can’t you teach this damn brat some manners or something!”

Salvo keeps his head lowered as he quickly tries to dry his eyes and wipe the tears off his face. Libarius walks in undaunted, entirely unaware of what has transpired in the office and of the strange mood that lingered for just a moment because of that.

“Is my presence not required?”

“Why would we need you here?! Go do your job!”

“If Father has come to discuss my disciple with you, then I ought to be present.” Gracia walks in behind Libarius and begins to try to pull him out of the room.

“That’s what he said yesterday, and what I said this morning, so why didn’t you just come in the first place?!”

“I thought that Father would do well enough as my surrogate, but when they arrived to the classroom, Stella told me that you seemed quite cross with me and so I decided that it was best for me to carry out my own duties.”

“That’s not it!” Salvo is looking up again. Summe hardly looks at Libarius.

“Salvo, what does he mean that she’s his disciple?” Libarius answers.

“That Lama is my disciple. What else could it mean, Mr. Tetricum?”

“Salvo.” Salvo clears his throat.

“He’s telling the truth. He really did make her his disciple.”

“Gracia, explain what’s happened.”

“She was the source of the problem at the aqueduct. After we stopped her, Libarius decided to make her his disciple. Libarius would be better at explaining it.”

“Indeed. I found her interesting so I made her mine.”

“Not that!”

“Ah, that matter. She was previously the disciple of the Black Marsh.” Summe shoots up and slams a palm against the desk.

“Salvo! How dare you! I don’t care how much you want to play family with them, there’s no returning from the Abyss! I refuse to let something so dangerous come here!” Salvo stands up, taller and broader than Summe.

“She’s a little girl, Summe!” Libarius taps his cane against the floor loudly.

“Calm yourselves. A mage ought not to lose their head so easily. Mr. Tetricum, your worries are unfounded. She cannot create the Abyss. She is only a simple mage.”

“All those who deal in Taboos lie like it’s second nature. I have no reason to believe her pleading innocence, even if she is just a child.”

“She hasn’t said a single thing in her defense. This is purely my own empirical judgement as a mage.” Salvo still stands almost leaning over Summe.

“And even if she had said she could do it, I would believe that judgement instead.”

“I don’t care how much of a doting fool you are, Salvo. Nor do I care how much you wish for her to be innocent! I will not trust the judgement of some boy!”

“In the whole of Polaris, I am the only one you ought to trust.”

“I’ve spent more than a decade doing nothing but fighting against those devils!”

“Mr. Tetricum,” Libarius’ voice, as always, carries neither respect nor contempt. “We are not equals. I speak to you with deference as you truly are a brilliant mind, and I come to you with open hands, not even my magic to my name. My magic has been stolen from me. Yet were it to be returned to me and my strength restored to what it ought to be, we would not be equals. You have nothing to hold above me but your ability to still cast spells.” Summe’s eyes darken.

“Don’t mock me. Your opinions don’t interest me.” Power thrums around him in a show of force. “So long as there is even the smallest chance, I refuse to allow this place to be corrupted.”

“I am certain.”

“I’m not.” Salvo begins to speak once more.

“She’s a child, Summe! A child! What was she meant to do if the only one who will teach her anything is a villain! What am I supposed to do if I’m the only one who will take her in! Am I supposed to just leave her out in the world alone! Am I supposed to wait for her to suffer and die! She’s an innocent child! An orphan we made! How am I supposed to walk away from her!?”

Summe stops. He doesn’t say a word for several seconds, and neither does anyone else. But at last he does.

“No. I don’t care anymore if you go play house with those fiends, but I won’t endanger anyone else on account of your whims.”

“It’s not a whim and they’re not monsters, Summe!”

“Leave! This conversation is done!”

Libarius’ cane taps against the floor as he begins to leave without a word. Gracia stops him, standing in his way. She speaks quietly, low enough that her master cannot hear.

“Are you really going to leave?” Libarius speaks at a normal volume, but Summe is not listening.

“I am. There is nothing to do here.”

“What are you going to do?”

“………I do not know. I cannot do anything. I do not fear the Council but I have no wish to fight them. This would all come to an end were I to do so. But if they come for Lama it might all come to an end regardless…”

Libarius trails off and walks away. Salvo rushes out of the office right after him. Only Summe and Gracia remain in the office. Gracia walks in front of his desk, pensive.

“Master…” Summe tries to soften the edge in his voice.

“What is it, Gracia?”

“Will you really not do anything for her?”

“I won’t. I know how they behave. I won’t let her do as she pleases. Don’t think of her as a mere child, Gracia.”

“When he decided to make her his disciple, Libarius said that he was the only one who would be her master, and that the Major General was the only one who would give her a home. And he said that she wouldn’t be treated like a child, and that she would even be imprisoned for who her master was.”

“He was right. But I have no intention of putting Salvo in danger.”

“She isn’t dangerous, Master. She really doesn’t know anything dangerous.” Summe sighs.

“So you want to protect her too?”

“I do. We’re the only ones who will. And that’s why Libarius wants to protect her too. She was so afraid of Libarius that if she knew anything dangerous she would have used it to get away. But she didn’t do anything. There’s nothing dangerous about her. She’s just a normal child who wants to have something like a family. And I want her to be able to grow up at least a little like she’s normal.” Gracia bows her head to her master. “Please, Master.”

“……………Fine. I’ve changed my mind. I can’t put my trust in them, but I will put my trust in you, Gracia. Get them back here. I’ll prepare the paperwork.” Gracia looks up at her master and smiles brightly.

“Thank you, Master!”

Summe watches as she leaves the office. He begins looking through his papers to make the forms for a sudden transfer. As he goes through his things, he looks at a framed picture on his desk, hidden from sight from the other side, a picture of a young girl cupping a small flower made of fire in her hands. He smiles, and returns to his search.

“Damn it, Salvo. I’m just a doting fool too.”