Chapter 11 – Just another day of forging documents

We left our room and looked for the quest board. It was after noon and the sun illuminated the corridors giving them a mysterious vibe.

I assumed we'd find Shelly inside the principal's office, so that's the direction we went. We took the door separating the dormitories from the main building, where for the second time this day, I spotted that princess, that just kept crossing paths with me.

“Oh my god, that’s the princess,” Raynard whispered next to me, his voice cracking in the process. I did not really get why, but whatever.

“Yo, Princess Abc,” I called out to her, without stopping in my tracks. Raynard stayed behind, and I felt his anxious gaze piercing my back. Well, either he is afraid of the princess, or he likes her, I figured.

“Oh, hey there Nathan,” she responded.

“Wait, you know the princess? She knows you?!”

“Didn't you just talk to the principal earlier?” I asked her.

“Yes, however I met Shelly just earlier and she offered me to write the Grimoire incident up as part of my internship."

"Wait, you're doing an internship for the police as well!?" I asked about as calmly as Dumbledore famously did.

"Now I do! Shelly said it would be alright. She'd just have to make another copy of the report and then she'd forge some documents."

"Why is everyone so non-chalant about forgery! The princess too! This system is way too corrupt!"

"Well, as long as a police officer and a princess say there's nothing wrong with it, then why should anyone hold us accountable? Besides the quote unquote internship I'm doing right now is even more fake than the thing Shelly's writing down for me," she added with an annoyed eye-roll.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"My current quote unquote internship is under my father for the government. Needless to say, I'm not doing much besides idling around. And solving crimes it seems. An internship with the police would at least look good on my resumé!" She flashed an oddly charming smile. Why was she so friendly with me all of a sudden?

"So, I guess we'll be work colleagues for the time being ..." I voiced my realization, sheepishly.

"Oh right. Hope you'll only do paperwork, because else you’re useless."

Yep, there she goes.

"Just wait till you see my Gr- umm ... me in action!" That was close. I forgot that it would be best to keep the Grimoire's existence a secret. Not to mention I don't even have it with me at the moment. Nor do I know how to actually use it!

At the same time Princess Abc said: “No, we can’t do this. That fight in the cave was a disaster. And you weren’t even involved! I bet we would just stand in each other’s way.”

“You worked together?” Raynard asked, giving weight to every single word.

The reason for not mentioning the Grimoire suddenly made himself known.

“Ah, this is Raynard, by the way. My roommate.”

“Oh, I actually know who he is.” Suddenly she decided to notice him. “Who you are. I mean, we are in the same year, and we are like, what ... 50 students?”

“Yeah.” You could tell that he was squeezing it out from somewhere deep within.

"He'll be joining us as an intern!" I then burst out, trying to bridge the awkwardness.

She eyed him suspiciously before reaching her verdict: "I think he'll be of more use than you."

Ouch?

“But you have to admit I at least have potential!” I argued. “And I’m pretty sure you could teach me a thing or two.” With that I tried to reach her conscience, and even though she slightly turned away, her arms crossed before her chest, I was sure I saw a faint hint of red covering her face.

“Well, thank you for that, but I really am not a team-player.”

“That’s why you should accept!” someone called out from afar. It was Shelly, she came from the principal’s office, apparently. She steadily walked up to us with a pleased expression on her face.

“Hey, you two I just delivered the reports to the principal. She approved of them.”

“Wow, thank you very much,” we both exclaimed unisono, even though we just thought.

“I also wanted to inform you, that the principal themselves has given me a special mission, that I would like to take you two on.”

“Well, as I said, I am not-” Princess Abc was abruptly cut off by Shelly.

“I had a talk with the principal. She said, you’re not really a sociable person, and she fears that this might lead to some problems down the road. At first, I found that statement odd. And I mean, yes, we barely know each other that well, but the way you and Nathan talked to each other, showed some ... weird chemistry.” Now it was my turn to turn bright red. At least I felt that way. I tried not to make it show on my face. “What I mean by that is ... Princess Aurelia. I don’t know of any circumstances, that might have caused any anti-social behavior of sorts. So please don’t think that I pity you. I see it as my duty as your teacher, to make sure that all my students are at their best. Especially since you might have big shoes to fill one day, Princess.”

Out of the corner of my eye I could see Princess Abc clench her fists. That’s when suddenly Raynard chimed in, more energetic than before.

“Me too!” That caused the princess to spin around in surprise. “I want to help too! I saw you sitting alone during lunch break a couple of times, even though you’re so popular and no-one holds a grudge against you. I always wondered why it was that you seemed so lonely, while being surrounded by so many people, and I thought of talking to you, but was afraid because well ... you are the princess after all. But seeing you and Nathan talk so casually made me think, that there isn’t actually anything I should be afraid of. I mean who would you blame for wanting to be friends with someone.” Raynard stopped for a second to take a breath. He too was bright red. Guess that was just the day all of us turned red.

“So ... Princess Aurelia, would you like to be friends with me?” Marking the conclusion of his improvised friendship speech he stiffly threw his hand into Princess Abc’s direction. I was quite impressed by this sudden outburst, and so was the princess, stuttering a series of incomprehensible words after another. To be honest I just wanted to fall on the floor in a break-neck pose like an anime character after they witnessed something cringe. However, I quickly decided to break the tension.

“You can call her Princess Abc. It’s shorter.”

The princess shot me a glare of disbelief, before hitting my elbow in her rage. In that moment, it felt as if I was hit by thunder. I stumbled away, holding my elbow restraining a curse. She hit my funny bone.

I looked up, but tried not to be offended, even though Shelly was without a doubt laughing at me. That also seemed to tickle the princess’ laugh box as she started giggling viciously.

Raynard simply was confused.

“I’m sorry,” she said wiping a tear from her eye and giving me her hand in apology which I accepted. Seeing that Raynard was just about to remove his hand from the position it had occupied not so long ago, she offered him her other hand. He too grabbed it hesitantly.

“Okay ... with that I guess, we’re a team!” she said.

“What?” it just slipped out of my mouth.

“Any complaints?”

“No, it’s just ... unexpected, but we’re a team now, okay.” A weird, satisfied huff escaped my lips after that realization.

“Perfect, then let me give you the rundown for that mission.” Shelly told us, without missing a beat. "Aster," she called into the void.

Without making a sound he handed Shelly a scroll, as if he had always been there.

"Woah?" Raynard exclaimed.

"Hi Aster," I said.

"Hi Nathan," he replied. After that, he disappeared.

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it."

"Aster won't accompany us this time, I'm afraid," Shelly notified us, glancing at the scroll before reading from it.

“Location: Village Crema, Blackwood Forest. Investigate the disappearance of several corpses from the villages ... graveyard?” Shelly, who was reading from the scroll raised her eyebrow in confusion. Raynard made a squeaky sound. Guess someone was squeamish. Good thing I played enough horror games to not be too phased by stuff like this. Although, real life was much different from fiction. And I could only imagine what kind of satanic rituals people did in our world. Mix in the magic of this world and you might get some Torture Princess kinda shit.

“Missing corpses?” The skepticism in Princess Abc’s voice was unmistakable. “Well, we already solved one theft, why not solve another?”

“That’s a way to put it ...” I muttered.

“So, what do you think?” Shelly asked.

“I mean, I wouldn’t have any viable arguments against it ... You're our boss after all,” I said.

“Sound fishy, but okay, let’s do this,” Princess Abc agreed.

Raynard only gave a silent nod.

“Well in that case, I’ll take that to the principal’s so she can send the message ahead, that we’ll be coming as soon as possible.” Shelly rolled the scroll back up and handed it into the void that was Aster. “You should pack your things; we might set out tomorrow.” Just as she added that something sent the main entrance door flying. It smashed against the opposite wall with a loud thud, making everyone flinch.

“I heard everything, and I won’t let the master go without me!” It was Raven.

“A- An Incubus?” Without a doubt, Raynard just couldn’t pull himself together.

“Yes, he is my ... you know what, I don’t even know what this is anymore, but it doesn’t feel wrong.”

“An Incubus?” he repeated. “In our school?”

“It’s more likely than you think.”

“I’m sorry Raven, but you can’t come with us,” Shelly warned him.

“Actually Shelly-”

“No. You. Can’t. This is a students-only event. Go home.”

Raven’s shoulders drooped and he went for the exit in a sulking manner. But as he walked past me, his mood immediately brightened and he said: “Don’t worry honey, I’ll find a way.” He kissed my cheek, and after that he left cheerily and without any complaint. That little peck though sent shivers all over my body.

“Ugh, what did we get ourselves into, not locking him away,” Shelly complained on the other hand, stroking her short hair. “Whatever, I’ll bring this to the principal, pack your things, and, ugh, Nathan? Make sure I’ll never see that weirdo ago. He is a criminal, jeez!”

“You surely are an interesting lot,” Raynard said a lot paler than normal.

"Also, who's that?" Shelly asked, referring to Raynard.

"My roommate."

"He need an internship certificate as well?"

"Sure thing."

"Alright."

"An interesting lot ..." I believe Raynard was about to faint.