Bookworld Online: Marsh Man

Bokuboy

The people around me at the other desks in the registrar's office came and went for nearly half an hour, then the woman flipped the last page of my exam and her face was no longer sour.

“She didn't read it at all, did she?” The woman asked with a sigh.

“She barely looked at it long enough to write the score on it.” I said. “Can't some of you tell when someone lies? She told you all I didn't fill one out and no one questioned her about it?”

The woman's face went sour again.

“That's why I asked for it back. I didn't want her to get rid of the evidence.” I said and held my hand out for it.

The woman hesitated and looked at the score that had been officially recorded. She sighed and handed it to me, unaltered. “I can't legally change it once it's filed.”

“I know. That's why I told her to mark in all of my scores for her class for however long she was teaching whatever course she teaches.”

The woman shook her head. “I'll talk to her and...”

“You'll only get her angry at you, too.” I said and she looked surprised. “Unless you want to be known for helping the dishonorably discharged convicted conscript.”

The woman seemed to think about that for a few moments, then she sighed. “No, you're right. There's no point in speaking out when it won't make a difference, since she's already established the precedent.” She said and picked up several sheets of papers. “Unfortunately, your score dictates what level of classes you'll be able to attend.”

“I assume I have to take the core courses.” I said and she nodded.

“Basic Spellwork Composition and Practice, Mathematics, both practical and spell related, Basic Potions with the related lab and kitchen work, Basic Enchanting and proper tool usage, Basic Runes and their practical use, History and Geography of the Kingdom, Basic Biology and the study of creatures, and lastly Civil Construction.”

I could understand the others, since they went almost perfectly in line with learning magic. The last one made no sense at all. “Why is Civil Construction a basic course?”

“You need to learn how to build a house, any outbuildings, and anything else a family needs to live on a piece of land.”

I sat there and assumed that she hadn't heard about what I did in the army.

“You look confused.” She said.

“I was assigned to the maintenance department in the army. I've built two garrison stations, entire defensive structures and buildings, as well as bunkers for civilians to take shelter in.” I said and her eyes widened. “I need a Civil Construction course as much as you need the Basic Spellwork course.”

“You still have to pass it, since that's part of the agreement Grand Mage Henrietta arranged for.”

“So, you know some of what's going on and not everything.” I said and her face went blank. “I suppose a lot of you are going to be like that? None of you know it all and assume the worst, because of who I am?”

She didn't say anything and I knew it was true.

“Well, I'll tell the teacher the same thing I told you and maybe they'll understand. I don't need the course, so they can just mark 65 in it and I'll skip that class.”

“You can't tell me you're going to intentionally skip a core class!”

“Unless they can teach me something I haven't learned before, which I doubt because I've built buildings for three thousand people to live in comfortably with all the amenities, I won't be wasting my time sitting in class and doing nothing.” I said. “Unless I'm allowed to do other work in the class?”

The woman closed her mouth and shook her head.

“Is that all for the core classes?” I asked and she nodded. “What about the other courses?”

“What... other courses?” She asked and sighed, because she knew she had just blown her chance to not cause more trouble by hesitating like she had.

“What class teaches how to grow plants?” I asked.

She gave me a lost look. “Botany.”

“That includes potion ingredients, doesn't it?” I asked and she nodded. “I want to take that class.”

“You don't have the minimum mark to take it.” She responded.

“I thought a pass was 65.”

“It is.” She said.

“Then what's the minimum needed to take the course?”

The woman didn't want to answer and she hesitated for several seconds. “It's... 70.”

“So, you've already failed me in one of the courses I'm actually interested in taking and I haven't even taken it yet.” I said loudly and she took in a sharp breath as several other workers looked over at us. “What other courses have I automatically failed because the testing teacher marked my exam unfairly with a 65?”

The woman's face turned red and looked down at the list on her desk.

I saw a dozen other elective courses marked out, because I didn't meet the requirement. They looked like ones usually reserved for specialization or just a student's interest past the basic courses. I also saw that a lot of the classes had been filled already, because she had taken so long to read through my exam paper to properly assess me.

“Does this mean the academy has broken their arrangement with Grand Mage Henrietta?” I asked and she didn't say anything, so I stood up and made sure that everyone was looking at me. “He went through all the trouble to pay for me go here because he wants an officially recognized mage to marry into the Henrietta Family.” I said. “Where's the nearest messenger mage? I need to inform him right away that the academy is stopping me from doing that.”

The woman's face was beet red from embarrassment. “Please, sit down. I'm sure something can be worked out with the Director of the Academy.”

I hesitated for a moment, then sat down. “I certainly hope so. The Grand Mage praises this place constantly and won't accept his daughter's fiance without graduating from his favorite school.” I said. “His wife and all three of his children went here, too.”

“I'll be right back.” The woman said and stood up, then walked away without looking at anyone else.

“That was pretty harsh of you.” A girl said from the next desk. “It's not her fault.”

“It was harsh and I'll apologize if they fix it. If they stopped lying about things, they wouldn't have so much trouble trying to cover up those lies.”

Both the girl and the man serving her looked surprised.

The woman came back with a man dressed in ornate mage robes and he had a scowl on his face.

“What's this nonsense about us failing you?” The man spat at me.

I pointed at the woman's sheet. “As you can clearly see, I've failed those courses, because the minimum pass grade I was given wasn't the real minimum to take courses inside this academy.”

“Most of those classes are reserved for the elite of society.” The man said.

“So, a Henrietta isn't an elite? That's good to know. I'll be sure to let the Grand Mage that sits on the Grand Mages Council what the director of the academy thinks of him and his family.”

The man's face turned red, only I was sure it was from anger and not embarrassment. “You cannot come in here and threaten a member of this faculty!”

“I didn't threaten you and everyone here can attest to that, assuming anyone that works here is actually honest when asked a simple question.” I said and a few people gasped. “It's you that's insulted one of the greatest families in the capital, not me. If I was a recognized mage, I would have challenged you to a duel over the insult already.”

Everyone in the room reacted in some way. Some took in sharp breaths, a few women gasped, there was a shout of some kind, and the sound of three chairs being pushed filled the air and three men stood.

The Director's angry face lost its red color and he looked slightly worried. “You can't challenge faculty members, even if you were a mage.”

“More lies?” I asked and the woman beside him caught her breath. “You need to be more careful what you say, Director.” I said and stood. “I might not be a member of the elite right now; but, as soon as I graduate in three years, despite all of your potential efforts to stop me, I'll be married to the Henrietta's eldest daughter and I'll also be a properly accredited mage.”

The man's mouth opened and nothing came out.

“Shall I make the appointment now? Can duels be scheduled years in advance?” I asked and his slightly worried face became fully worried. “No, I suppose you might forget by then or try to flee.”

“How dare you.” The man said, his angry face back.

“How dare you.” I repeated back to him and he looked surprised. “Since my unfair assigned mark cannot be changed, you need to reduce the minimum requirement for those courses to ensure that the academy keeps its word and its honor.”

“Unlike the core courses where we have to pass you, you'll be able to fail the electives.” The man said and he gave me a stern look as he reached forward and touched the paper. All of the courses that had been marked unavailable were no longer marked because my grade didn't meet the minimum. “I hope you noticed that most of those classes are filled already, because you took so long to try to register for them.” The man said with satisfaction.

“I don't need most of them anyway.” I said and looked at the woman. “Sign me up for the Botany class and Advanced Potions, since almost no one chose those two.”

“A-a-advanced Potions?” She asked and the girl being served at the next table let out a squeak.

“I assume it's being taught by the same teacher as the basic course?” I asked and woman serving me nodded. “Good. I can do my work in both classes and they can't complain.”

The director gave me a happy smile. “I look forward to seeing you drop those courses within a month.”

“Drop them?” I asked as the woman handed me my schedule. I saw that I had an entire day with the Basic Potions class in the morning, the prep work for the rest of the morning, then Advanced Potions after lunch and lab work for the rest of the afternoon. “I've been making potions since I was a child. I could teach the advanced potions course if I wanted to.”

The director's mouth dropped open in surprise, so he obviously didn't know everything, either.

I held a hand out to the woman and she took it automatically and with poise, as a lady should. “I sincerely apologize for my uncouth behavior.” I said as I bent over her hand and brushed my lips over her knuckles. “Sometimes brute force is the only way to achieve a tactical victory.”

The woman blinked her eyes for several seconds and held onto my hand. “I... I'm not sure I can forgive you. You did embarrass me, even if you did deem it necessary.”

“I don't know if there's anything I can do to make it up to you. I'm already betrothed.” I said and her face flushed red. “What would you have me do?”

“You claim to have brewed potions since a young age...”

I knew what she wanted, so I let her hand go and dug into my academy uniform. I plucked out a general health potion from my bandoleer. “I have these general health potions for sale, along with a new and more powerful healing potion.” I said and handed it to her. “If you aren't feeling ill, that potion provides a significant energy boost instead.”

“How much?” The woman asked as she stared at the vial.

“My fiance handles the business part of things. I wasn't allowed to sell them myself until I enrolled here at the academy.”

The woman looked at my face as if trying to detect a lie. “You're using the provisional practising license?”

“I will be, yes.” I said. “I made sure to have my fiance assist with all of the potions I've made, even though I've given them away until now.”

“Did... did you say... you gave them away?” The woman asked with wide eyes.

“I wasn't allowed to sell them.”

“Do you have a healing potion to give me, too?” She asked, almost eagerly.

I smiled and shook my head, then stepped away from her desk and left the room.