Her voice may have come out terse and clipped, but the girl should have been paying attention. Martina did not mind a few nerves showing at the mention of demons. It was healthy even. Failing to pay attention was significantly less healthy.
“Is there any dossier on what we can expect, strategies, and the like?”
Martina softened her face. “That is a good question.” Much better than what she had been expecting. “Apart from our two specialists, Rex Zagan,” she gestured to her side, “is something of an expert in demonic matters. He will be giving a full report on everything we know so far and will be
“I’ll bet he’s an expert,” Gregory mumbled.
It probably wasn’t meant for her ears, but Martina couldn’t let that go. “Are we going to have a problem, Gregory?”
“So long as things remain smooth and
“Good. We’ll have no issues. Other questions?”
The elf stepped forwards after a moment of silence. His voice hummed out from the back of his throat, giving him a much deeper voice than his appearance would suggest. “Are there problematic students we need to watch out for?”
Martina raised an eyebrow. She had expected the topic of demons to dominate any questions. “Zagan, being one of our professors, will be able to give you a rundown on most students. The staff has been more than adequate at maintaining order, but if you see a fight break out or anything similar, intervene. Don’t hurt the students, obviously, but stop the fight. You can report students for discipline to myself or any professor.”
The elf nodded and moved back in line with the mage-knights.
“Anything else?”
Martina looked pointedly at the spectacled man standing among the mage-knights. Of all of the new hires, she had a read on him the least. Fredrick Hatter spoke only when spoken to during the interview and in very short sentences at that. His name came with a myriad of recommendations, so Martina had no cause to actually turn him down.
He didn’t respond. Neither did any of the others.
“Very well. Zagan will further brief you on the situation in the staff meeting room.”
“Follow me,” Zagan said, sounding extremely bored, “we’ll get everything sorted out, yeah?”
Everyone filed out after him, including the two demons. They’d already been briefed on everything and more that wasn’t going to be revealed to the regular security force. Their purpose in Zagan’s meeting was simply for the appearance of solidarity among the new hires.
Martina started to turn back to her desk–and the endless supply of work it seemed to conjure up–but stopped when she noticed Gregory hadn’t moved to follow Zagan.
“I thought we weren’t going to have an issue,” she said.
“That doesn’t make my curiosity go away.”
Martina frowned. She’d already considered letting the guards know about the demons running around and had dismissed the idea. Gregory had already found out. She made a swift decision.
“There are currently six demons allied with Brakket Academy. Two of which are not directly under my contracts. My secretary, Catherine, is a lesser succubus and my familiar. Zagan. Just Zagan, no species. Both of the specialists, a morail and an axopodia.
“The two not under my direct command belong to a student, one who calls herself Eva. Ylva, a daughter of Hel, and Arachne. No species there either. Eva is fond of the professor who was attacked and moved Ylva in to protect her. Arachne stays on Eva’s person at all times.”
He hummed for a moment. “A bonded familiar?”
Martina felt her eyebrows raise. This mage-knight must have more of a history with demons than she initially suspected. “No,” Martina said, “she is her own entity. Zagan believes she is not even a familiar, merely contracted.”
“Temperaments of those two? I assume those contracted with you will not be a problem.”
“They won’t,” Martina said with as much finality as she could muster. So long as Zagan followed her orders, neither of the specialists would be a problem. “No problems from either of Eva’s demons are expected so long as they’re not antagonized. I’ve never met Arachne, but Zagan believes she will violently defend against perceived threats to Eva.”
“And the girl?”
“Happy to attend school. She’s had some problems recently due to her inhuman appearance, but most of that has died down in the past week.”
“So not a ticking time bomb in the middle of a school.”
“No.”
“Good. You don’t want the others to know?”
Martina paused in thought for a moment. It wouldn’t be feasible to keep it hidden in the long run. Especially with questions that would undoubtedly be asked about Eva’s appearance. “Get to know them and use your own discretion. I’ll leave it up to you.”
“Alright. I can work with that.”
“You seem well versed in demons.”
Gregory shifted his weight to the opposite foot. “I had a gangrel that I summoned on occasion.”
