The next day, I was waiting in the morning at the school’s train station. It was expected to be a lot busier than normal today. Not only did we need all manner of repair materials and replacement equipment shipped in, but there would be an entire additional passenger train for the reporters.

Given that the ten miles of branch line connecting the school to the main trunk only had one track, I figured it would be prudent to keep a close eye on the scheduling to ensure there couldn’t be any collisions. Also I wanted to make damn sure the new kitchen equipment was unloaded without even the slightest issues. Everyone was thoroughly sick of pre-packaged sandwiches after only a few days, and if it went on much longer there would be riots.

I might even join them, come to think of it.

Musings about the long awaited return to decent food aside, there was also the matter of the press. I absolutely did not want to deal with them, but the fact of the matter was that public pressure was my best shot at getting the security upgrades funded. And for that to work, I needed to suck it up and talk to the press.

I could have sworn I felt a comforting pat on the shoulder, despite there not being anyone there at the moment. Gee thanks, maybe-ghost maybe-hallucination. Unloading the kitchen equipment went smoothly at least, meaning that there should be a proper supper tonight.

Then I spotted the dreaded press train approaching. Three passenger coaches, rather than the usual one coach and two box cars. Oh this was going to be thoroughly un-enjoyable.

So I waited at the platform for two agonizing minutes. The train slowed to a stop, the doors opened, and the reporters began to flood onto the platform.

Ugh, lets get this over with.

I was already waiting at an improvised podium. Staring out at the crowd of reporters and camera crews, I asked, “So, presumably you’re all here for my statement about the vampire attack.”

There was a general chorus of approval from the bunch.

“Right, please wait until the end for questions.”

I paused for a moment to collect my thoughts.

“First off, I want to be clear that the worst of this could have been prevented. I’d suspected the school would be attacked a good two months before this, and requested additional funding to upgrade the security system. This request for additional funding was denied on grounds of it being ‘unnecessary’, and we’ve all seen how that turned out.”

All the assorted journalists were staring at me with rapt attention.

“As it stands, we were very very close to the school being leveled and its population slaughtered. That was an abnormally well-fed vampire; it was breaking the sound barrier regularly and holding its own against multiple archmages.”

I leveled an incredibly serious gaze on the crowd. “Someone deliberately sought out that vampire, fed it a whole lot of people, and set it on the school. Though we managed to avoid any fatalities among the student body, twelve of my staff are dead. I have every expectation that whoever set this up is going to try again.”

“Before any of you ask, yes I do blame the Department of Education for this tragedy. I had good reason to suspect an attack would take place, and tried to take appropriate precautions. Instead my efforts were stymied by the penny pinchers over at the DoE.”

“You may now ask questions.”

A lady in a beanie hat asked, “How did you ultimately kill the vampire?”

“I baited the vampire into a dangerous magical anomaly in a staff only area. Then I froze it solid and had the school’s Hazardous Magic team dispose of it. This plan was an act of desperation; if I were half a second slower I would be dead and the vampire would still be at large.”

Another reporter asked, “Is this school really a safe environment for the students? Parents of magical children would like to know.”

Reasonable question, but the fully accurate answer wouldn’t play well with the crowd. “Red Point Magic Academy is as safe as any other school for underage magic users. Unfortunately, this is an insufficient degree of safety; kids aren’t really prepared to work with something as dangerous as magic, so incidents and accidental deaths happen quite regularly.”

Very carefully do not mention that this school is being specifically targeted by Lord Vallium, nor the existence of Geoffrey Blue.

Unfortunately for me, one of the reporters asked an actually smart question, “Why did you suspect that the school would be attacked two months before it happened?”

Oh I really didn’t want to answer this one… But the worst possible person already knows and I need the leverage.

“Because that’s when an underage archmage was enrolled here. For their privacy, I will not be divulging their identity.”

A nearly visible wave of shock fizzled through the crowd of reporters. I’d just admitted that the school was being singled out for attack by a magical terrorist.

“How would the upgraded security system have prevented this tragedy?”

I answered immediately, “Immobilization fields, Sharp teleportation systems to keep staff and students away from danger, extremely comprehensive threshold wards, airspace denial for the courtyard, and a lot of structural reinforcement for the actual building. If all of that were in place the vampire would have been hard-pressed to even enter, let alone hurt anyone. I still want to install that security system, and given the funding I could have it done in about a month or two. It would also dramatically reduce the hazard from random incidents.”

“How would you handle another attack without this system?”

I could answer that one easily, “Badly, and with a high risk of total disaster. If it weren’t for having a transcendent doctor here, we’d have easily had over thirty dead instead of just twelve. All in all, things could have very easily been so much worse.”

I got out the list of deceased staff members.

“Lucy Thorncroft, secretary, drained by the vampire before my eyes.”

“Gina Haskell, Math teacher, killed by a thrall.”

“Umber Holt, security, killed in combat.”

“Harrison Olger, security, killed in combat.”

“Yuba Dean, security, killed in combat.”

“Hexie Tarris, security, killed in combat.”

“Beth Quartz, security, killed in combat.”

“Randy Woods, security, killed in combat.”

“Udo Rex, security, killed in combat.”

“Jenny Miller, custodian, killed in combat.”

“John Black, custodian, killed in combat.”

“Harvey Miller, custodian, killed in combat.”

If I’d bothered putting any real power behind it, my glare would be lethal.

“Considering the circumstances we are incredibly lucky that this list isn’t any longer. As it stands we lost far too many good people, and could have very easily lost far more. I have every expectation that another attack of similar severity is coming, and if we aren’t prepared for it things could very easily go even worse than they did this time.”

“If the security upgrades aren’t approved, and I live through the next attack? I’m dragging whatever bureaucrat denied the funding here and forcing him to mop up the blood and guts himself.”

I meant it too, and I was fairly certain the reporters could tell that.

There were another couple hours of talking to the press, but I’d already gotten the meat of what I wanted to say out of the way. Gradually they started packing up their cameras, then they all got on their press train and headed back to Skanaport. Good, that meant the freight trains full of repair materials could resume.

As I packed up the podium, I felt another phantom tap on my shoulder. I turned around and saw Jethro coming my way, though he was still too far off to have done it. No, not even with telekinesis; I knew for a fact he was Sharp, and it wasn’t certain if he’d transcended any skills to speak of.

So I asked, “Jethro? What’s the issue you need to talk to me about?”

Jethro answered, “It’s one of the students. She’s had a mental break and none of us can calm her down. And you’re the only remotely qualified person here that’s not in the infirmary still.”

Oh. I immediately dashed along behind Jethro, as he brought me to the classroom in question. I noticed the hallways shaking as we approached, which definitely wasn’t a good sign. Sure enough, there was a teenage girl sitting in the corner, crying so hard it was risking the school’s structural integrity.

Oh I really didn’t want to do this… I quickly scribed a Mancia spell to reduce emotional intensity and set it off in her face.

The room stopped shaking, and the student looked at me for a moment. There were still tears running down her face, but at the very least she wasn’t a hazard to be around anymore.

“Headmaster? W-Where’s mom?”

It’s then that my other side finished his mental review of the school’s student records. This was Melanie Quartz, daughter of one of the security guards who died in the attack. Oh.

I answered “Melanie, there’s no good way to say this, but your mother is dead. She died in the vampire attack.”

Oh. Oh I’m being hugged by a sobbing teenager now how am I supposed to deal with this…

Right, did we have any on-site therapists on the payroll? A quick review of the staff list said yes, but they were still in the infirmary.

Anyway, that’s why I spent the rest of the day being used as a giant self-propelled teddy bear by Melanie. Yes, even when I went to my office to get my next request for a funding increase ready, and start hiring to replace the deceased personnel.

Still, I got that funding request in. And I got a reply the same day.

Once again it wasn’t the reply I wanted, but at least it wasn’t an outright rejection. No, instead it was a summons to the Department of Education for a meeting with Director Haggar.

The very next day, I was at that appointment exactly on time. An absolutely huge man in a pinstripe suit stared down at me.

“Adrian. I’ve found myself in quite a difficult position, thanks to you.”

Then he threw several newspaper articles onto the desk. All of them of my impromptu press-conference.

“So. You want to upgrade your school’s security system then? Considering what happened I can’t even blame you for it. But the fact of the matter is that the Department of Education cannot afford it without cutting into the budgets of every other magical school in the country. This would seriously impact their ability to operate, which is a significant public safety issue.”

He glared at me, “So. How exactly am I supposed to make this work without severely disrupting the entire underage magical education system? The non-magical schools will be fine; they’re handled by a different branch of the department.”

I got out some of the financial planning the Budget had done a couple months ago. “Well, one option is to take out a loan. We’ve calculated that we could run the school in a sustainable though sub-optimal manner with a budget 5% lower. Take out a mortgage to cover the cost right away, then pay it down over the next few years. It’s just that I’m not authorized to take out loans on the school’s behalf is all.”

Director Haggar sighed, “That’s what I was afraid you’d say. It’s going to be damned hard finding a loan with a suitably low interest rate, the requirements the Department operates under for taking out a loan are incredibly strict.”

Did he… not want to do this? Hmm. We may need to probe a bit deeper.

“Can I see those requirements please?”

I had Director Haggar by the balls and he knew it. Reluctantly, he passed me the documentation for the department’s limitations on taking on debt.

A quick read-through revealed that while the requirements were strict, they were also nowhere near as restrictive as Director Haggar was making them out to be. A good 80% of mortgages from a reputable bank or credit union fit the criteria.

I looked up, my face in a stoic expression. Transcendent Authority flared as we spoke. Just in case, I also activated the audio recorder I had in my pocket.

“Director Haggar, I’m going to ask you directly and I want you to be honest. Do you believe in the cause of Lord Valiant the Dreaded?”

Before he realized what was happening, he answered “Why yes I do actually. Wait no I mean no-”

I got up.

“I see.”

And opened the door of his office directly to lobby of the National Magical Crimes Unit.

Soon after that, Director Haggar was interrogated and subsequently arrested for associating with a known terrorist. His replacement proved much more amenable to the security upgrades for Red Point, though funding them would still require taking out a loan.

That was fine with me; the school needed to be protected from whatever Vallium’s next plot was, and a 5% budget cut for the next few years was an easy price to pay for that.

I returned to Red Point Magic Academy triumphant in my attempt to get the funding for the security system, though explaining the pay cuts to everyone was rather harder. Out of solidarity I cut my own pay too, which did a lot to quell the staff’s objections.

We could start with the security system installation in four days, as soon as everyone was out of the infirmary.

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