"Huh?"

 

The headmaster looked down from the judge's bench. The disciplinary room was rather large, but at the moment the audience chamber was empty. Before the headmaster who was currently wearing his darkest robes, Ryan stood confused as he stared up at his judge and jury. The headmaster in turn, looked down upon Ryan and his three assailants with an oddly pleasant smile. Kyle and the few others who gave testimony had already been sent out, so it was down to just the four.

 

The headmaster leaned forward and repeated himself, "I said, 'Thank you for your time. I believe that's all I will be needing from you'." Ryan looked around, then back at the headmaster, "So you'll pass judgement... later?" The headmaster straightened up a little, "There seems to be some confusion. You are not on trial here." Ryan clicked his tongue, "I will repeat my previous statement."

 

He squinted with one eye while curling his upper lip, "HUH?"

 

The headmaster continued in a soft and sympathetic tone, "The university is deeply sorry for the trouble you suffered on your first day back. It seems that the disciplinary committee was lax in its duties by allowing this altercation to even take place. From the testimony given so far, they had been plenty of time to remove these three from your path. It's clear they were the ones allowing the confrontation and these three are the ones at fault." Ryan jerked his head around several times, looking at the headmaster out of the corner of his eye each time.

 

Finally Ryan pointed at Aaron, "I cut off a fellow student's fingers." Then spread out his hands wide as he wore an expression that said, 'What Gives?'

 

The headmaster raised an eyebrow, "Sir Demonslayer, I do not think anyone explained the full ramifications of being the PERSONAL knight to the king." The other three standing next to Ryan all visibly recoiled and dropped their heads. They all looked at the ground like the damned who had resigned themselves to a horrible fate. Ryan looked at them out of the corner of his eye and couldn't help but notice their reaction. Ryan kept staring at them as he addressed the headmaster. Ryan, very slowly and with great apprehension asked, "How 'bout you fill me in?"

 

The headmaster leaned back and steepled his fingers, "An attack on you is the same as an attack on the king."

 

Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. Suddenly his eyebrows went so high up on his head as to look like they were trying to achieve orbit, "Now hold on!" He pointed at the three while gaping at the headmaster, "You don't mean-" The headmaster interrupted with an explanation, "They will be brought to the king for charges of high treason." Ryan looked to the three and back at the headmaster, then back again, "These guys?" He held up his hands, "Nooooo. No no no no no." He shook his head, "Mmm-Mmm, nope." He held up a finger and waved it, "I am waggling my finger in a disapproving fashion!" The headmaster chuckled, "Sir Demonslayer. You always have the most amusing turns of phrase. I am so looking forward to working with you. I've already gone over the proposals you sent me and some of them look quite promising."

 

The trio only sunk deeper into despair as it became increasingly apparent that Ryan had friends in high places indeed.

 

The headmaster continued, "However, this sort of activity cannot-" Ryan stepped forward, "NO." He stabbed a finger at the ground, "I'm not pressing charges! I wasn't wronged, so no treason took place! No harm. No foul." The headmaster quirked an eyebrow and drummed his fingers. Eventually he turned back to the three, "Well. It would seem you get to live. Please return to your dorm rooms and pack-up your belongings. I will have your houses notified and-"

 

Ryan waved a hand across his own throat as if slicing it, "Whoa whoa WHOA! I dropped the charges!" The headmaster looked at Ryan, "Yes. The criminal charges. But causing a disruption of this magnitude, in front of a massive crowd, that so blatantly breaks the rules of this institution cannot be ignored." Ryan opened his mouth, but the headmaster shut him down, "FURTHERMORE... if this matter is not punished, it will encourage other disruptive elements to become emboldened. I simply cannot let this go."

 

The headmaster reached for the gavel, "Case-" Ryan held up his hands flat towards the Headmaster, "WAIT!" The headmaster paused, holding the gavel poised to strike the sound block. Ryan lowered one hand to start searching his pockets while keeping his other hand held out to the headmaster, "Just give me a minute. Five." He spread his fingers wide, "Five minutes. Please."

 

The headmaster looked curious, "Very well." He put down the gavel, "Five minutes." The other three looked at Ryan, then at each other, and shrugged while giving each an expression that said, 'I got no clue either.'

 

Ryan pulled out a ballpoint pen and a small pad of paper. He flipped through it until he found a certain page, then stepped over to the defendant's table. He started to write furiously. Filling up the page, he flipped to the next, and then the next. The headmaster cleared his throat, "Sir Demonslayer..." Ryan held up a finger without looking up, "Almost..." He took another ten seconds to finish before tearing out three pages, "Done."

 

He ran around the side of the bench to climb up on the witness stand and hand the pages to the headmaster. The headmaster took them with a bemused look. His expression slowly changed as he read one after the other. First it was puzzlement, then amazement, and finally a look of wonder. He gave Ryan a double take, "Are you sure?"

 

Ryan nodded, "I call it, penicillin." He held up a single finger, "AND... it can be made without magic." The headmaster looked at the pages again, "Really." Ryan nodded and straightened up a bit, "I bet the alchemy department could really use a product like this." Ryan reached over to tap the papers, "As the exclusive manufacture of this medication, I have no doubt people all over the world will fall over themselves for every pill you could make."

 

The headmaster flipped through the pages, "And it's made from mold?"

 

Ryan nodded, "After the initial bio-reactor gets up and going, the overhead cost is mostly labor." He blatantly jogged his head in the direction of the accused, "Which can be made so much cheaper if it is a penalty forced upon said labor force as punishment thus the school won't have to actually pay them."

 

The headmaster leaned back, placed the papers down, then steepled his fingers to glare at Ryan over them, "Really."

 

Ryan looked sheepish as he reached over to pinch the papers lightly. He began to slowly drag them towards himself, "But if you aren't interested-" The headmaster slammed his hand down on the papers holding them in place. Ryan smiled and let go, "So we have an accord?" The headmaster remained motionless for several second, then gestured for Ryan to go back down next to the other three. Ryan did so and could not help but notice the others were staring at him. One blatantly mouthed the words, 'What The Fuck?'

 

"We have an accord..." The headmaster leaned forward to glare down at Ryan, "On the condition that you answer me without subterfuge or falsehood. Agreed?" Ryan looked around then reluctantly replied, "Shoot.” The headmaster looked puzzled. Ryan winced then quickly added, “Yes!" He smacked himself in the side of the head, "Ask your question."

 

The headmaster pulled out an accordion folder and moved it front and center. He undid the string holding it closed and pulled out a stack of papers, "I took the liberty of having your time here at the school examined. I am actually quite shocked to find out that you have been the center of a never ending campaign of harassment. I am very upset to find out that this had been kept hidden from me by subordinates who... I might add... are no longer employed here." His tone turned dark as the weight of his words grew heavy upon the shoulders before him.

 

"There are no ranks here." The headmaster randomly turned to different sections, "All are equal in these halls." He deliberately took extra long to examine the documents, making the defendants sweat, "These are not just words. There was always to be some who would ignore this. However, as long as most paid the rules lip service, the concept stood in principle." He turned to focus on the leader of the trio, "You, Thomas, are the son of a very good man. I knew your father well. I am sick to my stomach at the fact I will have to tell him how pathetic his son has become."

 

Thomas lowered his gaze. The headmaster shouted, his eyes flashing in anger, "LOOK AT ME WHEN I AM TALKING!" All four jumped at the outburst and stared up at the headmaster. He calmly folded his hands, "You have not only been bullying your fellow student but I have it on good authority that you have been extorting money from him." The headmaster jogged his head towards Ryan, "He needed to pay you money just to step in the lunchroom, lest you would beat him senseless." The headmaster picked up the corner of the stack of documents before him and let it fall back down one page at a time, "You were not the only ones here that has done such vile acts, but you are the ones standing in front of me."

 

He slowly stood up to loom over the defendants, "You three are by far the worst offenders. As far as I am concerned, NONE of you are worthy of being in MY HALLOWED SCHOOL!" He turned to Ryan, "Which brings to mind, WHY?" Ryan blinked and reflexively stepped back from the headmaster's presence, "Why are you going through so much effort to protect these three?" He stabbed a finger at the defendants as he glared at Ryan with unfettered anger, "I would not shed a single TEAR if they were put to death!" The headmaster's face was growing a deeper shade of red by the second as it became increasingly apparent that this incident had struck a fraying nerve, "Preying upon the weak is the exact OPPOSITE of everything this school stands for!" As the headmaster's ire increased, the air seemed to become literally charged. Everyone's nostrils filled with the tang of ozone.

 

He slammed his hands down upon the bench and leaned out over Ryan, "So tell me, what do they have on you? Blackmail? Is there someone you care about in danger? What sort of leverage do they have to force you to protect them?" He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, "Explain to me... very carefully... exactly WHY you are protecting them."

 

Ryan stood there a little shocked at the list of wrongs and muttered, "Good question..." Sighing as he looked away, he scratched the back of his neck, "Look. I'm going to be honest. And... you might not like it." He looked up, "The Reed these guys tortured? He's dead."

 

The headmaster's face went white, "what?"

 

Ryan pointed over his shoulder, "When I hung myself to go talk to the gods, they tossed me into a... training ground... place? I spent decades there." Ryan gestured to the three next to him, "I don't remember them. I don't remember anything they did. My head is full of violence... and death... and..." He glanced sideways then back at the headmaster, "It's so I could come back here and be a demonslayer. Because-” He spread his hands wide, "You got demons! Someone has got to slay them!" Ryan pointed two thumbs at himself, "And that's this guy."

 

As he listened, the headmaster figured out what Ryan meant by 'dead' and inwardly let out a sigh of relief, "Oh. Right. When you died in-in-uh..." The headmaster sat down, "The dungeon. Right. Forgot about that."

 

Ryan shrugged, "Look. They're just kids and kids do stupid things. It'd be a shame if we just tossed them aside and gave up on them. I know you want to bring down the ban hammer on these boys-" Thomas looked at Aaron and mouthed the words, 'Ban Hammer?' as Ryan continued, "But frankly, I can take care of myself. I don't need you to protect me. I expect the harassment to get worse, but that's fine." He pointed at the accused, "But if you kick them out, it will be a hundred times worse for me, no matter how justified you are."

 

"And... well..."

 

He scratched the back of his neck, "Charity...” He sighed, “If I ask myself, what would Charity do, I think she'd want me to forgive them and let it go." He shrugged, "I guess that's the real reason. She's been a true friend and I don't want her to be disappointed in me." He shoved his hands in his pockets, "I owe her and I'd like to try living up to her expectations." He looked at the floor, "And I haven't been doing a good job lately."

 

The headmaster thought for a long time. Every moment the trio looked up they sweated, knowing that everything was on the line. The headmaster finally spoke, "I don't think you three will ever realize just how lucky you are." They collectively let out a sigh of relief, then jumped when the headmaster brought down his gavel, "Oh, I have a feeling you will come to regret not getting kicked out. As per Sir Demonslayer's suggestion, you three will have all privileges revoked and have mandatory community service until such time as your theoretical pay is enough to repay Reed for all the money you extorted from him." He hammered again, "You cannot just pay him back. You will EARN every last copper from your sweat and back breaking work, and no, it will NOT be in a laboratory."

 

He hit the hammer one more time for good measure, "I suggest you think about what you have done and the mercy this lad has shown you." He stabbed a finger at them, "Because any time he chooses to reverse his position, those criminal charges can still be reinstated. Given the fact Sir Demonslayer saved the King's life, I severely doubt you will be shown one ounce of leniency." The three all nodded in agreement and kept their mouths shut.

 

"Dismissed."

 

---

 

The three let the one walk out first, following behind and letting the distance grow so as to not crowd him. However, when the doors to the hearing room closed, Thomas called out, "Hold up." Ryan hesitated, then let out a long sigh before turning around, "Yeah?" The three walked up with Thomas taking the lead. He obviously was looking uncomfortable and embarrassed. He rubbed the back of his neck, "Ah... look. I-"

 

"Don't."

 

Thomas' expression went flat.

 

Ryan rubbed the bridge of his nose, "Just don't. Don't say thank you. Don't say you're sorry. Don't apologize." He let his hand drop and looked up at Thomas, "I don't care." He rolled a hand in the air, "Meaning that I have no emotional stake in any of this. I meant it. The Reed you knew died in that dungeon cell. He and I have nothing in common except that I inherited his body." Ryan started to turn away, then turned back to add one more thing.

 

"And you killed him."

 

Thomas narrowed his eyes in confusion.

 

"You and everyone else in this school. You drove him to the point of suicide. He thought being dead was better than being alive." Ryan clicked his tongue, "And boy was he wrong." Ryan rocked up on his toes, "BOY! Does being dead SUCK! Let me tell you! Holy crap! The afterlife... what a shit show!" He shook his head in a sad, dismissive way, "Everything he used to be is gone and now... I'm here. I got a job to do. I'm here to kill demons. That's my thing. Otherwise..."

 

Ryan tapped his chest, "I'm completely dead inside."

 

He turned and started walking away, but kept talking loud enough for it to echo up and down the hall, "Oh! If someday you actually develop a soul of your own and you start to feel guilty because of all the shit you put him through, AND for some reason you want to seek his forgiveness, just remember..." Ryan looked back over his shoulder, to see the three of them standing there with a mix of muddled reactions.

 

"You're already too late."