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...The magical wall dissolved so quickly that many of the spectators leaving the academy didn't even have time to realize what had caused the early commotion. However, the contest organizers themselves, who by a twist of fate happened to be near the hopeless tent, could undoubtedly see the approximate aftermath of the recent scuffle. The mangled bodies of townspeople were carelessly dragged aside to be packed into trash bags. Someone was bound and hauled toward the main building. Following them, surrounded by a crowd of bewildered disciplinarians and a royal guard escort, the battered but unharmed royal procession walked with hurried steps. Ants in army uniforms scurried about frantically, shouting over one another in search of superiors, unsuccessfully trying to herd the remaining students back into the dormitories. A search party of service dogs, confusing names with surnames from a long, crumpled list, barely managed to count the schoolchildren, scanning the rooms for those who had gone missing. A group of distracted spectators was patiently yet insistently escorted beyond the gates. Three squads in full gear raced down the wide road into the city and back, kicking up clouds of autumn dust. A few soldiers started toward the forest opening away from the academy, paced uncertainly behind the fence, kicked some cigarette butts, and soon returned to the institution's grounds with a sense of duty fulfilled. Inside NAILS, the situation was not much better: the silence behind room doors was frequently shattered by the stomp of many feet and hesitant, anxious voices, among which one could occasionally distinguish the familiar drawl of the committee members. The commotion caused was undoubtedly not limited to the daring attack at the close of the contest: something else had happened here.
Unfortunately, for mere mortals, clarity regarding the situation came only in fragments of accidentally dropped rumors, which immediately grew into all sorts of bizarre colors. They said a war had begun; that the king was surrounded by hordes of demons in his residence; that a giant bald giant had taken up residence in the forest near the academy; that half the students had been kidnapped by slave-trading pirates; that one of the monarch's sons would soon land in the main courtyard riding an ancient dragon...
Nira could probably have contacted her classmates from the committee and gotten the truth about the current situation, but she chose not to. It wasn't that she didn't want to distract the authorized presidential servants from their very important work—it was simply that the own fact of such a request seemed utterly humiliating to her. In recent months, so many frightening secrets and dark dealings had thickened at the academy that it was long past time to surrender and accept the existence mandated by her low status—in blissful ignorance. Knowledge is useful only to one endowed with the real power to use it. Whether livestock being raised for slaughter knows its unenviable fate or not, it doesn't change the essence; it only frays the nerves and makes the meat tougher.
The last of the unresolved questions in her soul concerned the contest. The event had been thoroughly fouled up, of course, but thanks be that they didn't stage this clown show right in the middle of it, but waited for the official conclusion. Apparently, on the other side, there were also people of honor and dignity who did not wish for unnecessary casualties... Ha-ha, of course not. Apparently, they were just lucky, nothing more. And yet, the solemn and, in a certain sense, long-awaited moment was forever spoiled. The townspeople might not remember it, but what emotions will contest memories, prizes, and journals now evoke in the other students?.. No, they'll probably swallow it and forget too. They've digested worse. But still, it will be wrong. Hypocritical. Unfair. Ha, look who's talking...
The last soldiers dragged the dark sarcophagus away into the void. Their place was taken by a brigade of cleaners who were to spend until morning scrubbing the "aftermath" of the cheerful contest from the entire academy territory. Moving away from the window, Nira began to follow her usual mechanical step toward the mirror, but before reaching her goal, she sank tiredly onto the bed. It felt like a sailor on a ship that regularly slammed into an iceberg every month: the first time panic and attempts to show courage and fortitude; the second fear mixed with anger at the careless helmsman and captain; the third a madness-bordering glee from realizing the total absurdity of the situation; and now... Now there is some kind of same-doomed despondent calm. With the sole desire to end this as quickly as possible, repair the damaged deck, throw the remains of more unlucky sailors overboard, and continue sailing toward nowhere.
But there was something else here, a disturbing feeling barely discernible in the nocturnal gloom: the further she sailed on this cursed ship, the harder it became to imagine her former boring life on land.
Today the king and queen told their subjects everything that had actually been happening on the academy grounds all this time. Their words sounded more like the fantastic plot of a fairy tale, were it not for the simple fact that they had no reason to lie or to present themselves in either a bad or good light. It was a trial, but as before, the role of judges remained in the hands of the crown. It did not seem that the king himself was bound by deepest remorse and seeking forgiveness. He still looked like an omnipotent but terribly exhausted elder worn down by state concerns. At first, Nira couldn't understand why they hadn't recruited "students" of simpler origin and poorer status for their magical games, but now everything fell into place: in the eyes of the ruler, they were all identical pawns. This even inspired a certain insane respect: to reach such a status in one's life where the political climate, social classes, economics, and even people as such blurred in your eyes into a single pale, uninteresting mass.
Nira now looked at the newly minted queen with much greater interest. In just half a year, she had already been forced to revise her own perception of her twice, and apparently, it didn't end there. From an unremarkable dark horse to a frightening maniac, from a mysterious adventuring sorceress to... To whom, exactly? All her life, Nira could easily find motives in human actions; she could categorize their ambitions; explain their loud moral principles through simple natural stimuli. But never before had she been so wrong and so often about someone. There are no good people—this fundamental principle was simple and clear. "Good" people are either naively stupid, mentally ill, laudanum-dazed by religious delusions, or simply seeking material or spiritual reward for their actions. The only good deed is the one that remains a secret from others and even from oneself.
While the crowd of schoolchildren brazenly begged for gifts from the royal hand, Nira kept asking "Why?". What was the profit, what was the sacred meaning behind all these actions? Why fight so fiercely for the academy and its students? Rush to help classmates? Attack a mysterious sorceress without a second's thought? Smash magical laboratories and set involuntary captives free? Restore academic life and fill everyday existence with new meaning? Forgive daring freethinkers and dissatisfied traitors? If the goal was to raise their reputation in the eyes of the students, it was already too late for that. For personal satisfaction? By her appearance, one couldn't say Futaba rejoiced in any of this. For security? Certainly not out of fear of a group of harmless children and their powerless parents.
Apparently, Nira herself lacked some distant life wisdom to solve this riddle. Or perhaps... Perhaps Futaba was simply a better person than she, someone whose nature was beyond her comprehension. No, that's complete nonsense. She had overlooked something. And yet... Had she been in her place, not one of today's known "feats" would have been accomplished. The truth was that Nira herself wouldn't even have thought about interrupting the magical experiments and fighting for the students beyond her own personal reputation. Risking herself in any way for their safety. The fates of the actors after the performance ended certainly wouldn't have concerned her.
Perhaps that is why the omnipotent wizard-king singled out Futaba from the crowd of gray mediocrities. Perhaps... meeting such a person in this day and age is such a rarity that one could give away an entire country for it.
Happy Life
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