Chapter 527: Student Discipline - Part 2

"Let’s simmer down," Kyan stepped forward, finally finding her voice. "Of course, you don’t have to join, but it’s generally assumed people will because of all the benefits."

She went on to list those benefits, which included getting paid for each event. The biggest benefit to Arc’s mind was not getting bothered by mage hunters, who were notoriously quick to kill. There were a lot of pitfalls to avoid in order to do the job correctly, but at the same time...

It was almost like being a Knight, but with far less pay and an unfortunate amount of ground patrols. On the bright side, they had priority for training fields and one course that could only be taught to them. If Arc was going to be a Dragon Knight, then she could certainly benefit from acting like a Knight...

"I’ll join," Arc declared. "But I don’t want people spreading my family name around."

Kyan gave Margaret a pointed look, which made the Student Council leader sigh and mutter, "I’ll take care of it."

"Nobody leave!" Kyan shouted, receiving a couple of groans but a general atmosphere of assent.

"I’m joining too!" Raven had a slightly betrayed look on her face before also declaring that she would join. When Arc asked her why, she replied, "I’m not about to let my rival out of sight."

With more trepidation, Snow also indicated that she would join, asking if there was something more administrative she could do, which made Kyan very happy.

All that was left after that were introductions. Most of their names and powers went in one ear and out the other, although she caught that someone, the elf who practically badmouthed her, specialized in flight magic. She did her best to grin and bear it, hiding her jealousy as she shook his clammy hand.

After that, came a whirlwind discussion on what classes to take and which professors were good or bad. She was surprised to learn her grandmother, Darlae, was on the Do Not Take list, along with...

"That’s absurd! My father’s not some psychopath!" Raven protested. "He’s perfectly nice as long as you don’t bring up his rival."

"That is exactly the point!" the squirrel girl, Piper, piped up. "Do you know how hard it is not to mention the House of Stars in this school? Hell, they host the news every day! I heard that one time, a student had to get her tail reattached after he cut it off for mentioning K-."

"What exactly does he teach again?" Arc interrupted.

"Military Magic," Raven answered without missing a beat as she continued to voice her complaints.

Arc received a tap on the shoulder that pulled her out of the conversation.

"Contract’s all drawn up!" Kyan said. "Just need your name and a drop of blood to prime it."

At a small table, Margaret waited with a rather short-looking contract, written out on parchment. As if sensing her scrutiny, Margaret explained, "It’s simple. Anyone who signs their name will not reveal your family connections. If someone knowingly does so, you will be alerted immediately via spell-induced vision, per the formation on the page."

"I thought you were a maven," Arc replied after verifying the contract essentially said those same words. The formation was one Arc recognized a few parts of from her sigil core, but far more advanced.

"Technically, I’m the Holder for this one," Kyan beamed, "I just don’t speak all that weird legal stuff."

"Which is where I came in," Margaret said flatly, holding out her hand for Arc’s.

As soon as Arc’s hand was over the paper, she felt a sharp cut along her middle finger, and saw a slight nick in her finger claw appear before a drop of blood plopped heavily onto the parchment, right in the middle of the spell formation. The words suddenly flashed brightly and the contract seemed somehow more real, despite its appearance returning to normal quickly.

No one seemed to react to this, so Arc almost wondered if she was the only one who got that weird sense... until another sense entirely drew her attention back to her bleeding finger.

"Hold still next time," Margaret chastised when Arc gave her an indignant look.

"Now, now," Kyan chastised Margaret back before holding her hand ouit to Arc. "I’ve got some first-aid magic for that hand."

As Arc’s finger was healed, Margaret got everyone’s attention and, however begrudgingly, each person made their way to the table to sign the contract and add their blood to the formation.

With that settled, some students took it as permission to leave, and this time Kyan let them. No one else seemed particularly interested in talking to her, except perhaps Vang, who was staring at her with an unreadable look behind his overlarge collar. He was looming quietly next to the door, practically in the corner of the room.

Arc finally figured it was time to go. She got up, but as soon as she neared him, he half whispered, "Princess, I apologize for my rudeness... earlier. I had thought you might be from one of the... pretenders... claiming relation to the... Demon Lord..."

"I am not a princess, and my father is not the Demon Lord," Arc hissed back in a low voice. "Besides, if you know anything about my family, you’ll figure out real quick that I’m pretty much the black sheep."

Vang reached up, but rather than going for Arc, he placed his hand over his heart. "I know all too well such a... plight. My family believes in your... father. If you will not accept my worship, then perhaps we can be... friends?"

Arc almost told him no right then and there, but it was the first day, and even if he was as awkward as a baby dragon, Vang seemed to mean well. "We can be friends. Just don’t go telling all the demons I’m his daughter."

"I was the first to sign," Vang said proudly... or as proudly as the little, tiny tint of red in his pale ears could indicate.

"See you around then, Vang." She stepped past him.

"Your room is ready, Arc."

Arc jumped. "Gah! How do you do that?" Anko’s voice had appeared next to Arc’s ear the moment she turned into the hallway.

"I have been waiting in the hall since I finished setting up you kids’ rooms. Oh, and your Father asked me to deliver this to you..." She took her lower arms out from behind her back and presented Arc with "The dimensional storage bag you earned. Along with a gift from each of your parents." It was a brown, boxy-looking satchel with a single lid. Its clasp was inscribed with gold in what was clearly a spell formation, but one that didn’t use sigils. "One drop of blood and it’s yours," Anko said, and for the second time that day, Arc wound up with a cut on her finger, albeit a tiny pinprick from one of Anko’s way-too-sharp claws.

As they walked, Arc rummaged through the contents, essentially taking out things at random as her awareness of the contents of the bag bloomed in her mind while the magic took hold. Her parents’ "gifts" turned out to be mostly school supplies and food, which came out hot or cold as needed, indicating it was a bag that could put things in stasis. It excited her to no end, thinking about all the things she could use it for.

Of course, she’d need a way to keep it charged. "Magic might be cheap, but it’s not free," her dad, Fero, liked to say. Somehow, the housecatkin had wound up in charge of most of the family’s shared finances, and Arc remembered sitting on his lap to learn multiplication after her Father went cold.

His ’gift’ for her was essentially the instruction manual for the bag, with a note attached that said if she read it completely, she’d figure out something special about the bag. Thinking about her father again was depressing, but at least here she wouldn’t have to worry about seeing him until the winter break. The bag already seemed to do everything she wanted it for and more, and so she put the book back and continued to follow Anko until at last they came to a stop.

That was when she noticed...

"Anko... what are we doing at the boys’ dormitory?"

"Because of your special duties, the Chancellor and your Father have agreed that you should be relatively close to Owyn. Thus, a special accommodation has been made," the maid had a mischievous look in her eyes.

"I can’t stay here!" Arc hissed. "This is the boys’-"

"Technically, you won’t be staying in the dormitory," she opened the door and revealed Owyn, already trying on his uniform and half-dressed with an entire loaf of bread in his mouth.

"Mph-nd?" he mumbled through the bread, Where did he get bread?.

Anko closed the door to the room and led Arc just outside, where a vine-covered ladder led upwards to a tiny landing, set into the ceiling, which Anko gestured towards.

"You will be staying in the attic."