“Do you recognize where you are, Mr. Marlowe?” asked Headmaster Tachibana as he adjusted his bowler hat. I supposed if I was about to be interrogated, he should be smartly dressed.

“The hospital up in Gozaisho?”

“Specifically, the room where they kept Haru Obe,” he said.

“I thought it had looked familiar,” I said, shuddering at the memories. “How’s your leg doing?” I asked, deciding to put off the awkward conversation as long as possible.

Headmaster Tachibana winced. “As Margaret so eloquently said, she took some extra meat with it when she cut my false leg off. That prosthetic was practically brand new, but we will have to start from square one on that.”

“Would it help if I said I regretted my part in it?”

“If I thought you meant it,” he replied. “However, devils aren’t exactly known for their honesty.”

“Who told you I was a devil?” I asked.

“I’ve suspected something was off for a while,” Headmaster Tachibana replied, a tad evasively. “Soren Marlowe was never very active on social media, but you didn’t quite look like his photos. Remarkably close, but not quite. However, Margaret always said you were the real deal. I made the mistake of trusting her.”

That pricked my ears up. “At least she was living up to her end of our bargain. She was using the threat of exposure to torture me since we met!” I slammed my fist against the rail of my hospital bed, wincing as I disturbed the IV needle again.

Tachibana looked at me thoughtfully. “The alternative would have been her turning you in right away.”

“I’d rather have been found out from the start,” I said. “I might have been able to get away before I had anything else that she could take away from me.”

“Doubtful, if what Ms. Jones told me was true,” he said.

“What did she tell you?”

“That is not relevant to this conversation,” he said. “She couldn’t know the whole truth anyway. I am much more interested in what Captain Malthus has to say for himself. Please, tell me how a devil came to reside at my school.”

“Why should I?” I demanded. “The others think I’m a demonkin. They’re foolish enough to overlook that, but I can’t see the League being so forgiving. Even worse, their top wizard knows what I actually am.” I slumped back against my pillow. “I accepted my fate when I turned coat against the Holy Brotherhood. Nothing I can say will change that.”

Tachibana’s bemused, know-it-all smirk almost made me want to smack it away. “I may not have known the full truth, Malthus, but I think I know you pretty well. You are not one to surrender so easily.”

I studied him, looking for the trick. “Who else have you told?”

“One other, who I trust with my life and my darkest secrets. I will not tell you who, though, just in case you get any strange ideas about escape.”

I barked a harsh laugh. “You and Maggie aren’t much different from each other. You both blackmailed me; you just aren’t half as sexy.”

He shot me a wry grin. “In your opinion, perhaps. However, let me ask you this: would you rather have a friendly conversation with me in here, or with Mr. Smith in an interrogation room?”

I shuddered at the memory of the icy Wizard Corps intelligence agent. He had employed disguise magic to scramble his facial features, much like Maggie’s creations. When I had spoken to him, it made me feel like he was a scientist about to perform a vivisection. “You make a compelling case. It’s a long story, though.”

“I have cleared my schedule for the day,” he said. “So, Mr. Malthus, let us start from the beginning. How did you come here?”

“I hope you don’t need to use the restroom, because I won’t be able to stop once I start.”

The Enemy says that the truth shall set you free. For once, I decided to avail myself of that advice. The jig was up, and if I was lucky, being cooperative might make my eventual execution less painful.

So, I went through it all. My tense relationship with Father after Mother’s death, and my time as the right-hand man of Girdan the Fair. He grew agitated when I described my role in the fall of the United Kingdom and the Merlin School, but he stayed quiet throughout that part. I even told him about the real Soren Marlowe’s fate, as far as I knew I. I then went into the tryst with Fera that brought me into court, my banishment, meeting him and Rose in Iceland, and then running into Hiro’s crew in at the school. I was perhaps a bit too candid about trying to pick up Rose and Yukiko, but he already knew about Kiyo, so I didn’t see the harm. Somehow Paul and Mariko’s troubles wormed their way in, too. And on and on, through Haru’s attack on the Serving Wizard’s House and me joining the Brotherhood to save my skin, being forced to assassinate the dumb boy, planning for the Tower Attack, and my battles on both sides of the that fracas.

I had tried to be guarded at first, to minimize the damage. However, there was something so refreshing about having somebody who I could tell everything. I couldn’t read what he thought of it all, though. Once we got to my time at the school, his face became an impassive mask, and he only interrupted to ask the occasional clarifying question.

Until I got into the tale of the Tower Attack, that is. I can’t blame him for taking a more active role; it had nearly led to the destruction of his tower, after all.

“You were awfully quick to promise Fera and Girdan my head,” he said.

“Can you blame me? We’re sworn enemies, and it was my best way to get back home.”

“Can I ask why you wanted to go back to the Horde in the first place? You make it sound completely miserable.”

I tilted my head at him. “Why do you say that? I was near the top of the pecking order there.”

“Perhaps, but I cannot imagine a life with no friends or family worth mentioning.”

“We have families!” I said, my dander rising.

“Do you?” he asked, his eyebrow raised. “Your father sounds like the most loving demon in the Horde, and he still cast you away to avoid being reminded of his dead wife.”

“He didn’t… it was for my education.”

“Malthus, there is really no sense in lying at this point,” he chided. “Especially not when you already told me the truth before. Then again, you sound just like him.”

“How do you mean that?”

“You are afraid of appearing weak, especially to yourself. I think Grand Vizier Malthus was the only one in all the Horde who valued you, and he could not handle that fact.”

“Spare me the pop psychology,” I said. “You don’t know him.”

“You described him so clearly, though. At the very least, I know what he is to you.”

“Yes, he’s a weak old fool whose softness makes him unworthy of his rank,” I spat. “I’ve had to work hard to conquer that weakness in my own heart.”

“Conquer it? You threw away your triumphant return for Ms. Jones and your other friends,” he said. He leaned forward, his chair emitting a loud creak.

I gripped my blankets, avoiding Tachibana’s gaze. “That is not something to be celebrated.”

“Would you have been happy if they had died when the Tower collapsed? Would you have simply said, ‘oh, well, I made it out, forget them?’”

I didn’t reply for long enough that my answer became obvious.

“You are a funny young man, Malthus,” he said. “Do you think the other devils have to remind themselves not to care? That Girdan felt any remorse for whipping you when you displeased him? That Fera actually misses you, and not the prestige you would have brought her?”

“Well, no,” I admitted, “but, such is the way of the Dark Lord’s Horde. It’s my destiny.”

“It doesn’t have to be!” Tachibana shouted, slamming his fist into the wheelchair’s armrest. “Do you ever listen to yourself? How do you function without tying yourself into knots constantly? I have never met somebody so at war with himself. If you were a full human, I would toss you into therapy without a second thought!”

“Then I’m glad I’m not. I don’t need some shrink poking around in my head.” I checked the clock, seeing that hours had passed. No wonder my throat was so dry. “Are we done here? I’m sure you have business to attend to.”

“I already told you I cleared my schedule,” he replied. “It may be more accurate to say that you cleared it for me. The Nagoya Academy is shut down until further notice. Half the school is in shambles after all of those magic battles, and they cannot begin repairs until they sweep the Tower for more bombs.”

“There was only the one,” I said. “I should know, I planted it myself.”

“You will understand that the League will not take that chance,” he replied. “Especially when there will also be weeks of investigations to make sure that there were not more Holy Brothers and Sisters among our ranks.”

“They’re wasting their time,” I said. “This was our… the Brotherhood’s last roll of the dice. At least, for Maggie’s cell. She took most of Ratte’s with her, too.”

“Unless Margaret held out on you,” he replied. “I’d have never thought that she or Neci Perera would have been Holy Sisters, much less senior members. Everybody is under a microscope now. Even me.”

“At least they’re all dead now,” I said.

“As are Mr. Obe and Ms. Yamaguchi,” he said. “By your hand.”

“Ah, there we go!” I said. “That was a cruel trick, acting like I could be anything but doomed after admitting to that!”

“Malthus, are you a loyal servant of the Dark Lord?”

“Of course,” I said reflexively. Back home, I’d seen devils raked over the coals for not saying it quickly enough. “May he rule until the moon falls into the sea.”

“Then explain why you have so much remorse for killing those two,” he said. “Why you begged them to stop until the last moment, like you tried with poor Rei.”

“I… I simply didn’t want to. It was a whim, like wanting one sugar in my tea instead of two.”

“It seems to me that a true son of Your Father Below would not have such whims,” he said. “You know that the Horde stopped trying to slip spies behind our lines ages ago because devils simply cannot act human enough. Yet, you cried over enemies who wanted you dead.”

I shot him a withering glare. He didn’t so much as blink. “What’s your point, old man?”

“Let me tell you an old story, the way it was told to me,” he replied. “Once, there was a frog who lived down by the river, and he would carry the other animals across. One day, a scorpion came and asked the frog for a ride. ‘Never,’ said the frog, ‘because you are a scorpion, and you would sting me.’ The scorpion said, ‘Of course I would not, because then I would drown with you. You can trust me.’ So, the frog let the scorpion on his back, and they set out. When they were halfway across, the frog felt a sharp pain in his head, and his legs went numb. As they went under, the frog asked, ‘Why did you do that? Now we will both drown!’ To which the scorpion replied, ‘I am a scorpion, and it is in my nature to sting.’”

“That’s a bit of a downer,” I said. “I prefer happy endings.”

“As do I, when they are available,” he said. “However, I think you can see the applicability of the story.”

“Yes, I’m the scorpion, and I’ve stung you all at my own expense,” I said. “A child could see that. Why rub it in?”

He smirked again. “I do not think you have taken the lesson. Let me teach you one more time. You are a scorpion who was given every single opportunity in the world to sting, but could not bring himself to do it. You had the Grim Horde and the Holy Brotherhood practically screaming ‘sting’ right in your ear. If you had carried out your plan, you would already be heading home wreathed in glory. Yet, here I sit, your friends still alive, and the Tower still standing. What do you call a scorpion that will not sting?”

“Useless,” I mumbled, a fresh wave of shame rolling over me as I wallowed in my failure.

“I call him a confused frog, who I think will be happiest in the company of his fellow frogs.”

“I’m off to frog prison, though,” I said.

“Only if you throw away the chance you earned,” he said. “Mr. Wilson said you gave him the courage to switch sides at the key moment. Ms. Jones said you cried over Ms. Yamaguchi, even after she had tried to kill you. She also said that you gave yourself up to save her when she was struck with Wizard’s Desolation. Ms. Yamada said you came back for her, throwing away your escape. Even Ms. Sato says she believed you sincerely care about her and her friends, even if she is not ready to forgive you.”

“And Hiro’s such an ignoramus that he thinks I’m his best friend,” I muttered. “Rose, too. They are awful judges of character, letting a devil so close to them.”

“I will not hear that sort of self-talk,” Tachibana replied. “However, you can understand that I am also conflicted. On the one hand, you tried to kill me and destroy my school. I have to take that personally.”

“I don’t blame you.”

“Do not interrupt me,” he said, with a voice both firm and gentle. “On the other hand, if you had never come to the school, Margaret would have killed Asahi at the Serving Wizard’s House. She would have tried something drastic eventually, and you would not have been there to sabotage the Brotherhood from within. Even ignoring that, you took some of the hardest cases I had in the lowest performing remedial class at the school, and you helped develop them into promising young wizards. You did in a few weeks what I and the other teachers could not in nearly a year. Why would a scorpion help teach the frogs to jump?”

“To make more interesting prey in the future! You don’t understand me at all, Tachibana! I’m a devil, through and through, and if you think I’ll ever be anything else, then you’re a naïve fool!”

He smiled serenely, despite the invective I had just hurled at him. “I once told you that I like the hard cases best. A fundamentally good man who thinks himself a devil might be the hardest case of all.” His eyes hardened. “This does not mean I entirely trust you, but I think you will go on to do great things. You are not Soren Marlowe, but you can give him a legacy to be proud of.”

“How does that help? It will all be found out in the trial!”

“They don’t try heroes like you, Mr. Marlowe. The media has decided that you are the man of the hour, thanks to your little broadcast. After our chat, I have decided I will let them continue to think that. Your friends have already promised not to tell anyone you are a former demonkin, and I have kept that out of any report.” Reaching behind his back, he tossed a familiar backpack into my lap, spilling my escape supplies and journals across the bed. “And you may want to take your notes in English going forward, if you take them at all. You are most fortunate I am the only wizard in a hundred miles who reads Demonic.”

“You’re inviting a fox into the henhouse,” I said, gathering up the loose notes.

“Perhaps. However, I think you are more of a danger to the other foxes.” He turned his wheelchair towards the door. “Rest up and think long and hard about what is in your best interest.”

I wanted to let him go without comment, but I couldn’t resist asking. “Wait, Sir?”

“Yes, Mr. Marlowe?” he asked, looking over his shoulder.

“Do you know where Kiyo is?”

He shook his head. “When you see her, tell her she is technically absent without leave again.”

“I told you she disowned me,” I replied. “What makes you think she’s going to come around?”

“Call it a gut feeling,” he said.

“Well, you do have a lot of gut,” I said.

“You can stop trying to spoil things,” he said. “Frogs croak. Scorpions don’t.” A snap of his fingers dispelled the Zone of Silence, and he was out the door with surprising speed.

And that is the tale of how I fooled the League’s greatest wizard into thinking the devil right under his nose was some sort of tortured soul.

What an idiot. He didn’t know me at all. He would regret his kindness.

Though, his nonsense had a certain ring to it.

Not seeing anything else to do, I leaned back and closed my eyes. I wanted to shut out my thoughts for a while, and since nobody had smuggled me any booze, sleep would have to do.

“Yeesh, I thought you two would never stop.”