"Teachers are, in essence, magnanimous by nature. Of course, you will find exceptions, but this rule holds for the general trend, why else would you have individuals spend most of their life learning a craft, just to teach it to another for the pittance, as opposed to using their skills for far more profit in the industry of their choice. As we are always taking advantage of them, yet they keep doing the work they do, they must be patient, kind, magnanimous."

A few hours earlier, and on the other side of the academy, Reynold claps his hands together, before admiring his handiwork.

'I didn't think it would take that long to clean it up, I'll have to get back to work on the other documents if I have any hope of finishing them by when they're due.'

Reynold then walks over to his desk and sits down.

'I'm glad I learned those earth restoration spells, with how much Leticia visits I don't believe I would last long without them.'

Reynold picks up his quill and reads through a document while twirling it in his fingers.

'Such busywork, I'm not really sure why I have to be the one looking through these.'

Reynold sighs.

'Well, if they're ever going to accept me as the director, I'll need to show them that I'm competent.'

Reynold chuckles while signing the paper and placing it in the left pile. He then picks up the next one and starts reading it.

Reynold starts to think over his appointment as the director of the academy.

'It was supposed to be a simple spy mission, I knew being the royal tutor would bring some attention and suspicion, but it would have worked out fine. If not for that assassin…'

Reynold shakes his head.

'And now Alex shows up out of nowhere, with a story I can hardly believe in good conscious to boot. Sure, some aspects fit, but I don't doubt that some of it is false, I mean…'

Reynold lays down his quill.

'It has to be; time travel is implausible, the simple amount of magic necessary is impractical, even for magic beasts.'

Reynold shakes his head again, as if to dispel the thought and picks up his quill. He writes a few lines before taking the next document off the top of the stack.

'To be honest, it doesn't really matter. Alex is here now, and although I'll have to keep him away from Bernhart, he should be safe here. Even if his story is false, he has definitely been through some hard times. His expression seeing me alone is enough to prove that.'

Reynold glances it over and starts signing it before his eyes widen in surprise.

'Hell no.'

He then proceeds to take the marriage certificate and rip it into shreds.

'She almost got me that time. Slipping a marriage certificate into my paperwork is a new one, she even made it look like the other documents. Scaryyyy.'

"Leticia, if you're there, that's not funny," Reynold's eyes sweep back and forth as he gives the stern chastisement to the empty room.

'Her plots are getting more and more complex if I'm not careful I'm going to get caught…'

Reynold shakes his head.

'I know she was told to do this by her father, the conniving old bastard, maybe I should have let him die?'

Reynold looks up for a moment, tilts his head back and forth, before sighing.

'Anyways, he's not the problem, she is. I'm half sure she keeps these marriage plots up just to annoy me.'

Reynold looks back to the stack of papers.

'Now I have to look through each one carefully, she may have slipped in a marriage clause somewhere.'

Reynold gives an even heavier sigh as he takes the relatively small completed pile on the left and places it on top of the uncompleted pile on the right.

'I also have to check through these again, just in case. Well, best get started then.'

Several hours later, the pile on the right has shrunk by a significant margin, and the wastebasket beside him is considerably more filled.

'16 documents. Seriously, where does she find the time to go forging that many?'

Reynold lets his head fall onto the desk.

'I wonder how Walter is doing. I know Alex's story, but I should send a letter to Albi to make sure, even if it is a bit more difficult now that Irkshire is part of the western duchy…'

Reynold looks back at the pile and sighs.

'It seems like the plan worked, at least a bit. He should have legitimate control of the dukedom via the sacred duel. Still, I really need confirmation to plan my next moves.'

Reynold whispers for a few moments before speaking.

"Domain of Wind."

"Realm of Silence"

The birds chirping in the evening light, the slight chatter from an adjacent room, even Reynold's own breathing, go completely silent.

'This should make sure that I'm not heard. Reynold gets up, before tapping a specific pattern on the wall, causing it to open and reveal a metal bird in a cage. I wouldn't have to use a realm for something as trivial as this if that bird wasn't so crotchety. Speaking of that, if I were anywhere other than a mage academy, I would be able to send a transmission, but the risk is too big as it is.'

In the alcove, next to the metallic bird, is a pen and paper. Reynold starts writing out a short letter, before tapping it twice with the butt of the pen. The words then change into a short story of Reynold's liking.

'Now for the bird.'

Reynold opens the cage, and shoves the message in the mouth of the bird, before taping it twice with the butt of the pin. Suddenly its appearance changes to that of flesh and blood, and Reynold takes it in his hands; it's beak constantly moving yet emitting no sound. He then walks over to the window, and tries opening it with his foot, and fails.

'I'm not as flexible as I used to be…'

He regretfully sets the bird down on his desk, where it starts making a mess. Quickly he opens the window before shoving the bird outside it. He watches it leave, fall to the ground, and then take flight once more.

'Well, the message should get there eventually.'

Reynold then tidies his desk before going at the papers once more. Not 30 minutes later, the Realm expires, and the sound starts to returns to the room.

'The transitions are always weird with that Realm, maybe something to get some of those graduate students to look into? Well, that's a thought for later.'

Reynold continues thoroughly reading the documents, before writing on them.

That is when a knocking sound can be heard.

Reynold wearily looks to the door.

"Come in, unless you're Leticia. If you're Leticia, please stay out, and for that matter, go away."

Leticia opens the door and peeks through, and Reynold sighs.

"I just finished cleaning up your last mess just an hour ago, why don't you go to the western duchy and bother your father or something."

'Now that I think about it, he probably sicked her on me so that she wouldn't.'

Reynold looks to Leticia.

'The bastard.'

Leticia approaches the desk, before sitting on the bed, "I don't get why you combined your room and study, I wouldn't want to sleep anywhere near where I work," Leticia says with a frown on her face.

'I was hoping you would bother me less if I did... I was hoping that just maybe you might be a bit embarrassed to enter a man's bedroom. How wrong was I…'

Reynold gives an award-worthy fake smile, "What business do you have with me, if it isn't anything serious, please schedule an appointment."

'I'll make sure to push it back until next cycle.'

Leticia looks at Reynold, and smiles and shrugs, "Nothing much, but one of your students did trip the wards at the forbidden research sector. The alarms are going off like crazy, but you clearly have more important matters to attend to." Leticia walks to the door as Reynold processes what she just said, "If my guess is right, your student just got into some trouble. Well, bye."

She closes the door before opening it again.

"Oh, and I hope you enjoyed the present."

She smiles again, while Reynold's face suddenly grows grim and closes the door.

'I swear, she just enjoys making me upset, doesn't she? Is she a sadist or…'

'Wait.'

Reynold stands up quickly, causing his chair to skid away from him due to the sudden movement.

'Did she just say the alarms… how the heck did I not hear them? Oh, the silence realm, huh? We really should add a visual component, it would be pretty easy too. Not the time Reynold, I need to get over there fast, if someone intrudes on Bernhart during an experiment, who knows what would happen.'

Reynold walks over to the door, takes off the coat hanging on a hook beside it and puts it on, and leaves the room.

'Well, let's go fix whatever mess there is now.'