Hitori seldom found himself waiting in the sparse room that lead into the Headmaster’s office. He tried to avoid situations where that would be necessary. That wasn’t to say he hadn’t spent a fair amount of time around the Headmaster.

Mr. Foster started a special training course for every student in a leadership position. Something like a mentoring mentorship. It had been a very… challenging program, though not in the same way as his other classes. The process was simple in theory and hard in practice.

And also completely absurd. That sniveling wretch has a lot of nerve acting like he has the right…

Hitori found himself in this room today because the leader of a mysterious organization believed he was some invincible warrior. No doubt under the influence of his mother’s infamous reputation. He felt profoundly envious of his classmates with unremarkable ancestry.

Bridget never had to deal with stuff like this. Her family might have been wealthy, but they were farmers. She was probably the better candidate for the job too.

Please. The Pork Princess has nothing on me.

Hitori was currently sharing the waiting room with Reaper’s second in command… or his personal assistant? He wasn’t sure. In any case, Virgil was sitting across from him. He would occasionally make like he wanted to say something but thought better of it. Hitori still couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling he got whenever he looked at him.

You could if you decapitated him like I wanted to.

On the other side of the nearby door Reaper and Mr. Foster were discussing whatever plan the leader of the Templar had for Dr. Magnus, as well as what part he himself might play. Not that he tried to eavesdrop, but it turned out the Headmaster’s office was soundproofed, or the pair spoke only in hushed tones.

Either way, Hitori wasn’t prepared when the door opened to reveal Mr. Gustaf, who looked at him and said, “Come in, my boy.” When Virgil stood as well, he added, “Just Hitori.”

Hitori walked into the room and the Headmaster closed the door behind him. Sitting in a chair near the large desk was a woman he didn’t recognize. She had light brown hair, and watched him with bright green eyes. Her face looked Duroterran, though her skin was a shade darker than average.

“Ah, Reaper, Hitori, I believe you’ve met,” Mr. Gustaf said, motioning to the woman and Hitori respectively.

“Wait, what?” Hitori tried unsuccessfully to contain his surprise. Reaper shifted her eyes away, a touch more color came to her cheeks. “Wh-why?” Was all he managed to blurt out.

“If you’re concealing your identity, there’s no point correcting a mistaken assumption about your sex,” she said.

Hitori shook his head. “But I still don’t have any idea who you are.”

“That would be the point, no?”

Mr. Gustaf laughed. “She’s a wee pert lass, ain’t she?” He ushered Hitori into a chair across from the woman, then loitered nearby.

Hitori continued to stare, questions churning in his mind, the foremost of which was, “But why though?” When Reaper gave him a confused look, he added, “I mean, why take off your hood now?”

She motioned to Mr. Foster. “He insisted.”

“A mercenary should never do business with a fellow who can take off a mask and pretend to be someone different,” he said. “Right terrible way to make money, that is.”

He makes a good point, kid, much as I hate to admit it. It’s hard to collect from a mystery.

“Still, I’m surprised you went for it,” Hitori said.

“Ay, the dear girl is quite desperate for your help, my boy,” Mr. Gustaf said. “I must say, I always knew you had potential, but taking down a Sandworm on your lonesome was quite the feat. Even Bridget would be impressed.”

“It was a total fluke, sir,” Hitori said. “Or at least it wasn’t something I can do on command. I’m still not convinced I was responsible.”

You’re more right than you know.

“Have you ever tried,” Reaper said. Hitori looked at her. “To do it on command. M- uh, I mean, I have reason to believe you should be capable of controlling it.”

“Controlling what?”

Reaper stared at him thoughtfully. “I am not sure I could explain. Perhaps if you simply attempted you could see for yourself?”

Hitori watched her a long while, confused and perhaps a little annoyed.

“Ah, it won’t hurt to indulge the young miss,” Mr. Gustaf said.

Hitori sighed and stood up. “Alright, I’ll give it a go. I’m not sure what you expect, so don’t go acting surprised if nothing happens.”

Alright kiddo, here’s the moment. I need to you make a little effort for me.

He drew his sword and held it near his face in a casual stance. As he focused on the blade, he thought about any times he felt something strange happened. Obviously, there was the incident with the Sandworm, then the time in the Training Center with Brutus. He also supposed there might have been one or two times with the spiders in Wychwood Forest.

Actually, maybe Reaper was on to something. He did seem to have quite a few surprise victories. There were also some times when his reflexes were a little too good, or his opponents reacted a bit slower than expected.

Was there something strange about him?

Yeah, for starters, you always ignore your aunt Mihari. Or did you mean like some kind of special ability?

Hitori took a deep breath, then made a quick slash with his sword. Cause then, technically, yes. To his astonishment the world crawled to a stop before his eyes. Everything was perfectly silent and still. He tried turning his head, to see what Mr. Foster and Reaper were doing, but found his body totally unresponsive.

He could, at least, feel the grip on his sword, and even various points of light pressure on his skin, where he supposed the motion of his arm pulled in his shirt. He also had a vague impression of sound. It wasn’t quite that he could hear anything, but rather on some level he knew what sounds were in the environment. There was a rustle of air from the vent, the faint whistle of the wind outside. Some kind of thump? Maybe a heart mid-beat.

The next question then, was, how did he stop it?

It felt like hours to learn control, though it couldn’t have been more than a split second. In any case, he was immensely relieved when his sword finally completed its arc.

“Ah, something happened, didn’t it?” Reaper said. Her tone carried a hint of excitement.

“Is something wrong, my boy?” Mr. Gustaf said. He walked to Hitori and patted him on the back.

Hitori shook his head and looked around. He wasn’t stiff at all, surprisingly, but it was very nice to move again. After shaking his limbs out for the sake of it, he said, “I think I’m fine, but it’s… a little hard to explain.”

“Like a moment frozen in time?” Reaper said. Her eyes burned with strange intensity.

How does she know about that? I’m sure I never even told Virgil how it was.

“Uh, yeah, actually,” Hitori said. “How did you know?” He turned to face her, and noticed Mr. Foster did as well.

“I- ah, have my sources,” Reaper said. She blushed and turned aside.

“I don’t like clients keeping so many secrets from me,” Mr. Gustaf said.

Reaper looked down and mumbled, “It’s not mine to share.”

“It’s fine,” Hitori said.

Not sure I agree, but I can’t scare her off so we’ll let it be.

“Very well,” Mr. Gustaf said. “If he’s fine with it, I can let it slide.”

“Ah, perfect,” Reaper said. “Then, if Hitori is willing to help, I’d like to go over the plan.”

Yes, do it. You’ll be perfect. Trust me.

Hitori considered the offer. He wasn’t without misgivings, but couldn’t shake a good feeling about it. “Alright, count me in.”