"Downstairs is a chaotic mess!" Luna said as she ticked off on her finger.
"Is the Eternal Queen here!?" Lina asked.
"The Sad Lady was released and attacked the students." Luna continued as she ticked off another finger, "You got a concussion, thank goodness it was just you that was injured. I'd hate to have to write to a distraught family that their child was killed by a ghost."
"That would never happen!" Amelia jumped in.
Luna cocked an eyebrow at her, "Oh?"
"This school is a bastion of justice, and that noble cause will protect the students within it!" Amelia said.
"As well as it protected my sister?" Luna asked.
Amelia folded her arms across herself and said, "She survived. Even heroes of justice take a beating now and then."
"Sis, please tell me that the Eternal Queen isn't here!" Lina interjected.
"And the children in your charge?" Luna asked.
"They're fine. All of them! I was the only one taking a beating tonight." Lina said.
"How did the Sad Lady get out in the first place?" Luna asked.
"Your concern for me is touching," Lina said with a sigh, "Two of the students were interrogating her, and she said if they'd release the wards she'd show them where treasure was buried."
"Why weren't you watching them more closely?"
Lina blushed as she thought about how she wand Gourry were occupied when the Sad Lady was released, "Look, I can't watch them constantly! I have to sleep! Everyone was tucked away when I went to bed. What am I supposed to do, lock them in their rooms?"
"If it helps you get control of them!"
"But that's not what Miss Lina is wanting them to do." Amelia countered.
"Excuse me?" Luna asked.
"Look, I didn't take down Kanzeil and Dynast by following rules and staying out of locked rooms! I picked locks and let nothing stop me from getting to the bottom of the matter!" Lina defended, "And I don't know how to encourage that need to explore and push limits without introducing them to a bit of risk! Because what I'm training these kids to do, well, they won't be completely safe, will they? Better they learn to be risk takers in a safe environment than out there."
"And it was a student who put the wards back on the Sad Ladies' room!" Amelia added, "It was a practical demonstration of what they will be doing! It was a taste of what waking up to a Mazoku attacking your inn at night will be like."
"For what I need to do I can't run an orderly school with book learning. These kids need practical knowledge. And circumstances provided that on its own." Lina concluded.
Luna nodded, but Lina still couldn't get a feel for what she was thinking. Finally she asked, "Who put the ward back up?"
"Susan. With help from Marcus."
"We will present Susan and Marcus to the Eternal Queen and let them tell her how they did it so she can see the value of your method."
"So she's here." Lina said as she fell back on the pillows.
"Jeeves showed her to the blue guest room."
"You traveled with her in the middle of the night!?" Lina exclaimed.
"We wanted to surprise you." Luna said.
Lina shook her head, "I'm surprised. I'd better get dressed."
"Miss Lina, you're still recovering!" Amelia exclaimed.
"Yes, and I need to save my school." Lina said.
"Get back in bed." Luna said firmly, "I know all about your penchant for attracting trouble, and in an effort to replicate your successes found students with a similar knack. We were expecting as much. So long as you can defend your methods your school is safe."
Lina relaxed slightly as she reflected that she'd gotten Luna on her side, but she was still anxious about the Eternal Queen. Finally Luna said, "I'm going to get some rest. You do so as well. See you at breakfast."
Susan and Marcus hadn't made much of an impression on Lina during their first week. They were both quiet and neither had said much and Lina had assumed that they had been daydreaming through class and had written them off. But as they bowed wide eyed before the Eternal Queen, Lina was glad she had underestimated them.
"So I hear that you saved the night last night." The Eternal Queen commented.
"Yes." Susan said, and then added, "Your Majesty."
"How did you know you could do it?" The Eternal Queen asked.
"I didn't." Susan said, "But Lady Inverse had said something about how you don't know what you're capable of until you do it. And with all of the chaos I didn't want to wait for one of the adults to come down. So I went in."
"Hm." The Eternal Queen said, and then she looked at Marcus, "And you?"
"Well, stuff was flying everywhere. And you can't defend yourself against projectiles while your spell casting. So I figured I'd go in with her to have her back." Marcus smiled, and Lina had to keep from chuckling as she realized that he was smitten with Susan.
The Eternal Queen smiled, "We are pleased with your work. That initiative is what our kingdom needs."
"Thank you." Susan and Marcus said in unison.
"How are you liking it here?" The Eternal Queen asked, and Lina felt her stomach lurch.
"It like it better than the guild I was at." Susan said.
"I'm happy here." Marcus chimed in.
"Good. You may go onto breakfast."
Lina exhaled as they left, and then she watched the Eternal Queen nervously. Her head still ached, but she was doing her best to mask it as she sat at the breakfast table and hoped to get the meeting over with as soon as possible so she could go back to her room and lay down. Yet the queen's next pronouncement did little to relieve Lina's anxiety. "I'm going to have lunch with Adam, Adora and Maeve. And then we'll talk."
Lina bit her tongue and tasted blood. The Eternal Queen was going to make her live with the anxiety for that long!
"If you'll excuse us," Gourry said as he put a hand on Lina's shoulder, "Lina needs some more rest."
"Right." Lina said.
"I understand. Get some good rest." The Eternal Queen said.
Lina was feeling physically better when she sat down to dinner with Gourry, Amelia, Luna and the Eternal Queen for dinner. Fortunately the Eternal Queen wasted little time in declaring, "On the whole I am impressed. The children seem to enjoy their lessons, and you've even managed to arrange for some practical elements, and early in the year. Even if it did result in some destruction."
"It's nothing that can't be repaired." Lina said quickly.
"Indeed." The Eternal Queen agreed. "Carry on for now. There are other matters to discuss. Namely, matters in the Elmekian Empire."
Beside her, Lina felt Gourry tense as the Eternal Queen continued, "Negotiations are under way to destroy Hellmaster's artifact. The Emperor did make a demand that Gourry return to the Elmekian Empire for a trial for stealing the Sword of Light. That was naturally unacceptable. We were surprised the Emperor was interested in the weapon."
"It's how things work in the Elmekian Empire." Gourry said, "In fact the Sword of Light wasn't talked about outside of my family because we didn't want him stealing it. But I guess that secret is out now."
"We are offering other concessions," The Eternal Queen said, "The problem now is that our spies found that an assassin was hired to kill Gourry."
"What!?" Lina exclaimed.
"Since Gourry has no children, by Elmekian law his possessions would go to his blood relatives, rather than his widow."
Lina shook her head, "What kind of a screwy system is that?"
"If a man dies before he fathers children, then his families' heirlooms go back to his family." Gourry explained, "But if he dies and they go to his wife and she remarries, then they go to a rival family."
Lina exhaled, "But we're not in the Elmekian Empire."
"The assassin is tasked with recovering the Blast Sword and bringing it back to Gourry's family in the Elmekian Empire."
"And they really think an assassin would stand a chance against us?" Lina asked.
"Does my mother know about this?" Gourry asked, his voice oddly flat.
"We don't know." Luna said.
"It's about wearing me down." Gourry said. "She knows that I don't want to fight and kill. Especially if a cousin or other blood relative decides to give it a shot."
"You don't think your mother would…" Amelia whispered.
"It is what it is." Gourry said as he stood up and walked over to the Eternal Queen. Quietly he unsheathed his sword and then grasped it by both ends before the Eternal Queen. "I hope that the Kingdom of Zeferia will accept this gift."
"Gourry!" Lina exclaimed as felt her jaw drop, "What are you doing?"
"If the Blast Sword belongs to the Kingdom of Zeferia, then it would become an act of war if my family attempted to steal it." He explained.
The Eternal Queen regarded him coolly, and then she took the sword. "I will take it to Zefiel City and make a public announcement. And when you next visit, we will return it to you for safe keeping."
Lina exhaled as she put her hands to her temple and took a moment to collect her feelings before she asked, "But will this be enough to call off the hit on Gourry?"
"Hopefully." The Eternal Queen said. "Given the situation, this is one of many where we're seeing who blinks."
"What else is going wrong?" Lina asked.
The Eternal Queen smiled sadly, "Communication between the Kingdom of Dils and the Elmekian Empire has increased. And the indications are that they are making an alliance."
"You don't think that Mazoku have infiltrated the Elmekian Empire as well?" Lina asked.
"No, but I believe the Emperor would ally himself with them if it meant expanding the borders of his empire." The Eternal Queen explained. "What are your thoughts, Gourry?"
"I agree." He said.
"Then how can we know that they are serious about destroying Hellmaster's device?" Lina asked.
"That's where the team that we discussed earlier is coming in." The Eternal Queen explained. "They have been given orders to steal it."
Lina bit her lip, and wondered what she was doing managing a school when all of this was going on. And while her students were certainly precocious, she still could not fathom sending them out to deal with this. They were even younger than she was when she left home for one thing. It felt as though by the time they would finally be ready to fight it would be too late.
And then an idea struck Lina. She held onto it. In a situation such as this, it would be better to ask for forgiveness than permission.
Gourry was stoned faced as they walked into the bedroom. Quietly he sat on the couch and took off his boots. "How mad are you about the sword?" he asked quietly.
"Oh, honey." Lina said as she sat beside him and put a hand on his back, "Well, I was mad at first, before I realized what you were doing. But that was actually a good plan. I know that the Eternal Queen will give it back to you even if you're just keeping it safe for her."
She felt him relax a bit beneath her. "I just feel like such an idiot." He said.
"Since when does that bother you?" she asked teasingly, hoping to evoke a laugh from him.
"Since I put us all in danger!" he said, "Letting the spotlight fall on us? Just painted a target on me. And any children we have."
"You really think they would target children?" she asked.
He didn't say anything, he just sat there in ominous silence. She shook her head. "I guess I now know a bit about what you went through when Zuuma targeted me. And look, we defeated the most fearsome assassin together. We can handle whatever else they send our way."
"We can. A baby can't defend himself." Gourry said.
Lina sighed, "So, what do you want to do? Wait till it's safe? Because I don't know when it will be safe. Even if your family isn't targeting you for the Blast Sword, a lot of people have a lot of reasons to want to see us dead or hurt us."
"I've lost my family once before." He said quietly as his voice trailed off.
Lina looked at him, alarmed, "Well, it won't happen again! You didn't have me then, and you do now. So stop worrying about all you could lose and start thinking about what you can gain, and then don't let anything stop you from getting it!"
He smiled a little, but it didn't seem to reach his eyes. Still, he grabbed her hand. "I'm glad I have you."
She put her free hand over his as he kissed her on the forehead. "How's your head?" he asked.
"It's all healed up. Amelia knows what she's doing." Lina said.
"Good. I'm going to take a bath. You go ahead and rest up some more, just to be on the safe side."
But as Lina watched him as he walked away, she couldn't dismiss the feeling that something had broken within him and that he was pushing her away.