Unmotivated Deity

Jien had his own thoughts regarding the late arrivals. His best guess was that they were those of the appropriate age that had managed to run, slipping through the grasp of the academy when they were meant to be brought here. The four years of academy starting at age fifteen were not optional, every child of appropriate age was required by law to attend unless they physically were not able to, mainly being comatose or dead.

Those that were I'll would be brought to the academy, healed and trained. If the illness were chronic it would be treated and they would be trained up to the maximum amount they could handle without suffering permanent harm and then set on a path that would work with whatever illness they had. If the child was disabled it would be a case by case basis but none would escape the initial process and the academy would try to accommodate all cases.

What surprised Jien at all, if these were indeed those that were able to run, was the fact that they could slip by the academy's reach. It was unknown how it worked but it was known that every youth would be registered with the academy at birth, whether the birth was secret, whether nobody was ever told, even if the child died minutes after birth. This was an eerie fact in many respects and unsettled a great number of those that knew but it was indeed a truth.

After birth and logging the academy would be able to track the children throughout their life. Of course this means wasn't used until the child came of age and only if needed. Jien didn't know the reasons for it but it was in the academy guidelines book that he had found in his temporary quarters and was currently reading while using personal library so he could maintain the knowledge indefinitely.

The answer to his thoughts came early the next day as he peered out the window of his small room that was shared with Barret. He still had the academy guidelines in his hand and was sitting on the simple bed. It was during this time, when the sun had just managed to rise fully above the horizon that a man in an academy uniform but with a thick black chain across the front of his suit jacket walked behind a solitary figure, keeping his eyes on them at all times as if he feared they would evaporate if he took his eyes off them.

The person in question was a girl, her body lithe, tanned and toned. She appeared to have short brown hair but from the distance between them he couldn't tell many other physical details. She did not wear the academy uniform, instead wearing a simple linen dress that hung off her shoulders, looking no better than if someone had cut holes in a potato sack for her arms and head to fit through. She held something in her arms that was about one and a half her height and thin. Jien couldn't tell what it was exactly but thought it may be some kind of walking stick, though the way the girl carried it, almost cradling it like her child was definitely odd.

As he continued to peer out the window at the mysterious girl and the pair of student and faculty were approaching the building she had apparently noticed his gaze. Her head turned sharply and Jien's cool green eyes met her own light brown eyes, eyes that carried such an intensity that he could have sworn that if they were on a battlefield she would have done anything to rip his intestines out and feed them to him.

A chill ran down his spine at the intensity of that stare but he didn't break eye contact. Instead it was the girl who turned her head sharply once more, facing it back to the front as if nothing happened. The walking pair made their way past the building and everything calmed down once again. He returned to his reading as if nothing had happened, having already made it through three quarters of the book with Personal Library.

By the time noon rolled around he had finally made it through the entire book. His reserves of mana were quite low after casting the spell repeatedly but he felt that the guidelines would be important to his future here at the academy. Having a firm grasp of them as soon as he could was of great importance.

The moment noon rolled around everyone was aware of it. Not only did the bell atop the spire in the Central Plaza ring with a silvery chime but the pockets that Jien and Barret had their pocket watches suddenly lit up with a silver light. The two took no time to remove the watches from their pockets and inspect them.

They noticed that the light was leaking from the seam of the watch, not from the outer shell. They opened their watches at the same time with a click and were met with a single alphanumeric shining in the lid of the watch. Jien looked at his before turning it to Barret and Barret doing the same. They saw the same number their, breathing a sigh of relief for themselves before rushing out of the room to see if anyone else in the building had the same unit.

The unit was B114.