The academy wasn't completely deserted.
Aegis passed a handful of students on her way through the east wing. A girl muttering incantations into a spellbook like it owed her money. Two boys sparring clumsily in an empty classroom. A cluster of scholarship students huddled in the library, probably cramming for next semester already.
[Some people have nowhere to go. Others would rather grind than vacation. I respect it.]
She checked the common room. Empty. Peeked into one of the lecture halls. Nothing but dust motes floating in the sunlight.
She wasn't looking for just anyone, though. She had someone specific in mind.
Kanna Greaves. Grey-haired, stoic, and built like someone had taken "warrior woman" as a character creation prompt and maxed out every physical stat. The woman who'd beaten Scarlett in the Winter Trials without breaking a sweat.
[If I'm building a house worth a damn, I need fighters. Real ones. And Kanna's as real as they come.]
