After what seemed like an eventful day, Nathan and his friends got a surprise encounter with an unwelcome schoolmate, William Beaumont.
"How's it going, everyone? You all seem very lively this afternoon."
Ariel responds,
"We were doing just fine before we noticed the school's rodent problem."
"(snickers) My, my. The daughter of a fallen baroness suddenly starts to talk big. Try to make your house a bit more honorable before embarrassing yourself."
"(angrily) What the fuck did you say?!"
Seraphina tried to calm the situation down,
"Let's both relax, we're all still in school."
"Bleh, do you even hear yourself sometimes. Stop it with the goodie-two-shoes act… It's getting annoying."
Nathan walked forward to his provoking schoolmate and asked,
"What do you want?"
William tilted his head and answered,
"Huh? I can try to dismiss the girl's disrespect, but a commoner thinking he can intervene is another thing entirely."
Noah heard his remark and walked up as well, beside Nathan, and asked,
"Well, I'm a commoner too. So, what will you do now?"
William's gang went in front of him, and Noah snarked and said,
"So, what do we call you lot, the 4 horseshits?"
William pushed his gang back and yelled,
"Do you both want to go right here, right now, huh?!"
Nathan and Noah held their stances against William and his gang. The whole school witnessed their face-off, eagerly awaiting the first strike, until it was broken off by the school's student council, consisting of Oscar Beaumont, Eleanor Ravencroft, Steven Brant, and Mary Montgomery.
William frustratingly pulled away for a moment and asked them,
"Aren't there any first years that need their hands held today?"
Oscar replied,
"William, do you really want to cause a problem the one time the school starts doubling down on security?"
"Ha, isn't it prohibited for student council members to give special treatment to other students? Why are you presuming that I started this? What about them?"
Noah threateningly tried to walk up to William, but Nathan held him back and told him to calm down. William used this to his advantage and took the opportunity to make them look bad.
"You see? I feel so uncertain of whether or not I'll be safe every time I walk past those gates."
Oscar looked at Nathan, confused about what to do in order to ensure the matter is resolved without taking sides, but then Eleanor intervened,
"Mr. Beaumont, may I ask you a question?"
"Huh?"
"You said that Nathan and Noah threatened you, and that made you feel unsafe."
William responds with a smile on his face,
"Yes, exactly."
"I see…."
Eleanor began to ponder his statement, which worried William as if it didn't add up.
"What the hell are you even thinking about?"
"It's nothing. But I do have a follow-up question."
"What is it now?"
"Were you afraid that Noah was going to hurt you, as well as Nathan?"
William takes a moment after hearing the question and angrily clenches his fists.
"What did you just say?!"
"There is no need to be furious, Mr. Beaumont; it's just that I find it hard to believe that they were to attack you in front of the school, even outnumbered as well."
"(angry) I am not afraid of him."
Eleanor smirked after hitting a nerve.
"Oh, really, why did you say, 'him'? Is it Noah? Or is it, Nathan?"
"You bitch-."
Nathan cut William's path to Eleanor and said this while piercing his gaze with a cold, dead stare,
"I have no problem fighting you, William… just know that I didn't start it."
Oscar rushed in between them and diffused the situation. Told the two of them to go back to class; otherwise, this would be taken to the headmaster.
William reluctantly left with his gang, followed by a tired sigh from Oscar. He then turned his attention to Nathan and said,
"First day back, and I had to break off a fight with you and William."
Nathan responded to him,
"Would you have preferred it if he made fun of Ariel?"
"What?"
Ariel jumped into their conversation and said,
"I didn't want your help. I would've been just fine dealing with him on my own."
"Come on, Ari, I couldn't let that weasel talk shit to you guys or me."
The school bell rang for the end of recess. Seraphina loudly clapped her hands to snap everyone out of it and said that they should all head on off to class and continue later.
And so, the remaining school day ends in a breeze after the confrontation, along with Nathan catching up on all the work he has missed all this time. He walked off to the gate after a tiring day to see Noah waiting for him.
"Hey, Noah."
"Hey, how was your first day back?"
"(chuckles) Is that a rhetorical question?"
"I guess that's my answer."
"Do you know why they had to investigate the classes?"
"You noticed it too, huh. Guess the school felt pressured after Captain Cedric paid a visit to the headmaster today."
Nathan stopped in the middle of their walk.
"Noah, did Captain Cedric come here alone?"
"Not really alone, but he came with a few imperial guards. Why'd you ask?"
Nathan looked around and told Noah that they should keep walking faster.
"You're starting to scare me, Nate. Why are you in a hurry?"
"Can't explain everything on the way, so let's head over to my place, and I'll tell you everything."
"Try to summarize it, just give the important details."
"Fine. Do you remember that water mage I fought before?"
"It's kind of hard to forget."
"Turned out that they know there's a terrorist organization as of late. Seems like they believed I'm involved with them."
"How do they know?"
"They asked Prof. Nowell about my whereabouts."
"They already got to him. And what did he say?"
"He told them I wasn't involved."
"And they believed him?"
"Captain Ravencroft and Prof. Nowell seemed to know each other."
Nathan told him all that had happened in the castle's dungeon. They arrived at Nathan's front door, and Noah asked,
"Who's the guy they held hostage?"
"I'll tell you inside."
Nathan opened the door to see his mother making tea in the kitchen. They both went in to check on who the guest was, only for it to be his father sitting on the chair. He turned to see the two boys in confusion, smiled, and said,
"Hey, son, who's your friend?"