Vol 6 Chapter 2 (1/2)

Chapter 2: The Supervisor

My favorite part about being in the newspaper club?

The fact that things aren’t as dull as they used to be

To be perfectly honest, I found life at the 4th Capital Secondary School tremendously dull

Primary school was es of six and 12, I was free to fool around without a second thought

I wasn’t particularly disinclined toup

But secondary school was painfully peaceful

Students attended secondary school for the sole purpose ofthat its population was composed mostly of the sa, froh I ories

Primary school was different

It was a storm, a chaotic and eclectic mix of students both studious and lazy, well-mannered and delinquent, wealthy and impoverished

It was

And for two years afterwards I lived a dull life attending classes in secondary school

There was one exceptional moment, however

One particular day, a male student whose score I beat in equestrian class—hmm, I don’t seeet angry with me

The faceless class since childhood and stood head and shoulders above the rest of us His technique with the reins was un classes

But his horse unfortunately happened to hesitate during the test, which resulted in a rather subpar grade

It seeive hiive hest grade that day

After the class, he draggedassistance for cleaning, and raised his voice at me

“I’m better than you, dammit!”

“Admit to the whole class that you’re inferior!”

“Tell them you messed with my horse!”

“Drop out of class and don’t coain!”

He raved like a drunkard All things in moderation is key, especially when it comes to alcohol and pride

Convincing him verbally would have been entirely too much effort, so I resorted to the stick that happened to be lying around —I’d noticed its presence fro, but let’s say I hadn’t

“I’ll sue you!” He howled afterwards Indeed, that was a valid option for him

All I did was send hi four or so tiain each of those times proved that he wasn’t heavily injured

I first began learning the staff ten years before that point (I still have no idea why my sisters first took up the art) I knew very here to strike in order to break bone

“I aot! Dammit, I am not a loser!”

It was alhts of his pride, but I was at a loss

“No one’s a better rider than me!”

I sighed What was I to do with a frustrated faceless classmate as half in tears? That hen another classmate, named Seron Maxwell, happened to walk in to put away some equipment And he solved the situation

That hen I learned that cleverness and conversational skills were more powerful weapons than violence Thanks to Seron, I neither dropped out nor ended up in court

“You were really good,” Seron remarked at the end

How long had he been watching? That he had chosen to hang back without trying to intervene until the end also spoke for his personality He ood impression on me

And that was the sole exception to my dull secondary school life, until I joined the newspaper club

The newspaper club punctuated my peaceful days with excitement

First was the incident in the basement with the mysterious man and thesurprises lie in wait right beneath our noses

Then came the case of the drama club president and vice-president’s mutual crushes Their love came to fruition before our very eyes

Then cas that took place during our trip to the north I could not eh I would never ad from

Then cairl’s crush on Larry, which turned out to be the tale of a secret love forbidden by the chains of the past Larry and Seron elegantly brought the case to a close

Looking forward to the next point of excitement in life, I headed to the newspaper club office on the first school day after the fall performance It was after school on the 8th

Indeed, there was a surprise waiting for me

A rather big surprise

Everyone but Jenny was at the office by the time I arrived

Jenny’s absence was not surprising, as she was often the last to arrive

Seron, Larry, Nat, Megmica, and I chatted about the fall performance that had taken place two days prior

I had been on stage, Nat in the orchestra pit, Meg the audience taking tickets and ushering the audience to their seats

My perforh iteither

The surprise came later

Jenny opened the door

“Guys, let me introduce our new supervisor!”

I was stunned into silence

So were the others

Larry’s hand stopped in the

Seron’s eyes ide I had never seen hi at me

Megmica blinked rapidly, unable to believe her eyes

“What’s wrong? You guys look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Jenny said with a se about the faces we made

After all, the taciturnbehind her was none other than Mr Mark Murdoch

He had lost quite a bit of weight—he was still quite portly, however—but he ithout a doubt Mr Murdoch There was nohim

Jenny broke the silence in the office, leaving Mr Murdoch standing in the hall

“Well, we need a supervisor if ant to be an official club School rules It was hard h So noe have Mr Murdoch here as our new supervisor,” she explained briskly, “I’m sure I don’t need to introduce you to him”

Oh, Jenny What a superfluous question We all knew full ho Mr Murdoch was and the fact that he was responsible for the incident early this summer

Mr Murdoch, who had found that his brother—who had gonethe Lestki Island Conflict—was in fact alive in Sou Be-Il, had hidden theback decades’ worth of his military pension And he had even atteh how serious he had been is still a matter of debate

Suffice to say, it was a shock to see him back at school

“Why so surprised?” Jenny asked, as though she had read uy in the basement wasn’t Burt Murdoch”

Which is what the official records should say, at any rate

Then what of Mr Murdoch’s crier from cross-river in the school basement?

Jenny seeain

“And apparently the Westerner wasn’t brought against his will He lived in the basement cause he felt like it”

I must say that is an impressive lie

Then ulti school property for personal purposes And if Mr Hartnett from the Confederation Police didn’t inforht

More importantly, it would look bad for the Confederation Police if they took such a trivial case to court, after going so far as to sneak into a secondary school undercover

“Any questions for me or our new supervisor?” Jenny asked

The first to reply—the first to regain his ability to speak—was Seron

“Yes”

“Yes, Seron?”

Seron looked Mr Murdoch in the eye

I looked at Seron

At ti into a sculpture This was one such moment

Naturally, I don’t believe for a second that Seron is without eht

“Mr Murdoch, why did you continue to insist the man was your brother?”

Mr Murdoch tilted his head stoically And he shot back, “what do you mean?”

“When the Confederation Police was questioning you, you would have been informed by the Sou Be-Il embassy that the man officially wasn’t your brother”

“H-how did you know that?”