Chapter 1467 (1/2)

Miss Gertrude Collins was having an extremely wonderful twenty-four hours. The previous night she had met with Derek Moss and had a lovely steak dinner. Afterward, they had gone on a walk with Tim and allowed the pre-teen to talk excitedly about his training with Randidly Ghosthound. Apparently, they would soon be traveling far to the South to choose a small chunk of land for Tim himself to engrave. So Gertrude had delightedly answered Tim’s questions about the most aesthetically pleasing landscapes.

At the end of the date, Derek had squeezed her hands a little too tightly and given her a lingering peck on the lips that had Gertrude practically floating home. Along the way, she scolded herself playfully for behaving like she was one of the children she taught but couldn’t shake the stupid grin from her face.

One unexpected positive about the System was that you weren’t obligated to even make an attempt to fall asleep in order to be functioning the next day; you would probably function fine with or without sleep. So then Gertrude allowed herself to experience a hormone-fueled explosion of lesson plan production that often deviated into slightly scandalous daydreaming. The lesson plans were a project that had been half-finished for several weeks, so she was quite pleased to make a sizeable dent in it.

And the reason that Gertrude stopped working on that project was not that she ran out of steam, but rather that the smell of raspberry scones from the bakery next door wafted in through her open window early the next morning. She then went to the window and leaned out of the street, breathing deeply through her nose. A few passing moss spirits noticed her and made a beeline for Gertrude, spinning playfully around her head.

So with moss spirits in tow, she walked down and bought herself several fresh-from-the-oven baked goods. She kept them in a wicker basket until she left the shop and then began to rapidly devour everything she had bought.

By the end of the street, her basket was empty and Gertrude shook her head ruefully. An unexpected negative from the System was how quickly you could finish an amount of food that would have been perfectly satisfactory before the System. But still, she supposed it was balanced out by the fact that your body was impossibly efficient at burning fat.

Then she toured the parks where Kharon’s huge throng of students was being taught, pleased to see that engagement had tripled from its previous levels based on the recommendations she and other education experts had given to Kharon’s government. Teachers put on demonstrations and the students gathered around to watch and ask questions. Gertrude had walked around and helped where she could, finally feeling like what she did here truly mattered.

Then she had a lovely lunch of cucumber sandwiches with Tatiana, at which she had confessed that she still sometimes felt… a little starstruck when she was interacting with Randidly. Tatiana had rolled her eyes, poured Gertrude a tall coffee, and then began to tell her the story of the night that she and Randidly first met.

“I don’t mind admitting that at that time, I was the head of a group of high-end escorts servicing Zone 1’s elite,” Tatiana had said. “And Randidly was making big waves in the metal smelting circles across the entire Zone. So I was brought in to try and schmooze him. I had planned to make conversation with him, but he stayed locked up in a sunroom with two of the older metalworkers and just talked about chemical reactions and melting points for most of the night. By the time he had finished, the party was winding down and most of the other people were spreading apart. And then, right as I try talking to him-”

Tatiana gestured like she was throwing something underhand. “Somepne attacked with a Mana grenade. And Randidly’s attention switched so fast from me to that bomb that I knew exactly how little of an impression I had made on him. And the intensity of his gaze as he looked at the grenade… Calm as a cucumber, Randidly grabbed the unstable bomb out of the air and tossed it into the pool: we were at a penthouse suite. The resulting explosion destroyed the pool and ruined several of the floors of the building. The owner was livid.

“And Randidly Ghosthound walked away as though this was the most normal thing in the world. At that time, violence wasn’t quite as… normalized as it is now. So while most people were still fleeing and in shock from the explosion, he had returned to work. I think the next day he developed the schematics for a new drone. The attack didn’t even register on his radar. That’s just who he is.”

Gertrude had scratched her cheek and responded dryly, “...This isn’t making me feel any less nervous about meeting him.”

Waving a hand airly, Tatiana laughed. “Just know that Randidly Ghosthound does indeed possess the male trait that his ears are tuned to several specific subjects and very few others. At the same time, he is currently using his hands-on knowledge to guide Kharon, the Order Ducis, and by extension, the rest of the world, to the use of images. I understand that you are nervous about this meeting regarding the Academy Keystones, but practically, it means that Randidly will be very focused on the details of this project to further his own goals. As long as you don’t say anything outlandish, his attention won’t actually be focused on you. He will be very sure of his own ideas.”

As Gertrude considered this and nibbled on another sandwich, Tatiana shook her head helplessly. “I’ll be honest, by the end of it you might want him to focus on you a bit more. The great Randidly Ghosthound has a habit of making broad and grand goals without considering the details of how such things will be accomplished. I can assure you that your meeting will simply involve Randidly dumping a lot of work on your plate and then leaving to train.”

So despite her nerves regarding the meeting, Gertrude Collins was having a great day. She arrived five minutes early in the small terrace on the Western edge of Kharon where Randidly Ghosthound had agreed to meet her and was somewhat embarrassed to see that he was already there. And true to Tatiana’s word, he didn’t seem to notice Gertrude until she arrived next to his table.

“Oh good, you are here. Sit down,” The Ghosthound said, nodding toward a chair. After she had sat, the Ghosthound steepled his fingers. His expression was serious and his eyes were bright as he looked directly at Gertrude. “As the Keystones will be the guidelines to shape a student’s paths, they are critically important to Kharon Academy’s development. The identity of the Keystones will shape everything that follows. So… what are your ideas for the ideological flaws to address here?”

“Eh?” Gertrude Collins blinked. She shifted slightly in her seat. The combination of the intensity of Randidly’s gaze and her rising heart rate meant that it took a few seconds to catch up with what he was saying. And in the end, what he was saying was that Tatiana had been very wrong about this meeting.

Some part of Gertrude Collins began to panic. Why had she spent last night drawing up lessonplans?!?!

The Ghosthound reached up and rubbed the back of his neck. Some of the tensenesses in the air fell away. “Unfortunately, I was rather… indisposed yesterday due to some of my training. I’ve recovered now, but I haven’t had the chance to consider the issue fully yet. So, I thought a brainstorming session might be useful. Have any ideas?”

“Eh?”

Randidly sat and waited for Gertrude to gather herself well enough to answer. Her mouth was very dry.

*****

“You’ve fought them before, right? And beat ‘em, the way I heard it. What’s eatin’ ya then?” Hank drawled. He leaned back so far that his chair was only on two legs, with his cowboy boots up on the table. Currently, he looked entirely too pleased with himself.

Alana didn’t answer for a while, instead pushing open the windows to the balcony of the small room they were currently sharing. The cool winter air felt good on her skin, pushing at her partially buttoned shirt and cooling her sweat. Then she stretched a hand out the window and made a fist. The surrounding air stirred with the weight of her image. Even her fist had meaning.