Chapter 5 Basque - Invasion

A second bang and another thud reverberated from the hallway. It wasn't the sound of slamming doors, the sounds were too "meaty". It wasn't the sound of wood-on-wood, but rather flesh-on-flesh or person-on-wood. Basque knew the sound of fighting and rushed to the door. Fawna followed behind him. Reianna's door remained firmly shut.

The hallway was chaos. A boy with dark blue hair lay slumped against the wall. Blood ran down the side of his face from a gash somewhere in his hair. The boy was Malcalm, one of Basque’s students.

A group of boys stood over Malcalm, but they didn’t look at him. They looked down the hallway at the other students gathered there or who were sticking their heads out of rooms.

“Hear this, you broken elevators!” the boy who stood in the middle of the attackers said. The boy was a giant compared to the other students. He was so massive that Basque could only tell he was a first-year by the emblem pinned to his tight-fitting suit.

The bully had fiery-orange hair and green eyes that skipped over Basque’s presence as the boy stared down the others. “You will be the ones Headmaster talked about dying! I’ll see to—”

“You!” Basque said to the ringleader. “Stay right there. Do not move.” Rushing over to the unmoving boy, Basque checked for his vitals. Malcam was alive, but the injury was severe.

He felt Fawna’s presence behind him. He glanced behind him at her. Reianna was peeking out from behind their door. She was the second closest of his students to the scene.

“Miss Fawna, Miss Reianna.”

Reianna jumped. Fawna took a step closer and grabbed Basque’s robe. “Huh? Yes, Gerenet-Shr?”

“Would you and Miss Reianna please go get the nurse?”

“The nurse?” Fawna asked.

Basque nodded. “There’s one on the first floor in this wing.”

“Understood, sir.” Fawna let go of Basque. Seconds later, he heard the mid-hall stairwell door open and close. Basque didn’t take his eyes off the large brute of a boy and his two lackeys.

“Now, student. May I have the honor of knowing your name?” The boy’s groupies looked at each other and fiddled with the hems of their coats. He didn’t recognize any of the three, which meant they weren’t his students, but their emblems did show that they were first-years.

“What—”

“Your name?”

“Who—”

“Your. Name.”

“I have—”

“Name. Now.”

One of the boy’s friends leaned over and whispered in his ear, “Lavrence, just tell him. This guy took down Krill the Sword like it was nothing.”

“Lavrence. That wasn’t so difficult. Thank you, Lavrence’s friend. I will be needing your name as well.”

Lavrence gave his friend a look that promised death later, then looked at Basque. “You have no right to speak to us. We’re not in your class and you’re not Kruamian.”

Basque crossed his arms. “Lavrence, I am a teacher. You are a student. That is what defines our relationship. I speak, you learn.”

“Come on, guys, let’s get out of here,” Lavrence said to his friends and turned.

Basque’s hand shot out and gripped Lavrence’s shoulder. The boy tried to rip free, but Basque’s grip didn’t budge. Lavrence’s eyes went wide, as if he wasn’t used to someone being able to restrain him. Basque could believe it. Lavrence was already as big as some adults, and his shoulder was thick with muscles.

“I did not give you permission to leave. While my homeland of Hianbru might not have the same societal structure that yours does, Teacher-Speak-Student-Listen is still there.

“We will wait here until the girls return with the nurse. Then the four of us will head to the teacher’s wing and discuss what sort of punishment you will receive.”

Lavrence struggled again, but Basque’s grip stayed firm. “Punishment? Come off it, outwaller. You know nothing and have no power here. Now let go before I get angry.”

Basque didn’t loosen his grip.

“How are you going to punish us for self-defense, anyway?”

“Self-defense?” Basque couldn’t keep the incredulity from his voice. “You bullied and assaulted a classmate.”

“Classmate?! Don’t you dare put me down with these worms.”

Basque opened his mouth to respond when Fawna, Reianna, and a man with aubergine hair came in from the Grand Entrance Hall door, not the side stairwell.

“Are you the nurse?” Basque asked.

“Hendrix,” the aubergine-haired man answered. He pushed through the students and knelt down next to Malcalm. Everyone watched as the nurse inspected the unconscious boy. “I need to get him down to my office.” The nurse picked him up in his arms.

“Is he safe to move?” Basque asked.

“Yes.” Nurse Hendrix hurried off with Malcalm.

“Miss Fawna, Miss Reianna, please go with him.”

“Yes, sir,” Fawna said. Reianna didn’t say anything, but she obeyed.

The hallway was more crowded than earlier as students in this section peeked out from behind their doors to watch everything.

“Now, Mister Lavrence, let’s head out and we’ll get a Kruamian teacher to help us with your punishment.” Basque kept his hand on Lavrence’s shoulder and gave it a nudge towards the main hall entrance that the nurse had just left through.

Once they were in the outcropping and headed towards the stairs, Basque said, “I know Mister Lavrence’s name, but I still do not have the pleasure of knowing the names of my other two morning running companions.”

“Morning running companions?”

“Yes, for the next six months.”

“What are you talking about?”

“That’s the punishment that I’m going to request. I do not tolerate bullying.”

Lavrence laughed. “I already told you, it wasn’t bullying, it was self-defense.”

“Self-defense? And that little speech that I interrupted was…?”

“A warning to all these little Yanis gathered around that we will stand up for ourselves against their attacks, isn’t that right, Mascle?”

The boy who’d whispered in Laverence’s ear spoke up. “Oh, uhh, yeah!”

“Stand up to them by coming to their rooms?”

“Yeah! So, you can’t punish us as it was self-defense!”

Basque fell silent. He was too busy swallowing his anger over their pathetic lies to say anything more. There was no doubt in Basque’s mind that the three of them had come to Class E’s dorm hall with the intent to threaten and harm his students, the children he’d so boastfully told Natt he could and would protect.

When he got to the teachers' hall, he opened the door for the students. The cheeky grin on Lavrence’s face sent another rush of anger flashing through Basque. He led the boys to a guidance room and, as he opened the door, silently hoped Natt wasn’t passed out inside. Fortunately, it was empty.

“Sit and wait here.”

Lavrence gave Basque a sarcastic salute and slouched down on the sofa. His two friends joined him.

Closing the door, Basque headed down to the teachers’ office. Unlike in Hianbru where all the teachers had their own private offices, the teachers here shared one large room to “better facilitate communication.”

Heading in, he looked around and saw Julvie sitting at her desk. “Madam Julvie,” he called out to her.

She looked up at him and smiled. ”Master Basque!”

He waved her over. She put down her pencil and slid her chair away from her desk. She stood and straightened her skirt as she walked over to him. “Is something the matter? I’m not quite ready to leave for dinner. I’ll come get you when I’m ready.”

“No, it has nothing to do with dinner. There was an incident in the Class E dorm.”

Her face darkened. “Oh dear. Headmaster Yasher practically just finished warning them. What did they do this time?”

Basque shook his head. “No, my students didn’t do anything. Some students from a different class came down and started threatening them.”

“Oh?” Julvie glanced over her shoulder back towards her desk.

“Yes, one of my students is currently receiving medical care, and I’ve brought the assailants here to make their punishment official.”

Julvie’s brow furrowed. “Punishment?”

“Yes, it was a clear case of bullying.”

“I…see…Well, I’ll get the disciplinarian. Where are they?”

“I’ve got them in a guidance room down the hall.”

“A or C?”

“A.”

She nodded. “Okay, go wait with them. I’m not going to be much longer, so don’t waste too much time on this. I’m getting hungry.”

While Basque wasn’t always a fan of how Julvie stated things, she was always helpful. “Thanks, Madam Julvie.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Basque went back to the guidance room. He could hear laughter coming through the door.

“Did you see the way the blue ball’s head bounced off the wall? Ahahaha! It was like we were playing smashball with his head!”

“I know! But can you believe the nerve of that outwaller? He seriously thinks he can punish you?”

“Me—?”

Basque burst in the door, causing the three boys to fall quiet. They all sat together on the sofa. At some point, a servant had come in and given them tea and snacks as the remains were strewn about the table.

Walking over to the chair furthest from the door, Basque sat down and stared at the three delinquents. He couldn’t think of any other way to describe them. Lavrence, the ringleader, sat with a smirk on his face, but his friends averted their eyes from Basque’s stare.

“You know, my dad is a marquess,” Lavrence said.

Basque didn’t reply. He just stared with his hands resting on his lap. He didn’t care if Lavrence’s father was the king himself. He wouldn’t tolerate bullying. In fact, he felt the higher the rank, the less forgivable bullying should be. They were the supposed leaders. They were supposed to set an example, and in Basque’s mind, that example should be for the good.

The servants’ door opened, and Basque gave the smallest head shake possible. The door closed again without making a sound.

A minute passed, then two. Still, Basque did not speak to them. Lavrence’s cheeks must have gotten tired as the grin had fallen from his face, but he didn’t share the meek look his compatriots had.

At last, the main door opened and Deputy Headmaster Krill walked in. Basque kept his expression impassive, but inwardly, doubts crept into his mind. After their fight, Basque wasn’t sure how the man would react to this situation. Would he perform his job, or would he hold a grudge?

“Master Gerenet, I have been informed that there has been an incident in the dorms.”

Basque stood in greeting, the boys did as well. “Yes, Deputy Headmaster. These three boys assaulted one of my students in the dorms, then proceeded to threaten the rest of the students gathered there.”

“I see. Young Master Lavrence, what do you have to say for yourself?”

“It is an honor to grace the presence of an Earl of the Sword.” Lavrence placed his hand on his heart and bowed his head. “Deputy Headmaster Krill, my comrades, and I have enacted no ill. We merely defended ourselves from an unprovoked attack, and when Master Gerenet arrived at the scene, he mistook our warning that we would defend ourselves as a threat due to his difficulties understanding our language.”

Basque opened his mouth to speak, but Krill held up a hand, stopping him. “So you claim it was self-defense.”

“Yes, Deputy Headmaster.”

Krill turned to Basque. “And you disagree with their claim?”

“It was not self-defense.”

“And you saw the beginning of the altercation to know this?”

Basque frowned. “I didn’t.”

“Yet you are so sure that it is not self-defense? Where is the other boy?”

“Malcalm is currently unconscious and in the nurse’s office.”

Krill nodded. “I see. Well, once the boy wakes up, be sure to give him his punishment for assaulting his fellow students.”

“What?! He’s the one who was injured!”

Krill frowned. “It seems like he tried to bite off more than he could chew. But for now, I will overlook your handling of these three boys who did nothing wrong aside from defending themselves a bit overzealously.”

Switching to a smile, Krill turned to the boys. Lavrence wore a shit-eating grin, and even his friends looked happy. “Young gentlemen, I’m sorry for the disturbance that was put upon you on your first day at Dyntril Academy. I’m sure you are all excited to go to your rooms and to get settled in. If you would, I would like to have a few words with our guest teacher.”

There was a chorus of “Thank you, sir” as the boys filed out of the guidance room.

Basque clenched and unclenched his fists by his sides. He took a deep breath and let his hands stay open. He was both in the right and in the wrong. He was right that those boys had unapologetically done something to a fellow human and needed to be taught that was wrong. However, Basque was wrong because it was wrong in Hianbru , and they weren’t in Hianbru.

It didn’t matter that Basque felt it should be the same everywhere. The fact of the matter was that this wasn’t why he was here. One graduation cycle. Observe . Evaluate. Don’t get involved . Those were his mandates. Nowhere in there did his directives say to start a societal revolution.

“Well, Basque . What punishment will you be giving the commoner?”

“He did nothing wrong.”

“Oh? In He-and-bug assault is permitted?”

“ He didn’t assault them . They assaulted him !”

“The only three witnesses you brought all corroborated the same story. It was self-defense.”

Basque didn’t point out that only Lavrence had spoken. It didn’t matter to either of them. Basque was sure that even if Lavrence had boasted about “showing Malcalm his place,” Krill would have congratulated him on a job well done based on some excuse and sent him on his unpunished way.

“If you do not punish him, Basque , I will.” Krill leaned closer. “I don’t think he’ll like my punishment very much.”

While it might not have been one of his mandates as an ambassador, protecting his students was his prerogative as a teacher. On the other hand, when the head of the school begins the commencement speech telling the students that the majority of them would die, just how important was it to these people to protect students?

Just a short while ago, Krill had made it abundantly clear that he was out for Basque. At the same time, Basque made it abundantly clear that there was little Krill could do to Basque personally. However, from this incident, Basque knew the man would gladly use the students to get at Basque.

As Headmaster Yasher had practically boasted about the death rate of students, Basque feared that if he let Krill “punish” Malcalm, the poor boy might not survive it. I will not lose a student . There were twenty-four boys and girls in his class and he would be damned if all twenty-four didn’t graduate.

“I will give him the same punishment I’d planned on giving the three offenders.”

“And that is?”

“Six months of 6:00 AM ten-k runs with me.”

“Twenty.”

“Pardon?”

“Make it twenty kilometers.”

“Very well.”

The two men stood there in silence, looking at each other.

“You can leave now, outwaller.”

Basque shook his head. “If only. Unfortunately, I’m stuck here for five years.”

“The room, Yani-lover.”

“I’m just lamenting, little fish.”

“Don’t think I’m not agreeing with you.”

“Blub blub? Blub blub blub blub blub blub.”

“What?” Krill glowered at Basque.

“I’m sorry, was my accent off? I’m afraid I’m not that fluent in little fish.” Basque knew that was petty, and so was closing the door in Krill’s face, but he still did that as well.

Before making his way to the nurse’s office, Basque first went back to the teachers’ office. He stuck his head in, but Julvie wasn’t there. He wanted to thank her for her help, even if the result had been the complete opposite of what Basque had been hoping.

Leaving the teachers’ wing, Basque walked back through the Grand Entrance Hall. It was completely deserted. Basque leaned up against one of the pillars and let out a long sigh. He was worried about Malcalm, but Fawna and Reianna were with him, and a nurse would be there to take care of him. Basque wasn’t needed. Instead, he wanted a second to collect his thoughts

In order for his students to survive, they needed to become the top class. They needed to outperform all the others. No, not just outperform, but outstrip, outshine, and out-anything-else to the point that a student from a different class going up against one from his would be the same difference as between him and Krill.

On the six-month journey over, they’d been warned about “culture shock”, but Basque didn’t think this was culture shock. He wasn’t longing for his culture, he was just loathing theirs. He highly doubted that in five years his recommendation wouldn’t be anything other than to ignore or destroy. He could only hope the main ambassador group felt the same way.

Until then, Basque was going to focus on raising the greatest warriors that Kruami had ever seen. He’d make the arrogant asshats who suppressed those beneath them regret every second of their lives.

He took a deep breath. No. He couldn’t do that. It wasn’t his job. He would teach his students enough to survive. No attachments. No making little revolutionaries. No nothing.

Pushing away from the pillar, Basque headed down to the first floor and made his way to the nurse’s room. He could hear a commotion from the other side. Furrowing his brow, Basque opened the door.

“Oh, thank heavens! You’re finally back, nurse! We need help! He’s started convulsing!” Fawna’s voice cried out.