The Runesmith

“Lucienne! What happened, you were gone for a whole day! The teachers wouldn’t tell me where you were!”

“Margaret, please calm down, I can’t breathe…”

“Oh my, silly me~”

Margaret released Lucienne from her tight embrace, her eyes filled with genuine concern. Lucienne, although slightly annoyed by the suffocating hug, couldn't help but appreciate Margaret's genuine worry. The other two girls in the room moved closer as they were quite curious as to where their friend had wandered off to.

“Luci, are you okay? What happened?”

A girl with large gray ears resembling those of a wolf asked. She wore the school uniform, similar to Lucienne and the others, with a cutout for her large bushy gray tail. In addition to these features and longer nails, she also had characteristic yellow eyes, common among many wolven species.

“I’m fine Ata. Nothing happened.”

“Well something had to happen, you were gone for so long, was it that vile Viola again?”

Asked the third girl, her features were more common compared to the wolven girl. She had long straw-colored braided hair, freckles scattered across her face, and big circular glasses that enlarged her brown irises slightly. The two girls continued asking the same questions that Margaret had, prompting a reaction from her this time around.

“Hey, Atasuna, Marlein calm yourselves! Lucienne will speak when she wants to!”

Lucienne sighed, trying to calm her friends down.

“It's a long story, and I'll tell you all about it. But first, let me breathe a bit, and we can sit down.”

The four girls settled into a circle, with Lucienne taking a moment to gather her thoughts before recounting the events of the past day. She shared the story of Viola's plot, the unauthorized expedition, and the subsequent hearing. As she spoke, the room's atmosphere shifted from concern to disbelief and anger.

“That's outrageous! How could they blame you for something Viola orchestrated?”

Margaret exclaimed, her fists clenched in frustration.

“That's not fair at all. We need to do something about it.”

Atasuna declared, her wolf-like ears twitching in frustration.

“We better not, Viola and her house are well-connected; they can bend the rules to their liking,”

Marlein explained while lifting her big glasses slightly, her expression indicating disappointment.

“Well, I don't want to make things worse and she has been punished already. She won’t be attending classes for the next two months and that Knight of hers had been banned from the Institute.”

Lucienne let out another sigh while glancing in Margaret’s direction. She knew that her friend had a more fiery personality. The two had met at the middle dormitory, and she feared that if Margaret did something to antagonize the high-nobles, she too would be sent to this lesser dormitory where she had encountered her two new friends and roommates.

“Though, that is surprising… Who was that Enforcer? He wasn’t afraid to go against a Castellane and even defeated that powerful Knight.”

Margaret changed the subject, and the girls focused on the other prominent person involved in this incident, the new Assistant Professor named Wayland. He was probably single-handedly responsible for the punishment of their biggest enemy, Viola. Considering that he wasn’t afraid of confronting her, it was plausible that he had some strong backing.

“Do you know who he is?”

“He… seemed like a good person, I don’t really know much about him but it felt like I could trust him…”

The other girls in the room noticed that Lucienne’s face showcased a smile after she started talking about the new enforcer. She brought up how he even gave her some delicious food and helped her regain some of her stamina with an unknown spell.

“If Luci says that he is trustworthy, then it's probably true.”

The girls started nodding, knowing that their friend had a certain sixth sense when it came to measuring people's true inclinations. All of them smiled at each other, relieved that the incident had a good resolution. However, their smiles disappeared instantly as they spotted a strange person looking at them from a distance. The door was open, but they hadn’t noticed that someone had appeared there.

“W-who are you?” asked Margaret.

“Hide behind me, Marlein and Lucienne!”

Said Atasuna, who started growling like a wolf. Marlein seemed slightly frightened, while Lucienne quickly moved forward to calm everyone down. It seemed that the girls identified her savior as a suspicious person who had somehow sneaked into the dormitory. Some of them were even going for a few of their artifact items that could produce magical effects quickly.

“Um, Assistant Professor Wayland, what brings you here?”

A man stood there, clearly taken aback by the sudden defensive reactions of the girls. It seemed that standing like a statue in the doorway was not the correct approach. While he processed the situation, Lucienne luckily jumped in front of her friends to diffuse the situation. After the name Wayland was mentioned, the expressions that previously showed fear and apprehension turned to curiosity.

“So this is?”

Margaret asked while looking over the strange man. He was quite tall and wearing a peculiar suit of armor under the Enforcement Department robe, making him appear like a powerful knight ready for war at any moment. Soon, from within the scary appearance, a magically altered voice that sounded quite imposing resounded.

“My apologies for startling you. I'm the new Assistant Professor.I won’t take much of your time. Lady Lucienne I wish for you to have this… ”

“Ah yes? Was there something more?”

Lucienne seemed startled but also curious about the thing that Assistant Professor Wayland wanted to give her. The other three girls remained silent, recognizing the presence of someone impactful. This was the man who had gone against Viola Castellane and defeated her powerful bodyguard in single combat.

Their eyes soon bulged as a strange magical occurrence took place before them. The armor he was wearing under the robe started glowing for a moment. Then, soon after, a strange bulge appeared in the middle of his chest, moving up towards his shoulder and traveling down his arm. Out of the robe sleeve emerged a mechanical spider that caused everyone, besides Lucienne, to jump back in fright.

“Ack!”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“Eeek!”

“W-what is that thing!”

“... My apologies for startling you…”

The man replied, looking at the girls who had run all the way towards the dorm room wall. The metallic spider that he was holding crawled onto the palm of his hand, and for some reason, their friend Lucienne approached it without a care in the world.

“Is this the same one?”

“Yes, it needed some repairs but it's the same golem that helped you at the training ground.”

The moment the man specified that this mechanical creature was a golem, the other girls seemed to relax slightly. In a world filled with various creatures, a metallic-looking spider could easily be mistaken for a type of monster or other suspicious creature. Knowing it was a magical construct like a golem reassured them, alleviating any fears.

“I see that you are confused, let me explain then. Due to the recent events and that hearing, it would be better if you had this golem accompany you. It will inform me, whenever you are in danger.”

“Accompany me?”

“Yes, I wish that it was different but it will be safer this way.”

“Ah, I understand…”

The girls here were around the age of fifteen, with Margaret being a bit older. It didn’t take a genius to realize what the man here was implying. He expected some other incidents to befall Lucienne after the hearing. They all knew that Viola’s influence extended within the Institute, and some other students might try to make life difficult for their friend.

The golemic spider here was meant to keep her safe and inform this Enforcer of any troubles. However, they all didn’t know if they could fully trust this man either, as it could have just been an excuse to place a monitoring device close to their friend. With the true reason for it being something entirely different.

“Great, now let me explain a few things, do you know what a mana pattern is or signature?”

“Ah uh…”

Lucienne was startled by the question that sounded like a surprise lecture. Before she could reply by herself, her friend Margaret moved in closer to take a look at the spider golem that was sitting in the man’s hand.

“A mana signature is a pattern of mana unique to each person!”

“Yes, that is correct.”

Margaret smiled at Lucienne who pouted slightly as she wasn’t given enough time to respond to the question.

“This golem will record your mana signature so that it can view it as its master. Thereafter you’ll be able to give it simple voice commands as to any other golem.”

“Oh…”

As the explanation continued, the other two girls started approaching while listening intently. Soon, all four of them were in front of the imposing man, looking at the chubby spider in his hand that now appeared a lot cuter than before. It didn’t have the scary eyes of an insect, as they were replaced by a golemic eye orb. It also didn’t have any sharp teeth or claws; instead, the body was just oval-shaped with spider legs protruding from it. Soon the golem was placed down on the ground and even started speaking.

“A new operator has been established as Lucienne Arden. Unlocking features to new operator.”

“Oh my, it sounds like a proper lady! Is this golem a she?”

The voice that the small spider produced was very ladylike and it sounded like an older woman.

“I don’t think golems work like that…”

Marlein tipped her oversized glasses while responding to Margaret. Everyone in the room was intrigued by the arachnid spider and continued to look at it while the assistant professor explained some of its features.

“It can change color? Is it a chameleon spell of some sort?”

“No, it uses a special alloy in tandem with runes.”

“Oh! How fascinating! Quick, Luci, tell it to change to red!”

“I uh… Mr. Golem please become red?”

“Affirmative, changing color to red.”

The girls were ecstatic when looking at the metallic creature, which switched from a shiny chrome coloring to a bright red. While they didn’t grasp the reasoning behind magical alloy and runes, they could see that it worked. The small metallic spider crawled around, showcasing its new red hue, changing colors a few times after being commanded to do so. The girls were fascinated by the color-changing ability and bombarded the assistant professor with questions about its other features.

“It can detect malicious mana effects like traps?”

“Yes…”

“Can we give it a name? Like Buggy?”

“Yes… you can do that…”

“Oh, if it can document voices, does that mean that it can do the same for melodies?”

“I guess it could be used for playing music, yes…”

“Can it give a massage? or maybe heat up water for tea?”

“I could probably heat up the water… but it can’t give you a massage… and please don’t ask it to do it…”

It seemed that the teacher was bewildered by some of the questions coming his way. It even looked as if he was contemplating whether it was worth implementing some of the features into the spider golem. After a few minutes of questioning and the spider crawling around the dorm room, he finally wished to end it.

“I have set up a basic communication system between the golem and me. If you ever find yourself in trouble or need assistance, just give it a simple command like 'Call Wayland' or ‘Call Assistant Professor Wayland,' and it will relay the message to me. For now, you can just keep it in one of the closets, and while going through the institute, it will follow you around.”

Lucienne smiled, expressing gratitude for the thoughtful gift. The other girls echoed her sentiments, their initial apprehension replaced by a sense of security. Wayland nodded and after being satisfied with their positive response prepared to take his leave.

“I'll be on my way now. If you need anything or encounter any issues, don't hesitate to use the golem or see me at the Runic Department.”

“The Runic Department, not the Enforcement Department?”

The girls inquired as it seemed that this man was an enforcer.

“Yes, I mainly belong to the Runic Department, if you don’t find me there, please contact Professor Arion instead. Take care, Lady Lucienne, and the rest of you as well.”

With a courteous nod, the assistant professor exited the room, leaving the girls in a mix of excitement and curiosity about their new magical companion. As the door closed behind him, the girls were finally able to explode in excitement.

*****

‘That took a lot longer than I expected…’

Roland felt more tired after having to talk to these teenage girls than having to fight against any of the Knight Commanders he encountered. Finally, he had given his sister the smaller spider golem to keep her safe. The idea was simple: it would follow her around, as news of him using mechanical spiders was already spreading. Even if the other students wanted to suck up to Viola, they would think twice about it after seeing the golem following her around. He expected it to be enough of a deterrent.

As he stepped out into the hallway, he couldn't shake off the feeling of awkwardness that lingered from his encounter with the girls. Conversations with people of their age were somewhat of a mystery to him, and he wondered if it was a skill he needed to develop in this new world.

‘Guess I'll figure it out sooner or later...’

While walking down the corridor, he pondered the recent events. The hearing had concluded with a relatively lenient punishment for Viola Castellane, leaving her suspended for just two months. Although Roland expected some consequences, he couldn't shake off the feeling that it was just the calm before the storm.

‘I should probably contact Robert, I won’t be able to protect her here forever…’

He did not want to spend more than a month here, but with his sister's fate hanging over his head, it would be hard to leave. Roland didn’t fool himself into believing that Viola, filled with venom, would just let it be. After those two months were over, it could be possible for the bullying to continue and get even worse. Then there were other situations where he couldn’t always be there. The institute hosted expeditions into proper dungeons and outside to other parts of the kingdom. Outside these walls, it would be really hard to do anything, meaning that he would need to find a way to protect his sister when he wasn’t there, either through some connections, Robert, or perhaps more golems.

‘How am I supposed to focus on my research like this… I should probably go to Thorne and hear him out, maybe he’ll have something reassuring to say about this incident.’

There weren’t many people that he trusted in this Institute besides Arion, but Thorne was a close second. He had shown himself to have integrity and would probably help Lucienne out, that is if there was enough incriminating evidence for him to make a move. For that to work, he would need to push for one of his inventions to be spread throughout the Institute en masse.

While leaving the dorm, he noticed that people were giving him strange looks, and this continued into the institute. He could hear them whisper about the recent incident, and it was apparent that the news had already spread throughout the entire campus. To no surprise, he was getting mixed reactions depending on the status of the student. The commoners were intrigued, while the nobles were appalled by the new Enforcer who seemingly didn’t care about rank.

No one dared to confront him directly, but during his walk to the Enforcement Department, it became clear that his plan of not sticking out had failed. Now he could only hope that his newest one would bear some fruit. Eventually, he arrived at Thorne’s office, but what he found there was not something he expected.

“Enforcer Wayland, good that you are here, we have a problem.”

“There is a problem Sir?”

“Yes, the Headmistress wants to see you, it would be wise not to let her wait, we will talk about other things later.”

“The Headmistress? You mean…”

After returning to Thorne’s office, Roland wanted to do nothing more than talk about the implementation of his recording devices, but he was taken by surprise. The Institute leader wanted to see him, and from what he knew, she was an Archmage, a tier 4 class holder of unknown goals and standing. It was not someone that he ever wanted to meet during his stay here but there was no way of refusing this order, he needed to go there and do it now.