[center]Collab between Zinita and [@Ponn][/center]

[color=Red][center][h1]Kate[/h1][/center][/color]

“Right.” Bet Eil nodded. “It's with the admissions officer, hopefully you have met him before.” the slime said, some people did fake their documents so she couldn’t be too sure but she assumed she would know where that was. Once she went to the place, she would find the room empty but the documents in place, hopefully the man was just catching a break. Still, she would have what she needed to meet the Headmistress. After taking a quick snapshot of each of the application forms, she made her way to the Headmistress’s office.

Even if she hadn’t really seen the worst of Fae Creek yet, it was noticeable this part of the academy was better kept than anything else in the school, she could even see her own reflection in the marble floor and the walls were all decorated with paintings. Soon, she would face the large wooden door with a metal frame. Without even the slightest hint of trepidation, she rang the ornate doorbell.

“Come in~” a surprisingly young voice said from within the room, snapping her finger which caused the door to be unlocked. Within would be Messalina Dumont, Headmistress of Fae Creek Academy. She smirked seeing the girl who was at the door.

[color=Red]“Hey there, Boss Lady!”[/color] Kate said with her most friendly smile. [color=Red]“Councilor Betty was feeling a bit overwhelmed by all the antics going on at the welcome party, so she asked me to bring these application forms up to you.”[/color] 

Casually walking over to the desk, she placed the applications folder atop it.

“Miss…” the Headmistress spied the files she had on her table, “Kate Carson, nice to see you, I have been thinking about your report. Very interesting information.”

[color=Red]“I’ll bet it was,”[/color] Kate said with a chuckle. [color=Red]“And on that topic, I just wanted to personally assure you that I’ve got no intentions of causing you any trouble whatsoever. In fact, I’d like for my time here to be beneficial to both of us.”[/color] 

With that the headmistress tilted her head ever so slightly, raising one eyebrow and smiling. “Ah. I see. Beneficial to us both, hmm?” her left eye closed in a wink. “How so? I am somewhat curious. And please don’t tell me things like ‘I won’t rat you out if I find something suspicious’ because the reward for that is not becoming an actual rat.”

She had to say, she liked the courage of the girl, to go straight to her and demand an audience like this while saying she could benefit her. It showed a sense of cleverness she respected, if only because it reminded her of herself. A smile slowly formed as she waited for the girl to make her case.

Sliding herself into a chair, Kate leaned back and placed her clasped hands on her stomach.
 
[color=Red]“Ma’am I won’t even be [i]looking[/i] for anything suspicious. I’ve heard the rumors about this place’s old photography club, so I can totally understand if you were a bit… [i]displeased[/i] to see my name on an application form. That said, I’d have to be an idiot if I thought getting on your bad side was a good idea. Like I put down on the form, I’m just here for a little vacation. But there’s nothing to say that a vacation can’t be productive…”[/color]
 
Her mouth formed a sly smile.
 
[color=Red]“So, here’s what I had in mind: we restart the photography club, the journalism club, the whole frickin’ school paper, but [i]this[/i] time, we’ll make it work for [i]you.[/i] The only publicity you’ll get will be good publicity. We’ll tell the narrative [i]you[/i] want people to hear. Heck, give it a few months, and we’ll change everyone’s opinion of this place for the better. And I [i]don’t[/i] think I need to tell you who’s gonna get the credit for [i]that.[/i]”[/color]
 
[color=Red]“Just find me one or two incredibly gullible, and/or easily malleable idiots to write the prose pieces, and we’ll be all set.”[/color]

The headmistress chuckled. “Not that I am one to deny the wonders of propaganda, but…” she stopped herself, it was amusing, was she trying to get her to bless the journalism club just so she could run coded messages of rebellion? Was she really going to try to write that Fae Creek is great and make the paper a total joke? She couldn’t tell, and that was exciting. 

“Katey, that is… interesting. I will actually give you that chance, just don’t overdo it darling, I am not a fool.” she picked up a box from under her desk and opened it up, looking over what seemed to be the belongings of a group of people: bags, clothing, shoes. “Ah, here it is.” she grabbed a key.

“The key to the photography club, I was going to have the place cleaned up, but if you will make use of it.” she got up and delivered it to her hand before patting her shoulder a bit. “Now, on the topic of fools, I may have one to spare, but you will find plenty of those among your colleagues.”

[color=Red]“Somehow, that doesn’t surprise me,”[/color] Kate chuckled. [color=Red]“Also, there’s another, slightly more confidential, service I can provide. From what I’ve seen of your staff so far, they’re either too apathetic to do anything, or too incompetent to succeed at anything they try to do. You need someone who can look out for your interests, covertly keep tabs on the other students, that sorta thing. I’m sure you read all about what my camera can do, so you’ll believe me when I say that I can tell you everything you’d ever want to know about anyone with just a single click. And no one would ever suspect a thing.”[/color]
 
[color=Red]“All I’d like in return is…”[/color] she began counting on her fingers. [color=Red]“Free food, free lodging, free medical care, free tuition… Free everything, basically. Oh, and speaking of lodging, I hear you’ve actually got a few [i]nice[/i] rooms in this place. I’d like to stay in one of those, if it’s not too much trouble. I don’t really need all that much space, so if you want, you could even let someone else share it with me. I don’t mind having a roommate, as long as my sleeping quarters are private, and depending who they are, a roommate could be very beneficial for the both of us.”[/color]
 
[color=Red]“So, whadaya say, Boss Lady? Do we have a deal?”[/color]

The headmistress laughed and then sat down. “Hmm, I guess you are lucky. Lucky that you aren’t making a deal with a genie.” she focused on the chair, making it move on its own, turning Kate towards her as she walked. “The food, lodgings and healthcare in this facility are already free, but I guess the saving grace of your wishes are that you asked for a nice room, and that isn’t quite included in the basics. There is this girl in your class, what's her name, Alura! Yeah, she is in a nice room with no roomie, you may join her. ”

Should she mention the eldritch nature of such a girl which is why she went straight to an area that is somewhat meant for containment? Nah...

The headmistress moved all the way to the shelf and picked up an alarm clock with some sort of crystal core inside. “And here is a little gift, it should keep your ears safe. Consider it my best wishes to the new journalism club.”

[color=Red]”Thanks!”[/color] Kate said as she placed the clock into one of her jacket pockets. [color=Red]“Y’know, I’m really glad we were able to sort all this out.”[/color] 

Rising from her chair, she held her hand out to the Headmistress. [color=Red]“To the start of a profitable partnership,”[/color] she announced with a grin.

The headmistress ignored her hand and gave the student a head pat. “I sure hope so.”

[hr]

[hider=A private conversation with an unwilling party]
A few hours later, the Headmistress found herself in the mood to continue checking on the students and to finish this batch of reports already. She’d have to create a report too. Being a headmistress was fun but she really did not like the whole administrative aspect of it, why couldn’t she just make the money and order people around?

She needed someone to talk with but Bet Eil was nowhere near her, in her frustration, she scanned the corridors with her mind, finding the nearest student, before sending out an enchanted hope to capture her and bring her to her office. The girl in particular was terrified.

“W-why? Headmistress!? What did I do? P-please don’t…”

“Calm down, I only need you to give commentary on whatever I say.”

“Huh…?” The girl was still terrified but now she was also confused, the rope letting her go so she could stand up. “Huh!?”

Messalina smiled gently, ignoring any need for further explanation and picked up the first document. “Sarah Malone, entered the room as a hippo, seems to turn into animals at random. Oh this is pretty interesting, I do like the sorts with wild, untame magic, especially if they don’t cost me anything.” She smiled and waited for the student to give her reply.

The girl slowly noticed the headmistress expected something of her, she gulped, getting up, seeing that annoyance build up in Messalina’s expression as she didn’t reply. “Y-yeah, she just uh, must be careful, as a tiny animal? Like… if she turns into a pig, I guess that could end poorly.”

“Eh… Pigs aren’t small. My worry would be if she can turn into the flu or something.” The headmistress shrugged. “Next we have Alura, now she is an interesting case, I knew she would come earlier so I had to prepare a bit. Seems to be a major hazard, using eldritch forces which causes the world around her to be corrupted and wither.”

“Why would you accept someone like this into a school of magic? She could send hundreds to the infirmary.” the girl stood up and stomped a bit, just then realized she had an outburst, thankfully Messalina just smiled.

“Don’t be so judgemental, plus, everyone can handle a bit of corruption. I heard eating pears is good to keep the eldritch away. Plus I have put some instant extermination devices near her if we ever need it” she made a note to gauge the prices of pears and similar fruits. “Leonhard Cantor is our next new student.”

“Oh, from THE Cantor family?” she gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. “What is someone as high as that doing HERE of all places?”

“Hmm, well you see… It seems he was born without magic. Actually. Maybe his siblings seeped all the magical potential of the family.” she chuckled. “So he can only prepare spells and tech but never use it without some external source of mana.”

“Ah yeah, that explains it I think.” she felt like she was getting the hang of it.

“Next one is a, uh, a dog. A time traveling dog named Parr. He says his father will enroll in the future… Could you read this please to make sure I am not hallucinating?” the headmistress rubbed her eyes.

“Let me see… hmm… yep…” she nodded. “Isn’t this dangerous, what if there is a time loop!? Plus, what if he is his own father…”

“Well, it depends on what type of timeloop we are dealing with, I guess its wait and see, I would make notes on him to make sure there is no issue, but if there ever was he would end up erased from reality to such an extent my notes on him would vanish to, so eh, I guess its wait and see.”

The headmistress picked up the next paper after that. “Next, Mela Seb-Apfel…”

“That is a lot of ways of saying apple… MPHF?” the girl suddenly felt she could not open her lips.

“Don’t interrupt me ever again, okay?” the headmistress sighed and returned to reading the paperwork. “The officer had to squeeze information out of this one, she pretended to be a girl transformed into an apple, but he suspects she is an actual apple, somehow blessed with the ability to talk and cast magic. What a curious case.” she raised her hand, letting the girl talk again.

“Kyah… oh I can open my mouth, uhm, yeah… for her sake I hope she can reform from just her core.” she took a deep breath, close call! She grew too bold, she had to remember she was dragged here.

Reading about the next student made the headmistress pick up her world map, looking all over it for a tiny island. “Hey, whatever your name is, ever heard of Candela?”

“Can what?” she tilted her head slightly. “I don’t think I have.”

“Well, this girl is from there, not a federation place either, seems to be an island of candle people with fire powers, how curious! I need to meet this girl later and get to know all about her, test a few things out too~ Jackie O' Lanamere”

“Who is next on the list?”

“It’s Baron Maximillian Nidavel”

“Sounds rich.”

“Oh he is~ I am so happy with this second batch of students, sure, there are a few bad apples and a literal apple, but so many rich kids who sound so exploitable. This one causes explosions if he uses magi-tech, Potira is gonna enjoy him, just hope she doesn’t get flirty…”

The kidnapped girl took a deep breath to point out how the headmistress often got flirty with students but she shut herself up before she ended up getting herself killed or worse.

“But yes, I need to find ways to milk his money, hopefully he ends in a bad dorm so he has to buy lots of our services to get what he feels he deserves.” she looked over the next one. “Aelich…”

“A lich!?” the student rose up in surprise.

“Nope, just a girl who claims to be from beyond the horizons of known history...I wonder if she thinks she is that mage, actually… What if she is that mage?”

“The first lich? Aelich herself? No way… I would rather believe in moon people appearing than in a mage this old ending up here.”

The headmistress smiled. “Oh, good point, I will put her in my ‘either delusional or very neat’ watchlist along with that girl who said she is from the moon. Let’s see where that goes.”

“That girl who what?” 

“Anyway, after that, we have our last one! Another undead, lots of these this year, a Dullahan. Katalynn. Anti-Magic is interesting for a field, we don’t have many students who are like that, or any Dullahan, for that matter. Seems a bit paradoxical in personality, brash but easy to become shy, and that is not even counting for the fact it seems her body seems to have a personality of its own.”

“Guess you could say she is a real head case, huh?” the student winked.

The headmistress was unimpressed by the joke. “Ah, your hair is so beautiful, fluffy and pink, reminds me of cotton candy, I guess you as a whole remind me of that~”

Knowing what the headmistress meant, the student eeped, running for the door at speeds she didn’t know were possible.
[/hider]