"Dominic is dead."
The office smelled of cigarette smoke and cheap coffee.
Reina sat behind her desk, her ginger hair loose around her shoulders, her gold eyes fixed on the window behind Hoshimi's head. The morning light was thin and cold, pressing against the glass like something trying to get in.
Hoshimi sat in the chair across from her desk, his hands folded in his lap, his violet eyes fixed on a point somewhere on the wall behind her head. His clothes were clean.
"You look like shit," she said finally.
"You said that yesterday."
"It's still true."
"Did you shoot him?"
"The government wanted him dead," she said. Her voice was flat. Professional. "I was just following orders."
Hoshimi sat across from her, his hands folded in his lap, his violet eyes fixed on the space between them. His clothes were clean. Someone had found him fresh ones sometime in the hours since the chamber, since the blood, since Seraphina's eyes had gone empty and Dominic's body had crumpled to the floor.
"Was that really necessary?" he asked.
Reina's eyes flickered to his face. Held there.
"Any more and he could've done way more." Her voice was flat, matter-of-fact. "He already destroyed half the dorm, I mean most of it was from Sarah but that Zenith of his did quite a lot as well, it'll be hard to repair."
"That's not what I asked."
Reina's eyes narrowed.
"You want to know if I did it because the government wanted him dead."
Hoshimi waited.
"Fine." She leaned forward, her elbows on the desk, her gold eyes boring into his. "Yes. The government wanted him dead. They've been watching him since the Mirlo estate, since the reports started coming in about his instability. Even I wouldn't be sure I could take him down."
"So you executed him."
She was quiet for a moment. The fluorescent lights hummed. Somewhere in the building, a door opened and closed, footsteps fading into nothing.
"Yea duh," she said finally. "When were you the type to care about other people?"
Hoshimi nodded slowly. His hands didn't move from his lap. His face didn't change. "I don't, it's just a mild curiosity."
"The responsibility if you're worried," she said. "It won't fall on you."
"The government," he said. "They're not going to take responsibility, are they?"
Reina's lips curved. It wasn't a smile.
"They're already spinning it," she said. "Officially, Dominic Walker died in the rogue attack. Heroically, tried to fight his reincarnation but since he wasn't able to, he gracefully sacrificed himself to make sure the other students won't die."
"How noble."
She reached for her coffee cup, took a long drink, grimaced at the temperature. When she set it down, her hand was steadier.
"The Walkers on the other hand," She reached for another cigarette, lit it, took a drag. "They have been informed. Well we couldn't lie to them, even the government will get fucked if they find out that they were lying. They're not happy. But they're not stupid either. They know what he was becoming. They know what he did. They'll mourn him privately and pretend the official story is true publicly, and life will go on."
Hoshimi looked down at his hands. They were steady.
He felt nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
"Seraphina," he said.
"The Shaw family doesn't want her body."
"Seraphina Shaw ran away from her family when she was fourteen," she said. "She renounced her name, her inheritance, her connection to the Shaw bloodline. Legally, she's not a Shaw. She's not anything. Just a witch who died in a rogue attack with no next of kin to claim her body."
Reina's voice was flat. "She embarrassed them by leaving. Because she died for a Walker, of all things, and the Shaw family has been feuding with the Walkers for generations. They've made it very clear that Seraphina Shaw ceased to be their concern the moment she walked out their door."
"So?"
Reina met his eyes.
"Burn her." Reina's voice was flat. "Cremation. Standard procedure for unclaimed witches. The ashes will be scattered somewhere. Probably the garden behind the main hall. They do that sometimes, for the ones no one comes to claim."
Hoshimi stared at her.
"Dominic too," Reina continued. "The Walkers don't want him back. Not after what he did. Not with the footage already circulating. He caused government property damage, killed a member of one of the great families, and nearly assassinated the strongest witch in the world. They'll abandon him just like they'd abandon any broken tool."
Hoshimi stared at her.
"That seems like a waste of a perfectly good body, doesn't Dominic have any residual mana left? They could be used for experimenting."
"The families have at least that much pride, Dominic was supposed to be the next head. I don't know about Seraphina though."
Reina's voice was casual, almost bored, but her eyes were sharp. "Anyways Dominic was their heir. Their investment. Their future. They don't care that he was a traitor or that his reincarnation was a serial killer or that he murdered at least one person in cold blood. All they see was that you were standing over his body when it happened, and they're putting the blame on you."
Hoshimi nodded slowly. "I expected as much."
"Did you also expect that Sarah leaked your reincarnation to the public?"
His head snapped up. "What?"
"Every major news outlet got an anonymous tip about forty-five minutes ago. Complete with government documentation, and a very compelling video analysis of your fight with Dominic." Reina pulled out her phone, slid it across the desk toward him. The screen showed a news article, the headline in bold red letters.
HEX ACADEMY STUDENT REVEALED AS REINCARNATION OF LEGENDARY KING ARTHUR— COULD HE RIVAL SOPHIA MILLER?
Below it, a grainy image of Hoshimi's face, his violet eyes glowing, the sword in his hand blazing with light.
"King Arthur?" Hoshimi's voice was flat.
Reina shrugged. "The point is, everyone knows now. Governments, families, rogue witches, every single person with a grudge against Camelot or its legends or just the general concept of monarchy. You're a target."
"Government documentation? So you knew about my reincarnation and didn't tell me?"
Reina feigned ignorance, trying to look away from him.
Hoshimi sighed, pressing his fingers on his temples.
"Don't you think that I should know something that important."
"I mean… I was planning on telling you when you were older."
"Is that why you took me in?"
"Yea, the government asked me to take care of you."
"Well, it's not like I could do anything about it. You were just doing your job."
Reina nodded.
"Hey." Hoshimi said. "Do you love me?"
"Of course I do."
"I was just making sure."
"Anyways, since Sophia has been sealed, the Smiths," Hoshimi said.
"They still haven't forgiven you for what you did during the entrance exam. David Smith was their golden boy, and you killed him. They've been waiting for an excuse and for Sophia to stop protecting you to come after you. Now they have one."
"The Walkers."
"They're probably planning to take you hostage and make use of your reincarnation."
Hoshimi looked down at his hands again. Still steady. Still still.
"Am I going to get kidnapped?"
"There's footage of you using the sword," Reina continued. "Clear enough to see the runes. Every government in the world knows what you are now. Every witch hunter, every rogue faction, every power-hungry mage with delusions of grandeur."
Hoshimi stared at the screen. His own face stared back at him, frozen mid-swing, the blade in his hand blazing with that impossible light.
"They're going to come for me."
"They're already coming." Reina closed the laptop. "The Smiths want blood for David. The Walkers want blood for Dominic. The government wants the sword. The rogues want your head as a trophy. And Sophia-" She stopped.
Reina's expression flickered.
"Sophia's gone," she said. "Vanished. The Miller family's been searching for her since the invasion, but there's no trace. No mana signature. No communication. Nothing."
"You think Sarah took her."
"I know Sarah took her." Reina's voice was hard. "I just don't know where. Or what she plans to do with her."
Reina's expression shuttered.
"She vanished sometime during the fight. The barrier around her room was broken from the inside. There was no sign of struggle, no evidence of forced entry, but one thing, you and Neila saw her coming out of Sophia's room didn't you?"
"Sarah."