The academy lodging in Aurevane was a four-story building near one of the inner districts, close enough to the Conclave grounds that the streets outside already slled faintly of herbs, hot tal, expensive perfu and things Trafalgar would rather not breathe in without knowing their nas.
The building itself was clearly not ant for ordinary travelers.
Pale stone walls, wide windows, polished railings, mana lamps shaped like crystal flowers, and a front hall where the staff greeted Selara as if she had personally threatened the budget office into submission. Which, knowing her, was not impossible.
Selara walked in first with the confidence of soone spending academy money and feeling absolutely no sha about it.
The students followed.
Most of them reacted at once.
The third-year alchemists tried to act composed, but their attention kept jumping from the chandelier to the carved reception desk, to the staircase, to the small indoor fountain releasing a gentle blue mist that probably cost more than a normal family's yearly food. The summoners were whispering to each other about the mana density in the building. One of the healing students had already noticed the ergency d seals placed beside each corridor.
Cynthia slowed near the entrance, taking it all in.
Trafalgar did not react much.
It was nice, yes. Expensive too. But after Morgain Castle, Euclid's mansion, the Council's floating palace, and half the ridiculous places he had been dragged into, this was simply another building with money poured into the walls.
Selara noticed his lack of awe and clicked her tongue.
"You are boring, chef. A normal student would at least pretend to be impressed."
Trafalgar adjusted his grip on his suitcase. "Should I gasp now or after seeing the rooms?"
"After," Selara said, pointing toward the stairs. "The rooms are the part where I abused the academy budget properly."
Cynthia glanced at him, lips pressing together as if trying not to laugh.
Selara led them to the fourth floor.
That alone told Trafalgar enough. They were not being placed with the rest of the guests, nor near the public areas. The fourth floor had fewer doors, thicker carpet, warded lamps, and a guard posted near the staircase with a Council badge on his chest. The hallway carried a quiet pressure from the security formations running beneath the walls.
At least soone in Aurevane understood that students from Velkaris Academy had just survived a train attack and should not be left sowhere a drunk rchant could wander into.
Selara stopped in the common lounge at the center of the floor, a spacious room with long couches, two large windows, a table covered in welco packets, and a fruit bowl that one of the third-years imdiately began examining as if it might be alchemical.
"Alright," Selara said, clapping her hands once. "Everyone gather here before you scatter into luxury and forget that you are technically students."
The group collected itself around her.
Selara pulled a thin folder from her sleeve, which was impressive because that sleeve did not look large enough to contain anything except bad decisions.
"We will stay in Aurevane for roughly two weeks. The Grand Alchemical Conclave opens tomorrow. There are public exhibitions, controlled demonstrations, private auctions, academic panels, combat testing grounds, beast contract halls, dical treatnt galleries, engineering showcases, and a long list of places where people will try to sell you things you cannot afford."
Several students shifted with visible excitent.
Selara lifted one finger.
"If you touch sothing sealed, glowing, hissing, whispering, pulsing, trembling, breathing without lungs, or smiling without a face, I will let the city guards deal with you before I write your families a letter."
No one laughed right away. That made it better.
"For the third-year alchemists," she continued, "your schedules include formula presentations, laboratory tours and ingredient exchanges. The summoners will attend the beast exhibitions and contract demonstrations. Healing-related classes will focus on recovery tonics, antitoxin work and ergency dicine. Cynthia, you will have access to the ranged-combat demonstrations: alchemical arrowheads, coatings, catalysts, stabilizers and combat ammunition testing."
Cynthia straightened a little at that.
Trafalgar caught the small change.
She had not co here as decoration, and she knew it.
Selara's attention reached him last.
"Trafalgar, officially, you are here because you ranked first and the academy likes pretending that rewarding talent is a noble virtue."
"Unofficially?" he asked.
Selara smiled.
"Unofficially, you will try not to make my week worse."
"That sounds fine to ." A few students stared between them, unsure whether that was how a director and student were supposed to speak. Trafalgar ignored them. Selara clearly enjoyed making them question the structure of authority.
Her tone changed after that.
"Now, the important rule. At night, everyone stays in their rooms unless I give permission otherwise. Aurevane is safe in the way expensive cities are safe. That ans the danger wears better clothes and has legal docunts. After what happened on the train, I am not letting students wander around after dark because they saw a glowing shop sign and lost the ability to think."
She said it to the group.
But when her attention reached Trafalgar, it lingered.
Only a breath.
Officially, the rule included him.
In practice, Selara knew he had other work.
He gave a small nod.
Cynthia noticed.
She did not ntion it.
That was becoming a habit of hers lately, catching things and choosing not to ask in public. Trafalgar was not sure whether to appreciate it or worry about how much she was putting together.
Selara dismissed them after handing out room keys and schedules.
The students moved toward their assigned rooms with far less energy than they had shown earlier. The train attack had drained most of them more than they wanted to admit. Even the ones excited about the Conclave looked ready to collapse onto expensive bedding and pretend today had ended before the explosion.
Trafalgar found his room quickly.
It was luxurious.
Wide bed, private bath, desk, wardrobe, balcony, thick curtains, mana lamp controls, and a view over part of the city. Nothing new to him, but definitely not what most academy students expected from an official lodging.
He placed his suitcase down, checked the lock on the window, the door seal, and the corners of the room out of habit. No imdiate problem. By the ti he returned to the lounge, evening had fully claid Aurevane. The city beyond the windows glowed in green-gold lines, glass towers and alchemical lamps burning through the dark while the streets below filled with controlled movent rather than chaos. Most students had vanished into their rooms.
Cynthia was waiting near the window.
She had changed nothing except the way she held herself. Less guarded than usual, but not relaxed exactly. The city had caught her curiosity again.
"Are you tired?" she asked when he approached.
"A little."
"Do you want to take a walk?"
Trafalgar studied her face for a mont. She was trying to sound casual, but the interest in her voice betrayed her. After the train, after the gas, after waking up into a ss she had missed, she still wanted to see the city.
That was very Cynthia.
"I wanted to look around anyway," Trafalgar said.
Cynthia's expression eased a little. "Then let's go."
They headed toward the stairs together.
Down below, the staff at the entrance did not stop them. Selara had probably already arranged whatever needed arranging, or threatened whoever needed threatening. Either worked.
They stepped out into the night.
Aurevane breathed differently after dark.
The air was warm, carrying the scent of spiced food, reactives, polished tal and flower perfus that fought each other in the narrow street. Alchemical lamps floated above the roads in glass cages. Stalls were closing, guards checked invitations under green light, and distant music drifted from sowhere deeper in the city.
Trafalgar wanted to see how Aurevane worked and what he would need to see and investigate in the following days, as ti was limited.
Cynthia simply wanted to see the city at night.
Sohow, both reasons led them down the sa street.
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