Royally Abandoned

“How’d it go?” Bethany, the Principal’s secretary, asked once he was finally alone. The assorted group of magical animals, mythical beings, and sorcerous humans all walked out of the office with stern, disappointed expressions. She waited until the last fairy fluttered out, then five minutes more to give Principal Werner some time to decompress. He’d been worked up about the meeting for days now, and further annoyed by the continuing absences of certain students. It was over now, and at least from her brief glimpse of the mentors, he seemed to have gotten through to them.

“It went well,” the balding man nodded. “Honestly, I expected more of a conversation. But not one of them bothered to defend the truant behavior. I’m sure they understand the importance of education; it’s likely they just needed an extra push to instill that in their charges. How’d they look on the way out?” he asked.

“Like they were just suspended for a week,” Bethany smiled.

“Then, I’m sure they learned a lesson,” Principal Werner chuckled. “I’m glad it was clear how serious I was.” As their conversation wound down, a chime came from Bethany’s office in the next room. Someone entered, and she waved at the Principal as she rushed out to see who it was.

“Oh.” Bethany was expecting a student, but she was stunned instead. It wasn’t any of the students, nor anyone she recognized, but the woman had an air of ‘Magical Mentor’ about her. It was a pale, freckled young woman with sparkling pink eyes, in a crimson red suit and short rainbow hair in a crimped perm that had gone out of style decades ago. “Yes? Can I help you?” Bethany asked as she sat at her desk in front of the woman.

“I just need a few minutes of the principal’s time,” the woman said.

“I’m afraid he’s quite busy. Would you like to make an appointment for another day?” Bethany asked. The woman shook her head with a smile.

“I’m here on behalf of the mentors who just left not ten minutes ago; he can’t be that busy, and it’s important I speak to him today.” There was a brief flash of rainbow light over the woman’s head as she spoke, but Bethany was too busy shaking her head to notice.

“Well, if it’s important, go right ahead.” The secretary suddenly nodded with a smile and gestured at the closed door. The woman turned and walked through the door without any further pleasantries.

“What is it?” The Principal was surprised that someone walked in without Bethany warning him.

“Mr. Werner, my name is Bijou, and I’m here on behalf of the Sharp Consortium of Magical Mentors. It’s been reported that you’re being rather obtuse, and I came to see for myself,” she said. “You’re no longer excusing absences related to Hero Work, is that right?” she asked. The Principal laughed and nodded.

“I had no idea they were this organized, but it’s even more surprising they called their boss on me,” he said. “Yes, it’s true. I’ll tell you the same thing I told them, just so there’s no confusion. We value the performance, and require the presence of our students, and ‘hero work’ is never an excuse for skipping school.”

“I see,” Bijou nodded. “Very well, it will no longer be an issue.”

“Huh?” The Principal was caught off guard. He’d expected something more from the interaction; he almost thought he was there to protest for them. If she was their boss, it was no wonder they folded easily. Instead, she seemed to be on board with his point of view. Oh, that’s wonderful news. I’m glad we both agree on how important their grades are.”

“I understand how important schooling is. By design, Magical Girls can not fall out of the top 10%,” she nodded. “But we’re also aware of how important it is to help in dangerous times. I’m not sure how you came to decide ‘hero work’ was being used as an excuse to skip school, but I assure you, it regularly involves saving a great many lives. Perhaps the rampant monster attacks across the city have been handled too efficiently for you to take them seriously. Somehow you got it in your mind the various magical girls were out... shopping, maybe? Instead of being in class?” she laughed.

“There are other heroes!” Principal Werner replied.

“Of course. There are dozens of hero teams across the world. However, these girls were deliberately placed in this school to safeguard this region due to the unnatural amount of monster activity and the sparse hero coverage. The nearest teams are several hundred miles away.”

“What? What are you saying?” The Principal was confused. It initially sounded like she agreed with him, but now he wasn’t sure. “What did you mean by ‘it will no longer be an issue’?”

“It will no longer be your issue,” Bijou nodded. “There are plenty of schools in this region that would benefit from supporting the local heroes with more tolerable guidelines. And we cannot afford to have them bound to inflexible schedules. We’ll be withdrawing the magical girls we’ve enrolled here and sending them to different schools.”

“Wait a minute. You can’t just...”

“Change schools? Why not?” Bijou asked with a smile as she turned to leave. The sudden reality started to sink in.

“Wait, what about all the monster attacks??” Bijou stopped with her hand on the door and turned to face him.

“We’re not heartless, Mr. Werner. I will leave a pair of magical girls enrolled here. The worst part, for your job, is that you’re going to lose your Valedictorian and the funding associated with having so many of them at your school. And don’t worry, I’ll be sure to make it clear to the ones staying that they can only help people after school. No matter what the problem is,” she winked at him. “Or who it is attacking.”