. When I went to bed, the guards dimmed the lighting for sleep (but not a lot, because they needed to see us at all times, per orders), but I woke to full illumination. Since the cell only held one bed, Genette was quietly snoozing right beside me, with her wolf ears twitching a bit. Dreaming, I presume. Fortunately, the …

. “I behaved shamefully and I am truly and deeply sorry for my actions,” the Second Prince of Orestania declared while bowing deeply toward me on his knee from the other side of the prison bars. It was the male counterpart to the deep curtsey. I’m glad that the women watching this along with me were present at the time, …

. I sat watching Genette on her knees, leaning over a large wooden tub with her hands in the water within. Genette is not a trained mage, but she has strong Fire affinity and can warm water as long as she is patient. Basically, she does a raw release of Fire mana to boil the water near her hands. It …

. After a heated discussion, Ged insisted Lady Niaela leave the room, ostensibly so he could discuss the matter with me in private. As soon as the door shut though, I pointed out, “Big Brother, as headmaster of the school, she is the feudal lord of this town. And as long as we are her students, it doesn’t matter that …

. The mood in class the next day was distinctly subdued. The news was now out about the vampire attacks, with the rumors putting the number of attacks anywhere from a half dozen up into the twenties. To my knowledge, there had in fact been a half-dozen attacks when I went home the previous evening. I didn’t know if any …

. This is an author’s note, not a chapter, so it isn’t locked. It’s ‘Chapter C’ as in Roman Numeral One Hundred. The real Chapter 100 will post immediately after this item. I just wanted to post something to mark the personal accomplishment of reaching one hundred chapters. If you don’t care for such self-backpats, just go forward to the …

. We made full circles of of each house– between the three schools there are eight houses for female students– then checked around the school buildings closest to them. I found a dramatic mana signature at one place, behind one of the residential houses, but Nandi identified it as the spot that one of the attacks the previous night had …

. My partner was Nandi, the silver-haired advanced-school girl. Ged sent us to search for signs of the vampire along the east side of campus. It was the highest priority area, where the women’s dorms were located. Nandi seemed unhappy to be paired with me. I knew it was at least in part because she was normally teamed with ‘Gabe’, …

. I very, very nearly lost control over my Water mana coating from the shock. I needed a lot more time, but I decided to carefully unwind the manifestation and dispel the mana, just to be on the safe side. “In class?” I asked, when I noticed the bizarreness of the news. He grew a thin smile. “During the class …

. I have an annoying skin condition. At least twice a day, I must either bathe for at least fifteen minutes or coat my skin with Water mana for about an hour. The baths are better, I suppose. Not only do they take less time, if I mess up the mana trick even a little bit, I end up sopping …