The once dead man’s head raised from the desk as he glared at the knight. “They were this close to revealing who sent them. You couldn’t wait just a bit longer? It’s not like they could kill me with this mana-less hunk of metal.” He gestured to the sword that was still lodged in his torso.

“Sorry,” the knight named Balrus apologized. Some idle part of Remus’s brain thought the name sounded familiar. “I got over eager. You can’t really expect me to sit idle when assassins are rooting around in your office over your corpse, can you?”

The headmaster rolled his eyes as he attempted to get up from his chair, then was forced to sit down again as the sword kept him fastened in place. He looked at the knight with a put-upon expression. “Do you mind?”

The knight walked over and pinched the sword’s hilt between two fingers, yanking it free of both desk and man with no noticeable effort. There was something indescribably horrifying about watching a man get a sword ripped out of his body without so much as a wince of pain. Nausea replaced horror as Remus watched the hole in the man’s abdomen slowly closing itself, radiating the green glow of healing magic. Just who were these monsters? He definitely hadn’t been paid enough.

“Now then,” the headmaster said, wearing a friendly smile that didn’t seem to reach his eyes. “I believe you mentioned one of our colleagues was also a target of yours? Would you kindly inform us where that might be taking place? I should mention, failure to do so will result in me leaving you to whatever tender mercies my friend here has.”

“None whatsoever,” the knight answered cheerfully, looking entirely too eager.

Before Remus spilled his guts, a loud boom came from somewhere outside. All three of them turned as one to the large window. A massive pillar of white flame was shooting up higher than the headmaster’s tower, lighting up the night sky and forcing Remus to blink away sudden tears.

The headmaster sighed dramatically. “Never mind, I found her. Balrus, would you be so kind as to go assist Zasia before she burns my entire academy to the ground?”

The knight moved to the door and left at a brisk walk, looking mildly panicked. The headmaster leveled his gaze back to Remus, who was suddenly aware that this healer had left himself unguarded, yet didn’t look the least bit worried. Remus really wished he’d stop smiling like that.

“Now, where were we? Ah, yes! You were just about to tell me everything you know.” The headmaster’s hands started growing an emerald green, lighting up his face in a way that was probably meant to be intimidating. It was.