Apparently, Aldric’s two oldest and closest friends thought he was an idiot. Maybe he was, since they’d already tricked him into coming all the way here, but it was Kedrin’s most recent proposition that convinced Aldric that his two friends had lost their minds.

“...you want me to teach here?” Aldric asked. He didn’t bother to hide his disbelieving tone. His two friends flicked a glance toward each other and conducted some sort of unspoken conversation, then both turned to him and nodded.

Yeah, they’d planned this.

Aldric could understand Zasia getting a job here. She was one of the preeminent conjurers of their time, being ludicrously talented and gifted with control of all four unique elements of conjuration magic. Kedrin’s friendship was the only thing that kept her from being snatched up by some other institution. She certainly had the wealth to match her prestige, and that didn’t even count the wealth her noble family possessed.

Kedrin was no slouch either, being one of the leading experts in both the theory and practice of the healing magic arts, and headmaster of one of the largest and most prestigious academies on the continent. Both of them had glowing resumes longer than they were tall. Potential employers would give an arm and a leg to have either of these two on their staff. Why wouldn’t they have prominent positions at this academy?

And then there was Aldric. In stark contrast to his friends, he was a washed up has been, almost perpetually drunk, and lived only by the good graces of Zasia for the nearly seven years she had housed and fed him. Not exactly a shining example of academic excellence.

“There would be benefits as well, of course!” Kedrin suddenly blurted into the awkward silence, as if a lack of job perks was what had confused Aldric. “We provide room and board for all of our professors, and bonuses depending on student performance.”

“What about the fact that I have zero experience?” Aldric asked, still not quite believing these two were being serious.

“We’ve set up a much smaller general studies class for you, just to ease you into the position,” Zasia added, coming to Kedrin’s rescue but still facing his shelves. “It will be entirely up to you what you teach, and you will only be beholden to Kedrin and myself about how you conduct your lessons. We will also periodically check in on your students’ progress and offer help as needed.”

Aldric sat in dumbfounded silence, not sure how to feel or respond. Zasia peeked to the side at Aldric to gauge his reaction, but snapped her gaze to Kedrin’s desk when she saw that he’d noticed her. She busied herself fiddling with random papers and putting on a show of being productive.