All three of the Academy students were aghast by the time Wally Tona finished, in excruciating detail on his experiences as a commission mage.

  Of note within his insane tales were the horror stories in forced teleportation. From evacuees caught up in lewd acts, evacuees who had just been going about their business in bathrooms, and a horrifying story about a gentleman accidentally teleported to the mass evacuation room in his birthday suit.

  “No one’s going to believe me when I say I was just showering- T-This is horrible. My reputation is gone! Down the sink!” Lucina muttered, now completely lost within her thoughts, her mouth agape and her eyes hollow.

  “Honestly Lucina, it’s not that bad… I doubt anyone would think to lump you in with these sorts of stories…” Tiberius started, attempting to sooth his girlfriend.

  “Koff, koff. Although the Commission is an efficient and effective international organisation, it still does lack some of the finer details that define its image… Reputational image is not the priority of The Commission after all.” Mr. Tona started.

  “It is completely regrettable that unsavory rumours of evacuation lockers have been spread. Although, er, many rumours are true, a majority of these cases do still happen to be benign… I admit that you may find a few unsavory comments being spread around for a week or two, but in most cases, they should clear up quickly enough.”

  The stories had taken up enough time for the commission construction crew to rebuild most of the roof. The teams had worked efficiently, erecting a scaffolding and small crane with magic, then manipulating the wooden support beams and stone bricks with earth magic.

  The practiced ease at which these teams of commission mages and contracted mages worked was truly admirable, as they repaired the roof of the Academy easily. The magical damage that the Arch Sage had done, on the other hand, was a different story.

  A few mages in protective suits with ignivite engravings had also bravely ventured into the “dead zone”, where the destructive spell had been cast.

  Despite their best efforts, the commission mages had only managed to grow a disparate number of grass blades in the circular patch, still unable to completely overcome the remnant effects of the spell.

  They had brought in a small handful of rats to expose to the area to ensure its safety, but so far, all rats introduced had dropped dead, and turned into bleached skeletons in record time.

  Aurelius watched this happen with a slightly petrified expression.

  Poor rats… They’re at the mercy of some commission crew… W-Wait, I’m also at the mercy of Quetzalcoat–Does that make me equal to one of those damn rats? What kind of sick joke has my life become? He questioned, becoming rather philosophical in his laments.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  He was, in fact, nothing less than a rat for Quetzalcoatl, supposedly “trapped in a time loop” and made to serve His whims for His goals.

  He was, in fact, not thrilled about this “time loop”. Though most people may be ecstatic to have practically infinite time to pursue their passions, or to live life with virtually no consequences in a time loop such as this, Aurelius was still in a pickle.

  To Aurelius, magecraft was simply a career path. It was a chore to learn, one that he felt had to endure for the sake of his parents and their expectations. To have gotten involved in matters of divinity strayed far from his plans of a quiet and comfortable life.

  There were countless legends and stories of tragic figures who had meddled with the divine. Of those, the tragedies of ancient heroes and of supposedly “blessed” historical figures were especially poignant. A cautious warning to all about the untouchable nature of gods.

  He had thought that getting The Commission and their help would be a good way to prolong his life in this loop, but it seemed that the commission was more interested in using him as some sort of… sacrifice to eliminate a lich.

  In his… 3 deaths so far, he had no way to fight against the tides around him. Quetzalcoatl had him in the palms of His hands as a plaything, a tool for his glorious end, the Fae Queen saw him as a mere obstacle for Her unknown goals and now, it was The Commission using him as bait.

  Quetzalcoatl’s divinity breathed down his neck, the spectre of Fae assassins hung in the background and the Commission was going to snoop around his life under the guise of “protection”.

  He would be at the mercy of these clashing forces for these stupid loops. He was unable to learn magic powerful enough to dissuade any of these figures and it seemed that he was valuable enough to place a target on his own back.

  Perhaps he would simply fuck off to some far away forest in the next loop, avoiding Dr. Varian and The Commission altogether…

  “Ah, I forgot to mention. You’re being provided some… security detail!” Mr. Tona’s cheerful voice shook him out of his cynical spiral.

  “O-Oh of course! I knew you people wouldn’t be as heartless as to leave me to die! Who are these wonderful bodyguards that the Commission will entrust my safety to!” Aurelius yelled excitedly. Perhaps getting the help of The Commission was the right move after all!

  “It’s me.” Mr. Tona replied with a toothy grin, smoke billowing out between the gaps of his teeth.

  Aurelius blanched at this reply.

  “Are you sure you’re not going to keel over and die of a heart attack? You look old enough to play bridge with my grandparents!” Aurelius retorted skeptically.

  “Pft, did you not hear my stories? I’m one of the most experienced mages in The Commission!” Mr. Tona shot back cheerfully.

  “Plus, I won’t be alone in this task! I’ve been informed that due to the danger that a lich poses, you will be provided an additional mage!”

  “To be perfectly fair, I should be enough to fend off a fearsome lich like your Dr. Varian, but capturing one? A little out of my league.” He bragged, not an ounce of humility to be found in his strange, exaggerated words.

  Aurelius rubbed his glabella, feeling a headache coming on.

  “Is the other person as ancient as you?” He asked, feeling a wave of defeat. He couldn’t catch a damn break!

  “Oh, you know her well, Aurelius.” The man teased.

  “Her name is… Yvette Yeltz!”

  https://ko-fi.com/madmarble!!!