The office has never been so noisy and “fun”. Writing instruments, pages, dust from the cabinet, and even splashes of saliva flew into the faces of intractable opponents. The rector of the Academy of Wind and Storms, Escher Felsen Schwartz, the onyx dragon, watched this disgrace with a stony face. He had held his position for almost a hundred years, but he had never witnessed such a commotion before.
– Enough! – he couldn’t resist and slammed his fist on the table. Having dispelled several whirlwinds accidentally created by the debaters, the rector delivered a verdict: “It will be as I said, and this is not discussed!”
His words fell like black blocks into the depths of the sea.
“Excuse me, Asher Schwartz, but I…” the dean of the Faculty of Natural Arts, Richard Blackrock, did not want to calm down.
He was unceremoniously interrupted by Estella Krieger, head of the Department of Household Magic, the only woman among the deans:
“But from the very beginning, only boys studied with us!” We are simply not ready to accommodate girls here! You will need separate amenities, a separate house! How will they shower after training? They'll have to run to campus! Surely you haven't even thought about this? So what should we do? – she added sarcastically and hit the nail on the head!
But she didn’t manage to win over the rector with this.
– There’s still a whole month before the adepts arrive, eshsheri. I am sure you will cope with arranging your home. After all, that’s what you teach, isn’t it? Don't disappoint me!
– Pfft! – the Magess snorted arrogantly and turned away, folding her hands on her lush chest.
The quarrel almost flared up with renewed vigor, but the rector kicked everyone out of the office, ordering them to calm down.
– We’ll continue tomorrow, when you’ve cooled down and can absorb the information, but now everyone is free! Free, I said!
Felsen Schwartz pronounced the last phrase with palpable pressure. Yell after that “Vooooon!” I didn't have to. The dissatisfied deans, sensing the smell of something fried, gloomily reached for the exit.
– Blackrock, stay! – the rector suddenly stopped one of them.
When the door closed behind the others, and he and the dean were left alone, the onyx dragon openly showed dissatisfaction with his colleague:
“And from you, Duke, I expected support, and not such fierce resistance.” It seemed to me, or you are personally interested in preventing changes in the academy. I'm right?
The dean hesitated, looked around the room, but still met the rector’s gaze and answered:
“It seems like a waste of time to me.” We'll just cause confusion.
– Richard, I already said that the idea was not mine. The order came from the Bishop’s office, and who are we to contradict? The union of your eldest daughter with Rengold Hallward and the healing of the northern dragons from the Scourge has shaken up the dragon community throughout Balaria. The tradition of marrying true ones has returned to fashion, but you know what?
– What? – Blackrock asked.
– The number of marriages has sharply decreased. For two years, dragons have been regularly visiting the Valley of the Spring Primroses, but, as you know, there are almost no elementals of the required orientation there,” Schwartz shared a secret.
– Is that why the Bishop ordered the creation of a women’s faculty? “Blackrock showed glimpses of understanding.
– Right! It's enough to hide girls in closed boarding houses. You can’t organize a show there, it’s a violation of all foundations and rules. But, as you know, not only dragons have problems, but also magicians.
– What are these? – The dean frowned.
