Legacy

Tricks of the trade

Nathan

Astor told me he was better now. After spending a whole night wondering how he could still keep throwing up, the comment did not feel that reassuring.

"Are you sure we should not wait a bit with this plan? I mean, I rather not have you make a scene at the ministry," I asked.

"If we are going to wait until I am not infected anymore to do anything, then we will not get anything done," he snapped back: "We just need to go get the clothes you carelessly left behind, and then we should be ready," he then concluded.

It was awkward to go back to the shop and browse for the clothes we needed again. The employers were continually giving us looks. At last, it was done and paid for with the money we did not have. We had planned to go to the ministry the day after since my class had been granted asses to the fungus, I should be able to be allowed to look at the associated research. I would scot it out during the daytime, and then we would borrow it on one of the following nights. Today I would go to school with my new mentor "Romain Bonnaire" I repeated that name over and over to myself, making sure it would be stuck. Better not mess up and use the wrong name. We also had to act in a more formal way, which was going to be tough because I had gotten very used to not doing that with Astor. With the man finally ready with his outfit, we made our way to the campus. The place was swarming with students and teachers. We were running a bit late, not that Astor would admit it was his fault. He merely pointed out that we should just have gotten up earlier, which I countered by explaining I had no clue he was going to spend this much time getting ready. We only stopped our argument because other students were giving us looks, and well, we were meant to do an undercover mission here and not draw unneeded attention. The day at the campus was mostly uneventful from then on Astor would walk around and "admire" the school while I spent my hours sucking up to a professor so I could get to see the research papers on the fungus. Putting up the front of the most bright-eyed and impressed person could only get me so far, considering the fact I was missing something more alluring to go with it like a pair of breasts. So I made a new, improved plan. I bribed one of the girls in my class to get the professor to show her the papers, and then she would tell me what they contained and where they might be located. After all, it is not about working hard or having an ounce of dignity. It is about working smart and, of course, being ready to humiliate yourself as much as needed so you can get what you want.

Astor was not impressed by my actions. I felt pretty sure that his rant about decency and proper social behavior was something that he thought was important, but honestly, I tapped out a few words in and just nodded my head along. When his speech was over, I shyly added I would have to meet with the girl tomorrow to get the intel. His judgemental look made me sigh.

"So, how did your rounds around campus go?" I asked to change the topic a bit.

"It went alright. I meet a person who visited me in the hospital," he hesitantly supplied.

"Ok, so how was that? Were they an old friend or?" I kept going.

"No, the guy was an arse and very rude. He was the one sent to inform me that ministry had stolen my research and then gave me a bunch of paperwork, " he sourly replied.

"Oh, do you think he is going to be an issue?" I carefully asked.

"No, I think it is going to be fine even if he did figure out who I am, he does not have anything on me," Astor assured me.

So with that, we spent the rest of the day playing chess and making snide comments on the textbooks needed for my homework. We also decided to be fancy and get some wine as well because, if Astor was going to me to play chess, then he better get me some wine first. The next day went mostly smoothly. I got the needed intel after being dragged by my confidant to a more isolated part of the campus. The report we needed was located in the restricted section in the professor's library. The place was locked, and an underpaid security guard was keeping watch during the daytime. The papers themselves were in a locked bookcase, so that made two locks we needed to get around. The security guard was more of an unknown factor since I was not sure if he was there during nighttime as well. I paid the promised amount, and we went our separate ways. I nearly had a heart attack when one of the professors pulled me to the side later during the day. Hell, I was so scared Astor might have messed up, or maybe they had noticed something off about my behavior.

"Mister Collingwood, I hope you understand why I needed to pull you aside today," the professor started.

I took a deep breath, trying to keep my nerves down before replying: "I do."

"Good, you see, romantic relationships are not allowed to be expressed on campus. I am sure you know that?"

Realizing where this was going, I both felt relieved and also more than ready to run from this conversation. It was going to be awkward, mostly because, well, I could not correct the professor's assumptions since the truth was worse. Instead, I had to suffer through an entire lecture about proper behavior in the school and its policies on more intimate relationships. The bastard Astor did not even feel sorry for me when I shared the episode with him later. If anything, he saw it as nothing less than real justice for my crude behavior.