At Santi's request, the group introduced themselves to the next preacher of the Onegod, some more enthusiastically than others, but the group was aware that their boss had managed to get the priest-in-training on their bad side, so they were not surprised by Razvan's hostile attitude.
"Ah, Father Santi." Another hooded figure appeared almost out of nowhere, bowing to the priest and the Athamanas with a broad smile.
"Greetings, brother, how can I help you?" Santi asked with a faint smile.
"Oh, no, nothing. It's been so long since I've seen you and I wanted to say hello. Are they your friends?" The newcomer looked around the group.
"Yes. They have the blessing of the Onegod." The future preacher nodded.
"You are very lucky gentlemen, it is rare to be on good terms with the preacher, as there is not much chance of meeting him. The current preacher is in his retirement period." The young man bows his head. "He is ready to meet the Onegod, our brother Santi will soon take his place." He explains and looks up at the aforementioned.
"While we are at it. Brother, would you introduce my friends to our best students?" Santi asked.
"Of course." The other one sraightenes himself out proudly.
"Rahul, I would like to speak to you privately." The older priestly student turned to the boy. "May the Onegod be with you, my friends." He greeted the other Athamanas and started towards one of the doors of the temple, with Rahul at his heels, but someone caught his arm.
"The Onegod's blessing, right?" Razvan muttered, then pulled the western boy towards him, whose arm he held and kissed him.
Rahul's eyes widened, and when Razvan relaxed his grip, he slapped him. The leader of the Athamanas only moved reflexively, kicking straight towards the boy's groin, which resulted in a cursing Rahul, who stormed out of the temple without looking back.
"That was a very stupid move, Razvan." Wandi shook his head.
"I..." The leader's hands clenched into fists, but nothing more came out of his throat.
"But seriously, boss, why did you have to do this now?" Citar grimaced too.
"Thelousy." The priest apprentice shrugged.
"Oh, but there was no reason for it." Santi blinked and looked at Razvan in confusion. "I don't like men at all. Rahul is like the little brother I never had." He explained how he managed to make Razvan's face turn red.
"By the way, does anyone know why Rahul stormed off? If I were him, I would have beaten the boss. I'm sorry, Razvan." Achilleus scratched his neck.
"I'm not surprised. Rahul grew up being told that he could have his first kiss at his wedding. That's a big deal to him." Santi noted, as the Athamanas turned to him with wide eyes.
"What?" Teveli asked.
"You come from the same land, don't you? I thought you knew." The next preacher grimaced.
"So Rahul..." Razvan began, turning towards the door where the member of their team had disappeared. "Good spirits. He will never forgive me." He muttered under his breath, as the unknown priest apprentice snorted.
"Okay, this won't work." He shook his head, then stood behind Razvan and kicked him in the ass with all his might, which made the leader of the Athamanas fall at his nose nicely. "Go after him, pull yourself together, be a man and apologize to him." The boy growled with his hands on his hips, to Razvan who was looking at him.
"I..." Razvan started, but the bastard only raised his right leg.
"Get to work, or you'll get another one." The young man threatened, whereupon Razvan got up and after a quick nod hurried after Rahul.
"Do you think Rahul forgave him?" Teveli asked.
"You don't have to worry, you are friends." Santi smiled. "I know Rahul, he'll get over it soon." The apprentice priest chuckled. "This way I can introduce you to the others. Come on." He suggested as he led the group and set off to find the scattered students of the now-large priestly school.
They were already heading towards the dining halls when Rahul and Razvan joined them. The tension between the two boys was still palpable, but since neither of them looked as if they had been beaten, the group guessed that their boss had succeeded in apologizing.
"So here you are! I've been looking for you all day! Do you have any idea how much trouble you've caused me?" Mark, the deputy headmaster, appeared at the end of the corridor leading to the dining hall, his eyes blazing at the younger of the two priestly students.
"Oh my, I think I'd better get out of here real quick." The boy muttered and started running, leaving the surprised Athamanas and the future preacher in a daze.
"You can't run away from your job all day, headmaster." Mark suddenly appeared in front of the fleeing boy and grabbed his ear, then pulled him after him without any explanation.
"Could that have been the director?" Citar blinked.
"His magic must be very strong, if I didn't notice it either." Santi held his chin as he and the team watched after the retreating pair.
Mark had been in the diary all morning he was looking for his boss and now that he had found him, he had no intention of letting go. So he finally dragged Weruh back to the principal's office, where the man grunted and returned to his original form.
"For gods sake why can't you leave me alone for a day. I had important work to do." The principal grumbled, taking a seat in his chair.
"For gods sake why can't you do your job for a day. Why do you have to deal with those good-for-nothing first-year students anyway?" Mark crossed his arms, which made Wer's eyes narrow.
"I'll show you." He muttered under his breath and started to rummage through his piles of papers. "Got it! Now you will think twice before being disrespectful with me next time." He said in a triumphant voice, as he pulled out the particular piece of paper that had the names of the candidates for the competition between the big schools held every five years. "The little useless first-year team will represent our school in the competition." He announced as he signed the document, but when he didn't hear any objections or indignation, he looked up at his deputy, who just grinned broadly at him.
"Thank you for the last signature, Principal." Mark tilted his head to the side.
"What?" Weruh blinked.
"Look at the first name." The man shrugged, and when the principal looked down at the document, the first of the seven teachers who recommended the students was indeed his deputy, and the last was him.
"Why?" Weruh blinked in confusion, and Mark laughed.
"All their teachers begged to be allowed to take their end-of-year exams early." The bespectacled man waved. "They are at a level where they can stand their ground in the competition and take their exams at the same time. I thought, that way everyone wins." He shrugged.
"And why didn't you tell me about this?" The director was outraged, and he received a cold look in response.
"Why do you think I chased you around all day? If you had done your job exceptionally, you would have known about it all a long time ago." He folded his arms in front of him. "The competition is in two weeks, I guess you want to announce the participants." He finally blew a whistle.
"Of course I do." Weruh grinned.
"Then I'll go and write down everything that will be needed." Mark smiled kindly, then looked seriously at the man. "You do your paperwork!" He said, leaving the director of Floating Air Baracks alone in his office.