Cat’s grip on my shoulders tightened.

“What the hell...” Elliot said out loud.

The three students looked at us.

They didn’t even bother to stand up. They simply went back to harassing the person on the floor.

It was a young man.

Probably another neophyte.

He was lying on his back, naked, and being pinned down by his attackers.

“Did you really think such an obvious trick would work on us?” the biggest sneered at the neophyte.

He then touched the neophyte’s face and started to peel something off of it. It was then that I realized who it was.

“So, the burn mark was fake after all!” said one of the seniors.

“Yeah, he probably thinks he could get away with it by trying to look ugly.”

They faced us then.

“What about that undead goblin?” one of them said, pointing at me.

“That, my friend, is not something you could simply do with make-up alone!” one of them said laughing.

“And I don’t want to fuck a pig either.” They continued to laugh.

“Well, what are you bastards still looking at?” they asked as we stood frozen in our place.

“Why don’t you two just scram?!”

Two.

That’s right. They didn’t notice Cat hanging on my back.

“P-please... help...”

I kept my eyes on their victim’s golden ones.

He was bleeding from a broken lip and a gash on his forehead. Signs that he probably tried to fight back.

“What, you think those idiots would risk their necks just to save yours?” laughed the biggest in the group as I raised my right hand.

“You’re staying here,” he said, pulling the neophyte’s legs apart. “We’re not letting you go until we’re satis –”

A strong jet of water suddenly hit the biggest assailant from behind.

His face slammed against the wall in front of him due to the pressure, and fell unconscious on top of the young student.

“What the-”

Another jet of water hit the remaining two which also slammed them against the wall.

“Is that what you call a deluge?” Cat asked from behind me.

Elliot quickly ran to the young student.

“Are you alright?” he asked, pulling him from underneath the fallen senior.

“What happened?” the neophyte asked, blinking.

“G-ghosts!” Elliot blurted out. “P-probably the vengeful spirits of dead neophytes, looking for justice!”

“G-ghosts?”

Elliot helped the young man to his feet. His long black hair fell past his pale shoulders, as well as a flimsy reddish film that used to be the burn mark that covered half of his face. What it uncovered, was flawless milky white skin, broken only by his captor’s vicious attacks.

“Thank you for helping me,” he said when he finally got his bearings. “I was hoping that there won’t be any people in the baths during lunch time,” he added, “I guess, I was wrong...”

“We were actually thinking the same thing,” I told him. “Are you alright to walk on your own? I don’t think it’s a good idea to stay here for long.”

“I... I think I can manage...” he said worriedly, “but my disguise...” He picked the fake skin from the wet floor. “And wouldn’t you guys be in trouble as well when they wake up?”

“But that was the doing of vengeful spirits!” Elliot insisted. “That water just moved by itself!”

“Could there really have been a ghost?” the young man asked.

“It is not... impossible...” I mumbled.

I have always found it hard to tell a lie.

“But whatever it is, these seniors would surely blame you for what happened,” he said. “Also, I have blown my cover. I guess I’ll be living in hell for the next five years...”

The young man’s body began to shake as tears fell from his eyes.

Elliot looked at me, his brown eyes imploring, until we heard a splash and saw Cat taking a bathing in the pool. He came out after some laps and hurriedly dressed himself, gracing our sights with a perfectly round peach as he bent over to put his underwear on.

I was a bit surprised to see how fit his body looked.

“We better get back before the ghosts return and the seniors wake up,” he reminded us.

I kept where I stood.

I was trying to make up my mind.

“Pat?” Elliot looked expectantly at me. “Do you have a plan?”

I heaved a deep sigh and dropped my eyes to the ground.

“May I know your name?” I asked the lad who was now sniffling in front of us.

“A-Arman...” he replied. “I am Baron Fentibeau’s son...”

“Oh, my goodness, The Baron Fentibeau?” Elliot asked excitedly. “The leading apothecary in the capital?!”

“T-the one and only!” Arman replied, blushing a little with pride. “He’s the b-best in the whole empire!”

“My gods, I have always wanted to meet your father!”

“Maybe some other time,” I interfered. “We currently have more important things to do, and right now, I need you to promise not to tell anyone what happened here today.”

“What exactly did happen today?” Arman asked, still a little disoriented.

“A vengeful ghost beat up the three guys trying to kill you!” Cat piped in with his hand raised.

I gave another sigh and simply went to the nearest fallen senior. I sat by his side and touched my pointer to the middle of his forehead. With a little chant, the tip of my finger lit up and a soft breeze blew away the scenes of the past couple of hours from his memories.

I did the same with the remaining two.

“Amazing...” Elliot whispered low. “You work just like the sages in Magnificat who whisper prayers in the air to work their magic!”

“You’re a sage?” Arman asked me wide-eyed.

“N-nothing like that, I’m just a self-taught bookworm,” I replied with a strained smile. “Now, would you like me to fix your burnt face?”

Soon, we were back in our room, but not before telling some seniors that we found three unconscious students in the third floor baths.

“Woah... It really looks so real!” Arman exclaimed as he scratched at the burnt mark that covered the right half of his face. “You even made my eye clouded over as if I truly am blind!”

“That’s nothing, just look at how nice my hives are!” said Cat, raising his shirt to flaunt his bloated tummy at his new found friend.

“But how can I remove it?” Arman asked.

“Why would you want to remove it?” asked Elliot. “Wouldn’t it be better if you just keep it on all the time like Cat is doing?”

“Well, of course, but I would still want to look at my face in the mirror, you know...” he said shyly.”

“I’ll teach you how to turn the illusion off,” I told him. “It’s quite simple, really, just one of the basic camouflage spells.”

“Can I learn it too?!” Cat asked wide-eyed.

“Of course, but that would need a lot of patience and concentration. What I could do, is place the spell on you and teach you how to turn it on and off.”

“Got it!” the two replied in unison.

It took me three hours to teach them the chant, and another three hours for them to perfect it.

Well, it was well worth it, knowing that I have probably saved these two young men from a fate worst than death.

“I think I should place burn marks on my body as well, what do you guys think?” asked Arman as he twirled in front of a wide, full length mirror he brought to our room with Elliot’s help. “That way, nobody would bother me when I go take a bath!”

He was able to learn the masking spell much faster, compared to Cat who required a bit of assistance. I think perhaps he would be good at making illusions in the near future.

“I think it would be better not to take a bath on your own, burn scars or not,” Elliot told him.

“That’s right! I could just go with you guys every day!” he said happily. “I can’t ask my room mates to come with me, after all. They couldn’t even look at my face!”

“Yeah, the more the merrier!” said Cat.

“Speaking of baths, I wasn’t able to take one because of all the commotion earlier,” said Elliot who was sweating profusely after Arman’s request.

“Neither did I!” said Arman with a gasp. “Why don’t we head back and try our disguises?”

“I wanna go try the heated baths at the ground floor!” Cat piped in.

“What about you, Pat?”

The three looked at me expectantly.

“I thank you for your kind consideration, but I would rather rest for now. I shall take a bath tomorrow morning instead.”

“What? But you didn’t get to clean yourself yesterday as well!” said Elliot.

“You mean to say, you went to bed with all the filth you got from traveling?!” Arman asked, flabbergasted. “I couldn’t even bear to lie on my bed without first taking my nightly beauty regimen! I had to wait for my room mates to fall asleep so I could peel off my fake burnt skin and pamper my face with an apricot facial scrub!”

“You use a fruit to scrub your face?” asked Cat.

I was a bit curious about it myself.

“Anyway, there’s no way I’m letting you off!” Arman took my arm and scratched the back of my hand, leaving white chalky marks on its path. “See? Look how dry your skin is!” He touched my face next. “Your lips are chipped and even bleeding! And your hair... My goodness, don’t even let me start about your hair! It looks like you jumped through a burning hoop and got rid of the rest of it with a blunt knife! Why, I wouldn’t even dream of touching it, if you weren’t my savior!”

I stared at him, my mouth slightly agape.

“Is it really obvious that it got burnt?” I asked him.

“You mean to say your hair actually got burnt?” asked Elliot who had been eating snacks while watching Arman fret over me.

“Well, I was trying out a spell that bounced back, it was a blessing that I decided to study the element of water first...”

“No wonder your hair looked so tired and brittle!” Arman continued, nagging me. “I have just the right thing in my hair regimen made of fenugreek seeds, to heal your follicles!”

“My what?” I’m starting to worry.

“Just come with me, I’ll take care of you from this day forth!”