Mr. Green

Scars tell most of Green's story at a glance: a large one crossing his nose and left eye, the latter hidden by an eyepatch, three horizontal marks along his chin, and X-shaped traces on his arms. He is a tall, powerfully built middle-aged man whose bulk reads as menacing, topped by a small slicked-back patch of dirty blond hair. His usual outfit consists of a white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up, a red tie, belted black trousers, and brown boots.

The menace is entirely cosmetic. Green is genuine and kind, popular with Eden's students, and fond of trading jokes with children and colleagues alike. As a counselor he reads young people well: he teaches Damian the value of switching the brain off and surrendering to the senses, and later hands Ewen and Emile a trick for taming jealousy, personifying the feeling as a cartoon character named Mr. Buzz so they can acknowledge and even embrace it. He backs the students' dreams, believing devotion to a goal is a wonderful thing, gently objecting only when an ambition seems questionable, like Emile's plan to eat mountains of candy, and he finds their odd behavior endearing rather than tiresome.

A veteran of the Ostanian navy, Green joins Eden Academy as a custos sometime after his service ends. He first appears escorting midterm exams into the North Hall vault, then takes center stage when Henry Henderson assigns him to lead Damian, Ewen, and Emile on a field research trip disguised as punishment. Green runs the boys through a wild canoe ride, a fishing lesson, and a night hike to Stella Lake, singing a picnic song along the way, spooking them with the word's history as code for defecting to Westalis, and coaxing Damian into relaxing for once.

During the first-years' museum outing, Billy Squire's shotgun blast blows out a tire on Green's pursuing car and sends it into a tree. Bandaged but upright, he attends the Stella ceremony for the students who resolved the hijacking and quips that the SSS suppressed the story because children stole their glory. He later features as a quiz question at the term-end party, the students guessing his birthday, and when the second term opens, counsels Ewen and Emile on jealousy, a conversation that leaves housemaster Henry stung at being passed over for life advice.