Once I step into the Dean’s office, my mood usually hits rock bottom, but this time I was a bit curious about it.
I wondered if there was another student who entered that office for reasons as unfortunate as mine. As I walked in, May and the Dean were waiting for me.
‘May too?’
Even though they were so openly gathered, they were wearing rather triumphant smiles.
“Daniel, you know why I called you here, right?”
Not liking that smile one bit, I responded with a grin, “Are you giving me an award? Since I took down a fourth-year who was threatening third-years?”
“You crazy bastard!”
May shot back from the side, but I just laughed it off while the Dean frowned at me heavily.
“Are you serious? Do you even know who you’ve messed with? Fenil Leiros. The second son of the Leiros family. You, a mere commoner, just laid hands on a noble among nobles.”
“Well, if he’s a noble, he should act like one.”
“You must be too young to understand the situation. It’s not just Fenil Leiros. Among the students you hit…”
He then went on about noble families and how impressive they were. Honestly, I barely paid attention, and nothing stuck in my head.
“So the fact that a commoner like you laid hands on nobles has already spread to that family. We cannot just let this slide.”
“Huh, so it’s expulsion then?”
“Yes! You should have acted with some restraint.”
May was laughing at my situation when the Dean raised his hand to silence her, and then she looked at me with a sympathetic expression.
“Daniel, it’s unfortunate, but this is reality. Our academy prioritizes students, but that alone can’t keep the school running.”
“……”
“What parent would just sit by while their child gets hurt? Especially a child of noble blood getting beaten by a commoner.”
“Shouldn’t they be the ones embarrassed by this?”
As I said that with a smirk, the Dean smiled back.
“True, it’s not a good look to lose after teaming up. But the fact remains that you hit them, the kids are hurt, and you’re unscathed. That already makes you the aggressor.”
“What a ridiculous logic?”
“Why is that?”
“……”
“Because you’re a commoner.”
I never expected him to be this bold. The Dean was admitting that Fenil’s group was wrong but still insisted that I should be expelled.
In other words…
It was saying that no matter how much I proved my innocence, it would be useless.
It confirmed that even though they knew I was wronged, they reached the conclusion of expulsion.
“I hope you recognize that this is necessary to avoid upsetting the nobles from the school’s perspective. Honestly, getting expelled might be better for you.”
“Just don’t get on the nobles’ bad side, right?”
“Exactly.”
The Dean smiled as if he understood.
“So life is about retreating even when you’re wronged and it feels unfair.”
“Well, in a way, our Aios Academy might have taught you something bigger than knowledge.”
He was trying hard to suppress a laugh, but his lip corners twitching was quite a sight. So I nodded and pulled something out of my pocket.
A thick sheet of paper.
Interestingly, it contained mana, allowing it to absorb sounds and store them.
I infused a bit of mana, and the recorded voice echoed in the Dean’s office.
-“Let’s call the kids again to gang up on him.”
-“Huh? We can’t win against him anyway.”
-“That’s exactly what I’m aiming for.”
“……”
“……”
The two of them opened their mouths simultaneously, staring at each other, looking confused about how this conversation was recorded.
“Isn’t this interesting? The Dean personally instructed a student to beat up another student. Can you handle this?”
With a smile, the Dean slammed his desk, shouting.
“Where the hell did you get this nonsense!”
“Ha, man, you really can’t read the room.”
I slowly approached the door and locked it.
Click.
With that sound, the mood in the office flipped. I was no longer just Daniel McClain, an 18-year-old kid.
I was the only Sherpa guiding people through the ‘Forest of the Demon Realm,’ a place dubbed hell on earth.
Sometimes, those who sought my guidance would say things like:
“People can live in the Forest of the Demon Realm?”
“Wow, can you really set up a house like this without magical beasts attacking?”
Every time, I didn’t say it outright, but the point they were misunderstanding was that humans couldn’t live in the Forest of the Demon Realm.
I had shed my human guise in that place, becoming a magical beast myself, winning territory battles, and securing my place at the top of the food chain, which was why no magical beasts ever intruded or attacked my sanctuary.
In the end…
It meant I had to instill fear in my enemies just through my presence.
As I turned slowly, the expressions of the two became pale, unable to look away from me. They must have sensed something was off.
If a magical beast with its jaws wide open stood before them, they wouldn’t be able to take their eyes off it.
“Shall we give it a try? How about you expel me? Should I tell you where I plan to go with this?”
I could efficiently use it to head straight to Pales Academy, Aios Academy’s rival. Not to mention, I could send it to noble children who actually understood honor, not the kind who only hug their own kids like Fenil’s parents.
“Getting expelled would be just fine. I can just go back to the village and farm again, but what about you and her?”
“……”
“If you lose everything just to expel one student, would your family even do anything for you? You’d have to at least hold your position as Dean to get anywhere.”
“Th-that’s…”
“Can you even do that?”
After locking the door, I had tried to maintain a straight face, but an involuntary smirk found its way onto my lips.
“Can you handle falling from such a high place?”
It wasn’t just about her and her family.
It wouldn’t be surprising if the next Dean of Aios Academy filed a lawsuit due to the significant damage to their image.
“Hm.”
I chuckled as I watched the two of them sweating cold while still fixated on me.
“I can hear your brains grinding.”
“May!”
As my words left my mouth, the Dean shouted, and May dashed towards me with trembling hands. It seemed she was trying to snatch the paper from me, but I swiftly stepped back, tripping May as she fell.
But that wasn’t the Dean’s intention.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
All the open windows shut, casting shadows in the Dean’s office. It wasn’t dark enough to be concerning given it was still daytime, but that wasn’t her target.
“How dare you pull such tricks on me inside!”
While closing the windows to prevent outside noise from leaking in, she had used a mana barrier.
At this point, no matter how much mana she utilized, the outside wouldn’t know, thinking she was winning.
“You just made a huge mistake.”
As I flicked the Dean’s chin with my staff, she stumbled, disoriented.
To survive in the Forest of the Demon Realm, I had done extensive research on the vital points and weaknesses of magical beasts.
But ironically, it was mostly books written about the vital points of humans, not magical beasts.
“Hitting humans’ vital points is really easy.”
And naturally, I had read all those books.
But even in her dizziness, the Dean instinctively summoned mana.
“You bastard!”
Of course, there were magical beasts that could use magic in the Forest of the Demon Realm, and I was practically clueless about magic myself, always pondering combat against magically adept foes.
The simplest way was to create a situation where a mage couldn’t use magic. No matter how skilled a mage is, they need to calculate to use even basic spells.
Even if some mages could do it subconsciously due to making it second nature…
Still, using even basic magic requires a minimal amount of time.
“And I wouldn’t let you have that time.”
I yanked the staff right from her hand and smashed it. As she leaned on her desk and tried to cast a spell, I tripped her, causing her to fall.
Crash!
The Dean, who I hadn’t won over with bribery, stumbled but still completed her spell and reached out.
But I had already kicked her hand, twisting the magic’s trajectory.
“Gyaaaaa!”
Phew!
A scream escaped the Dean’s mouth as she fell, and one corner of the office ignited with her magic.
May was already trembling, pounding on the door, desperately wanting to get out.
“Shh, it’s fine, just stop struggling. Your part isn’t over yet.”
While the tearful Dean was beneath me, I chuckled.
“Now it’s just beginning.”
You’ll need to hold onto that Dean position for a long time.
Until I graduate, that is.
