The assistant’s knock on the door to the office was soft. “Madame Principal, Mr. Vane is here for his meeting.” Then she left without waiting for a reply.
Seated behind her mahogany desk, Principal Morgan looked up from the reports she had been reviewing, a small smile playing at her lips. She adjusted her glasses and gestured for Silas to sit in the leather chair opposite her.
“Silas, thank you for coming in.”
Taking his seat, Silas eyed the principal carefully. She looked professional in her dark grey blazer and pencil skirt, her long blonde hair tied up in a tight bun. Yet something about her tickled his instincts.
He leaned back in the chair with a lazy smile, “You called me here. I assume it’s not just for pleasantries.”
Morgan chuckled. “Straight to the point. I like that. Let me do you the same courtesy, since you are now employed here. I want your help with an investigation I’ve been conducting on one of the second years.”
Teleporting the trophy on her desk to his hand, he spun it around. Real gold. And it read: S-class fire mage. The principal of the academy was an S-class herself?
He raised his eyebrow. “Shouldn’t that be something the police take care of?”
Morgan sighed and shook her head.
“You know how things work, especially with influential families involved. The government is useless most of the time. But you on the other hand have a unique set of abilities that could get to the bottom of this discreetly.” She leaned forward, her hands clasped together on top of the desk.
“Who is the suspect?” he asked, the trophy vanishing from his hand back to the desk.
Morgan hesitated for a moment before replying, “Lucas Everheart. I have reason to believe he is involved in a dungeon exploitation scandal.”
The name was familiar. Wasn’t that the kid that flirted with the girls in his class? The one who he drew the dick for.
Silas stroked his chin, thinking it over.
“Do you want me to follow him or do you want me to teleport him directly to the moon?”
The principal chuckled, her blue eyes gleaming.
“Nothing too dramatic, please. I need evidence. We have to bring this to the Association without any doubt about the perpetrator. But if you can dig up anything incriminating, I will owe you a favor.”
A favor from the principal?
“Can I call my favor in right now? I want you to remove all the boys from my daughters classes.”
Her smile faltered. “It-it doesn’t work that way.” She coughed, straightening up. “That is against the academy regulations and will cause quite a stir among the influential families that send their children here.”
He shrugged and stood up. “That’s the only thing I want in exchange for my services. But if you can’t give it, I guess I’ll have to decline your offer. Sorry to waste your time.”
He moved toward the door but stopped when Morgan called out, “Alright! Fine, but only this year. And only for the basic courses, after that they will have mixed classes like everyone else.”
One year without any boys near his precious treasures. That was better than him killing a few dozen hormonal waste of space. He turned around, grinning. “Deal.”
Principal Morgan shook her head, clearly regretting making the deal with such a difficult man. But she had no other choice.
“Changing the subject for a moment,” she said as she stood up from her desk and walked toward him, her heels clicking on the polished floor. She was too close. Her perfume was strong, too strong, he preferred the smell of vanilla over roses.
Silas raised his brow. What was this woman up to?
“Can I get your autograph? Just a small memento for my office.” Her voice was low as she handed him a photo of her with him. Back when he was 17 and she was 10.
The picture was from his first appearance on TV after his S-rank ceremony.
He chuckled, taking the photo from her hand.
“Sure.”
As he wrote his name, the woman got even closer, her breasts pressed against his arm before quickly pulling away as if she had not meant to. He signed his name on it in the corner, handing it back to her with a charming smile.
“Here you go, Principal.”
She took the photo and smiled. “Thank you, Silas. I will treasure this.”
The phone rang, interrupting the moment and she turned to answer it.
“Yes? What is it?”
Silas used the distraction to leave the room. He already got what he wanted and did not feel like getting hit on by the principal. First was getting rid of the boys in his daughter’s class. Though an S-rank fire mage was a tempting prospect, a fight between two S-classes would level the entire city. But it’d be so much fun to fight again, his muscles itched for action.
He sighed and headed to the teacher’s lounge. It was a cozy room filled with comfy chairs and a small kitchenette. The clock was almost 3 pm. One more hour and school would be over.
Opening a bag of snacks he found in a cabinet, he sat down on a chair and munched away. Crunchy. Tasty. These teachers had good taste.
The door opened and another teacher came in. He was a short man with thick glasses and a balding head. He nodded at Silas before going to grab himself a drink from the fridge. A carbonated one, full of sugar no doubt.
The man sat across from him, taking off his glasses to clean them.
“So you’re the new combat teacher everyone’s been talking about. You must be the legendary Silas Vane.”
He nodded, finishing his snack and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. This man was strong. His mana was dense even though his fat belly did not suggest it. What was his magic though? It felt so different from anything he had encountered before.
“And you are?” Silas asked, his curiosity piqued.
The man smiled. “My name is Henry Smith, the magical object professor here at Aethelgard. I am not very famous, but I do know my way around all sorts of enchanted objects and artifacts.” He put on his glasses again and sipped his drink before continuing, “I have to say, it’s quite an honor to work alongside someone like you.”
Silas leaned back, not buying his humble act for a second. There was something off about this man, and he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Henry adjusted his glasses again before speaking.
“Tell me, Silas, why did you leave being an S-rank to become a teacher? Did you perhaps find something more rewarding in shaping young minds rather than slaying monsters?”
Those glasses. The way they distorted his face when he pushed them up. It was a magical object. Yet it held no malice just a lot of distortion. Was his face completely different?
Silas decided to play along for now and answered, “Family comes first. My daughters are attending this school, I thought it would be a good opportunity to watch them grow and become strong.”
Henry nodded, still smiling.
“Family is important, but you are missing out on a lot by staying here. The dungeons are evolving, the mana beasts getting smarter.”
What was he going for? Trying to convince him to leave the Academy so that he could get rid of him? It was a weak play.
“Is that so? Well I prefer the calm life for now. Being a teacher is not so bad,” He stretched his arms, yawning. “It’s actually quite entertaining.”
Just like clockwork, the bell rang signaling the end of classes. Students could be heard running down the halls as they made their way out of the school.
“Speaking of magical objects, I noticed your glasses,” Silas said casually, standing up to leave. “Is that an illusion type artifact?”
Henry chuckled, “Oh no, they are just to help with my poor eyesight. The enchantment helps me focus on details better.” He stood up too, finishing his drink and tossing it into the recycling bin.
Nodding slowly, Silas headed out of the room, not believing a word the man said. But was he a threat? Probably not. Magical objects couldn’t get through his space barrier on his family. But still, he would keep an eye on him. The first step of any good father was to gather intel on all possible threats and make them disappear.
Speaking of disappearance, he should get rid of that body on the moon before another rocket landed there. With a thought he vanished and reappeared next to the corpse. What was his name again? Who cared. He placed a hand on it and teleported the body to the sun. There, he won’t be a bother for anyone anymore.
He came back to the academy just in time to see his daughters talking to a boy near the parking lot. No. This day was supposed to go without boys, so why was this random fucker talking to them?