Choices
"Medik? What made you want to leave the Botanical Building?"
The acting director raised his eyebrows in confusion, seeing the girl with a freckle face behind him and remembering that he had 1 student this year, and the issue must be related to his student.
"Is there a problem with instructing your students?" The acting director asked kindly.
If it were Medik, this rare treasure, he still needed to be taken seriously. Besides, Medik had never caused him any headaches like other professors, and it’s rare for him to leave his own Botanical Building. If he came to him personally like this, it couldn’t be overlooked, could it? Even if it was just about a student who might not graduate.
"Yes, sir," Medik nodded.
"Then tell me straight, if you need any additional equipment, I’ll order the facilities department to make a special purchase for you."
"It’s not about that, sir," Medik shook his head, causing the acting director to stop rifling through his documents to look at him seriously.
"Then what’s the issue with your student?"
"My student’s room was invaded by another student, sir."
"Hmm? An invasion? That’s impossible. No one who wants to enter another’s reserved room could even open the door."
"I thought the same, sir. That’s why...I ask for your help.” Medik spoke earnestly, and though his appearance was as delicate as a woman’s, when Ellie saw him grappling with issues like these, she found him quite dashing.
"Sigh. Alright, I will have someone investigate this matter. Do you have any suspects?"
"Yes, sir," Ellie replied as the acting director turned to look at her.
"Do you have any useful information? I will assign Professors Gwen and Regan to oversee this issue. Professor Gwen already handles general discipline, and since you are Professor Regan’s student, he should be informed as well," Ellie fell silent for a moment when she saw the acting director working so seriously.
But Ellie wasn’t sure if he would be like Professor Medik; perhaps knowing the person involved was Nara, he might not want to pursue the investigation further.
"Go ahead," Medik encouraged her with just two words. After seeing the demeanor of that scholarship student, he was confident in Ellie’s words. The verification of the intrusion itself would depend on the work of the two professors, and Medik trusted them both.
Even though both professors had reputations that made everyone wary, Medik remembered that when he faced problems, Professor Gwen had helped him resolve them. Although Professor Regan was not very vocal, he maintained his dignity and carried out his duties honorably.
"Yes, the person I suspect of the intrusion is someone who did not attend Professor Regan’s class. Her name is Nara, she possesses the power of light, and comes from the same village as me, sir."
"Hmm? A scholarship student? There are only 2 scholarship students this year—one is Medik’s student, which is you, and the other is a direct disciple of Lucien, correct?" The acting director’s expression darkened slightly upon hearing this.
He looked at Medik, who maintained a serious demeanor despite the news. The other party demonstrated that he certainly would not back down, even though Medik should know better? Having problems with Lucien was not something advisable!
The acting director, temporarily holding the position in hopes of promoting himself this year, started to feel a headache coming on. Actually, he started to regret taking on this role in place of his own professor; if not for his great respect for the other party, he would not have wanted to take on this hot seat.
One was Medik, a rare user of botanic elemental power, from whom every year rare herbs and plants were obtained through his efforts. The other, untouchable Lucien, was like a deity of light, someone the royal palace itself would like to invite to reside there if not for Lucien’s desire to further his studies in mastering his powers of light, possibly leaving the institute otherwise.
Would these two exceptional individuals really end up clashing just over their students?
"Medik, you should know about Lucien..." Medik’s eyebrows knotted as he showed his reluctance. The acting director sighed and ordered someone to gather all involved parties.
Though the situation seemed perilous, he would make a decisive decision just like he did with other students. Before striking a dog, one must consider its owner—and this was Lucien’s only direct disciple!
Half an hour later, Professors Regan and Gwen arrived; Professor Regan’s face was still filled with anger. Who had him waiting for a problem student who did not attend the first class he taught to prepare for disciplinary action, but that student never showed up! And before he knew it, the person who was acting in the director’s position, which should’ve been him, had sent someone to summon him.
Professor Gwen was not as impulsive as others. Before arriving, she had asked the institute staff who had come to fetch her about the situation and had received a rough explanation. Therefore, upon her arrival, she looked at Ellie thoughtfully. She wanted to understand what made this student so confident that the person who had intruded into her room was Lucien’s disciple. Moreover, her attitude towards Ellie wasn’t very positive. The chaos from yesterday involved Ellie, and today there was another issue. How could she not be surprised?
Soon after, the tall figure of Lucien appeared, with Nara following him hesitantly. When Nara saw Ellie standing there, she lowered her head and avoided looking at her friend.
Earlier, when Nara realized she had made a mistake, she didn’t know what to do. Out of fear, she ran to Lucien, who was taking care of her. She told him the truth mixed with excuses. Nara said her friend was a poor girl from the same village, but since arriving here, she seemed to have a lot of money to spend. Although it was said to be family money, Ellie’s family shouldn’t be that affluent.
Lucien certainly believed this part. He had experience with scholarship students, and the living conditions of Nara, a village chief’s daughter, were not good at all. So, how could Ellie, who had lost her parents, have so much money?
With truth mixed with lies, Nara was able to justify that she entered the room to check if Ellie was hiding anything wrong. She feared her friend might break the institution’s rules, such as selling prohibited items. Having previously heard rumors about magical devices that could damage other students’ clothing, Nara used the excuse to tell Lucien that she didn’t want her friend to fall under bad influences, and the young professor believed her wholeheartedly.
However, considering the institution’s rules, Nara was still seriously at fault, even if her intentions were good. Therefore, to avoid problems, Lucien told Nara to keep the incident of entering another student’s room a secret. If everyone knew that Nara could enter anyone’s room because of Lucien’s methods, it would definitely cause complications in the future.
Back to the current situation, even though Nara was lowering her head as if she was terrified of the situation, it was just an act to hide her own smile.
Nara was thinking how lucky she was to have Lucien as an advisor. It was good that she had separated from Ellie and wandered off in excitement that day; otherwise, she wouldn’t have found such a strong supporter!
“Scholarship student Nara, student Ellie suspects that you were the one who intruded into her room while she was attending Professor Regan’s class. Could you tell us where you were at that time?”
Faced with this question, Regan, who still didn’t understand why everyone had gathered here, widened his eyes. He looked at Nara, the student he had been searching for since morning, with an angry and stern expression.
“So, it was you, the student who didn’t attend my first class!” Seeing Regan roar out like that, the acting director cleared his throat.
The issue wasn’t just about calling Regan to discipline a student who missed his class; it was more about investigating the intrusion into a dorm room.
"Ahem, Regan...I called you here to join Professor Gwen in this investigation," said the acting director, bringing Regan back to focus, though his attitude remained sour.
Gwen frowned upon hearing that Nara had missed Regan’s first class. Although she wasn’t on good terms with him, she disliked students who disrespected their professors. True, Regan was harsh and not very pleasant, but he undoubtedly possessed knowledge that could greatly benefit his students. Missing his class was like forgoing valuable learning.
"It’s my fault for assigning her a task. I wanted her to learn about various plants, even though she’s a light magician who can help with healing, but not all ailments can be healed that way. She needs to know both aspects to be an effective healer. Under my pressure, she had to seek out Professor Medik, who can attest to this," Lucien explained, justifying why his student missed the class.
The expressions of Professors Gwen and Regan were not pleased. However, they couldn’t say much against it; in comparison to them, Lucien’s instructions were more valuable than gold. So, it wasn’t unusual for them to overlook such matters. Yet...they still had their dignity as professors to maintain and couldn’t simply accept being disregarded by a student.
"Of course, I owe an apology to Professor Regan. There won’t be a next time. This was my first time taking on a disciple, so I didn’t quite understand everything." After hearing this earnest admission from the formidable Lucien, it seemed to heal the spirits of the other professors. Even Regan, ready to be antagonistic towards the student Nara, almost couldn’t hide his smile.
Who wouldn’t appreciate it when someone more formidable showed them respect? Lucien, the revered figure, apologized and admitted his shortcomings in disciple management. How could they hold him accountable now?
This mistake meant that Nara no longer needed to be held accountable. With just a few words from the esteemed, golden connection Lucien, a small infraction was overlooked entirely.
Medik furrowed his brows. If what his student said was true, was Lucien now lying to protect his own disciple?
In Medik’s mind, Lucien, his classmate, had always been respectable. This was the first time he felt like he was seeing a stranger in him.
Lucien seemed to sense Medik’s thoughts. He glanced at him with a calm yet slightly embarrassed look. But before he realized it, his embarrassment was replaced by confidence.For him, compared to Nara, who sneaked into a friend’s room out of concern, and a student surrounded by suspicions, possessing weak botanic elemental powers and fragile plant in bond, he would naturally choose to support Nara, a seed worth nurturing!