Chapter 97: Exercising Authority
"Have you concluded the matter yet?"
Leonart shook his head when Percy asked this.
"No, we haven’t. But I was just about to tell Hildegard what the punishment for her actions would be."
Percival was about to speak again, but Rosa stepped forward and interrupted him.
"I’m sorry, Mr. Percival, but we don’t have time for this. Headmaster, I believe we should consider Hildegard’s state of mind when giving out any punishment. She might have attacked the president, but she only did it because of his provocation."
Leonart actually frowned at Rosaline when he heard her interrupting Percival, and he spoke up in a terrifyingly calm voice.
"Quiet, Rosa."
"!"
Rosa took a step back in shock, and she was even more shocked when Leonart turned to focus on Percival again! What in the world was this? Rosaline knew that they were talking about something very serious here! This matter was concerning the future of one of his students! So why was the headmaster giving more attention to the librarian rather than focusing on the actual matter!?
Percival raised a hand towards Leonart to tell him to relax, and Leonart let out a calm breath before Leonart continued what he had been saying.
"We were just about to decide on the next course of action for Hildegard’s case. I believe there will be a lot of repercussions. The use of magic was prohibited for her, so she broke multiple laws by attacking the student council. And since she did it while in the middle of a larger investigation, I fear she might end up being expelled for this."
Hildegard wrapped her hands around her waist and glared at the floor when she heard the headmaster. Rosa stepped forward and was about to speak again, but another glance from her grandfather forced her to stop, and Rosa grit her teeth angrily! Rosa did not think that such drastic punishment was necessary, and once she got the chance, she was ready to argue this to the last breath!
Percival turned to look at Hildegard calmly before he hummed.
"The Mage Council didn’t do a good job with those laws, you know that, right?"
Percy’s words were simple, but they hit Leonart with an intensity that he couldn’t describe! The Mage Council was the highest magical authority in the Kingdom of Andura, responsible for the creation and correction of any magical law that would affect the kingdom. It was the Mage Council that had created the law demanding all children with Dark affinities to be tagged as Magical Risks, and since Leonart was a part of that council, he was also responsible for this! The guilt and doubt that had plagued Leonart’s mind all this time suddenly came back in full force, and Leonart nodded to Percy once to say that he understood.
Percy then walked over to Hildegard, and Hildegard looked up at him through teary eyes and frowned.
"What do you want?"
Hildegard still did not know how to react around Percy, so she defaulted to the last emotion that she felt around him. Annoyance. But Percy just huffed in amusement before he asked.
"Do you want to continue your education?"
The question was so simple that anyone else would’ve seen it as something random. But there was a weight in Percy’s expression that told Hildegard that this was far more serious! It felt like Percy was asking Hildegard if she wanted to live or die, and Hildegard felt every instinct in her body telling her to answer this question as seriously as possible! Hildegard’s face calmed into a pleading look, and she nodded once to Percy. Percy then turned and spoke to Leonart:
"I wish to invoke my authority."
Leonart’s eyes widened in shock, and he immediately spoke to everyone in the room.
"Please excuse us."
Everyone was surprised to hear this, and Rosa looked at her grandfather like he had just gone crazy.
"Headmaster, what’s going on?"
"I said, please excuse us. Wait outside until I’m finished speaking with Mr. Percival."
The headmaster gave a final order, and the Hall Monitors saluted as they led Hildegard out of the room. Hildegard looked at Percy with curious eyes while wondering what was going on! Percy had such a confident aura around him at that moment, and even though Hildegard felt like this situation was still hopeless, she couldn’t help but feel some hope in her heart when she saw the confidence around Percy! Would things really turn out okay?
Rosa was the last person in the room, and she looked between her grandfather and Percy a few times before she finally scowled and left! Rosa would obviously have more questions later, but for now, she didn’t have any choice but to obey her grandfather! Once they were all gone, Leonart spoke up in a low voice.
"Are you certain?"
Percy hummed with a calm smile, and Leonart could tell that Percy was completely sure. The authority that Percy was talking about was the absolute authority that he possessed as the founder and largest sponsor of the Verati Academy. Although Percy had a lot of say in how the academy should be run, he never truly involved himself in the day-to-day activities, and he allowed the headmaster and staff to deal with anything that came up on their own! This was literally the first time that Percy would ever use his authority to ensure a student was pardoned of an action, and it was just so shocking to Leonart!
But if things turned out like this, then just maybe it would be alright. The school stakeholders might have a lot of complaints if they heard that the Headmaster absolved Hildegard of any punishment himself, but if they heard that the hero Verati was responsible for absolving Hildegard of her crimes, then none of them would dare to say anything! Everyone knew that lying on the Hero’s name was the biggest mistake they could ever make, so no one would doubt that Leonart actually got the hero’s approval!
Leonart felt a pleased smile appearing on his face before he spoke.
"By your mandate, I hereby absolve Hildegard of any punishment regarding the incident in the student council building."
Percy just waved his hand and told Leonart not to be so serious. Leonart smiled in amusement before he bowed his head thankfully to Percy.
"Thank you for looking out for her."
Percy shrugged calmly, and he said it was alright before Leonart then spoke again in a more serious tone.
"Although we can be sure that she won’t be expelled, it’ll be difficult to allow Hildegard to remain in the school dorms. Both the students and parents were already against her staying in the school, and it’s only going to get worse now that they know she attacked a student."
Percy gave Leonart a suspicious look, and Leonart smiled innocently! It was obvious what Leonart was trying to do here, and Percy couldn’t help but scoff calmly before he just spoke.
"Fine, she can stay in the library until the investigation is over. I’m sure Rita could use the help."
Leonart’s smile widened even more!
"Are you sure? You’ve already been so benevolent towards our student! I couldn’t bear to burden you with even more responsibility!"
Percy clicked his tongue at the fake worry in Leonart’s tone!
"Don’t push it, old man. I can still choke you out with that stick like I promised."
Leonart simply laughed happily, and he let out a grateful sigh before speaking:
"I don’t know what the world would ever do without someone like you, Percival."