Chapter 86: We Need An Assurance
The hall slowly began to raise their voices in support as they decided that Lord Finlow was right!
"Expel her!"
"She shouldn’t have been in this school to begin with!"
"Let the City Guards take her to prison!"
"Expel her!"
"Expel her!"
Percy scoffed in amusement as he leaned back in his seat and watched the parents rallying behind Finlow like a pack of wolves.
"He certainly has a way with words."
Percy couldn’t help but admit how eloquent Finlow was after seeing him rally all the parents with just a few sentences. Most of the teachers in the room looked a little uncomfortable at that moment, and Percy could understand why! The teachers were obviously meant to stand behind their headmaster since they were a part of the Verati Academy staff, but many of them didn’t feel like doing that! There were many teachers who also agreed with Finlow’s words, and they all thought it would be for the best if Hildegard was expelled from the Academy as well!
The only person who didn’t seem to agree at all with Finlow’s words was Rosaline, and Percy could feel an intense anger radiating off her body as she glared at the city Lord! Rosaline had stood behind Hildegard and proclaimed her innocence right from the start, and although Percy didn’t understand why she was doing it, Percy could tell that Rosa believed that Hildegard could never do something so evil! Percy wondered if Rosaline was going to stand up to speak against Finlow, but before Rosa could do anything, the headmaster tapped his cane on the floor.
Slam!
The entire hall echoed with an aftershock, and a wave of silence immediately fell over the crowd! Everyone looked at Leonart curiously, and Leonart spoke in a final voice.
"We are not a mob, nor are we barbarians. This is a civilized gathering, and its only purpose is to give you the freedom to air your concerns regarding what is certainly a terrible situation. You do not have the right to demand the expulsion of one of my students without any reasonable justification."
Leonart looked around the room with a sharp gaze, and most of the parents looked away from him when they saw the disappointment in his eyes. Leonart finally looked towards Finlow, and Finlow did not bother to look away. The dark-haired man simply waited for the other parents to take their seats before he and Leonart faced each other again.
"Lord Finlow, is there something more you would like to add?"
Leonart asked this with a small frown, and Finlow spoke up.
"I would like to have an assurance."
"What sort of assurance?"
"An assurance of my child’s safety. We are all parents here, headmaster, and we all know what it means to protect a child. But if it is a question of sparing a child wielding dark magic and potentially putting my child in danger, or removing her from this school and ensuring my child’s safety, it is obvious that I would always choose the latter. Hildegard’s innocence is for the City Guards to determine, but before we leave this meeting, we need an assurance that our children will not be in any form of danger in your academy."
Murmurs of agreement passed through the crowd once again, and Leonart raised his hand to silence the people before he spoke.
"I have already taken precautions to ensure the safety of all the students in the Academy, Lord Finlow. As of now, Hildegard is not allowed to intermingle with the other students, and she has been placed on a temporary suspension. There are Hall Monitors watching her at all times, and they will continue to do so until we receive word from the City Guard. You do not have anything to fear for your child’s safety. I assure you of that."
Finlow narrowed his eyes at Leonart, and it was obvious he still had many more arguments he wanted to make. But Finlow also understood that taking things too far at once would only cause friction between the city and the academy! Finlow was still going to bring this topic up again, but for now, he had already placed the seed in the minds of all the parents here, and Finlow just had to wait until the right moment to finally deal the final blow!
Finlow nodded once, and Leonart let out a calm breath when the Lord finally took his seat! The battle between the two men was not over yet, but Leonart was glad that Finlow understood that they couldn’t act aggressively towards each other in such a public place.
Once the crowd of parents was fully settled, Leonart finally introduced someone new who was to speak up. It was an extraordinarily handsome young man with large white wings folded behind him, and the moment he appeared, Percy hummed in curiosity! The boy had a peaceful aura surrounding him, like they were looking at someone who descended from heaven itself, and almost everyone in the room could feel a calmness settling in their hearts once they set eyes on him!
"An Angel Demihuman?"
Percy couldn’t help but mutter in curiosity when he saw the boy, and Rosaline spoke up from beside him.
"You haven’t heard of him before? His name is Mirio. He’s the current head of the Student Council."
"I see."
Percy leaned back curiously while watching Mirio closely. Percy had met a few Angel Demihumans during his travels a few years ago, and he noticed that they were always in positions of power because of their peaceful aura and strong presence! There was just no way a regular person could resist looking up to such a magnificent being!
Mirio stepped forward to the podium, and the hall fell into an unnatural silence as everyone waited for him to speak! Mirio had blonde hair and bright blue eyes, and even though he looked very solemn and sad, his perfect facial proportions made it look like he was posing for a magazine rather than giving a speech to his elders!
"Greetings all. My name is Mirio Varga, and I am the current head of the student body. It is a great burden on my heart that I have to come here and give this speech today. Eighteen of the students that have been placed under our care have been taken from us. There is no way we can rectify that mistake or justify it. We can simply offer you our most heartfelt condolences. To all the parents and guardians who have lost something precious today. To the entire kingdom who have lost eighteen of their brightest minds, we offer you our deepest condolences....
"I stand here as a representative of the student body and swear to you that I will do everything in my power to ensure that the person responsible for this suffers the rightful fate. We will not rest even for a moment until they pay for what they have done. I swear it to you on my honor as the Student Council President."
Mirio walked out from the podium when he was done with his speech, and bowed his head to the parents. Percy huffed in amusement when all the parents began to clap loudly for Mirio’s speech! It was as if they completely forgot that this was meant to be a tense meeting! They were absolutely blown away by the charisma of this young man!
This was something that the Angel race always excelled in. They had always been excellent leaders because of their ability to touch the hearts of those around them! Back during the demihumans war, there were many armies that Verati wiped out, but the armies that always fought the hardest were those that were being led by the angels!