Chapter 92: The Second Incident I
After handing the algorithm for the [Synchronization] spell to Viva, Percy returned to his regular routine in the library. Percy spent his mornings with Rita, his days in the library, and his nights downstairs in his research lab! Over the next three days, that was all Percy did without hearing anything about the investigation or how it was going. And it wasn’t until the third day after he handed Viva the algorithm that Harold burst into the library with a stunned look on his face!
"Master Percy!"
Percy looked up from the book he had been writing in with a raised brow, and he took in how heavily Harold was breathing. Did Harold run all the way here? What in the world was getting him so panicked? It was midday right now, so there were multiple students moving around the library, and they were all giving Harold curious glances while wondering what had happened to him. Percy put his book away, and he waited as Harold ran up to him and Harold immediately tried to speak.
"Master... Percy.... Hildegard..."
Percy let out an amused chuckle when he saw how hard it was for Harold to speak, and Percy put his hand on Harold’s shoulder and boosted Harold’s stamina using a simple [Healing Touch] spell.
"That should be better. Now, calm down and tell me exactly what is going on."
Harold immediately spoke in a much calmer voice as he felt his breath even out.
"It’s Hildegard, Master Percy. She came into the academy earlier for a meeting with some of the teachers, and she attacked the student council president, Mirio."
Percy blinked in surprise. That was definitely unexpected! Percy already knew that the tension in the Academy would eventually explode in one way or another, but he never thought that Hildegard would be the one exploding like this! Honestly, Percy knew that this was none of his business. A case like this was meant for the Hall Monitors and Academic Staff to handle, but Percy had a feeling that things would spiral out of control even more since nearly everyone in the school was against Hildegard, so Percy decided not to ignore it.
Percy told Lana to take over the front desk for him, and he began walking out of the library while telling Harold to narrate everything that happened to him. Harold followed behind Percy, and he started from the beginning.
"Well, things were normal earlier this morning..."
.....
[Verati Magic Academy]
[Main Academic Building]
[Earlier that Morning]
The main building of the Verati Academy was where most of the academic lectures and seminars took place. Every student from the first to fifth years had their classes in the building, and although the building did not look large enough on the outside to fit the thousands of students that entered it every day, the inside of the building had been magically enhanced by enlargement runes so that it could fit all the students, teachers, and other members of staff!
Currently, multiple students walked across the well-lit central annex on the ground floor of the academy. The central annex shone with bright orange lights from magical orbs that were floating above the students’ heads. Upon entering the academy, the first thing a student would see was a majestic statue of Verati placed between two grand staircases that curved around the statue and led up to the higher floors of the academy. The floor was made from polished grey marble that made a low, pleasant ’click’ sound every time the students walked over it with their clean dress shoes, and there were various paintings and artefacts lining the walls of the annex to make it look more majestic!
The combination of the grand-looking annex along with the multitudes of young learners in black robes gave the academy a very learned vibe.
The students chattered away in quiet voices as they made their way to their classes or out of the buildings towards the dorms, but if you listened closely, you would notice that there was only one topic on the lips of every one of them.
"Did you hear anything new about Hildegard?"
"I heard they’re planning to expel her."
"Really? I heard they want to call the priestess to carry out an exorcism."
"That’s good. My mum says Dark Magic is the mark of the devil."
"I can’t imagine being in the same school as her."
"Why did they even let her come here?"
The students were all actively involved in the Hildegard case, and many of them were bringing up false rumors and suggestions about what would be happening to Hildegard soon. But the one thing that constantly came up in every single conversation was the fact that none of the students wanted to remain in the same school as Hildegard! Even if Hildegard somehow managed to survive this investigation and she was eventually found innocent, it would be very difficult for anyone to accept her back in the school!
So that was why there was a sudden wave of shock that travelled across the entire academy when a Lamia Demihuman suddenly slithered in through the large door! Every student seemed to freeze in their tracks as they looked over at Hildegard, and the silence in the room was almost deafening in its intensity! Hildegard was being followed by two Hall Monitors dressed in their white uniform, and she had an emotionless look on her face as she slithered into the academy and began heading towards one of the stairs.
"What is she doing here?"
"That vile snake. They shouldn’t let her near normal people."
"Hey, she looked this way! Do you think she marked our faces?"
"No way. If she tries anything, the Hall monitors will take her down."
"Get away from here, you murderer!"
Splat!
One of the students standing on the balcony high above the annex suddenly shouted towards Hildegard, and Hildegard actually froze for a moment as she felt something hit her face with a wet sound! Hildegard touched her forehead and brought her hand back to see blue paint staining her finger. Someone had thrown a blob of paint on her head from above! Hildegard looked up with a furious gaze, and most of the students standing on the balcony all flinched when they saw her piercing, serpentine eyes! But before anything could happen, the Hall Monitor stepped forward threateningly and glared at all the students!
"The next person to throw anything will be suspended indefinitely."
No one dared to go against the Hall Monitor’s threat, so this was more than enough to make all the students stand down! But even though they no longer threw anything, that didn’t mean that the students couldn’t still hurl insults towards Hildegard! As Hildegard slithered up the stairs, she did her best to ignore the vile statements being thrown her way by the students around her.
"Murderer."
"Devil."
"You don’t belong here, demon."
"You couldn’t hide your true nature forever."
"I hope you get the death sentence."
Hildegard passed all the students and headed away from the corridors before going up another flight of stairs that took her to the administrative wing of the academy. Once she was away from the gazes of the other students, she finally asked the Hall Monitor to help her get rid of the paint. Hildegard was forbidden from using magic, so she couldn’t get rid of it herself.
The hall monitor on the left ignored Hildegard, but the man on the right seemed to think about it for a moment before he finally decided to help her. He waved his hand over her hair and applied the [Nullification] spell, and the magic paint vanished. Hildegard bowed her head in thanks before she turned and continued on her way.