The Rebirth of Evelyn Knox

Chapter 78: Punishment

Evelyn tilted her head in confusion, not quite getting what particular 'talent' of hers could help her in calming beasts. "My talent?"

The only thing she could think of was her 'Calamity' skill, but she never thought it worked as some sort of passive aura. Rather, from what she had seen so far, it only really showed its true effects when she had already 'conquered' the target in some way.

Aurora nodded. "Simply put, you were born with an exceptionally strong soul."

Evelyn of course was well aware of this fact. After all, she had allotted these stats herself.

The platinum blonde continued, her tone still neutral. "Just as a great difference in spirit power inspires subconscious reverence, a great difference in soul value leads to a sense of trust and calm in the weaker beings It is professor Dane's incompetence that he did not consider such things before passing a rushed judgment."

Evelyn nodded. 'So that's how it is I never knew the stat differences had such effects! But since this is so, doesn't that easily prove that I didn't cheat?'

She had intended to ask Cecilia about this once the girl returned, but if she could get a response from Aurora, it would surely be much better. "Then can that expulsion be canceled?"

Aurora shook her head. "Even if I reinstate your position in Dane's class, he will likely hold a grudge against you, and you will continue to suffer under his unreasonable behavior."

The pink haired girl bit her lip. "Then"

Aurora gave her a confused look. "Why would you even want to go back? Ruru is far superior to any spirit beast he can ever hope to teach you to tame. His class is simply a waste of time for you."

Evelyn obviously had no intention to waste any of her time, but could she just decide not to attend compulsory courses? 

Moreover, although the courses might be compulsory, attending the classes was not. She simply intended to get the gist of it before deciding if she could excel on her own, and then allot her time more efficiently.

For the beast taming class, it was basically free contribution points for her, especially now that she knew of her 'innate' ability thanks to her stronger soul.

Aurora sighed. "Fine then I'll take care of professor Dane."

Evelyn blinked. "O-Oh, thank you Um, also, he made it seem like I was cheating, can you please have this matter clarified, or"

The platinum blonde gave her a confused look. "Didn't I say I will handle it?"

"O-Okay."

Aurora nodded. "So since you're my student now, be sure to come here on time every morning from tomorrow, too."

"Eh?"

Why can't she remember this ever being mentioned?!

==========

Although Evelyn was shocked by suddenly becoming Aurora's student, she couldn't help but be secretly delighted.

Because she already knew Aurora was one of the senior-most professors in the academy, wasn't it much better to replace that stupid beast mastery class with whatever it was that she intended to teach? 

And she had also shown herself to be quite reasonable and kind.

Unfortunately, it seemed like Aurora was quite 'fiery' in personality despite her calm appearance. She took her directly to professor Dane for her first 'lesson'. 

The red haired man was still 'teaching' the students how to tame the giant bird-like beast, unaware of the approaching disaster.

Professor Dane bolted upright in shock the moment he saw the platinum blonde appear.

It was not wrong to say that last night had been his life's most humiliating moment. 

Even though he had known Aurora was strong, to think that he was completely helpless against her even when combined with another colleague made him feel extremely unwilling.

He knew she must have some secret, some sort of technique that allowed her to suppress them like that. No matter how great she was, it shouldn't be possible for her to wipe the floor with them like that!

That humiliation was what had caused him to be so irritable today, but he never thought even that would come back to bite him so soon. At this moment, Dane really wished he had controlled himself better.

Not to mention the thrashing he received the previous day, the mere fact that the 'expelled' student was following her along could only mean bad news.

He tried to greet her, but couldn't get a word out at all.

"I heard that you accused my student of cheating?"

The children murmured to each other, wondering who this other girl who had been brought back by the 'cheater' was supposed to be. Was she one year senior? How nave do they have to be to think they can confront a professor?

Professor Dane's eyes almost fell out of their sockets in shock. "Y-Your student?!"

Hadn't she never taken a student in hundreds of years? Was she going to do it now just to spite him?!

Aurora didn't care about his shock at all. "Answer the question."

"I-I" The red haired man gulped as he realized that even if she cheated, pointing it out at this moment, when Aurora was so confrontational, would be like hitting his head against a wall.

It was better to back down slightly, and hope that Aurora wasn't too domineering and unreasonable. "I didn't know she was Lady Aurora's student, please forgive me."

Aurora shook her head in disappointment. Had he been truly repentant of his actions even once, she might have considered letting him off 'lightly'. "Hmph. To not even be able to detect that it was her innate ability, and accuse her of cheating you're too incompetent to remain a professor at my academy!"

It was as if lightning had struck him out of nowhere. Professor Dane never thought that his bad day could turn into a nightmare. "I-I've been a loyal professor here for"

Aurora didn't listen to his explanation at all, and wrapped him up in a translucent bubble of spirit power before flinging him 'out'.

He disappeared into the sky in the blink of an eye, his terrified and enraged scream fading into their ears as the students watched blankly.

Even Evelyn felt her worldview had been broadened. 'R-Right, there's no need to argue when you're strong enough to do that, I guess'

==========

Evelyn didn't comment on Aurora's way of handling things, after all, she didn't really have much say on it as a student. But to think that not only was her name cleared, professor Dane also received such a heavy punishment!

She had expected him to be reprimanded at most, and even that felt 'unlikely'. Was he even alive? More importantly, what would happen to the 'Beast Taming' class now?

Aurora huffed. "Who knows how many talents he has wasted in all those years?"

Evelyn just smiled as she watched the rest of her 'classmates' stay huddled away together in fear and apprehension.

Aurora wasn't completely oblivious to the confusion she had created, and cleared her throat a little awkwardly. "Children, you may head to your spiritual combat class now. A new professor will be here from tomorrow to take this subject, you may follow your previous schedule."

Evelyn's eyes shone in excitement. 'Spiritual combat class! According to Cecilia, this is when we get our cultivation techniques, right?'

==========

"Aurora you WHORE! You absolutely unreasonable BITCH! If I don't kill you one day, I'll never be able to live with myself!"

The cry of despair seemed to echo through the area, and Craig felt his jaw drop as he recognized the voice. 'I-It's not an illusion, is it? But wait why the hell would Professor Dane say that?!'

Regardless, given his dire straits, finding professor Dane would surely be a great boon at the moment.

So Craig bravely ventured out of the cave he had been hiding in, and found the furious red haired man kicking and cursing at trees in a rage.

Professor Dane looked terrible. Not only was he completely naked from head to toe, his whole skin was charred black, as if he had been roasted alive.

"P-Professor?"

The red haired man turned around stiffly to find Craig staring at him in shock. "Y-You're still alive?"

Craig felt his lips twitch. "Barely, but yeah. What happened to you, professor?"

"Aurora that bitch is what happened! Fine, she can expel me from the academy, I get that, but who gave her the right to fling me through the thunder array like that?!"

He almost broke a nearby tree in half with a thunderous kick. "All my artifacts were obliterated! And the rest of my belongings are still in the academy! What the fuck am I supposed to do now, make my way through the wonderland of doom naked? Does she want me to die?!"

After he was done venting, the two men stared at each other blankly as they suddenly realized something.

Unfortunately, the realization came too late, as heavy booms echoed through the area, signaling the approach of some very unwelcome guests.