NOVEL NEXT Chapter 81: Punishment
The walk back to the academy was fast and silent for the three young, adventurous students. They were riddled with anxiety and worry about the repercussions they would face for staying outside beyond the frame and error of margin the permission slips allowed.
Rather than waste time and energy on idle chatter, Zach, Dukiel, and Julius reached a tacit and unanimous agreement that they should focus all their attention on walking. The sooner they made it back, the better.
Hopefully, it wouldn't be too bad. After all, they had found a Locale, talked with a Named, and acquired information about an experiment. It was the biggest haul of information of the year. There had to be some leniency, even if they were several weeks late, right?
Sweaty, dirty, ragged, covered in dried blood, and panting, the three students showed up at the Academy. It didn't take long before Jarron got the news and met up with them as they tried to sneak into their dorms.
Without waiting for them to clean up, Jarron brought them to the principal's office.
Usually, students who stayed out too long would just get hit with the punishment and be sent to their rooms. It wasn't something the principal needed to intervene on since Jarron could handle that much on his own. Despite his faltering reputation, he still had his authority as the homeroom instructor.
However, this matter concerned Zach, the only S-rank student in the Academy. His value had started a labor-heavy manhunt on a scale that only the principal could handle. There was also the matter of the injuries on the boys and figuring out what they had been up to.
With how exaggerated the matter had become, it was simply best to leave it to the principal.
Jarron was not avoiding troublesome work. He was ensuring that the correct procedures were followed and that everything was dealt with accordingly.
After a hectic walk through the Academy, during which Zach and the other two attracted a lot of curious gazes due to their shabby appearances, they found themselves sitting in front of the principal and instructor Kami.
"Fancy meeting you here, Principal." Zach couldn't stand the heavy silence from the principal and instructor Kami's gazes anymore and broke the silence.
"This is my office." The principal wasn't having it.
"Right. And it's a lovely office indeed. Who's your designer? I would love to have them work on my place after graduation."
"Are you even going to graduate at this rate?" The principal asked skeptically and disdainfully.
"What do you mean?" Zach tilted his head. He had at least managed to draw the principal into a conversation. It was better than the stuffy silence.
"If you go missing like this and come back after several weeks with nothing but rags on your injured bodies during the first year, what will you do when the curriculum becomes actually difficult and challenging? Forget graduating, you won't even make it through your second year." The principal's words were harsh.
But Zach couldn't refute them. It had been a little too close this time. They had even run into a Named underworld. And that was after he almost bled to death. If this happened during his first year when things were supposed to be the easiest, what would happen next year?
Would he accidentally attend a gathering of Named? Would he lose a limb? Would the Great Ugor himself come and congratulate him on his birthday?
"...I don't think it's proportional."
"What is?"
"If we have an encounter with a Named during our first year, how is it going to become more difficult with each year when we're supposed to be subduing the one person above the Named in the fourth year? At this rate, given we survive, we might end up coming face to face with the Great Ugor in a year or two, not three."
"Ha! Haha! You're cocky to an unbelievable degree, Zacharia Evandiel!" Kami keeled over with laughter as he slapped his knee repeatedly.
"You claim you came in contact with a Named as you are now, and you think you can fight the Great Ugor, already? A hoot! That's a hoot, I say!" It was clear Kami didn't believe Zach.
Zach was used to people not believing him so he just shrugged.
"Jigak sends his regards." Zach ignored the chuckling Kami and faced the principal. At the mention of Jigak's name, however, both of them froze. The principal was affected for less than a second before smiling.
"No kidding. Jigak. And? What did he say?" The principal showed interest.
"That they might have succeeded in creating life. He talked about a perfect chimera or something."
The principal and Kami looked at each other for a moment before looking at Zach with serious expressions.
"Anything else?"
"No, not really." Zach shook his head.
"I see. Thank you for bringing us this information, Zach. Now, we only have to settle your punishment."
"Punishment?"
"Of course. You broke the rules. You stayed outside campus far longer than you had applied and received permission to do. For that, you must receive punishment. You must also take accountability and responsibility for the resources we wasted trying to find you guys. If it had been just a day or two, you could have gotten off with a warning on account of the information you brought back.
But…" The principal tapped his chin with his finger thoughtfully as he leaned back in his chair.
"Yes. We'll do it like this. This information should put you not far from the graduation requirements already. You three have already worked hard on gathering information and scoring marks. So, I'll have you focus on the other subjects that don't involve diving into the forest. Shore up your marks and round out your grades.
You have Zach's library access, make the most of it." The principal flashed a friendly smile.
"All three of you are forbidden from leaving campus until two weeks before the school year's end."
Kami couldn't hold himself back from laughing at the sight of the three student's faces. His laugh echoed in their heads long after the principal kicked them out of his office saying they stunk.