"Come in, come in"

Van knocked on the door of the Headmaster's office before coming in. Immediately, the first thing he noticed was a shiny bald head. The Headmaster was seated at his desk, smiling at him brightly as he entered the room, what's even brighter, however, was his bald head that reflected the sunlight that was seeping from the windows.

​​

The second thing that Van noticed, however, instantly made him flinch and almost made him turn on his [Time Perception] skill. Gerald was sitting on one of the chairs in front of the Headmaster's desk.

Gerald, who saw him enter the room, could not help but click his tongue in disdain.

The 3rd thing that Van noticed… was Gemma, standing behind the Headmaster. And as soon as their eyes met, Gemma winked at him while letting out a satisfied smile.

"..."

"Please, Mr. Evans. Have a seat", the Headmaster gestured to Van to sit on the chair beside Gerald. He hesitated at first since Gerald might suddenly attack him, but seeing as it was the Headmaster's orders, he didn't really have a choice in the matter.

And so, he sat down, ready to go into superspeed at any time, carefully watching Gerald, glancing at him every second.

Gerald did the same, his fist ready to move at any given moment.

"Mr. Evans, Mr. Gerald", the Headmaster smiled as he nodded to both of them.

"Both of you will be joining the student council"

"Headmaster!?", Gemma's eyes widened in shock as the smile on her face disappeared.

"...What?", Van slightly furrowed his eyebrows.

"That's f*cking bullsh*t!", while Gerald slammed both of his palms on the Headmaster's desk as he stood up.

"Mr. Gerald", the Headmaster spoke in a soft voice, "I would appreciate it if you would lower your tone"

Even though the Headmaster's words were polite, Gerald somewhat felt his body freeze as he could not help but take a nervous gulp. The Headmaster wasn't really emitting any killing intent whatsoever, he was just smiling at Gerald.

But even then, Gerald felt like his throat was going to be pulled off from his neck at any given second. And so, Gerald could only obediently sit back down.

"But of course, the Academy values freedom first and foremost", the Headmaster continued, "So, it's still your choice if you want to join"

Hearing the Headmaster's words, both Gerald and Van let out a sigh at the same time. But they then once again looked at each other, their eyes burning in anger.

"Hm", the Headmaster nodded his head, "So you can join the student council…

...or you can leave the academy due to being psychologically unfit"

"!!!"

How was that even a choice!? Gerald knew exactly what being branded as psychologically unfit by the Academy meant. They won't be allowed to join an Explorer's guild, and will not be eligible in making one, even with an unlimited amount of money.

Even though Van was not aware of what it meant, leaving the Academy was not an option for him, he still had a whole lot to learn.

"He should be the one expelled!", Gerald once again slightly raised his voice, but this time, he remained seated, "He attacked me… and beggars shouldn't even be allowed to attend the Academy in the first place!"

"Oh?", Gemma suddenly joined the conversation as she raised an eyebrow, "If I recall, that same beggar seemed pretty capable of kicking your psycho ass!"

"What was that!?"

The Headmaster raised his hand and cleared his throat, quickly shutting the two down. "The truth is, Gemma told me what happened", he said, "We know what you did to Mr. Evans, Mr. Gerald"

"T… that"

"We could let it pass when you killed the baby gryphons since your family donated a lot of money to replace them", the Headmaster continued, "But attacking and ganging up on your fellow student is a big no no", he said as he waved his finger.

"So…", the Headmaster then clapped his hands, "What's your choice?"

Hearing the Headmaster's words, Gerald could only grit his teeth. "Fine!", he shouted before quickly leaving the room.

"..."

"And you, Mr. Evans?", the Headmaster then looked at Van, "What is your choice?"

Van could not help but sigh before respectfully nodding towards the Headmaster. It was not like he had any other choice, he thought as he also took his leave. But before he could exit the office, the Headmaster called him.

"Mr. Evans…"

"Yes, sir?"

"You look a lot like your mother"

"!!!"

Van's eyes trembled as he turned his head towards the Headmaster. Mother? How would the Headmaster even know his mother? Even Van himself doesn't know what his mother looked like. What is he even saying?

Numerous thoughts started racing inside Van's mind. But after a few seconds, he shook his head. "...I don't have a mother", he muttered before quickly leaving the room.

Van's mind was completely in disarray as he walked through the hallway. Mother… Did his mother go to the Academy? How else would the Headmaster even know of her? Or maybe he mistook him for someone else?

"Van, wait!"

Van could not help but blink a couple of times as his thoughts were disrupted by an annoying shout. Van quickly hastened his pace, but Gemma once again shouted, gathering the attention of the people in the hallway.

"What do you want?", Van turned around, his tone apprehensive.

"I didn't know…", Gemma shook his head, "I spoke to the Headmaster about your case. I realized that Gerald was the one who beat you up as soon as I heard that you fought with him yesterday"

"I pleaded to the Headmaster not to expel you because you were a victim, and instead invite you to the student council as… a sort of community service instead", she continued, "But I didn't think that the Headmaster would also force that psycho to join!"

"I'm sorry, I really didn't know!"

"...", Van could not help but blink his eyes a couple of times as he stared at Gemma's eyes. "...Thanks", he quickly whispered before walking away.

Gemma was slightly taken aback. Out of all the responses she was expecting from Van, that wasn't even on her list.

"W… wait!", she once again called for Van.

"What?", Van let out a deep sigh as he once again turned his head towards Gemma.

"Our… next meeting is next week, Monday"

"...Oh", Van muttered before disappearing.

It would seem that his schedule was getting more and more packed.