Fifth day of Sapta’xahr, 4044 AOT

Headmaster’s Office

The yellow-orange tint of the setting sun passes through the window.

“Do you know why I called you here?”

The usual noise of the students’ small talk is nowhere to be heard.

“No idea.”

“You’re not even trying.” The headmaster picks a stick of cigarette from a pack inside his coat’s pocket. “I want to prevent some problems as much as I can.”

“Good luck on that.”

“Let me finish talking!” He coughs. “I need your cooperation, Azalea.”

“Ah-” She pauses for a moment. She moves her hands in with comical gestures. “Is that why you are talking as if we’re about to uncover some… conspiracy~”

“You can drop the goofy act now. You know you don’t have to pretend in front of me.” He pulls his drawer open and then fishes out a white folder. “You have to clean up after your mess.”

She lets out a heavy breath full of disinterest. “Sounds like a pain.”

“I already know that this kind of thing will not suit your taste.” The headmaster stands up. He walks closer to Azalea and then puts the white folder down the small table. “You may not like it but you have to face it.”

Azalea spares the folder a single glance before fixing her eyes back at the headmaster.

“For now, I have blocked everything related to you from being accessed inside the premises of the academy. As long as the person searching for these articles is inside Nalkad Island, it will be blocked from appearing in search results.” He leans on his table while facing Azalea. He observes her blank expression as he is trying to get a read of what she feels about the matter. After a while, he continues while playing with the cigarette spinning it around his fingers. “Most of the students attending AB Academy are not too involved with HC’s affairs but I decided to take few actions as insurance anyway. However, everything I blocked is still accessible outside. My power does not extend that far.”

Azalea picks up the folder while listening to the headmaster. With a serious expression, she starts skimming through the pages. Eventually, she starts chuckling to herself.

“All it needs is one person to start spr--” The headmaster is interrupted when Azalea suddenly bursts out into uncontrollable laughter. He is about to reprimand her but he is taken aback after noticing the grim tone of her laughter. It is sad, melancholic, the sound of someone losing their sanity. He cannot help it but stay quiet.

“Look-” Azalea exhales with a wide smile. She opens the file facing the headmaster so that he can see it. “This is definitely news to me. Wow…”

The headmaster takes a quick look at the article. The headline says in bold letters, “Aesbyl in Peril! Azalea “The Witch” is Starting a Big Revolution.”

She scoffs as she glances back at the papers. “Damn. Why are they inciting the people? Well, since I left the place, the issue probably just died. How amusing.” She continues to flip through the pages.

The file includes so much news that is only being publish in the country of Surus. One of which entitled “A Hunter Hunting Plantations: Destroying up Our People’s Livelihood!” became a big deal in the middle of her stay in Aesbyl. It is not entirely false. However, there are things she would rather not talk about.

She pauses at two news articles that catches her sight. “Unfortunate Twist of Fate: The Witch is Slaying Demons and Allies Alike” and “A Hunter or a Witch? Slaying for Money” are news published early in her demon hunting job. It is not uncommon for some hunters to betray their party after slaying the demon. There are different ways to achieve this. One is to prepare a trap in their camp that will activate once they return from the hunt. Another one is to lure them into a supposed to be safe route but is actually a monster territory. Then, there is that one where someone lures a large number of monsters towards the party of weary hunters flooding them while they are barely able to defend themselves. This is usually done so that there will be less people to share the rewards and loots with.

“What killed most hunters aren’t demons, but human greed and envy.” Azalea suddenly remembers her master’s words.

All of these articles are written without her side of the story. Although, that is understandable since it is nearly impossible to trace her whereabouts. However, she believes that they are written in an overly dramatic way. For her, it is easy to see that they were not written to inform but rather to simply entertain people with a short and spicy bedtime story.

“Wow, these are nostalgic.” She chuckles with a grim tone. “Brings back a lot of memories.” She then puts it down the table. “Feels like someone is slapping me all these stuff I did back then.”

“Does it upset you?”

“Upset?..” Her low toned reply is followed by a long silence. “Say, headmaster… Have you ever stared into a demon’s eyes? Have you ever felt the sharpness of their claws? Have you ever known the bone-shattering strength of a single punch? Have you trembled uncontrollably under their ear-piercing roars?”

“Um.. No-”

“You wouldn’t want to.”

“Huu-?”

“Of course, as weak as you are, why would you dare to?” Azalea continues with a half-smile and ludicrous tone.

A vein pops on the headmaster’s forehead. “That’s true, but shouldn’t you refrain from insulting me openly?”

“I’m not insulting you, I’m stating a fact.”

“Stop dodging the subject.” The headmaster brushes Azalea’s comments. “Your foolish antics is a making me lose track of our main topic.”

“Ah- right. Is it upsetting, you ask…” Azalea responds with ease. Then the half-smile she keeps starts to wear off. “No. It’s… deplorable.” Upon uttering those words, the atmosphere in the office suddenly feels heavy and dark.

The silence is uncomfortable. To break it, the headmaster forces a cough to clear his throat. “I see. I am offering you a way to clean your name. I can ring some of my connections to help take all these down and deal with those who are responsible.”

“What do you want me to do?” She asks; her brow rises while she wears a cunning smile. “Go out there and explain everything to them? I prefer letting those issues die on their own rather than fanning their flames more.”

“Are you really fine this way?” He then sits at the vacant chair close to Azalea. “Or perhaps, are you so benevolent that you’ve already forgiven them?”

She lets out a cold laugh. “I’m not fine… but I have to be.” The bogus smile she is wearing has now turned into a blank. “My forgiveness has little to no value. They’ve wronged not only me but these young heroes who gave everything they got to protect what they cherish. These stupid articles also hurt their loved ones who are still grieving.”

“Doing nothing doesn’t solve anything.” The headmaster tells himself.

“At the very least, they should be grateful…” Her tone becomes grimmer. “That I’m not displacing their heads away from their necks.”

“That’s-…” He blurts out but stops himself midway. He feels like the light and dark side of this confused child is having a fierce battle. In his mind, he ponders trying to read the situation. “Her expression isn’t one that bluffs. What could happen in the moment she succumbs into this insanity? Not good. Can we still save her? I have to at least limit the factors that could make her fall even farther.”

The cold silence in the room is starting to make the atmosphere awkward.

“Azalea.” The sound of her name rings. It almost brings the light back into her dead eyes. “Aesbyl has fallen in chaotic times. If it continues without progress, ICA will get involve.”

“They should have a long time ago.”

“Those articles are putting you in an unfavorable position.” He stands up. “What I’m trying to say, at least smooth things over Aesbyl’s press.”

“How? Write them a novel about the dark side of their country?”

“Exposing the truth should be very easy if you get the right people behind you.”

“The truth.” She chuckles. “Headmaster, have you ever been to Aesbyl?”

“I have.” He walks back to his table.

“Have you seen the slums outside the city’s circle?”

“Well…” The lawless zone is not a place for a person in his position to casually waltz into.

Azalea grabs the folder and then flips the pages to a certain article, “The Witch Conspiracy: Azalea Backed by a Huge Organization!” It is something that stirs up quite the talk but that’s all there is to it.

“If only they sincerely care for the wellness of their people, then they would have known the kind of shithole they are living in. If only they spared a little time to investigate the root of this, then they wouldn’t have time to think of such amusingly twisted stories.” She looks directly at the headmaster. “Aesbyl is bound to fall into chaos whether I interfered or not… Although, I do admit that my actions helped speed-up the process.”

“So…” He returns her gaze. “Do you believe that you did the right thing for Aesbyl?”

“Not really.” Her eyes are blankly staring down. “You know, destroying those plantations and stuff… I didn’t really think it through. I was impulsive and reckless, taken over by my emotions. That’s why it all ended in such a mess.”

“Do you regret it?”

“I don’t know. Sometimes I do… Sometimes, I think it’s for the best too.”

“Don’t you think that clearing your name in Aesbyl will help settle their problem?”

“Well… The press does not care about me or what I do. They are only interested in what kind of entertainment they could create out of what I’ve already done.” Azalea stands up still holding the folder. “There are a number of people who know the truth in Aesbyl but they are keeping their silence. If I get involve again, some might take that opportunity to use my name and divide the people further igniting the flames of chaos. I must not trouble them anymore. Aesbyl can fix itself better without me.”

The room falls in silence again.

“She’s on the right track but the truth about her-”

Azalea throws the folder in mid-air. A magic circle flashes and then the folder starts to burn, turning it to ashes in a matter of seconds.

The headmaster stares at his unlit cigarette stick. “If those cases reach the ears of the board of directors, you’ll be thrown into the red-zone.”

“I don’t see any problem with that alone.”

“What if they get exposed to the entire student body?”

“I’ll somehow deal with it.” She smiles with the same cold eyes. “The problem with most people is that they are quick to open their mouths yet they are never willing to open their minds.”

“I see,” he sighs. “That’s just how you deal with it.” He turns and then walks back to his chair. “Don’t you want to change it? The way all these ‘partially true’ rumors get exaggerated and dramatized…”

She goes back to her seat. “Sounds like a pain.”

“Even though you went through all these for Aesbyl?”

“I didn’t do it all for Aesbyl.” She notices her reflection on the table’s glass. “I did it for those kids… and also for myself, I guess. I wanted to open an opportunity for them to save themselves. It just so happens that Aesbyl might benefit from it… if things go well.”

The headmaster chuckles, “I understand a little now. In the end I got rejected, huh?..”

“As much as I hate to say it, you’ve already achieved something.” Azalea notices a crack in the gem on her hand. Meanwhile, the headmaster gives her a puzzled expression. “You brought me here,” she adds. “I wanted all those rumors about me to just die down. I cut myself away from people. You have no idea how much effort I put that time to hide away… but you just have to be that one smartass to get the job done.”

“So, you do appreciate my good will to help you.” His eyes lights up like fireworks blooming in the night sky. “Are you that grateful that I led you into this academy?”

“Of course not!” Her flat out reply makes the headmaster frown. “This place has problems of its own. In many ways, it’s also a pain to stay here.”

“Ungrateful brat,” he mutters. Then he pauses and stares at her. “Haven’t you been looking more and more tired these days?”

“Hm?..” Azalea suddenly lifts her head and fixes her eyes at the headmaster. She lets out a forced laugh. “Does it really look that way?”

“Don’t get too worked up about it.” He advices with a tender yet confident tone. “Whatever’s coming, the academy can deal with it. Furthermore, our students may not be as polished as you are now, but I assure you, they are strong enough to take care of themselves. You don’t have to keep carrying everything on your own. Have some faith in us.”

She stands up and then she takes a deep breath. After calming herself, she wears her business smile back on. “I’ll try.” She walks towards the door and then waves goodbye before leaving.

The headmaster watches her leave. Once she is gone he then relaxes on his chair as if he is thinking about something deeply.

“I guess that’s good enough.” He talks to himself while looking at the dimming sky outside his window. “Bringing her here… I also have my doubts. Is it a good thing?.. or a bad thing?”