After Elisha's speech, meant to keep the students from being too scared and instead light a fire under them, she finally dismissed them.
"Those whose dorms got destroyed can join another dorm."
The students whispered among themselves, planning which dorm they'd go to. Then one of them asked.
"Are we allowed to stay outside?"
"An inn, huh..." Elisha touched her chin for a moment, thinking it over.
"Alright. Those who want to stay outside, go ahead. I'll talk to the inn owners myself."
"Now go disperse and get some rest."
The students finally began to scatter and break off from the field, some heading back to their dorms to rest, others just grabbing a few things before settling somewhere else for the night.
Even though the sun was almost rising, there was a good chance none of them would get enough sleep.
Elisha stepped down from the podium. Slowly, the podium vanished as if blown away by the wind, dissolving into tiny yellow particles.
"Good work, Headmistress." Rachel said.
"It's my job. I can't stand seeing my chilldren that scared." Elisha said with her usual gentle smile.
"..." Rachel could only stay quiet, watching the headmistress act every bit as kind and gentle as she really was.
"More importantly. How many did you all catch."
"Already counted. A hundred attackers, plus one lump of meat."
Hearing Lutra's last, oddly specific word, Ard raised an eyebrow.
"Good work. No casualties is already more than enough." Elisha said, clapping her hands together.
"Wait, Lutra. What do you mean by a lump of meat?"
"Ah, I mean this." Lutra pointed his hand toward an empty spot, and the ring on his finger let out a glow. It was a Spatial Ring.
An expensive artifact that could store anything inside it, no matter how much bigger the object was than the ring itself, and the amount it could hold was practically limitless.
Normally only nobles or people with serious wealth used artifacts like this. Seeing a servant own something this expensive, the professors obviously found it strange.
Then, out of the ring, came a lump of meat, already shapeless, but still squirming, still pulsing like a heartbeat, with eyes that could still move.
"What the hell disgusting thing did you bring?!" Ard shouted, sweat beading on his face from disgust.
The professors clearly felt the same, though their reactions differed. Some covered their mouths, some turned their faces away, some just stood frozen, frowning with sweat on their cheeks.
And then there was one whose face turned blue while throwing up near a tree. That was Tristan.
"Don't act like that, Young master. I turned out this way because you taught me."
Thick veins popped on Ard's forehead.
"I can't believe Professor Ard actually taught something this inhumane."
"Well, he's not even human to begin with."
"Is he into sadism or masochism?"
"I'd bet it's his fetish."
The professors whispered behind Ard's back. Hearing their nonsense only made Ard more irritated, but his irritation was aimed at Lutra.
Ard glared at Lutra with annoyance. Lutra just looked away, adjusting his glasses with a finger.
"Why are you looking at me like that? Even I didn't expect a few cuts with thread could turn him into this."
"How many threads did you even use?"
Lutra snorted proudly, smiling a little.
"Two hundred."
Ard shouted, his face full of annoyance, "What's with that expression of yours!"
Elisha gave a strained smile, trying to stop Ard.
"Alright, that's enough. So who is he?"
"He's one of the higher-ups from a cult called BloodPath."
"BloodPath?" Question marks appeared above everyone there.
Finally, Lutra explained everything that happened and all the information the lump of meat had spilled, thanks to Claire's provocation.
Hearing that there were 7 Monarchs, and then their goal, everyone present was obviously shocked. Ard was no exception. He wasn't just shocked, he was furious.
He had never felt this angry before, to the point of unleashing such a massive killing intent.
Several professors felt uneasy, even threatened, by Ard's killing intent.
Only four people didn't feel uneasy. Elisha and Rachel, who were strong enough not to be bothered, then Tristan and Lutra, who seemed used to it already.
Tristan walked closer to Ard and patted his shoulder.
"Calm down, buddy. I know you're mad because your student almost got turned into an offering by that lump of meat."
"No..."
"What?"
"That's not why I'm mad."
Tristan asked, as naturally as he could.
"Then what is it?"
"I'm mad because my relaxed, lazy life is now under threat." Veins popped all over Ard's face, his eyes burning with rage.
Tristan just stared at Ard with a blank look.
Elisha started crying while hugging Rachel.
"Ard's handsome face. Why does it look like that?"
With an awkward, strained smile, Celi broke the mood with a question.
"Umm... sorry. But no matter how you look at it, he's one of the seven Monarchs. Is it even 'possible' to dig more information out of him?"
"No matter how you look at it, it looks impossible." Roman added, sweat on his forehead.
"I mean, look!" Roman pointed at the lump of meat squirming, its eyeballs still darting around.
"Can a lump of meat like this even be turned back to normal?"
"Makes sense." Celi said, wincing in disgust.
"Right? Even Professor Redina thinks it's impossible."
"There's a possibility, but it's not easy. Even though I'm someone who could be called an expert in alchemy and medicine, I can't do this."
Stuck in confusion, the professors just stayed quiet, having no ideas. They clearly thought maybe the headmistress, Elisha, could do it. But none of them dared to say it out loud or suggest it.
Maybe not for Rachel, though, who just stayed quiet, patting Elisha, who was still crying over Ard's face.
Feeling like the situation was getting troublesome, Ard turned back toward Lutra with an irritated look, as if saying "this is all because of you!"
Lutra opened one eye, and realizing Ard was glaring at him, looked away, sweat on his cheek.
'Damn you, Lutra!'
Ard let out a sigh and walked closer to the lump of meat.
He pointed his hand toward the lump of meat. Then a yellowish light and tiny particles came out. The particles were like dust, seeping and sinking into the flesh.
"What are you doing, Professor Ard?" Professor Redina asked.
"Ah, I'm just giving it the first step."
Elisha stopped crying and smiled at Ard.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Well... It's hard to explain. Better to just watch."
Ard raised his left hand, and a green light came out from his hand, wrapping around the lump of meat.
Slowly, the flesh began taking the shape of a human.
"No way..." Redina said, eyes wide, sweat dripping down her forehead. She tried not to believe it, but couldn't, since she was seeing it with her own eyes.
Not just Redina, almost everyone there was shocked. Watching a shapeless lump of meat suddenly turn into a human.
Just like Redina said, there was a possibility, but it wasn't that easy. Only someone who had reached Master Rank or above could pull this off.
While everyone else was shocked, except Lutra, Elisha just smiled, hands in front of her, watching Ard scratch the back of his head with a face that seemed to say he was about to get into something even more troublesome.
"I don't know what I was thinking, but you're still the same as ever, Ard."
For a brief moment, Elisha's eyes, normally yellow, turned black. It happened only for an instant, and no one noticed.
* * *