Chapter 238: Two Floors of Punishment

Chapter 238: Two Floors of Punishment

Nothing major happened during the rest of the lesson.

Although Felix got back on his feet after receiving healing magic, Professor Aemon didn’t allow him to continue practicing. Veris wanted to take out his frustration over losing on another student, but he was also told to rest.

Layla tried to fight me again.

But her earlier focus was gone.

While preparing her spells, she kept looking toward Felix. Whenever she realized she had made a mistake, she only became more frustrated.

When the lesson ended, the students slowly began leaving the training field. Layla hesitated for a few seconds, as if considering going to Felix, but when she saw that Rose was still talking to him, she placed her staff on her back and walked in the opposite direction.

I didn’t stop her to encourage her or provoke her further.

For now, I didn’t want to interfere with the situation any more than I already had.

Professor Aemon rolled up the student list in his hand and tapped it against my shoulder.

"Come with me."

Instead of answering, I silently followed him.

I could already guess why he had called me.

After reaching the main building, we climbed two flights of stairs. Aemon didn’t say a single word along the way. He only yawned occasionally and walked as if taking me to the faculty room required more effort than he was willing to give.

When we stopped in front of the door, he gave me a brief glance.

"Behave yourself in there."

"I always behave."

"From where I’m standing, you look less like an innocent white rabbit and more like a sly fox."

He opened the door and stepped inside.

There were four other people in the faculty room.

An elderly man sat beside the window reading a book. A woman with glasses was examining the pile of student papers on her desk, while two professors on the other side of the room spoke quietly over tea.

The moment I entered, all four of them turned to look at me.

When Professor Aemon noticed, he casually waved his hand.

"Don’t mind them. They’re quite good at pretending not to listen to other people’s conversations."

The woman with glasses frowned.

"We’re working, Aemon."

"Of course."

Aemon walked over to his messy desk at the back of the room. After sitting down, he took a crushed pack of cigarettes from one of the drawers.

The woman with glasses put down her pen the moment she saw it.

"Don’t."

Aemon placed a cigarette between his lips.

"The window is open."

"That doesn’t mean you can smoke in here."

Aemon formed a small flame at the tip of his finger and lit his cigarette.

As the woman took a deep breath, the elderly professor raised his book a little closer to his face. The other two continued drinking their tea as if they hadn’t heard anything.

Aemon pointed to the chair across from him.

"Sit down, White Hair."

I sat in the chair and made myself comfortable.

After taking a drag from his cigarette, Aemon blew the smoke toward the open window.

"Now tell me why you provoked that knight boy."

"I don’t know what you’re talking about."

A tired smile appeared on Aemon’s face.

He stared at me in silence for several seconds.

Even the rustling of papers in the faculty room had grown quieter. It was becoming increasingly difficult for the others to pretend they weren’t listening.

Aemon pulled the ashtray toward himself.

"Fine. Let’s change the question. What did you promise Veris?"

"I told him I would fight him later if he fought Felix."

"So you admit that you provoked him."

"No. I merely told him I would give him what he wanted in exchange for doing something."

"That’s called provoking someone."

"That depends on your perspective."

Aemon tapped the ash from his cigarette into the tray.

"Why Felix?"

"His face? I’m pretty sure that boy is more handsome than you."

I shrugged.

"That’s not my fault."

Aemon leaned back in his chair. This time, his usually sleepy eyes were completely open.

"You watched Felix throughout the lesson. You sent Veris after him, then used Felix to provoke Layla. When his core began to change, you looked less like someone who was surprised and more like someone trying to figure out why it was happening."

"You watch your students quite carefully."

"I’m paid to do that."

"You spend most of your time sleeping."

"Closing my eyes doesn’t stop my ears from working."

I had nothing to say to that.

Aemon leaned forward and rested his elbows on the desk.

"Why are you so obsessed with Felix?"

"I’m not obsessed with him."

"Your behavior today says otherwise."

"I only wanted to see how strong he was."

"Why?"

"I was curious."

"Why?"

"Because I wanted to."

Aemon took another drag from his cigarette.

"Did you know his core would react like that?"

"No."

This time, I was telling the truth.

"Then what did you expect to happen?"

"I expected Veris to beat him up a little."

"And then?"

"Then I was going to fight Veris."

"What if Felix or Veris had been injured?"

"The barriers and you were there."

Aemon leaned his head back and stared at the ceiling.

"Talking to you is exhausting."

"I can leave if you want."

"No."

He lowered his gaze back to me.

"What do you want from Felix?"

"Nothing."

"Are you trying to make him stronger?"

"Who said I was doing that?"

"You placed him against an opponent stronger than him. Then the boy suddenly grew stronger and defeated that opponent."

"That was Felix’s achievement, not mine."

"I know. Even so, you were the one who put him in that situation."

"A coincidence."

"Then it was a very convenient coincidence."

The suspicion in Aemon’s eyes hadn’t disappeared.

I couldn’t tell him the real reason for my interest in Felix. If I told him that I knew the original story of this world and was aware of the events Felix would face in the future, our conversation would probably continue in the academy’s interrogation room instead of the faculty room.

So I remained silent.

Aemon waited for me to answer. When he realized I wasn’t going to speak, he pressed his cigarette into the ashtray and extinguished it.

"Fine."

He opened a drawer and took out a small brass key. Then he placed a crumpled piece of paper beside it and pushed both toward me.

I looked at the key.

"What’s this?"

"The key to the cleaning closet."

"Why are you giving it to me?"

"After your lessons today, you’ll clean every corridor on the first two floors of the main building."

For several seconds, I tried to figure out whether he was serious.

His expression didn’t change.

"Did you bring me here to make me clean the corridors?"

"I brought you here to answer my questions. Cleaning the corridors is your punishment for refusing to answer them."

"I answered."

"If evasive replies count as answers, then you’re right."

I picked up the key.

"I can use cleaning magic."

"No."

"I can move the mop with mana."

"No."

"I can burn away the dirt in the corridors."

Aemon raised an eyebrow.

"If you try that, you’ll clean every window in the building too."

I silently closed my mouth.

The woman with glasses looked up from her papers.

"Make him clean the stairs too."

Aemon pointed at her.

"I told you not to pay attention to them."

"You were the one who involved us in your conversation," the woman said.

Aemon turned back to me.

"Only the corridors for now. But if you disrupt another lesson by using the students against each other, I’ll add the stairs too."

I slowly took the key and the paper before getting to my feet.

Just as I reached the door, Aemon called out from behind me.

"White Hair."

I turned my head.

"I still don’t know what you’re trying to do with Felix."

Although his sleepy expression had returned, his eyes were completely serious.

"But if one of my students gets seriously hurt because of you, cleaning corridors won’t be enough to get you off the hook."

"I’m not trying to kill Felix."

"That was the clearest answer you’ve given me so far."

I opened the door and stepped outside.

I walked to the cleaning closet at the end of the corridor and inserted the key into the lock. When I opened the door, I was greeted by an old bucket, several dirty cloths, and a wooden mop leaning against the wall.

I picked up the mop and examined it for a few seconds.

I would have plenty of time to think about the reason behind the sudden change in Felix’s core.

After all, I had two entire floors to clean.