The Council Hall doors burst open. The crash made everyone jump.
All heads turned toward the door.
Julian Vane, with a slightly disheveled uniform and an armful of scrolls and boxes, stood in the doorframe. He was panting, but his usual crooked smile was on his lips.
"Apologies!"
His voice echoed in the hall.
"Did the session start without the 'Defense Attorney'? That's against Article 12 of the Academy Statute!"
The Headmaster frowned.
"Mr. Vane? This is not a place for jokes. Get out."
Julian stepped forward and, ignoring the guards' protests, stood in the middle of the hall.
"Not a joke, Sir. By law, every student has the right to a representative from the Student Council for defense. And I... volunteered."
Varon said coolly:
"Mr. Vane, the evidence is clear. Your interference only wastes the Council's time."
Julian slammed the box he had brought onto the table.
"The evidence is clear? Maybe. But it's not 'complete'."
Julian held up a burnt piece of the circuit.
"Master Varon stated that the device was 'safe' and Maria's interference caused the explosion."
He held the piece toward Madame Vance (Head of Ethics).
"Madame, you are an expert in forbidden circuits. Please look at where the wires melted."
Madame Vance (who had read Edward's letter and was waiting for an opportunity) put on her magnifying glasses and looked at the piece. Her eyes glinted.
"The burn is from the 'root'."
Julian snapped his fingers.
"Exactly! This means the mana pressure had exceeded the limit before Maria's interference. Master Varon's device was going to explode even without Maria's interference, but a much larger explosion."
Varon frowned. His voice rose slightly.
"This is nonsense! That's just a burnt piece!"
"Oh, it's not over yet."
Julian pointed to Madame Vance.
"Madame Vance, please read the letter you received last night from the 'Royal Guard'."
Varon went pale. The name Royal Guard wasn't in his equations.
Madame Vance read in a resonant voice:
"The report from the Guard's Intelligence Unit confirms that Master Varon purchased equipment from the 'Xenia' black market last month, specifically for 'containing S-Class creatures'. The experiment conducted yesterday had no authorization from the Safety Department."
The murmur in the hall turned into shouts. Professors looked at Varon with disbelief.
Julian turned to Maria and winked. Then he shouted to the Council:
"Maria Alessandra didn't go there for 'sabotage'. She realized the device's instability and tried to prevent a total explosion by cutting the current. She is not a saboteur... she prevented a catastrophe!"
Varon slammed his fist on the table. His mask of calm crumbled. The veins on his neck bulged.
"Lies! She's a filthy thief! She and this boy are conspiring!"
Julian smiled.
"If you don't accept my words... hear the words of the victims."
Sarah, sitting in the front row of the spectators, took a girl's hand and raised it.
Emma, the girl with the bandaged hand, stood up trembling.
"Your Honors..."
Her weak voice silenced the hall.
"I was there yesterday. When the wall was falling... I was frozen."
She looked at Maria. A tear dripped from her eye.
"Someone pushed me. If it wasn't for her, I'd be dead now. That shadow... was Maria. She didn't run. She stayed and tried to get us away."
Sarah stood up and said loudly:
"She was worried about everyone the whole time! She's a hero!"
The atmosphere of the court shifted.
Looks changed from "anger at the accused" to "doubt toward the accuser."
Varon, feeling the ground beneath him give way, tried to speak, but the Academy Headmaster's cold glare silenced him.
The silence of the hall was made of glass; fragile and sharp.
Maria stood in the defendant's box. She clasped her hands in front of her, so tight her knuckles turned white. Not from fear, but to control the trembling from exhaustion.
Sarah, a few rows back, gripped the edge of her seat and bit her lip.
The Headmaster shuffled the verdict paper with a scratching sound.
Council members whispered amongst themselves for a few minutes. Madame Vance said something angrily and pointed at Varon.
Then, the Headmaster stood up.
Cold sweat beaded on Varon's forehead. Maria held her breath.
The Headmaster lifted his gaze, eyes piercing through the hall.
"The Council has made its decision."
The sound of Maria's heart pounded in her ears.
"Based on the evidence and documents available regarding this case, the Council's verdict is as follows..."
He paused for a long time. He fixed his gaze on Maria over his half-moon glasses.
"Student Maria Alessandra... considering the emergency circumstances and witness testimonies... is not expelled from the Academy."
The sound of held breaths being released swept through the hall like a wind. Sarah closed her eyes and wept tears of joy.
But Maria felt nothing. The relentless stress, the sleepless nights, and the crushing weight of the trial had hollowed her out. She was too exhausted to even feel relief. She was just... numb.
The Headmaster's voice grew stern:
"However... this does not mean acquittal. Unauthorized interference in research matters, recklessness, and entering a restricted zone are not crimes to be ignored."
He pointed a single, authoritative finger at Maria.
"Your access to technical workshops and advanced laboratories is suspended until the end of the term. Furthermore, you are required to complete twenty hours of remedial ethics and safety classes. And most importantly... you are placed under strict 'probation.' The slightest infraction will equal immediate expulsion without a trial."
Maria fixed her gaze on her dusty boots.
Her shoulders finally slumped. The initial numbness faded, leaving relief and sheer exhaustion to fight for dominance in her mind.
I survived. I wasn't expelled. But my hands and feet are tied. I can't move freely anymore.
"Understood, Headmaster."
The Headmaster set Maria's papers aside and picked up a thicker, heavier file.
The atmosphere in the hall shifted instantly. The students' lingering whispers were cut short.
All eyes turned toward the man standing like a statue of ice on the far side of the hall.
Master Varon.
Despite the bandages on his face and leg, he maintained an aura of arrogant dignity.
The Headmaster cleared his throat. His tone this time held no trace of respect; it was judicial, cold, and severe.
"And now... regarding Professor Varon."
Varon raised his chin. There was not a single sign of remorse on his face.
"The Investigation Committee has verified the charges of conducting unauthorized Level 5 experiments, endangering student lives through gross negligence, and the misappropriation of research funds."
Shocked murmurs erupted across the hall.
"I don't believe it... Varon?"
"He was actually running secret labs?"
The Headmaster slammed his gavel on the table.
"Silence!"
Then, he delivered the verdict:
"By the ruling of the High Council, all your research projects are suspended indefinitely, and your funding is severed. Your access to mana-core apparatuses and high-tier crystals is revoked. Your personal laboratory is sealed and placed under the direct supervision of this Council."
Varon blinked. His jaw locked. A vein throbbed at his temple, but he remained absolutely silent.
This verdict was the equivalent of severing a scientist's limbs. It was cutting off his oxygen supply.
An upperclassman leaned in and whispered to his neighbor:
"Did you hear that? Varon's no longer the Academy's golden boy. He's ruined."
But the Headmaster wasn't finished. He hammered the final nail into the coffin of Varon's life's work:
"Furthermore... any research, containment, or experimentation regarding 'Shadow Creatures' and entities from the Western Lands within Academy grounds is now strictly prohibited. Violation of this decree will result in the immediate stripping of your professorship and a handover to the Royal Tribunal."
It was the killing blow.
Decades of Varon's research. The key to his ultimate ambition. All of it, destroyed with a single sentence.
Varon drew a slow, deep breath. Behind his back, his hands curled into white-knuckled fists.
He didn't look at the Headmaster. He didn't look at Madame Vance. He didn't even glance at Julian.
His head turned, slow and deliberate.
His gaze swept over the sea of students and locked dead onto Maria.
Maria raised her chin, meeting his stare.
She expected anger. She expected silent screaming and thinly veiled threats.
But there was no rage in Varon's eyes. There was something infinitely worse.
A cold, calculating, bottomless hatred.
A look that clearly promised: You burned my kingdom to the ground, little mouse. Don't think for a second that just because you won today, the game is over.
Maria suppressed a shiver. Even as he finally turned and walked away, the promise of danger in that gaze remained burned into her mind.
The massive, carved doors of the Council Hall opened, and the flood of students and professors poured out. The clear daylight contrasted sharply with the dark, stuffy atmosphere inside the hall.
Maria descended the stone stairs. Sarah moved like a loyal shadow, half a step behind her, as if wanting to watch her back.
With every step Maria took, the atmosphere around her changed.
The crowd unconsciously parted ways. Not out of respect, but out of caution and fear. Like when people pass by a released wild animal.
Whispers were heard from all sides:
"It's her... the girl who caused the explosion."
"Heard what Varon said? If she hadn't interfered, the monster wouldn't have escaped."
"Don't be stupid! It was her who saved us. I saw her go into the heart of that hell."
"Hero or saboteur... doesn't matter. She's dangerous. Don't get close."
The looks weighed heavy on Maria.
Some looked with respect mixed with fear (those who had survived).
Some with hatred (Damian's supporters and those who liked order).
And some with pure curiosity.
Maria lowered her head and fixed her gaze on the gray cobblestones.
She tried to thicken the invisible wall around herself. Tried not to hear the voices, neither those praising nor those cursing.
Let them talk... let them judge. They weren't there. They didn't hear that creature's whimpering.
She passed through a tunnel of judgments, silent and unanswered.
Maria and Sarah diverted their path to get away from the main courtyard crowd, but fate pulled them toward the Research Building. Where until yesterday, was Varon's absolute territory.
In front of the building's entrance door, a commotion was underway.
Two lab assistants in white coats were hurriedly carrying heavy wooden boxes full of papers and tools outside.
One of them said angrily to the other:
"I can't believe it... the whole project sealed. Years of research went into the trash can."
"Shhh! Calm down. Half the team has already been transferred to Botany. We're lucky we weren't fired."
Maria hesitated mid-step. Her gaze was drawn to the metal entrance door of the building.
Someone was standing there.
Master Varon.