" Please, miss Elysium. Come on stage."
Being called out like that, she couldn't ignore him and stay where she was. She left her seat, joined Janus and stood next to him stiffly.
"Everyone, here is the new teacher that will substitute Mr. Kalvimani. Let's welcome her."
Clap Clap Clap. Everyone applauded but the majority was unenthusiastic. She tightened her fist and gritted her teeth. She could only hold back her urge to murder him. The target was completely unaffected by this and continued talking with a threatening smile to the audience.
"As you don't seem to be able to train correctly your student, maybe I should let the new teacher do it. I heard from Mr. Kalvimani that she was the most talented student he ever taught and she survived unscathed from his hell training..."
'What hell training are you talking about? I don't remember that.'
As she tried to remember anything that could be called 'training' from her past, she was suddenly hit by death glares from every teacher.
'Wha- Why are they glaring like that.'
She frowned and it was misinterpreted by the teachers as a challenging look, which made them even more bloodthirsty. Getting the effect he wished, he continued his speech.
"But that will only happen if you mess up the first semester. If you manage to place first in the school's average mark, then we can forget about it."
Then a hot-blooded teacher cried.
"We will get first!"
A group of the same species as this seemed to follow him. Some mocked their behavior and others began to join them. She even saw a part of the human teacher joining them...
"Silence" declared Janus. Everyone shut their mouths. A short moment of silence passed.
"It seems like you understand your goal now. I'm expecting a lot from you. Well then on this note, this assembly is finished."
Janus, Hammond, and Astrea left the stage together as the crowd applauded.
Backstage, where no one else was here, Astrea finally attacked. She threw a punch full of fiery spiritual energy on his stomach.
"Geh!!"
"AH! Chairman!"
"You fucker!! One of the things I hate the most is being used!!!"
Janus fell on the ground and curled up. Hammond ran to him to see if it wasn't too grave. Astrea left fuming.
"Are you okay chairman!?"
"I'm... not... fine..."
"I told you not to provoke her. And see what happened to you."
"But.. it was necessary..."
'How getting punched is necessary...'
Janus finally caught his breath. With the help of Hammond, he stood up.
"I need to evaluate her true strength."
"It's true she is powerful, but she isn't so strong that you need to worry about it."
"You don't understand. The more we contact each other, the more she seems suspicious. I asked a god of time to look into her past. And you know what I learned, he couldn't see a part of her past."
"Huh!?"
"I asked the others ones and even their chief God! They all ended up with the same result. I even asked the Lord of Fates!"
"But didn't you hate him?"
"Yeah! And this bastard even had the time to taunt me. So what if his school is first! I will take back my first place!"
'Oh. So that's why you were so mad when you came back from the land of gods...'
"So about Astrea...which part could he not see?"
"It was during the ghost invasion eight years ago."
"!? Are you saying..."
"No way she is possessed. Her body emanates too much pure energy. In contact with her, a ghost would just dissipate... But that's what is suspicious. How could she get this strong in a short amount of time."
"She may have found a treasure."
"If that's the case, it's her luck. She did well to hide it. It would provoke unneeded unrest."
"Indeed."
"A treasure who could even hide the time from the eyes of gods of times. It would be too earthshaking."
When Astrea got out of the assembly hall and took out her phone. She had many missed calls from Cecilia. Just as she looked through her history, she got another one.
"Hello."
[Aah! Finally! What were you doing? I called you ten times you know?]
"Sorry. I needed to discuss something with Janus."
[Oh! The first headmaster!? He was pretty extreme at the end.]
"Yeah. What did he mean by 'Hell training'?"
[You don't know? I thought you survived it?]
"I never had one."
[Really? Well, I don't really know, but I had some student who took his course. They told me it was just literally hell for one weekend. That's all.]
"Hmm..."
[Sorry. I don't know more.]
"No, it's fine. Where are you right now."
[I'm with the others teachers. However, you shouldn't come. They are quite scary looking when they talk about you. I would like to be with you but they won't let me go. Right now I'm talking to you in the toilet but there is someone monitoring me. I have to go now or they will get suspicious. See you at the dormitory.]
"Yeah."
She hung up her phone and looked at the sky.
'Sigh, I only wanted a calm work. If I knew it would be like that, I'd have taken the ghost hunting job instead... but mother would worry too much.'
She shook her head and was about to walk away when she sensed someone behind her.
She turned her head to see who it was but she was greeted by a fist. She dodged to her left and put some distance between her and the attacker. She then had a good look at him.
It was an imposing man. He had purple-bluish skin and he had stitches on his body. Behind him was a small cute girl holding a stitched cat plush toy. She wore a black gothic lolita dress and had a little hat on her head. Her long black hair covered all her back like a waterfall. Her round inky eyes stare at her full of frustration. Her small pouty lips made her even cuter. But her tongue was very venomous.
"Aaah! How did you dodge! Simon! You are useless! She had her back turned to you and you still missed!"
"Who are you and what do you want!?"
"Hmph! Listen well! I am Morrigan Niall and I will make you one of my puppet!"
The giant man then resumed his attack. Astrea dodged all of his attacks.
"Hahaha! If you think only moving around, you will never win. Simon can never get tired!"
She knew she wouldn't win by only dodging. She only waited for someone. And this someone arrived.
"MISS NIALL!! What do you think you are doing on school ground!!"
"Ack! The lamp torch is here. Simon!"
Hearing her call, he ran toward her and carried her on his shoulders. While escaping, she shouted.
"This isn't the end, Astrea Elysium! I will come back!!"
It was weird to hear that from a little girl.
"Astrea! Are you okay?" Asked the running Janus.
"Mn. I'm okay. Who was she?" curtly asked Astrea.
'Aah, she is still mad.'
"Morrigan Niall. A necromancer who is in love with your friend, Theodore. She seems to have become jealous after he compared the two of you. Also, she is 532 years old but she still acts like 9 years old."
"Oh."
Silence.
… She seemed to be waiting for something from him but he didn't know what it was. The multi-purpose assistant Hammond, who was hiding in a bush then prayed to him the answer.
'My Lord! She is giving you a second chance! You must apologize to her!!!'
Hearing this, he widened his eyes by the sudden realization. He suddenly calls out to her.
"Astrea!"
"Yes?"
He lowered his back and pronounced :
"I'm sorry for what I did before! I shouldn't have used you without asking for your permission!"
"What else?"
'Huh? What else...Ah!'
"I'm also sorry for looking at your past, for frightening you during the travel here and for not warning you about the dangers you will face! I am sorry!"
'Chairman! You are doing great! Now let's see how she will react.'
"Mm. I accept your apologies."
'Yes! Victory!' cried Hammond in his heart.
Janus sighed in relief. Before he could raise his head, he felt something touching his head.
'Mn, as I thought, his hair is even softer than Cecilia.'
She was petting his head. Ever since she met him, she always wanted to do it. She had a weird habit, she always had the urge to touch anything soft. She already petted many times Cecilia's head as she was small but Janus's head was too high up and she didn't have any occasion. Having one presented before her eyes, she couldn't help but do it. She was very contented.
As for Janus, he was frozen in the same position.