In an Academy the highest position was of the Principal and then the second highest position was of the Vice Principal.
Various academies did this to maintain a power structure and balance in an academy.
The position of a Principal and Vice-Principal represents great authority and strength, the resources and money given to them was not little.
The beasts' crystals collected by the students every three years were sold by the academy to the Gifted One's Organization and the money was distributed among the teachers, staff, equipment, vice principal and then the principal.
The minimum salary of a vice principal even at a worthless academy was 1 million gold coins. So, anyone could guess how much money would be given to a vice principal of an elite academy such as the Duel Fencer Academy.
The fact that Liberi was offered such a position and he accepted it, caught Dreamer off guard. However, this made Dreamer even more confused about Liberi's death and his sword.
"Should I continue, my lord?" Liberi asked.
"No, no, wait a second!" Dreamer said, shaking his head.
"Sorry for stopping you so many times but I want to know that if you became the vice principal of that academy then what about your certificate and most importantly what about the person who was vice principal before you!?" Dreamer asked a pretty logical question.
"No worries my lord. Don't humiliate me by asking for forgiveness.
And about the vice principal before me, well he retired.
He belonged to the fox race and when he became Vice-Principal, he was young and at Pro Grand Master rank. So, everyone thought he will become Principal one day when his rank will increase.
And as a vice principal he received many advantages such as money, crystals and different potions in order to increase his rank.
Many years passed like this but to everyone disappointment he never ranked up or more like he was unable to rank up, as his limit or potential was just to become a Pro Grandmaster rank individual.
So, not being able to face disrespect and criticism, he resigned from the position and returned to his home as he was also getting old.
And due to his resignation the position of the vice principal was vacant and when I got the offer, I accepted it.
As for my certificate, I didn't discard it, I just kept holding on to it because if by any chance I lost the position of vice principal then I can join a faction with the help of my certificate.
I believe that my certificate is also at the academy." Liberi answered.
"I see, so when did you take the position? I mean how many years has it been till you joined and which rank were you at when you took the position? And also, which rank were you before your death?" Dreamer asked as he wanted to know the previous strength of Liberi and how many years it had been since he took the position.
"My lord, it's been 5 years. I was the vice principal of the academy for 5 years, and when I took the position, I was at mid grand master rank.
And before my death, I was at Mid Soul Knight rank." Liberi revealed.
"Whattt!?" Dreamer exclaimed.
Dreamer was not shocked about Liberi being at mid soul knight rank although it was a great achievement but the really shocking thing to Dreamer was that if Liberi was at Mid-Soul Knight rank, then how can he be assassinated?
Dreamer was a person who just recently learned about rankings, so according to him the people at Soul Knight rank must be very strong so it will be almost impossible to assassinate them unless the killer was someone of higher rank and stronger than them.
"My lord, please bear with me. You will eventually find all the answers you have in your mind by the end of the story." Liberi requested.
"Is that so! Fine I'll wait."
"Thank you, my lord. So, after I became the vice principal of the academy, I devoted myself to work. I haven't even gone to visit my parents although I occasionally keep sending them letters.
I told them that I became the vice principal of the academy through a letter. Hearing this, they were very happy. I also kept on sending them some money and doing daily tasks as a vice principal of the academy.
Many teachers were jealous of me because I was younger than most of them while being in a higher position than them.
The only one who talked with me nicely was the principal, he belonged to the snake race.
Things were going smoothly, I was getting paid 5 million gold coins, I was getting resources to get stronger and crystals to absorb in order to increase my rank and I was also training daily to not become rusty and also to get accustomed to my new sword.
Three years passed like this, I reached mid Soul knight rank and became a very good swordsman. The principal became even more stronger; he was just one step away from reaching Soul King rank.
So, as three years passed the graduation ceremony came and this time, I was also present at the stage along with the other teachers and principal.
Every student got on stage one by one to get their certificate, this time I also gave a speech to encourage other students.
And then unlike the previous graduation ceremonies the principal suggested that tonight we will have a banquet with all the students to celebrate their graduation.
Although I didn't want to attend the banquet, the principal insisted that I have to attend it and everyone thought that it was a good thing to celebrate once in a while. So, I also agreed.
But that's where I made a mistake, I should've never attended the banquet." Liberi's tone turned solemn.
"Why, what happened at the banquet? And just finish the story. It's taking too long Liberi!" Dreamer said in an annoyed tone as Helix was constantly poking Dreamer to order Liberi to finish the story.
"As you wish, my lord." Liberi continued.
"The banquet was held at the palace of a student who was the son of a noble. He took first place and received a pro master rank certificate. So in order to celebrate his success, his family offered a banquet to every student and teachers of the academy.
There was everyone present, be it other nobles, some powerful gifted ones and some peasants too.
But the hall of the noble's house was divided in two sections one for peasants and one for other nobles and some strong gifted ones.
My lord, let me fill you up in the brief history of nobles, how they came to be.
The ancestor of these current nobles was once peasants as well but when they got their gifted abilities, they choose to help other people, they took part in making shelters, academies, various factions, and taught others how to use their abilities and some also started to make weapons and artifacts and many more useful things.
And also, they were the first ones who bought up the idea of factions.
So, by doing all this they got recognised and people started to respect them and they made a lot of money through their various businesses and people started calling them nobles. These people were good hearted people; they truly deserved the title of a noble.
But as time passed the descendants of these nobles started thinking that they are some kind of God, they started discriminating between peasants and themselves.
They created more factions, some even joined hands with Gods and Demons for more power and started treating peasants as a plague.
Things just kept on getting worse and hence enmity rose between nobles and peasants.
My lord, there may still be some good nobles out there but till now I've not seen any of them.
Anyway, coming back to the story. I was invited to the section of other nobles as I was considered as a strong gifted one. I came with the principal, and the principal introduced me to many nobles.
Then after 5 hours the banquet was coming to an end. People started to leave after congratulating the noble's son.
Soon there were only a few people left. I was also going to leave with the principal so I also went to the noble's son to congratulate him.
When he saw me, he bowed his head and I congratulated him but he made a request. He wanted me to teach him some sword techniques right there. I was reluctant at first but I decided to show him anyway.
I took out my sword from the space bracelet and performed some moves. He watched carefully.
After fifteen minutes I stopped and put my sword back in the space bracelet and prepared to take my leave but then the noble's son and his father came to me with a smile.
They expressed their gratitude, and the principal also joined me. He was standing beside me. I bowed to the noble's son and his father and turned around to take my leave but…then I felt a pain in my heart.
And when I looked at my chest, I saw a.."
"What did you see? Were you poisoned? Was it a spell? What was that? Say it!!" Dreamer, not able to hold the suspense, interrupted Liberi again.
"Yes, my lord. When I looked at my chest, I saw..." Liberi held his chest, closed his eyes as if remembering something painful,
"I saw a…sword pass through my heart!"
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Author : I am trying my best.!