"Teacher Asphed…" A voice came from behind a door, accompanied by a knock on the door.
"Yes? Who might that be?" Teacher Asphed answered from the other end of the door.
Immediately, the door opened and a man wearing a uniform— a dark blue shirt tucked into even darker trousers walked in.
The room was fairly large for a single person but such was the room of all teachers in the institute with some even being larger.
Asphed's room was quite empty except for a bookshelf at the left end of his office and his table and chair situated in the middle of the room. Opposite him were two other chairs but the visitor didn't have plans to sit in any of those.
"The principal would like a word with you." The man who had walked in—the guard sent by the principal stated to this teacher.
Asphed stopped going through the book in his hand and brought it low so he could clearly see who he was speaking to. "Understood. I'll be there in a moment." He said after taking a better look at the guard in front of him.
The guard shook his head in disagreement. "I apologize but you're to follow me back this instant as requested by the principal."
Yup…
It was at this moment, Asphed understood that something was going on.
"May I ask why?" Asphed tried to pry an answer from the seemingly ordinary guard in front of him.
"I'm afraid I do not have an answer to that question. He simply requested your presence and I was in no position to ask why." The guard answered and turned to leave.
Asphed didn't need to be told before he rose from his seat and followed the guard as they made their way to the Principal's office.
The moment he left the office, a sudden thought hit him.
What if he was being summoned by the principal regarding what happened with a certain new student?
Cold sweat broke out from his forehead and he had a foreboding feeling. One that told him he was about to lose something important but as for what it was, he didn't know.
Well, his suspicions were completely right but he wouldn't find out yet.
♠♠♠♠♠
Back at the principal's office, barely twenty minutes had passed and Seth was still glued into his chair as if he was a part of it.
On the other hand, the principal was growing restless even though he didn't show it.
He had allowed a handful of students unrestricted access to him but they didn't give him as much pressure combined as this new addition to that list.
He was beginning to regret giving Seth access to himself.
Seth felt at home in front of him, unlike the others who felt pressured even if they didn't show it. He liked it as much as he hated it and in Seth's case, principal Salmit was the one feeling the pressure.
"Teacher Asphed has arrived." A voice spoke from outside the Principal's door.
Seth could swear he saw the old man sigh in relief for some reason only the old man knew about.
"Let him in." Principal Salmit replied plainly.
"Yes sir." The guard answered and the door opened as a man in black trousers and a white shirt covered by a black coat that extended to his knee.
"Principal, you called for me." The man said, somewhat in a questioning manner as if asking for the reason.
He was still oblivious to the fact that Seth was also in the room because the chair was larger than Seth.
Principal Salmit raised his head as he gestured for Asphed to occupy the only empty seat in the room. "Yes, a student requested that I settle an issue between himself and you."
Sweat started forming on Asphed's face the instant he had his answer.
Before he could even process it completely, the principal spoke again.
"Since we're all present, we might as well commence. Don't you think so, Seth?"
As if struck by lightning, the teacher's thoughts froze and he slowly turned his head to look at the seat just a few feet away from him. The occupant was smiling brightly at him.
A smile he had seen a few hours ago from a student whom he had foolishly made a bet with.
The smile said everything about what was happening now.
Above all, the smile was sending him a message.
'I won the bet.'
Seth smiled at Asphed.
'Fuck!' Asphed almost yelled outward.
He had lost a bet with the stake being two years' worth of salary.
"Yes, principal. We can proceed." Seth turned to answer the principal's question.
"Then without wasting any more time, let's begin. First of all, Asphed…"
"Yes, principal," Asphed replied.
"...Seth here said he entered the class at the same time as you and you decided to punish him for this. Is that true?" Principal Salmit's aura had changed. Even Seth was feeling this pressure albeit lower than what Asphed was feeling.
"Yes, principal." Under such pressure, Asphed couldn't argue.
"Even though there was no rule stating that the student should be punished, you went ahead to almost punish him, correct?"
"Yes, principal." Asphed answered as briefly as he could.
"That was wrong. The institute isn't known to punish students who do not break the rules and I'm certain you know that."
"Yes, principal."
"You should be grateful to Seth. If he had received your punishment and reported afterward, you would've been met with serious punishment. Now, you'd simply be suspended for a week and another teacher will carry on your duty for that week." Principal Salmit said to Asphed who nodded without complaint.
"Now, on to you, Seth." Now, the pressure on Seth doubled and he felt it but showed no reaction.
"You challenged your teacher in front of other students. That's a disrespectful act the institute will not tolerate. Although you were right, continuously tackling a teacher is wrong. For that, you will apologize to your teacher here and spend a week in the Institute's library only taking breaks to eat, sleep, and for your private lessons."
"Understood, principal." Seth nodded politely.
Asphed wasn't convinced of Seth's solemn act but the last part of the principal's statement lingered in his mind.
A private lesson. Only certain abnormally talented students got private lessons.
'Ah, so he was one of those bastards.' Asphed cursed his luck.
"I apologize for my rude behavior earlier." Seth bowed deeply to Asphed.
"Ah, don't mention. It's fine." Asphed replied a bit flustered on the outside but angry inside.
"Well, it's all settled, you may leave." Principal Salmit finally approved to leave and as soon as he rose to leave, he was met with a gaze he was certain he understood.
'Hand over the money!' was what Seth's gaze was saying to him.
He grunted and ignored Seth.
"Mr. Asphed, don't you think I should be getting my pay now? I won after all."
Seth wasn't going to let him leave either way. Asphed froze and turned back to see the principal staring his way.
"What's this about?" Principal Salmit asked.
"Oh, we made a bet and I ended up winning. I was just asking for my winnings from him." Seth explained even before Asphed could open his mouth.
'Curse this little bastard!' Asphed almost couldn't bear any more.
Now, he had to pay Seth by all means since the principal had become aware of the situation.
Now, he regretted trying to ignore Seth's gaze.
"Come with me." Asphed said and walked out followed behind by Seth.
"I'll be back, principal." Seth whispered to the old man who just wanted to be away from Seth at this moment.
'Don't come back!' Principal Salmit screamed internally but only sighed outward.