"Why is everyone so hell-bent on carrying me like this? First it was Steve and his minions before my death, and now these three students," Neaf thought, feeling frustrated as he was being carried out like a sack of rice. He scolded himself for thinking such unnecessary thoughts at a time like this.
Suddenly, a loud voice boomed into the corridor, causing the three students to stop in their tracks. Neaf looked up to see a person who sounded incredibly angry.
"What is happening here?" the voice demanded.
Richa marched angrily toward them. "Are you bullying him?" she asked, her tone fierce.
"No, ma'am, we were coming to you for the trouble this guy caused on the field," one of the students explained, and Neaf realised that she wasn't just a teacher, but the principal of the school, as they had mentioned taking him to the principal.
In this world, at least, things seemed better. He had been bullied so many times in his previous world, and even the teachers had noticed, but nobody had cared. Here, even after he had acted like a bully, breaking his teacher, the principal was showing concern.
The word 'bully' would have made him laugh if he had heard it before, especially considering he had been the victim of bullying. But now, having acted like one, he was facing immediate consequences, while his own bully had faced none and he had ended up dead.
"He has legs to walk, why are you all carrying him like this?" Richa asked, her gaze fixed on Neaf, who was resting as if he were on a joyride.
"Ma'am, he broke the nose of our rugby coach. Do you think this fool is thinking straight? He lost his mind, and the coach lost consciousness," the student explained, watching Richa grow angrier by the second.
"What?" Richa gasped, and the other students gasped in shock as well.
"I didn't mean to... Ma'am... I lost my balance, that's why it happened," Neaf stammered, immediately blurting out a lie. There was no way he was going to admit that he had broken his coach's nose. It wasn't entirely his fault; Axtral had given him a task, and he had executed it well. It was just a nose, after all, and could be fixed.
"He's lost his mind, ma'am. He apologised before colliding with the coach. Everyone heard him. He's lying," the student insisted.
'They want me dead,' Neaf thought, rolling his eyes as he hung there, feeling the pain in his back and everywhere else. The way they were ganging up on him, he didn't even have the energy to explain himself further. He had indeed caused the incident, but it wasn't entirely his fault. He was stuck in this world, and he had to follow Axtral's commands to survive. This time, it was also for his own selfish reasons, so he didn't feel that bad.
After all, if his soul had been traded to a devil like Axtral, why should he act like a saint and suffer in silence? He couldn't do anything extreme, and breaking a nose wasn't like killing someone. It was better than what he had suffered and was currently enduring.
"Leave him. I'll deal with it in my office," Richa commanded. The three students dropped Neaf on the ground without considering that they were over six feet tall and how much it hurt to be on the cold ground.
Neaf winced in pain as soon as his butt touched the ground. Today seemed like the day his butt would surely be flattened out.
First that girl Vastuna, and now these three. His feet were already sore from running for too long.
How could this body even feel pain? It was half robot, for goodness' sake. This body felt more human than robotic. What kind of AI technology did these people have?
Neaf felt annoyed at not having the privilege of being reborn into a stronger body, one that wouldn't easily faint, need to be carried around, and feel pain.
"Everyone, get back to your classes," Richa shouted. "Stand up, Neaf and follow me."
All the students in the corridor immediately returned to their classes. The three students who had carried Neaf here glared at him and then left for their own classes.
With some difficulty, Neaf stood up and began to follow Richa, who was walking ahead with authority. His heart was racing, and his mind was in disarray. He couldn't think of any excuse to justify his actions.
Who knew what this teacher was going to do to him? She probably wouldn't kill him, but his body was already in so much pain that he had no energy left to face any punishment.
Richa stopped in front of her office, the same office that Neaf and Alfred had entered earlier that morning.
"Come," she ordered, walking inside.
Neaf followed her as the door closed automatically behind them.
Inside the office, Richa gestured for Neaf to take a seat while she settled behind her desk. Neaf sat down, feeling a mix of anxiety and discomfort. He couldn't predict what was going to happen next.
"Neaf, do you understand the seriousness of what you've done?" Richa's voice was stern as she asked .
"I... I do, ma'am. I didn't mean for things to escalate like that," Neaf stammered, trying to sound sincere.
Which he clearly was not able to, not like he was lying for the first time or something. His whole life had been a lie. He had always lied to his grandparents about his injuries, not wanting to stress them out, especially since they had already been stressed about him. Since childhood, they had taken care of him, and he couldn't bear to put them in a difficult position because of the bullying he had endured.
But this was different. He had clearly committed an offence and had no words to explain his actions.
"I am calling your parents, and you are going to be sent to the authorities,"