Third person POV
Later on, at 3:11 p.m., after a nice teatime at Nathan's apartment, it's time for Russell, his party, and Samuel to leave Marewell Town. Samuel wanted to go home for the day, and Russell had decided on a route to Garion City via the southern part of the Southern Plains. So, all of them boarded Russell's bus and left Marewell Town for Garion City via Hadrianwood Town, Fernlay City, and Monroe Town. The journey took 1 hour, and one-quarter of it was spent on waiting for passengers to get off and ride the bus. Russell was making money as usual. So, later at 4:27 p.m., the bus arrived at Garion City, and Russell opened the door and said his usual words with slight differences to his passengers. The number of passengers was 20, and the fares Russell charged them were:
Monroe Town – Garion City
3 gold coins,
6 silver coins,
or 10 copper coins
Hadrianwood Town - Garion City
5 gold coins,
8 silver coins,
or 11 copper coins
Fernlay City – Garion City
4 gold coins,
10 silver coins,
or 10 copper coins.
This time, all of his passengers paid the fares based on their place of origin and according to their current funds to pay for it and got off with their belongings. As Russell counted his earnings and tossed them into the metal money box, Samuel grabbed his toolbox and stood up, went to the front, and asked Russell, "Thanks for the ride, mate. Say, do I need to pay for it?"
After locking his money box with its key, Russell turned to him. "For this ride, you don't have to. It's for free."
Samuel was stunned at his kindness. "A-Are you sure about that?"
Smiling at him, Russell replied, "You did a hard job at installing a toilet and plumbing at that home in Marewell Town, right? You deserved your pay, so you don't have to pay for this ride. Use that money for your future and other things."
Because of that, Samuel was happy, saying, "Thank you, mate. I'll use my money wisely." With that, the Renad plumber got off. After that, Russell looked at his friends. "Hey, guys, do you want to go and visit Janet for a bit?"
"Sure!" Azalea replied in agreement.
With that, Russell closed the door and drove to Saint Tadeo Academy to pay Janet a visit.
At the same time, Janet's class had just finished, and Janet gave her mug gift to Daniel, a student of fire magic and crystal magic while greeting him with a happy birthday. Daniel, a young boy with spiky red hair and charcoal-black eyes, was taken aback by this act of generosity from his own professor. "Woah! For me, sensei?"
"Yes," Janet replied happily, "this is for you. You're a good and well-behaved student, Daniel."
The other students were stunned at Daniel being given a gift by their professor.
So, happy that he was being given something he never asked for, Daniel accepted it. "Thank you so much, sensei! This looks so nice. I'll never forget this." Smiling at him briefly, Janet responded positively, "You're welcome, Daniel. Keep up the good work in your studies." But then, someone came and commented on Daniel's new mug, calling it cheap and ugly, changing most of the atmosphere in the classroom quickly. That person was Brygida. Most of the students looked at her while being mildly upset.
"It's not ugly."
"Yeah, it's just an object."
"What is wrong with you?"
Janet was a bit saddened by this because her students defended her cheap present for Daniel, alleviating any more feelings of sadness and inferiority.
"Well, that one looks so cheaply made," replied Brygida back mockingly, "like your lousy professor."
She laughed like a bully.
"Hey! This mug looks nice!" Daniel responded to this strongly, before being stopped by Janet.
"No, please don't raise your voice like that," Janet said to him. "Know her place in the faculty staff hierarchy."
Daniel and the other students couldn't do anything about it and complied with her warning.
A bit later, Janet was walking to the front entrance of the academy's main building after logging out when Brygida caught up with her and started belittling her and her race as a Renad. Janet felt being harassed and bullied by her and tried not to fight back or say back against her. Brygida seemed to enjoy her 5-weekdays-a-week bullying of her. But then, Russell and his party, who had arrived at the front of the academy's main gate, saw that, and while his party was disgusted by Brygida's act of bullying and belittling of Janet, Russell became cold at this. So, the teenage bus driver went to Brygida, took off his bus driver's cap, and slapped her in the face with it. "Bastos ka (You're rude in Tagalog.)."
Upon seeing that, Janet and the May party were taken aback, and Janet feared that Russell might be scolded or scorned for doing that to someone who was higher than him or her.
But Russell didn't care, believing in his true justice and karma philosophy.