Free Web Novel“Flattery isn’t necessary. Since I’ve already met all of you, go do whatever you were supposed to do.”
Vieya waved her hand, shooing them away. “And I’m an adult. You don’t need to waste unnecessary energy on me. I have my own plans for the rest of the day. If you really have nothing else to do, wait outside. The student stays.”
Bonnie bowed slightly and led the way out. Helibel, Senma, and the others followed one after another. Soon, the Dean’s Office was empty except for Rorina standing before Vieya.
Vieya looked at her for a moment, then finally spoke slowly.
“If I hadn’t spoken up and brought you along, your behavior just now would’ve gotten you dragged to the confinement cells. At worst, expelled. So—what was so important that you had to speak to the new Dean privately?”
“Dean.”
Rorina nodded obediently, then lifted her head. Her gaze was firm.
“I want to report something!”
“Report? Who are you reporting?”
Vieya blinked, though her face remained calm and gentle—no need to make the girl more anxious than she already was.
“If it were just a trivial quarrel between classmates, I trust a sensible girl like you wouldn’t make a fuss. So... what kind of help do you need from your new Dean?”
“I... I’m not sure how big it is...”
Rorina scratched the pink hair by her ear. Even though the new Dean was someone she knew—someone who had saved her life—and even though just sitting there she radiated a strange sense of safety, Rorina still felt uneasy.
“I want to report my family,” she said softly. “My own family—the Glenfidich family behind me.”
Good grief.
Vieya removed her sunglasses, sat properly, and asked again, “Sorry, I didn’t hear that clearly. What did you say?”
“I want to report my family!”
Rorina inhaled deeply. She seemed agitated, but when her eyes met Vieya’s pale green gem-like pupils, she calmed slightly.
“To be exact, I only decided this after the former Dean was arrested and exposed for treason!”
“...Is that so?”
“Yes. The Inspectors came to our house the day after they arrested the old Dean. They asked my oldest uncle some questions—but he muddled his way through everything!”
Rorina clenched her fists, her voice dropping. “I heard from Captain Jasmine that Benefactor-sis met terrifying enemies in Talin City—something huge happened, and she was even injured. Also, the former Dean was exposed because of what happened in Talin. It’s all connected!”
Her light-blue eyes dimmed. “Our family has always maintained a public scroll-supply partnership with the Magic Academy... but that’s only a tiny part of our business. For example, soul scrolls—the ones banned by the Church—we manufacture those. The production lines are still active...”
“I see.”
Vieya tapped the desk lightly. In Rorina’s eyes this was heaven-collapsing. In Vieya’s? Small fry—nothing she couldn’t handle with one hand.
So she patiently said:
“I’ll notify the Church about all of this. You don’t need to involve yourself further—just pretend to know nothing. Are you staying in the Academy dorms?”
“Yes... I live in the free dorms. I earn points too, so I’m fine.”
“Good. Until this is resolved, pretend you know nothing. And don’t leave the Academy.”
She paused, then added, “If you get bored here, you can come to my house with Jasmine and stay for a couple of days. Just don’t go home.”
“I understand.”
Rorina lowered her head, fiddling with her fingers. “Benefactor-sis... thank you. Actually, besides all this, my family has even more secret bad things... If the new Dean weren’t you, I might never say any of this in my life...”
“Hm?”
Vieya looked at the pink-haired girl, who had shrunk her head like an ostrich. She didn’t speak—just made a soft sound to show she was listening.
Rorina lifted her head cautiously, looked at Vieya to confirm she wasn’t angry, then continued:
“The charity foundation, church restoration projects, orphanage donations—our family takes on all these public-good contracts. But behind them are secret deals. My father died while secretly investigating those deals.”
“Your father?” Vieya’s heart tightened.
“Yes. My father married into the family with a purpose.”
Rorina whispered, “He was always investigating something behind the scenes. Back then, I was three or four. I didn’t know anything. Until one day, Mom and I were suddenly told to attend Dad’s funeral.”
“Funeral was too abstract a concept for me at that age. I just knew I’d never see him again. I saw Mom crying, so I cried too.”
“A few years later, Mom told me I had to escape from this family. And then she disappeared. But I was older then—I understood she went to confront the family elders.”
“Mom never came back... but I’m fine.” Rorina forced a smile. “No one in the family cared about me; they treated me like air. But no one dared touch me either. They always avoided me... probably the last protection Mom secured for me with her life?”
She spoke with eerie calmness.
Vieya sighed softly and brought the conversation back to safe territory. freeweɓnovel.cøm
“These matters will be handled.”
“Mm. I believe in Benefactor-sis... If not for you, I probably would’ve died in that dungeon.” Rorina bowed her head. “And I never would’ve had the courage to say any of this.”
Vieya shook her head. Her eyes swept the office, stopping on a small purple clay teapot.
She hopped off the chair. “We’ve talked for so long—I’ll boil some water. Your Captain Jasmine likes drinking from this.”
“?” Rorina tilted her head. “I think Captain Jasmine would probably like anything as long as you made it.”
“No way!”
Vieya felt the atmosphere relax a little and took the chance to tease back. “She doesn’t eat green beans when I cook them!”
“That’s because they weren’t cooked through, right?” Rorina said.
Vieya paused mid-action. “How do you know that?”
“Captain Jasmine told me...” Rorina blinked, then added, “She said Benefactor-sis can turn non-poisonous food poisonous, and it’s lucky she’s tough or she would’ve been raised to death.”
Vieya: “...... Did you make that up? Jasmine would never say that.”
“But she did say it. Not just to me,” Rorina said seriously. “Benefactor-sis, you’re the Dean now—it’s easy for you to confirm. I have no reason to lie to you. At the very least, I can promise I won’t lie to you.”
“Ah.”
Hearing her firm answer, Vieya felt a tiny sting. Was that really how her daughter saw her?
Flaviel: “Hahaha!”
“Eh? Someone just laughed?” Rorina looked around warily, but no one else was in the room.
Vieya put the full teapot onto the stove with a thud and said coldly:
“It was a dog laughing. Pretend you didn’t hear it.”
Rorina: “Eh?”
...
Time slipped to 1 p.m.
After sending Rorina off, Vieya headed to the Magic Academy cafeteria, preoccupied.
Most students had finished lunch by now, and she wasn’t worried about her daughter. She’d told Jasmine this morning that she didn’t need to come home for lunch—just eat at the Academy. Jasmine protested but relented after repeatedly confirming Vieya would also eat something.
Absentmindedly eating a few bites, Vieya mulled over the office discussion and the four faction leaders—feeling a mild headache.
Her old style was simple: meet an enemy, slaughter your way forward. Whatever grievance they had—go talk to my Holy Sword! Everyone only survived by fighting; she had no energy to spare for subtleties.
“Sigh. My mindset is too extreme.”
She stabbed a meatball, stuffed it in her mouth, cheeks puffed out as she chewed. She still had a pile of tasks to handle.
After Anna ran off with the dungeon °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° treasure last time and they split temporarily, they hadn’t contacted each other since. Finding a usable tool-person was hard.
Aurora’s condition was unstable—sometimes bits of serpentine features emerged uncontrollably. Completely unusable.
As for her three maids at home... Hah. Without her staring at them, those three were top-tier slackers. Iron spinning tops—if she didn’t whip them, they wouldn’t spin!
After thinking it over, Vieya decided to dump the matter onto the four faction leaders.
Their roots were all in the Academy. They couldn’t run even if they wanted to!
And that little girl Rorina... she’d better have truly prepared herself for her entire family being uprooted.
With a complicated mood, Vieya finished lunch and returned to the office. She dialed the collective frequency of the four faction leaders.
“Ah, Dean? What can we do for you?”
The other end was noisy.
Vieya frowned.
“Are the four of you together? If so, come to my office.”
