Ch.211Chapter 211 – Dismissal

Today, as always, Karen Blechet woke up from her sleep with a stretch.

“Mmm, I slept well again today.”

After tidying her bed, she went into the bathroom, took a shower, and came out.

Taking a clean shower after waking up in the morning was always one of her daily routines.

Most people would typically dislike their day when they wake up in the morning to go to work, but Karen was different.

“Hehe, I feel so good now that that commoner girl who was a thorn in my side is gone.”

The reason was that she had managed to get the commoner student she considered a thorn in her side suspended through her own schemes.

“I don’t know why that Mina Endras girl or whatever her name is was so stubborn. If she had simply acknowledged it and dropped out, I would have given her travel expenses to use when going back to her hometown.”

Karen was mocking Mina for trying to hold out until the end.

But now she was in high spirits at the thought that she no longer needed to see that commoner girl.

—Knock knock.

“Hmm?”

Just as she was fully dressed and about to leave, Karen heard someone knocking on her dormitory door.

“Professor Karen Blechet, are you there?”

“Who is it?”

Karen was slightly wary as she realized the voice calling for her was one she had never heard before.

This was because access to this research institute was extremely limited to only authorized personnel.

“We’re from the Archenium Defense Knights. We have something to discuss with you. Would you please open the door?”

“From the Defense Knights?”

Although she found it suspicious that Archenium’s Defense Knights had entered the magic research institute, Karen opened the door anyway, thinking it wouldn’t be good to be on bad terms with them.

“Paralyze.”

The moment she opened the door, a binding spell was cast on her, targeting the opportunity.

“What is the meaning of this? Do you think you can get away with assaulting a professor of the Academy?”

“A professor of the Academy? How amusing.”

When Karen shouted in confusion at the sudden binding spell, a remarkably calm voice responded in stark contrast.

Then the Defense Knights parted to the sides, revealing the owner of the voice.

“P-Principal Blasteria?”

“It’s been a while, Professor Karen Blechet of Magic Studies.”

The person who had cast the binding spell on Karen was none other than Regina.

Though she usually looked at people with an emotionless expression, her eyes now looking down at Karen were filled with contempt.

Karen couldn’t understand why Regina had come here.

Nor could she comprehend why she was looking at her with such contemptuous eyes.

“P-P-P-Principal, why are you looking at me like that?”

“Professor Karen Blechet. Do you know why I’ve come here?”

At Regina’s ice-cold voice, Karen tried to guess the reason for her visit rather than answering the question.

‘Why would the Principal come looking for me? Could I have been caught? No, that can’t be it. She must have come because of the damaged prototype I was researching.’

Karen’s mind couldn’t fathom that her plan to expel the commoner student had been completely exposed.

Instead, she thought Regina had come to hold her accountable for the recent prototype damage.

After all, the plans she had made to drive out the commoner were all kept in a secure safe with tight security.

So Karen never thought her plans had been discovered.

“P-perhaps this is related to the damaged prototype?”

“Oh, you’ve at least guessed something close. Yes, I came here because it’s related to that.”

“I-I’m sorry! It happened because I failed to properly supervise the student! I’m truly sorry!”

Karen prostrated herself to avoid offending Regina.

Of course, due to the binding spell preventing her from moving, she presented a pitiful sight, lying on the floor as she begged for forgiveness.

“Do you think saying sorry will solve the problems you’ve caused?”

“No, it won’t?”

“Then is this inside or outside?”

“I-I’m sorry!”

Karen’s mind was in disarray.

The only words coming out of her mouth in response to Regina’s questions were “No, it won’t” and “I’m sorry.”

Just these two phrases.

And this was… something Pathos had taught Regina.

‘If you want to completely break Professor Blechet’s spirit, when she says “I’m sorry,” ask her if saying sorry solves everything.’

‘Then when she responds with something like “No, it won’t!” ask her if this is inside or outside, and she’ll say “I’m sorry!” again.’

‘These are the basic responses, and for the rest, you can mix in whatever sentences you think are appropriate, sister.’

It was the Korean military-style hazing method that Pathos had learned from his seniors in the army.

The legendary hazing technique that makes the other person only say “I’m sorry” and “No, it won’t”!

That was what Regina was now deploying.

‘This is interesting. I should try this on other professors later.’

Regina was thoroughly enjoying this hazing method she had learned from Pathos.

After Karen had repeatedly said “I’m sorry” and “No, it won’t” until she was exhausted, Regina finally looked at her with a smile.

“Professor Karen Blechet. Over the past few years, several students who worked as assistants in your laboratory have dropped out of the Academy. Do you know anything about that?”

“I… I don’t know… they just… couldn’t endure and left…”

“What couldn’t they endure? An enormous amount of research assignments?”

“Y-yes. Those children left because they realized their own inadequacies…”

“Lies.”

The moment the word “lies” left Regina’s lips, the air in the room froze.

“You keep lying. The reason those students left the Academy? It’s because you hate commoners. So you deliberately assigned an impossible amount of work that no student could complete, and when they failed to do so, you severely scolded them. Then you approached these students with shattered self-esteem, offering them money, saying you would give them enough to live on when they returned to their hometowns if they would quietly leave the Academy without tarnishing its reputation. Wasn’t that you?”

“Th-that’s not true! I never said not to tarnish the Academy’s reputation! I only asked them to leave for the sake of the Academy’s honor because commoners without ability should leave… hup!”

In her panic, Karen denied only part of the accusations rather than all of them.

However, this ultimately became self-contradictory.

“So… you admit that you did try to drive out commoners because you dislike them?”

Regina had come knowing everything from the start, and all she needed was Karen’s confession.

It would have been better if she had denied all charges, but by denying only some of them, Karen had walked right into the trap.

Under the laws of the Gelebrio Empire, not denying all charges but only some of them meant admitting to the rest of the crimes.

“What? N-no! That’s absolutely not true! It’s all a misunderstanding! Please listen to me…!”

“Denials are useless, Professor Karen Blechet. I came here because I’ve secured evidence that you planned everything. No matter how well you hide the scent of mana, the residual aura of mana ink in your handwriting never disappears.”

“Ugh…”

Karen finally realized she had fallen for a trap.

If she had responded calmly, she might have been able to buy some time.

‘Damn it, I made a mistake! I should have moved all the evidence here!’

Karen realized she had been too careless.

If she had moved the evidence here and burned it all, she wouldn’t have been caught, but unfortunately, she had left the evidence behind.

The reason she had written down all her plans by hand and left them as evidence was to constantly remind herself of her anger.

It was to keep rekindling her hatred for commoners and her belief in their inferiority until the day she died.

However, the documents she had written and kept with her own hands had ended up tightening the noose around her neck…

“Defense Knights. Take her away. I’ve brought artifacts that prevent the use of mana. Equip them on Professor Karen Blechet and place her in a mana containment cell.”

“Yes, Principal.”

“And Professor Karen Blechet? By the authority of the Principal, I hereby dismiss you from your position as professor at Glesius Academy, effective immediately. The charge is ‘discrimination based on status within the Academy.'”

“Ah… aah… aaah…”

Karen Blechet was dragged away by the Defense Knights.

She could offer no resistance.

All she could do was be dragged away while weakly sobbing.

◈◇◈◇◈◇◈◇◈◇◈

“P-please employ me as your maid, Count!”

“Pfft!”

Meanwhile, at a café in Archenium, Pathos was caught off guard by Mina Endras’s unprecedented declaration of wanting to be his maid, causing him to choke on his hot tea and burn the roof of his mouth.