The Academy’s student council president Bernard. The man who put Daniel’s sister into a coma and even instigated the assault on Daniel for protesting. He appeared before Jacqueline.
But far from showing any remorse or restraint, he was drunk and harassing a female student.
“We give special treatment to new girls, you know? If you act sweet, I’ll buy you whatever you want. Jewelry or whatever. I’ll even pay off your tuition. Don’t you want to live easy at the Academy?”
“N-No, I’m fine.”
“Come on, let’s just do a little interview. Just an interview. I’ve reserved a great bar for tonight. Huh? You’re coming with me, yeah?”
“Please, let go. Okay?”
The men tried to drag the frightened freshman girl away.
But they stopped before taking more than a few steps.
Because Jacqueline was standing in their path.
“What the hell? Who are you?”
“You blind or something? Move.”
Jacqueline looked straight at the man in the center and said,
“Bernard.”
“Huh?”
“You’re the student council president, right?”
“What, you know me?”
The drunken Bernard squinted and blinked a few times.
Then, sizing Jacqueline up with a sleazy grin, he said,
“Aha, so you came because you want to have fun with me too? There’s an open spot right here on my right. You look a bit plain, but I bet you’ve got a decent body under all that.”
“That’s enough.”
She had no intention of listening to any more filth.
Turning to the frightened freshman, Jacqueline said,
“Could you give us a moment? I’ve got something to say to this bastard.”
Only then did Bernard and his gang realize that Jacqueline’s demeanor was far from friendly, and they straightened up.
They were all students from the Knight Department, and with their bulky builds, they looked quite intimidating.
Bernard asked,
“And who the hell are you?”
“I’m Jacqueline Dogwood.”
“What? Never heard of that name.”
“You know Daniel, don’t you?”
The moment that name was spoken, Bernard’s face twisted in disgust.
“That bastard has no shame. And now he’s sending a woman after me?”
“Shut up. Someone’s suffering because of what you did, and here you are, forcing yourself on another girl? Don’t you feel even a shred of guilt?”
“Guilt? This is why it’s impossible to talk to pig-bastards like you.”
Bernard sneered without hiding his contempt.
“You lot come to the Academy, learn a few letters, get your heads a little bigger, and suddenly think you’re something else. But you’re born inferior, understand? You should act like the livestock you are. Wag your tails when we’re nice to you, instead of trying to climb above your station.”
“Livestock?”
“Yeah! What farmer gets scolded for kicking a disobedient pig? Tell me that!”
“…You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Jacqueline roughly swept her bangs back.
When she first blocked Bernard’s path, she had at least hoped to resolve things through words.
She hadn’t really expected him to listen, but she had still wanted to see if he felt even the slightest bit of remorse.
But even that small hope had been too much.
To think he’d be this shameless and twisted.
Just as Daniel had said, Jacqueline couldn’t fix his misfortune.
But maybe… maybe she could beat some humanity into this bastard.
Now that sounds tempting…
Jacqueline felt a strong urge.
Bernard was a fourth-year student in the Knight Department, yes…but he was swaying on his feet, drunk out of his mind. She was confident she could toy with him as much as she liked.
Since enrolling at the Academy, she had done her best to act like a proper city lady and leave behind her countryside habits.
But back in her village, Jacqueline had been the nightmare of all the local bullies.
She’d earned that reputation with nothing but her fists.
“You picked the wrong girl tonight.”
As she cracked her knuckles with an audible pop, lacing her fingers and twisting them side to side—
Rustle rustle.
Flutter, flutter, flutter!
Suddenly, the bushes beside the street parted, and some kind of wild animal dashed out between Jacqueline and Bernard.
It moved like a shot. It was so fast it left a gust of wind in its trail.
Jacqueline was startled, but compared to what happened next, that was nothing.
Flick.
The streetlamp above Jacqueline’s head abruptly went out.
It ran on magical power, and as a student in the Department of Magic, Jacqueline instantly sensed a distortion in the surrounding mana flow.
Then, in the very next moment, the light turned back on with a flicker.
And standing between Jacqueline and Bernard now was a tall man.
A man drenched in blood.
“Aaagh! Murderer!”
Bernard screamed and fell backward in terror.
Under the deep blue night, illuminated by the streetlamp, the blood-soaked figure was terrifying to behold.
But Jacqueline alone recognized the face.
And was too dumbfounded to speak for a second.
“…Professor?”
The figure before them wasn’t a blood-drenched murderer. It was Professor Winslet who was drenched in blood.
Well, considering how terrifying he looked, the distinction didn’t feel all that significant.
***
Professor Winslet whose body was splattered with blood looked from side to side. First at Jacqueline, then at Bernard and asked calmly,
“Did either of you see the beast that just passed through here?”
“Uh…”
Jacqueline trailed off, unsure how to respond. Bernard, however, shouted in panic,
“D-Don’t come any closer, you murderous freak! I’ll kill you!”
Jacqueline nearly burst out laughing at how absurd it was. But recalling how tense things had been just moments before, she forced herself to drag her lips downward into a serious expression.
The result was a rather bizarre look as she silently observed Bernard’s reaction to Professor Winslet.
Still drunk and unable to fully grasp what was happening, Bernard looked completely lost. And now that his companions and the freshman girl had run off the moment the blood-covered man appeared, Bernard stood alone.
Terrified, he reached for his waist.
Attached to his belt was a lavishly decorated sheath.
Shing!
With a metallic ring, a short sword was drawn.
“You bastard! I told you, come any closer and I’ll kill you!”
Of course, students weren’t allowed to carry personal weapons on Academy grounds.
But thanks to his authority as student council president, his noble family’s backing, and a few legal loopholes, Bernard had managed to break the rules.
Now, watching him draw a sword and point it at Professor Winslet, Jacqueline almost felt like applauding the sheer recklessness of it all.
Bernard shouted again with slurred speech.
“Didn’t you h-hear me? Get lost already!”
Professor Winslet responded like someone who had just heard an unbearably dull joke.
“Too little guts for a drunk’s rant, and too stupid for a last will.”
“What?”
“I’m in a very bad mood right now. It’s because of the blood sticking to my body….it feels disgusting.”
“You son of a bitch! What the hell do you want from me?!”
Whoosh.
Professor Winslet extended his hand forward.
And Bernard dropped his sword.
An invisible force had snatched it from his grip.
The vanished blade flew through the air and landed in Professor Winslet’s hand.
“You’ve got to be kidding me!”
Bernard who had tumbled to the ground while trying to hold onto the sword now saw the weapon in his opponent’s hand and, perhaps feeling his life was in danger, picked up a nearby stone and threw it at the professor.
“Die!”
Jacqueline screamed.
“Watch out, Professor!”
But the stone never touched him. It shattered midair.
Crack!
Under the dim streetlight, Jacqueline caught a glimpse of something like sea foam briefly flaring up around Professor Winslet before vanishing.
It was a curtain of pure white ice.
Professor Winslet spoke with a voice full of disbelief.
“Trying to show off your throwing arm, are you?”
“Why didn’t that hit…?”
Bernard inhaled sharply.
Only then did he come to his senses and realize who he was dealing with.
“Holy shit… Winter Winslet?”
“Bold of you. Most people don’t dare put those two sentences together in front of me.”
“The one my father told me never to mess with, no matter what… why is he here…?”
Even Jacqueline could hear Bernard gulp dryly.
Realizing what he had done, he hurried to explain himself.
“Wait! Professor Winslet, please hear me out. About my father—”
“Shut your mouth.”
Professor Winslet, for once, showed rare irritation.
“I don’t care who your father is. What I know is that you brought an unauthorized weapon and worse, tried to use it against someone. That alone is grounds for expulsion.”
“This is… I mean…”
“And on top of that, threatening a professor as a student… I’ll let that slide. You seem too drunk to think straight.”
Bernard let out a sigh of relief.
“But who said you could reek of alcohol in front of me?”
“…Huh?”
“If a man gets drunk and turns into a mongrel, then that beast needs to be disciplined.”
The moment Professor Winslet said that, Jacqueline felt her own mana field shrink sharply.
There’s only one reason that would happen—
When a far larger and stronger mana field was deployed nearby.
Bernard, not being a mage, couldn’t feel the shift in mana—
But he was about to sense the change in a different way.
Fwoooosh.
Even though it was spring, not winter, white puffs of breath began to escape from their mouths.
The temperature had dropped in an instant.
Jacqueline hugged her arms and started shivering, then noticed the crunching sound beneath her feet.
Frost.
A sheet of pure white frost was spreading outward from where Professor Winslet stood.
And when the frost reached the spot where Bernard was standing, an invisible chill rose up his legs like the clawed hand of a demon.
“Arghhh!”
Bernard stumbled backward and started screaming, then fell flat.
Blood was flowing from both of his legs.
The sudden freeze caused by Professor Winslet’s mana had made his skin brittle, and the movement had caused it to split open.
“You’re crazy! You’re absolutely crazy!”
“Don’t be so dramatic. It’s not like your legs got cut off.”
“You think you’ll get away with doing this to me?!”
“I’m going to count to three. Be gone before then.”
Professor Winslet didn’t even need to finish the count.
Bernard, dragging his blood-soaked legs, scrambled out of sight as fast as he could.
And Jacqueline who had watched the entire scene unfold from beginning to end felt a single emotion for the first time—
Sheer satisfaction.
As expected.
They were both bastards, but a bastard with power and magical training… really was something else.
Even that so-called student council president who acted like he was above everyone else ended up groveling in front of someone worse.
Power truly is everything.
If I were a mage with power like Professor Winslet… could I have helped Daniel with what he went through?
Professor Winslet now turned his body toward Jacqueline.
She had so many questions. Why he looked like that, whose blood he was covered in, and what he’d been doing at this hour soaked in it.
But before she could ask anything, the first thing she shouted was,
“Please help me!”
The words left her mouth before she even realized it and a moment later, Jacqueline flinched.
Only then did she fully grasp who she had just asked for help.
He was none other than the most notorious professor at the Academy, infamous for his cruel and vicious nature.
That villain of a professor paused for a moment before replying.
“Follow me.”
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