CHAPTER 233: THE RUMOR

When class ended, the students swarmed Gara again but this time, it wasn’t just about Professor Aura’s recognition like last week.

Now, most of them —especially the beastfolk— were excitedly asking about his Alrova products.

"Gara, can I pre-order the Alrova Shampoo from you?"

"Hey, why don’t you start selling Alrova here at the academy?"

"How did you even make those products, Gara? Give us a hint!"

Gara had no intention of answering a single one of their questions. Thankfully, he could use the excuse that Professor Aura needed him in her office right away.

Once he managed to escape the crowd of curious students, Vania stormed out of the classroom, her eyes bloodshot with frustration.

Thud!

Her body nearly stumbled forward as someone’s shoulder slammed hard against hers from behind.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Vania snapped angrily.

"Don’t block the way," came the cold reply from a brunette beastfolk girl with bear ears.

Vania instantly recognized her. The girl used to smile sweetly at her just a few weeks ago. But now, that same face looked at her with open disgust.

Being stared at like that made Vania’s blood boil, but before she could lash out, more beastfolk gathered behind the bear girl, each giving her the same cold, contemptuous glare.

"Damn it," Vania muttered under her breath, realizing they’d all turned against her.

The bear girl and the others turned to leave, but their whispers still reached her ears.

"I just want to rip that big mouth of hers apart."

"Same. She’s not even important in the Shereen family, is she?"

"Her Talent might look strong, but she clearly can’t control it."

"She’s nothing but that loud mouth of hers."

"If I were her, I’d jump off the tower from shame."

Vania’s body trembled violently, yet she stayed frozen in place, fists clenched so tightly her nails dug into her palms.

...

Outside the main academy building where most classrooms were located, several students walked side by side toward the second floor.

They passed a few rooms before stopping at the last one down the hall.

"Miki, you’ve heard that weird rumor about Professor Langga, right?" Andine asked as she stepped into the classroom, the door opening by itself.

A few students followed her inside, including Miki, who nodded right away.

"Of course I have," the rat boy said, walking straight to Andine’s desk instead of his own.

Gara, who had just taken his seat, leaned slightly forward to listen. When Miki spoke, everyone tended to pay attention.

"The truth of the rumor is—"

Before Miki could finish, Vania entered the classroom. Unexpectedly, the ghost girl —Mona— was right behind her.

"Walk faster. I want to use my fan already," Vania said sharply. "Or do you want me to force you to use your space Talent?"

No need to ask, she was obviously ordering Mona around.

Vania sat down with her usual arrogance, never once glancing toward the seat to her right— where Gara and his friends were.

"How come Vania’s bossing Mona around?" Gara asked Miki. Like the saying went, if you don’t know something, ask the rat boy.

"Well... turns out Mona can use her Talent," Miki said. "She just doesn’t like using it. I don’t know how Vania got her to obey, but now she’s using that as a threat."

"That’s weird," Andine said. "Why would someone hate using their own Talent? If she’s in Class S, that means it’s supposed to be powerful, right?"

"Maybe she has trouble controlling it," Gara guessed.

"Or maybe..." Madha added thoughtfully, "because Space Bloodline is associated with Ghost race. Maybe she doesn’t want people to know she’s a Ghost."

Miki nodded hard. "I agree with Madha, because from what I heard..." his voice dropped to a whisper, "she used to be bullied by other devils since she’s a ghost. Even among devils, there’s one sub-race that’s the most hated."

Gara had heard about that despised devil sub-race before. He never thought he’d see one standing right in front of him right after leaving the village.

His chances of learning about space-type abilities were slipping away. He couldn’t approach the vice headmaster —not after the mess with her grandson— and now, the only person he knew with a Space Bloodline didn’t even like using her Talent.

"We should help her. She can’t keep letting Vania boss her around like that," Andine’s sense of justice flared up again.

"We can’t interfere unless we know the whole story," Gara reminded calmly.

Truth was, ever since strategy class, he’d noticed how Vania often snapped at and ordered Mona around. From what he saw, though, Mona didn’t seem to resist.

Looks like she’s been bullied for so long it’s become part of her nature, Gara mused. She doesn’t even realize she could just walk away.

Fortunately, Vania quieted down when Revan entered the classroom, turning into the picture of grace and politeness.

When Pere later appeared to call students for counseling, Andine suddenly remembered their earlier conversation about Professor Langga’s rumor.

"Miki, so what about that rumor with Professor Langga?" she asked.

Miki blinked, realizing he’d completely forgotten after Vania’s interruption earlier. He leaned forward eagerly, prompting Gara —who also wanted to hear— to subtly lean toward Fian.

The elf, who had been silent the whole time, instinctively leaned back to give Gara space, his face turning slightly red.

Gara didn’t notice, his focus was entirely on Miki’s words.

"The rumor about Professor Langga is true—"

"No way!" Andine slammed her desk and stood up.

"Wait, listen first." Miki quickly motioned for her to sit back down. "It’s true that Professor Langga went to the clock tower, but whether he was with a female student —or why he went there at all— that part’s still unclear."

"See? Professor Langga would never do something like that!" Andine said fiercely, her eyes blazing.

Meanwhile, Gara frowned. Why is Miki so good at gathering information? I need to make this sound even more suspicious.

"That’s why," Miki continued confidently, "I’ll stand guard at the clock tower every night until I find out the truth myself."

"You’re actually going to do that?" Gara asked in surprise, though a spark of an idea flickered in his mind.

"Of course I am," Miki nodded firmly, making Gara smiled quietly to himself.

...