Chapter 48: Announcement(1)
The next day, the school called for an assembly.
William was a little surprised. Just yesterday, he’d told the staff that if the Headmaster wanted him back in the dormitory, he’d have to announce it publicly.
He wasn’t eager to return to that place. He’d rather spend his remaining months here, out in the wild, than under that roof again. But even now, the memory of that humiliation still stung.
Sure, he had made a mistake—forcing his way into a girl’s room was wrong—but what happened afterward? Were the teachers not supposed to stop things before they went that far?
It wasn’t the first time. They always arrived late—just late enough for him to take the blame and the beating.
’If not for the old man,’ he thought bitterly, ’I would’ve walked out long ago.’
He shook his head and stood quietly in the corner of the hall.
His gaze soon found Emma. She stood among the crowd, her eyes elsewhere. She didn’t come to him, not even for a glance.
’Did she not see me?’ he wondered. She hadn’t come to meet him in the forest yesterday either. And now, she wasn’t even looking for him.
A small frown formed on his lips. ’Is it because I didn’t tell her about my family?’
Then he scoffed under his breath. *Forget it.* If she thought her silence would bother him, she was wrong.
He wasn’t going to repeat the same mistake he made with Lizel—opening up too much, only to get hurt again.
He and Emma weren’t anything more than friends. They spent time together, yes, and maybe that made things look closer than they were. But to expect him to bare his heart? That was too much.
Or so he told himself.
He crossed his arms and looked away, determined not to care. But when he noticed Kevin walking toward her, something inside him stirred.
A strange tightness gripped his chest. He tried to ignore it, tried to look uninterested, but his eyes kept drifting back to them.
Thankfully, Kevin didn’t stay long. After a short exchange, he turned and walked off.
Then Emma looked up—straight at him. Their eyes met for a moment, and suddenly her voice brushed against his thoughts.
[Don’t worry,] she said gently. [He just came to ask if I’d seen Lizel around.]
A soft warmth spread through his chest before he could stop it. He turned his head away, trying to hide it.
"You think I care?" he replied telepathically, his tone flat—but his heart, quietly, betrayed the lie.
Emma giggled softly before turning away, her hair brushing over her shoulder.
William blinked. *Wait... she’s not coming over?*
A faint scowl tugged at his lips. *What’s with her attitude today?* he thought, letting out a quiet huff. But before he could think more about it, movement on the stage drew his attention.
The Headmaster had arrived.
"May I have your attention, please?" His deep voice carried through the hall, echoing against the high walls until every whisper died down.
William straightened a little. Around him, hundreds of students shifted their gaze toward the stage.
The old man stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his expression grave. "Recently," he began, "an incident transpired—one none of us could have predicted."
He didn’t waste time with formalities. His tone was sharp but careful.
No one looked shocked. The air in the hall already buzzed with rumors; for two whole days, gossip had spread like wildfire about what happened on Harbaria Island.
Those who had been directly involved in the ambush had kept silent—some out of duty, others simply unwilling to add fuel to the fire. But plenty of third-years were there that day, and they had seen enough—the panic among teachers, the confusion, the tension.
Even the great swordsman, Sir Lancelot himself, had been visibly shaken by the presence that appeared on that island.
The Headmaster’s voice deepened as he went on, "An A-rated criminal—Talobo—ambushed our students. He isolated them and attacked using a weapon none of them were prepared to counter."
A wave of murmurs swept through the hall. Some students gasped, while others exchanged knowing looks, as if to say, *I knew he was still alive.*
But even they couldn’t hide their shock at what came next. Talobo hadn’t just appeared—he’d managed to overwhelm *Team One*, the strongest group in their year.
Whispers erupted almost instantly.
"Wait, if he could take down them, then what if he came to the academy?"
"We’d all be dead in minutes..."
"Why can’t they just execute that monster already? Useless government..."
"Ugh, I swear, every time something happens, Kevin’s name pops up. That guy’s cursed."
The noise grew thicker, a mix of fear and anger rippling through the hall.
Some faces turned pale with worry, imagining Talobo breaking through the academy’s gates. Others looked furious—at the system, at the guards, at anyone who had allowed a man like him to live long enough to strike again.
A criminal who had already targeted students was still left alive...or so they thought.
"Talobo was killed," the Headmaster announced, his voice calm but firm.
The words hit the students like a thunderclap. Kevin froze, his eyes wide.
"What?!" he exclaimed silently in his mind. He remembered clearly—when that woman left Talobo behind, handing him over to William, the criminal had still been alive.
The Headmaster continued, "By the time the officers arrived to retrieve him, Talobo was already dead."
Emma’s eyes narrowed, and she glanced subtly at William.
He didn’t look surprised. A faint, almost imperceptible smirk tugged at his lips—one only she could notice.
"Oh..." she murmured softly. When everyone else had been busy treating the wounded and organizing the evacuation, he had quietly executed the criminal.
A surge of relief washed over her. One thing she hated about Kevin and many others around her was their tendency to forgive, their principles against killing even dangerous foes.
But William... he didn’t hesitate.
Because of the ambush, Talobo had returned to threaten them again. If Kevin hadn’t stopped her that day, Talobo would have been dead long before the officers ever arrived.
Emma’s lips pressed into a thin line. She was glad. And, in that quiet moment, a little awed.
After a brief pause and once the vice-headmaster quieted the student, the headmaster spoke again, "Let’s move to the main topic for which you all have gathered here."
He looked at the students one by one, his gaze lingering on William for a moment longer than others, before he finally announced,
"Today, I am going to announce the contestant chosen for the Goblet of Honor."
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A/N:- Thanks for reading. Please add this book in your library.